Marcellus Monroe Crocker was an American lawyer and Civil War general.
Background
Marcellus was born on February 6, 1830, in Franklin, Johnson County, United States. His father moved the family to Illinois when Marcellus was ten, and to Jefferson County, Iowa, five years later. Marcellus secured an appointment to West Point in 1847, but after two years he returned home to care for his widowed mother, five siblings, and the family farm.
Education
In 1847 Marcellus entered the United States Military Academy but left at the end of his second year. He subsequently studied law and practiced in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. In 1851, he was admitted to the bar, and began practice in Lancaster, Keokuk County. In 1854 he relocated to Des Moines, where he was very successful.
Career
Several years before the Civil War Marcellus organized a privately funded militia company, and with Grenville M. Dodge of Council Bluffs, he attempted to convince the legislature to create a state militia. After the attack on Fort Sumter, Captain Crocker’s company was incorporated into the Second Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment, on May 27, 1861. Four days later Marcellus was elected major and in September lieutenant colonel. He was promoted to colonel in November and given command of the 13th Iowa Regiment. His early service was in Missouri guarding railroads and other facilities.
In late March 1862, the 13th Iowa joined General Ulysses S. Grant’s army in Tennessee. On April 6, Confederate forces surprised and routed Grant’s army at Shiloh. Late that afternoon Crocker succeeded his wounded brigade commander. Crocker’s reports reflect the panic, but also his firm and steady presence. His regiment suffered 25 percent casualties, but it could have been far worse. His superior noted that Crocker’s “coolness and bravery...and disregard to danger...inspired [his troops] to do their duty.” The next day Crocker’s depleted brigade supported the successful counterattack. A month later Crocker was given command of the first brigade composed entirely of Iowa troops-the 11th, 13th, 15th, and 16th Regiments. Known thereafter as Crocker’s Iowa Brigade, the unit would remain one of the most effective units in the western theater. The unit’s mobility later earned it the nickname “Crocker’s Greyhounds.”
Crocker was a natural leader, unflappable, and deeply respected by his men. A tough but fair disciplinarian, he drilled his men thoroughly and demanded that his officers lead effectively. An admiring subordinate noted that Crocker had a “passionate temper and is plain-spoken” to a fault.
At the Battle of Corinth on October 3, 1862, Confederates again surprised the Union forces. It was left to Crocker’s Iowa Brigade to slow down the Confederate advance northwest of town, allowing General William Rosecrans time to organize his forces in Corinth. The well-disciplined Iowans followed complicated maneuvers ordered by calm officers under fire, allowing the Union troops to fight the next day and win. The victory made Crocker a brigadier general.
Owing to a superior’s illness, Crocker was put in charge of the Seventh Division of Grant’s army as it crossed the Mississippi on April 30, 1863, in its risky maneuver to capture Vicksburg. Crocker’s division performed ably at the battles of Raymond and Jackson. At Champion Hill, Mississippi, on May 16, Crocker’s men not only plugged a breakthrough on Grant’s right but then sent the Confederates into full retreat. With that action, Confederate General John Pemberton’s army was trapped in Vicksburg.
Crocker did not see Pemberton’s final surrender on July 4. Weakened from an earlier bout with tuberculosis, Crocker suffered a severe relapse. Grant personally ordered his medical leave. A few months later he was assigned to command troops stationed in Natchez. Crocker participated in General William T. Sherman’s campaign to capture Meridian, Mississippi, and then in the early stages of Sherman’s Atlanta campaign, but ill health sent him home in May 1864. Upon Grant’s recommendation, Crocker was ordered to command a fort in New Mexico to recover his health in a drier climate. His health failing rapidly, Crocker was nonetheless ordered to Washington, D.C., in early summer 1865. There he finally succumbed to tuberculosis. He was buried in Woodland Cemetery in Des Moines.
Achievements
Politics
Crocker’s political views evolved throughout the war. Before 1861 he was a Democrat, unsympathetic with Southern slave expansionists. As a War Democrat, he supported Lincoln’s goal to restore the Union. In 1862 he wrote to Governor Samuel Kirkwood that the war’s result had been to put slavery on the road to extinction. In 1863 Crocker declined a possible nomination by Republicans for governor, believing that his contributions lay in the military. A month before his death, Crocker wrote to Governor William Stone that emancipation and black citizenship were useless without suffrage. He strongly urged Iowa Republicans to support that controversial measure.
Connections
Marcellus married to Harriet R Pinkerton Crocker, but the couple divorced. He married Charlotte D O'Neil Crocker. They had six children, Tommy Crocker, Kitty Crocker, Adalade Inez Crocker, Frank Crocker, Mary Marcellus Crocker Duncan, Grace Crocker.
Mother:
Jane Woollard Crocker
Spouse:
Charlotte D O'Neil Crocker
ex-spouse:
Harriet R Pinkerton Crocker
Daughter:
Kitty Crocker
Son:
Tommy Crocker
Son:
Adalade Inez Crocker
Son:
Frank Crocker
Daughter:
Mary Marcellus Crocker Duncan
Daughter:
Grace Crocker
References
The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa
Iowa has been blessed with citizens of strong character who have made invaluable contributions to the state and to the nation. In the 1930s alone, such towering figures as John L. Lewis, Henry A. Wallace, and Herbert Hoover hugely influenced the nation’s affairs.