Background

Philip St. George Cooke was born on June 13, 1809 in Leesburg, Virginia, United States. He was the son of Dr. Stephen and Catherine (Esten) Cooke. He was the younger brother of John Esten Cooke (1783 - 1833) and of John Rogers Cooke (1788 - 1854).

Education

Cooke was named St. George in deference to his mother’s nationality, but he was appointed a cadet at West Point under the name of Philip St. George, through a mistake somewhat similar to that by which General Grant’s name was altered when he entered that institution. He graduated in 1827.

Career

In 1827, Cooke was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the 6th Infantry, joined his regiment in Missouri, and served with it for nearly six years at various western stations and on expeditions into the Indian country.

He was engaged in the Black Hawk War of 1832. The next year he was appointed first lieutenant in the newly organized 1st Dragoons (now the 1st Cavalry), and two years later (May 31, 1835) became a captain. From frontier stations, generally Fort Leavenworth, he went on many expeditions into the remote West, including one in 1845 through the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, when his command covered twenty- two hundred miles in ninety-nine days.

In the war with Mexico, his service was with Kearny’s Army of the West, which achieved the conquest of New Mexico and California by hard marching more than by fighting. With an escort of twelve men, Cooke preceded the army from the rendezvous at Bent’s Fort, on the Arkansas River, to Santa Fe, three hundred miles distant. It was intended that he should negotiate under a flag of truce, but Mexican resistance collapsed without much negotiation. Meanwhile reinforcements for the army had been started forward, including a battalion enlisted among the Mormons who had recently been driven from Nauvoo.

Cooke was assigned to its command, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. His impression of his battalion, when it arrived at Santa Fe, was not favorable. “It was enlisted too much by families; some were too old, some feeble, and some too young; it was embarrassed by many women; it was undisciplined; it was much worn by travelling on foot”. When he left it in California nine months later, however, he had made it into an efficient organization. He was promoted to major of the 2nd Dragoons in 1847, lieutenant-colonel in 1853, and colonel in 1858, being employed usually on the frontier as before, skirmishing occasionally with Apache and Sioux Indians, and taking part in the Utah expedition of 1857-1858.

He prepared a new system of calvary tactics for the army, and was an observer of the war in Italy in 1839-1860. His family “followed the State” in 1861. On both sides it was supposed that he would probably do likewise, but his loyalty was unshaken, and when a letter from a Confederate general was secretly delivered to him in Washington he promptly handed it over to the War Department. He was appointed a brigadier-general in the regular army, November 12, 1861, and commanded a brigade of cavalry at Washington until the Army of the Potomac entered upon the Peninsular campaign, in which he commanded the so-called Cavalry Reserve—a division of two brigades. This was his only actual field service during the war. He commanded the district of Baton Rouge for a time, and later was general superintendent of recruiting for the regular army.

After the war, besides other duties, he commanded successively the departments of the Platte, the Cumberland, and the Lakes. He retired from active service in 1873. Besides his Cavalry Tactics (1861) he published Scenes and Adventures in the Army (1857) and The Conquest of New Mexico and California (1878). The former is his autobiography from the time of his first commission until 1843, interspersed with curious reflections, frequently thrown into the form of dialogue, on subjects of every conceivable nature. It is useful as a picture of life in the far West during the period. The second of these books is a strictly historical narrative, the more valuable because largely made up of extracts from the diary which he kept at the time.

Achievements

• Philip St. George Cooke was distinguished for his military service during the Black Hawk War, the Mexican-American War, and the American Civil War. He became one of the Regular Army's top cavalrymen and was noted for drafting the United States Army Cavalry manual.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Conquest of New Mexico and California: An Historical and Personal Narrative (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Conquest of New Mexico and California: A...)

  • The Revenant - Some Incidents in the Life of Hugh Glass, a Hunter of the Missouri River

    (American pirate, frontiersman, fur trapper, fur trader, h...)

  • Report From the Secretary of War: Communicating in Compliance With a Resolution of the Senate, of the 21st February, 1849, a Copy of the Official ... Santa Fe to San Diego, &C (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Report From the Secretary of War: Communicat...)

  • Scenes and Adventures in the Army: Or, Romance of Military Life

    (Scenes and Adventures in the Army: Or, Romance of Militar...)

  • The 1862 US Cavalry Tactics: Instructions, Formations, Manoeuvres (Stackpole Military Classic)

Personality

Cooke was a stern disciplinarian, with a high sense of honor and sincere religious feeling. He did not lack a sense of humor, and was notably fond of young people.

Connections

Cooke was married to Rachel Hertzog of Philadelphia. His son, John R. Cooke, and his son-in-law, J. E. B. Stuart, became general officers in the Confederate army.

Father:

Stephen Cooke

Mother:

Catherine (Esten) Cooke

Spouse:

Rachel Hertzog

Brother:

John Esten Cooke

Brother:

John Rogers Cooke

Son:

John R. Cooke

References

• Civil War High Commands
• Lincoln's Cavalrymen: A History of the Mounted Forces of the Army of the Potomac, 1861–1865