William Winer Cooke (May 29, 1846 – June 25, 1876) was a military officer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

and the Black Hills War. He was the

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

for

George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...

and was killed during the

Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, No ...

Overview

Cooke was born in Mount Pleasant,

Brant County The County of Brant (2021 population 39,474) is a single-tier municipality in the Canadian province of Ontario. Although it retains the word " county" in its name, the municipality is a single-tier municipal government and has no upper tier. The ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, to Alexander and Angeline Cooke. He attended the Brantford Collegiate School and the Central School in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of ...

. At the age of 14, he moved to

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

to continue his studies. After graduating from school, he enlisted in 1863 with the 24th New York Cavalry at

Niagara Falls, New York Niagara Falls is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 48,671. It is adjacent to the Niagara River, across from the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and named after the fame ...

, during the Civil War. After serving as a recruiting officer, he served on the front lines in the

IX Corps 9 Corps, 9th Corps, Ninth Corps, or IX Corps may refer to: France * 9th Army Corps (France) * IX Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars Germany * IX Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German ...

, commanded by

Ambrose Burnside Ambrose Everett Burnside (May 23, 1824 – September 13, 1881) was an American army officer and politician who became a senior Union general in the Civil War and three times Governor of Rhode Island, as well as being a successful inventor ...

. He was wounded during the

Siege of Petersburg The Richmond–Petersburg campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War. Although it is more popularly known as the Siege of Petersburg, it was not a cla ...

. After being released from the hospital, he served on commissary duty. He rose to

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

on December 14, 1864, but did not return to front-line duty until March 1865. He was awarded brevet promotions to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

, and

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colon ...

for his meritorious service during the war, the last of his actions occurred at the

Battle of Sayler's Creek The Battle of Sailor's Creek was fought on April 6, 1865, near Farmville, Virginia, as part of the Appomattox Campaign, near the end of the American Civil War. It was the last major engagement between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, ...

during the Appomattox Campaign. After the war, he immediately joined the 1st New York Provisional Cavalry and applied for a

Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the following: * a standin ...

commission. He was made a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army unt ...

in the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment in July 1866, and was promoted to

a year later at Fort Harker in Kansas. In 1868, he participated in the Washita Campaign. In 1871, he became the regimental

under Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer. Cooke became close friends with Thomas Custer and was a member of the so-called "Custer Clan" or "Custer Gang", a close-knit group of Custer's friends and relatives. He was an excellent shot and one of the fastest runners of the regiment. Some of his troopers took a dislike to him and called him "The Queen's Own". He was known for his dundrearies, or long side whiskers, that he always wore.

Little Big Horn

Cooke was killed at the

. His body was found close to his commander. He was the author of the famous "last message" to

Frederick Benteen Frederick William Benteen (August 24, 1834 – June 22, 1898) was a military officer who first fought during the American Civil War. He was appointed to commanding ranks during the Indian Campaigns and Great Sioux War against the Lakota and ...

, carried by Sergeant John Martin, that read: Cooke was initially interred on the battlefield. A memorial slab marks the approximate spot where he fell. In June 1877, he was reburied in the Little Bighorn National Cemetery. In August of that year, his family had the remains disinterred again and reburied in th
family's plot
in the Hamilton Cemetery in

. The

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy ( U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, ...

in Hamilton is named in Cooke's memory and honor.

Notes

References

Cooke Bio
* Arnold, Steve, and French, Tim, ''Custer's Forgotten Friend: the Life of W.W. Cooke, Adjutant, Seventh U.S. Cavalry'', Powder River Press, 1993 * Connell, Evan, ''

Son of the Morning Star ''Son of the Morning Star: Custer and the Little Big Horn'' is a nonfiction account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876, by novelist Evan S. Connell, published in 1984 by North Point Press. The book features extensive portraits ...

'', 1984, * Panzieri, Peter, ''Classic Battles: Little Big Horn 1876'', Osprey Publishing, 1995,

External links

Custer Orders to Adjutant Lt. W. W. Cooke, 1874
Shapell Manuscript Foundation {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, William W. 1846 births 1876 deaths Union Army officers United States Army officers People from the County of Brant Pre-Confederation Ontario people People of the Great Sioux War of 1876 American military personnel killed in the American Indian Wars Battle of the Little Bighorn

Overview

Little Big Horn

Notes

References

Further reading

External links