Samuel Cooper (June 12, 1798 – December 3, 1876) was an American career

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

staff officer, serving during the Second Seminole War and the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

. Although little-known today, Cooper was technically the highest-ranking

general officer A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

throughout the

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

, even outranking

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

. After the conflict, Cooper remained in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

as a farmer.

Early life and career

Samuel Cooper was born in New Hackensack,

Dutchess County, New York Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later o ...

. He was a son of Samuel Cooper and his wife Mary Horton.Wakelyn, p. 150. In 1813, he entered the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

at age 15. He graduated 36th in a class of 40 two years later (the standard length of study in that period.) He was appointed a brevet second lieutenant in the U.S. Light Artillery on December 11, 1815. He was promoted 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 se ...

in 1821 and to

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

in 1836.Eicher, p. 185. In 1827, Cooper married Sarah Maria Mason, becoming the brother-in-law of future Confederate diplomat James M. Mason. Sarah's sister, Ann Maria Mason, was the mother of Confederate cavalry general Fitzhugh Lee, a nephew of

, while her brother John Mason, was a son-in-law of Gen. Alexander Macomb. Cooper served as aide-de-camp for Gen. Macomb from 1828 to 1836 and, under his supervision, authored ''A Concise System of Instructions and Regulations for the Militia and Volunteers of the United States''. S Cooper US Army

Cooper served in numerous artillery units until 1837 when he was appointed chief clerk of the U.S. War Department. In 1838 he received a brevet promotion to

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

and was appointed assistant adjutant general of the Army. Nine years later, with a brevet as lieutenant colonel, he served in the same capacity. Cooper's service in the Second Seminole War of 1841–42 was a rare departure for him from Washington, D.C. He was chief of staff for Col. William J. Worth. After hostilities ended, he returned to staff duty in Washington from 1842 to 1845. Cooper received a brevet promotion to

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

on May 30, 1848, for his War Department service in the

, and was promoted to the permanent rank of colonel in the

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 ...

and appointed the army's Adjutant General on July 15, 1852. Cooper also served very briefly as acting U.S. Secretary of War in 1857. Cooper was also a slaveowner: at the time of the 1850 census, he had six slaves. On February 5, 1857, his daughter Sarah Maria Mason Cooper (August 4, 1836 – December 15, 1858) married

Frank Wheaton Frank Wheaton (May 8, 1833 – June 18, 1903) was a career military officer in the United States Army during the American Civil War and Indian Wars. He also was military commander over south Texas during the Garza Revolution. Early life and c ...

, who became a Union Army general during the

. They had one child, Sarah Maria Cooper Wheaton, in 1858.Descendants of George Mason 1629-1686 - Person Page 6

Gunston Hall Plantation Website
Retrieved January 6, 2009.

American Civil War service

Cooper joined the Confederacy at the beginning of the American Civil War. His wife's family was from Virginia, and he had a close friendship with

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the Unite ...

, who had also been U.S. Secretary of War.Warner, pp. 62-3. One of his last official acts as Adjutant General of the U.S. Army was to sign an order dismissing Brig. Gen. David E. Twiggs from the army. Twiggs had surrendered his command and supplies in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

to the Confederacy (and was shortly after that made a Confederate major general.) This order was dated March 1, 1861, and Cooper resigned six days later. He traveled to

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

, at the time the Confederacy's capital, to join the Confederate States Army. On reaching Montgomery, Cooper was immediately given a commission as a brigadier general on March 16, 1861. He served as both Adjutant General and Inspector General of the Confederate Army, a post he held until the end of the war. Cooper provided much-needed organization and knowledge to the fledgling Confederate War Department, drawing on his years performing duties as Adjutant General of the U.S. Army.Warner, p. 63. On May 16, 1861, Cooper was promoted to

full general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED Online. ...

in the Confederate Army. He was one of five men promoted to the grade at that time and one of only seven during the war, but with the earliest date of rank. Thus, despite his relative obscurity today, he outranked the better-known confederates

Albert Sidney Johnston General officer, General Albert Sidney Johnston (February 2, 1803 – April 6, 1862) was an American military officer who served as a general officer in three different armies: the Texian Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States ...

, Joseph E. Johnston, and P. G. T. Beauregard. Cooper reported directly to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. At the war's end in 1865, Cooper surrendered and was paroled on May 3 at

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

. While building defenses near Washington, D.C., Union forces demolished his home and used its bricks to build a fort dubbed "Traitor's Hill" in dishonor of Cooper.

Postbellum life

Cooper's last official act for the Confederacy was to preserve the official records of the Confederate Army and turn them over intact to the United States government, where they form a part of the ''Official Records'', ''The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies'', published starting in 1880. Military historians have highly regarded Cooper for this action.Lee's Lieutenants site biography of Cooper: "This contribution is said to be Samuel's most lasting contribution to the Confederacy, in overseeing the removal of War Department records from Richmond in April 1865, and protecting them until they could be turned over to Federal authorities..." Historian Ezra J. Warner believed that in doing so Cooper was "thereby making a priceless contribution to the history of the period." After the war, Cooper was a farmer at his home, Cameron, near

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

. His house had been taken over by the U.S. government during the war and turned into a fort, but he was able to move into what had been an overseer's house. Due to his age, Cooper earned a meager living. On August 4, 1870, Robert E. Lee, on behalf of other former Confederates, sent Cooper $300 (~$ in ). Lee wrote to him saying, "To this sum I have only been able to add $100, but I hope it may enable you to supply some immediate want and prevent you from taxing your strength too much." Samuel Cooper died at his home in 1876 and is buried in Alexandria's Christ Church Episcopal Cemetery.

Selected works

* Prepared and Arranged by Brevet Captain S. Cooper, Aide de Camp and Assistant Adjutant General. Under the Supervision of Major General Alexander Macomb, Commanding the Army of the United States.

Notes

References

* Davis, William C. "General Samuel Cooper." In ''Leaders of the Lost Cause: New Perspectives on the Confederate High Command'', edited by Gary W. Gallagher and Joseph T. Glatthaar, 101–131. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2004. * Dupuy, Trevor N., Curt Johnson, and David L. Bongard. ''The

Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography ''The Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography'' () was written by Trevor N. Dupuy, Curt Johnson and David Bongard, and was issued in 1992 by HarperCollins Publishers. It contains more than three thousand short biographies of military figures ...

''. New York: HarperCollins, 1992. . * Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. ''Civil War High Commands''. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. . * Lee, Fitzhugh. "Sketch of the Late General S. Cooper." ''Southern Historical Society Papers'' 3, no. 5-6 (June 1877): 269–76. * Sifakis, Stewart. ''Who Was Who in the Civil War.'' New York: Facts On File, 1988. . * Snow, William P
''Lee and His Generals''
New York: Gramercy Books, 1996. . First published 1867 by Richardson and Co. * Wakelyn, Jon L. ''Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy''. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1977. . * Warner, Ezra J. ''Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders.'' Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. . * Wright, Marcus J.
''General Officers of the Confederate Army: Officers of the Executive Departments of the Confederate States, Members of the Confederate Congress by States''
Mattituck, NY: J. M. Carroll & Co., 1983. . First published 1911 by Neale Publishing Co.

External links

''Lee's Lieutenants'' site biography of Cooper. *

Civil War Landscapes site military biography of Cooper. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Samuel 1798 births 1876 deaths People from Dutchess County, New York Adjutants general of the United States Army United States Army personnel of the Seminole Wars United States Army personnel of the Mexican–American War Burials at Christ Church Episcopal Cemetery (Alexandria, Virginia) Confederate States Army full generals Mason family Northern-born Confederates Military personnel from Alexandria, Virginia Military personnel from Montgomery, Alabama People of Virginia in the American Civil War United States Military Academy alumni United States Army colonels American slave owners