Daniel McCook, Jr.

Daniel McCook, Jr.
Brig. Gen. Daniel McCook, Jr
Born	July 22, 1834(1834-07-22) Carrollton, Ohio
Died	July 17, 1864(1864-07-17) (aged 29) Steubenville, Ohio
Place of burial	Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio
Allegiance	United States of America Union
Service/branch	Union Army
Years of service	1861 - 1864
Rank	Brigadier General
Commands held	52nd Ohio Infantry
Battles/wars	American Civil War Battle of Kennesaw Mountain

Daniel McCook, Jr. (July 22, 1834 – July 17, 1864),^[1] one of the famed Fighting McCooks, was a brigade commander in the Union Army who was mortally wounded in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia, during the American Civil War.

Early life

McCook was born in Carrollton, Ohio, son of Daniel and Martha Latimer McCook.^[2] He graduated from the University of Alabama at Florence^[2][3] in 1858, then returned home to study law in Steubenville, Ohio. He passed his bar exam and moved to Leavenworth, Kansas, where he formed a partnership with William T. Sherman, Hugh Boyle Ewing, and Thomas Ewing, Jr.. The men closed their law office when the Civil War began, and all four would serve as generals in the Union Army. Married December, 1860 to Julia Tibbs of Platte County, Missouri.^[3]

Civil War

McCook was captain of a local company of militia, which became part of the 1st Kansas Infantry. When the 1st Kansas marched into Missouri and the Battle of Wilson's Creek, McCook was taken ill with pneumonia and missed the battle where the 1st Kansas suffered over 50% casualties and saw the death of Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon. Subsequently, McCook was named as chief of staff of the 1st Division of the Army of the Ohio in the Battle of Shiloh. He became colonel of the 52nd Ohio Infantry on July 15, 1862, and commanded a brigade under his old law partner Sherman in the Army of the Cumberland.

He was selected by Sherman to lead the assault on Kennesaw Mountain on June 27, 1864, and took his brigade directly up to the Confederate works. Just before the attack, he calmly recited to his men the stanza from Thomas Macaulay's poem of "Horatius" beginning "Then how may man die better than facing fearful odds?" He had reached the top of the enemy's works, and was encouraging his men to follow him, when he was mortally wounded by a rifle shot to his right lung. For the courage that he displayed in this assault, he was promoted to the full rank of brigadier general, to date from July 16, 1864. He was appointed a brevet major general effective on the day he died, but the appointment was not confirmed by the Senate.^[1]

He is buried in Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio.

See also

	Biography portal
	United States Army portal
	American Civil War portal

• List of American Civil War generals

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Eicher, p. 374.
2. ^ ^{a b} Howe 1889 : 368
3. ^ ^{a b} Reid 1895 : 904-906

References

• Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. Civil War High Commands. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
• Smith, Ronald D., Thomas Ewing Jr., Frontier Lawyer and Civil War General. Columbia:University of Missouri Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-8262-1806-3.
• This article incorporates text from the public domain Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography.
• Howe, Henry (1889). "Carroll County". Historical Collections of Ohio, The Ohio Centennial Edition. 1. The State of Ohio. http://books.google.com/books?id=OXIOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA368. 
• Reid, Whitelaw (1895). "Daniel McCook". Ohio in the War Her Statesmen Generals and Soldiers. 1. Cincinnati: The Robert Clarke Company. pp. 904–906. http://books.google.com/books?id=EJ94AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA904. 

Persondata
Name	Stone, Roy
Alternative names
Short description	Union Army general
Date of birth	July 22, 1834
Place of birth	Carrollton, Ohio
Date of death	July 17, 1864
Place of death	Steubenville, Ohio