George A. Cobham, Jr.

George Ashworth Cobham, Jr. (December 5, 1825 – July 20, 1864) commanded a regiment in the American Civil War and rose to brigade command before being killed in battle.

Cobham was born in Liverpool, England, and migrated to the United States. Settling in Pennsylvania, Cobham worked as a contractor in the western part of the state. Early in the Civil War, on January 28, 1862, he became lieutenant colonel of the 111th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He was promoted to the rank of colonel on November 7 of the same year. The regiment served on garrison duty at Harpers Ferry. It also served under Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks at the Battle of Cedar Mountain, where it served in the division of Brig. Gen. Christopher C. Augur.

Cobham led the regiment at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Brig. Gen. John W. Geary's second division of XII Corps. When brigade commander, Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Kane, was taken ill, he led the second brigade of Geary's division in the Gettysburg Campaign. Kane returned to the brigade during the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2, 1863, but he was unable to retain command. Cobham resumed command. The brigade took part in the defense of Culp's Hill, except when Geary—trying to go to the relief of the left flank of the army—got lost and took it and Charles Candy's brigade down the Baltimore Pike in the wrong direction.

When XII Corps was transferred under the command of Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker to relieve the Army of the Cumberland, besieged at Chattanooga, Cobham was transferred with his brigade. They fought at the Battle of Wauhatchie, the Battle of Lookout Mountain and the Battle of Ringgold Gap. When the XII Corps and XI Corps were amalgamated into the XX Corps under Hooker, Cobham led a brigade in Geary's second division. He participated in Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's Atlanta Campaign, and was killed at the Battle of Peachtree Creek. He was awarded a posthumous brevet promotion to the rank of brigadier general on July 19, 1864, predated to before his death. Geary, his division commander, described Cobham in one of his letters as a valuable and beloved officer. [Blair, p. 189.] Cobham was buried at Oakland Cemetery in Warren, Pennsylvania.

References

* Blair, William Alan (ed.), A Politician Goes to War: The Civil War Letters of John White Geary, University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-271-01338-9
* Dyer, Frederick H., "Compendium of the War of the Rebellion", 3 vols., New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1959.
* Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., "Civil War High Commands", Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
* Greene, A. Wilson, "'A Step All-Important and Essential to Victory': Henry W. Slocum and the Twelfth Corps on July 1-2, 1863," in Three Days at Gettysburg: Essays on Confederate and Union Leadership, ed. Gary W. Gallagher, Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1999, pp. 169-203.
* Pfanz, Harry W., "Gettysburg: Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill", University of North Carolina Press, 1993, ISBN 0-8078-2118-7.