Amasa Cobb

Amasa Cobb (September 27, 1823 – July 5, 1905) was a Republican Wisconsin politician and an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Biography

Born in Crawford County, Illinois, Cobb moved to the Wisconsin Territory in 1842 and mined for lead. He served in the Mexican-American War as a private. After the war he studied law, passed the bar and set up practice in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. He was a district attorney from 1850 to 1854, then was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 1855, serving until 1856. During his term, he was also the adjutant general of Wisconsin from 1855 to 1858. He became a member of the state assembly in 1860 and served as speaker in 1861.

At the outset of the Civil War in 1861, he joined the Union army as Colonel of the 5th Wisconsin Infantry, serving in the Army of the Potomac in several campaigns and battles. Most notably, Cobb succeeded BG Winfield S. Hancock in command of a brigade in second division VI Corps at the Battle of Antietam, after Hancock was transferred to commend of first division II Corps. In the fall of 1862, he was elected to the 38th Congress from Wisconsin for a two-year term. His last action with 5th Wisconsin was the Battle of Fredericksburg.

He resumed his military career on September 29, 1864, when he was named as Colonel of the newly raised 43rd Wisconsin Infantry. After arriving at Nashville, Tennessee in October, Cobb and his regiment guarded the important supply and railroad depot at Johnsonville in Benton County, Tennessee on the Tennessee River. On November 4, Cobb's men fought off an attack by John Bell Hood's Confederates led by MG Nathan Bedford Forrest in the Battle of Johnsonville. For the rest of the war, the regiment was positioned in various parts of Tennessee to guard railroads and supply routes, and Cobb briefly commanded a brigade under MG Robert H. Milroy. Cobb was brevetted as a brigadier general on March 13, 1865, shortly before the end of the war. He and his men were mustered out of the service in mid-June in Nashville before returning to Wisconsin and civilian life.

Cobb was reelected to the 39th, 40th, and 41st Congresses, serving until 1871.

He moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he started to practice law again. He was appointed mayor of Lincoln in 1873, and then became associate justice of the Nebraska state supreme court in 1878 to 1892. The last four years, from 1888 to 1892, he served as Nebraska's chief justice.

Amasa Cobb died in Los Angeles, California.

ee also

*List of American Civil War generals

References

*pgCongBio|C000543 Retrieved on 2008-02-12
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External links

* [http://www.batteryb.com/webmaster/5thwi.html 5th Wisconsin site]
* [http://www.batteryb.com/webmaster/43rdWIVI.html 43rd Wisconsin site]

Further reading

* Nelson, Meredith K., "Amasa Cobb." "Nebraska Law Bulletin" 14 (November 1935): pages 197-213.

Persondata
NAME= Cobb, Amasa
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Union Army general
DATE OF BIRTH= September 27, 1823
PLACE OF BIRTH= Crawford County, Illinois
DATE OF DEATH= July 5, 1905
PLACE OF DEATH= Los Angeles, California