- Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb
Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb (
April 10 ,1823 –December 13 ,1862 ) was an American lawyer, author, politician, and Confederate officer, killed in theBattle of Fredericksburg during theAmerican Civil War .Early life
Cobb was born in Jefferson County, Georgia, to John A. Cobb and Sarah Rootes Cobb. He was the younger brother of
Howell Cobb . He married Marion Lumpkin, who was the daughter of the Supreme Court of Georgia Chief JusticeJoseph Henry Lumpkin . Three of their children lived past childhood: Callender (Callie), who married Augustus Longstreet Hull; Sarah A. (Sally), who married Henry Jackson, the son of Henry Rootes Jackson; and Marion (Birdie), who married Michael Hoke Smith.Cobb graduated in 1841 from Franklin CollegeEicher, p. 592.] (now the
University of Georgia ), where he was a member of thePhi Kappa Literary Society , and was admitted to the bar in 1842. From 1849 to 1857, he was a reporter of the Supreme Court of Georgia. He was an ardentsecession ist, and was a delegate to the Secession Convention. He is best known for his treatise in support of slavery titled "An Inquiry into the Law of Negro Slavery in the United States of America" (1858) and as one of the founders of theUniversity of Georgia School of Law .Civil War
During the Civil War Cobb served in the Confederate Congress, where for a time he was chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. He was also on the committee that was responsible for the drafting of the Confederate constitution.
He organized
Cobb's Legion in the late summer of 1861 and was commissioned a colonel in the Confederate army onAugust 28 ,1861 . The Legion was assigned to theArmy of Northern Virginia . It took heavy losses during theMaryland Campaign . He was promoted to brigadier general onNovember 1 ,1862 , but this promotion was not confirmed by the Confederate Congress. At theBattle of Fredericksburg , he was mortally wounded in the thigh by a Union artillery shell that burst inside the Stephens house near the Sunken Road on Marye's Heights. He bled to death from damage to thefemoral artery onDecember 13 ,1862 . [O'Reilly, p. 296; Eicher, p. 592.] Some later accounts by veterans claim that the wounding was by rifle fire and that a Confederate soldier may have been responsible. [ [http://colquitt.k12.ga.us/gspurloc/cobbslegion/cobb_articles/death_cobb.htm Controversies about the death of T. R. R. Cobb] ] He is buried atOconee Hill Cemetery inAthens, Georgia .Published works
* "Digest of the Statute Laws of Georgia" (1851)
* "Inquiry into the Law of Negro Slavery in the United States" (1858)
* "Historical Sketch of Slavery, from the Earliest Periods" (1859)
* "The Colonel" (1897)References
*
* Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., "Civil War High Commands", Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
* O'Reilly, Francis Augustín, "The Fredericksburg Campaign: Winter War on the Rappahannock", Louisiana State University Press, 2003, ISBN 0-8071-3154-7.
* [http://colquitt.k12.ga.us/gspurloc/cobbslegion/cobb_articles/death_cobb.htm Controversies about the death of T. R. R. Cobb]Notes
External links
*
* [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2487 Biography of T.R.R Cobb in New Georgia Encyclopedia]
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