Very nice image of Cooke wearing a dark double-breasted frock coat, matching dark trousers and knee high boots. Draped over his left shoulder and wrapped around his waist is a dark cape. One brigadier general’s shoulder strap is visible on the right shoulder. He holds his forage cap in his left hand which is in front of him.

Image is clear with very good contrast. Mount has some light surface dirt.

Back mark is for R. W. ADDIS  WASHINGTON, D.C. Reverse also has “P. St. G. COOKE” in modern pencil.

Philip St. George Cooke was born in Leesburg, Virginia, June 13, 1809. He graduated from West Point in 1827 and was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the infantry. He served at a variety of installations in the West and in the Black Hawk War. In 1833 he was promoted to first lieutenant in the newly formed 1st U.S. Dragoons.

As Captain in command of 200 Dragoons, he disarmed and arrested Colonel Jacob Snively's Republic of Texas Company of about 100 men, who were attempting to disrupt trade along the Santa Fe Trail.

During the Mexican War he led the Mormon Battalion from Santa Fe to California, establishing the southern route to California used during the California Gold Rush. He received a brevet promotion to lieutenant colonel for his service in California. In command of 2nd U.S. Dragoons, he defeated the Jicarilla Apache in New Mexico in 1854, was in the 1855 Battle of Ash Hollow against the Sioux, and was sent to keep the peace in Bleeding Kansas in 1856 – 1857. Acquainted with Brigham Young, Cooke took part in the Utah expedition of 1857–58, after which he was promoted to colonel and assigned command of the 2nd U.S. Dragoons. He was an observer for the U.S. Army in the Crimean War, and commanded the Department of Utah from 1860 until 1861.

The issue of secession deeply divided Cooke's family. Cooke himself remained loyal to the Union. J.E.B. Stuart, the famous Confederate cavalry commander, was Cooke's son-in-law. Cooke and Stuart never spoke again, Stuart saying, "He will regret it only once, and that will be continually."

At the start of the Civil War, the U.S. Army had five mounted regiments. Cooke commanded the 2nd Dragoons, which were re-designated the 2nd U.S. Cavalry.

Cooke was appointed brigadier general, U.S. Army, on November 21, 1861, to rank from November 12, 1861. He initially commanded a brigade of regular army cavalry within the defenses of Washington, D.C. For the Peninsula Campaign, he was selected by McClellan to command the Cavalry Reserve, a division-sized force, of the Army of the Potomac. When Confederate forces evacuated the city of Yorktown, Cooke was sent along with Major General George Stoneman in pursuit and his cavalry was roughed up in an assault ordered by Stoneman against Fort Magruder. Cooke saw subsequent action at the battles of Williamsburg, Gaines' Mill, and White Oak Swamp. Cooke ordered an ill-fated charge of the 5th U.S. Cavalry at Gaines' Mill during the Seven Days Battles, sacrificing nearly an entire regiment of regulars.

After the Peninsula, Cooke left active field service. One proximate reason was the embarrassment he suffered when his son-in-law, Jeb Stuart, humiliated the Union cavalry by completely encircling the Army of the Potomac in his celebrated raid. Cooke served on boards of court-martial, commanded the District of Baton Rouge, and was superintendent of Army recruiting for the Adjutant General's office. On July 17, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Cooke for appointment to the brevet grade of major general in the regular army, to rank from March 13, 1865, and the U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment on July 23, 1866.

Cooke commanded the Department of the Platte from 1866 to 1867, the Department of the Cumberland from 1869 to 1870, and the Department of the Lakes. He retired from the Army on October 29, 1873 as a brigadier general.

Cooke was a member of the Michigan Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

He died in Detroit, Michigan, and is buried there in Elmwood Cemetery.    [ad]

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