Cooke, Philip St. George (1809-95) cavalry officer and author, born in Leesburg, Virginia. Cooke was a veteran commander and author of the manual Cavalry Tactics (1861). During the Mexican War (1846-48), Cooke commanded a battalion of Mormon volunteers in New Mexico and led them on a notable cross-desert march to southern California (1846). In the Civil War, Cooke helped George B. McClellan organize the Army of the Potomac and he commanded the Cavalry Reserve under McClellan. During the Peninsular Campaign, Cooke failed to prevent his son-in-law J.E.B. Stuart from leading the Confederate cavalry of Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia completely around the Union army (1862).
Cooke's decision to remain loyal to the Union was complicated when his son and both of his sons-in-law chose Virginia over the Union and became Confederate officers. His son, John Rogers Cooke, became a Confederate brigadier general. His son-in-law J. E. B. Stuart's fame as Robert E. Lee's renowned cavalry commander provoked rumors that Cooke did not enthusiastically favor prosecuting the war, and eventually contributed to Cooke's professional decline.See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.
