CSN Cooke, James Wallace - Commodore

James Wallace Cooke​

Born: August 23, 1812

Birthplace: Beaufort, North Carolina

Father: Thomas Cooke 1787 – 1815

(Buried: Body Lost at Sea)​

Mother: Esther Mihetable Wallace 1795 – 1816

(Buried: Old Burying Ground, Beaufort, North Carolina)​

Wife: Mary E. A. Watts 1825 – 1889

(Buried: Cedar Grove Cemetery, Portsmouth, Virginia)​

Children:

Lechmere Cooke 1853 – 1882​

(Buried: Cedar Grove Cemetery, Portsmouth, Virginia)​

Occupation before War:

1828 – 1861: Served in the United States Navy rising to rank of Lt.​

Civil War Career:

1861 – 1865: Served in the Confederate States Navy, rising to Captain​

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Commander of Gunboat CSS Ellis, captured in Roanoke, North Carolina​

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1862: Wounded during the Battle of Roanoke Island, North Carolina​

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1862: Promoted to commander in the Confederate States Navy​

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Overseer of the Construction of CSS Albemarle in Scotland Neck, North Carolina​

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Commanding Officer of CSS Albemarle​

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Commander of Confederate Naval Forces on North Carolina Internal Waters​

Occupation after War:

1865 – 1869: Lived in Portsmouth, Virginia​

Died: June 21, 1869

Place of Death: Portsmouth, Virginia

Age at time of Death: 56 years old

Burial Place: Cedar Grove Cemetery, Portsmouth, Virginia

 

[Pollaco]

Appointed lieutenant in Virginia Navy on May 4, 1861 then transferred to the Confederate Navy, who assigned him to the batteries at Aquia Creek.

 

[Pollaco]

After being sent to North Carolina following the battle of 1st Manassas, Cooke was given command of a one -gun steamer calked the "Ellis".It was during this period that he placed obstructions in the Albermarle Sound to delay the US Navy. His wounding at the battle of Roanoke Island consisted of a bullet wound to the arm and a bayonet cut to the leg.

 

[gentlemanrob]

Obit:

 

[Pollaco]

After being sent to North Carolina following the battle of 1st Manassas, Cooke was given command of a one -gun steamer calked the "Ellis".It was during this period that he placed obstructions in the Albermarle Sound to delay the US Navy. His wounding at the battle of Roanoke Island consisted of a bullet wound to the arm and a bayonet cut to the leg.

It was this same boat the "Ellis"that was captured by the U.S. Navy and was later under command of William B. Cushing (the man who torpedoed the Albemarle). He destroyed the Ellis on Nov. 25, 1862 at New River Inlet, North Carolina.

 

[Pollaco]

It was this same boat the "Ellis"that was captured by the U.S. Navy and was later under command of William B. Cushing (the man who torpedoed the Albemarle). He destroyed the Ellis on Nov. 25, 1862 at New River Inlet, North Carolina.

Kind of ironic in that Cooke was the Albemarle's first commanding officer.