Thoughts on Confederate General Samuel Cooper

[major bill]

Only seven Confederates obtained the rank of full General. Most are well known , but Samuel Cooper was appointed first and thus was the highest ranking Confederate general. He was a bit too old to go on active campaigning so was appointed Adjutant and Inspector General of the Confederate Army. But he is not very well known. I was wondering what people thought of the job he did during the Civil War. Would it been better is he had been replaced?

He was certainly a very experienced officer and had over 55 years of service in the U.S. Army. He was also from New York but supported the Confederacy.

 

[Scott Bowden]

I can't imagine anyone doing a better job than Samuel Cooper and he was certainly well known in antebellum society and the army. Importantly, he was adjutant and inspector general of the United States for almost a decade before the sectional crisis erupted and, together with his brother-in-law, Robert E. Lee, deserves much of the organizational success of First Manassas (Lee with organizing the Virginia troops that were absorbed into Confederate service by the central government on June 8 1861, and Cooper with providing order and systematic overseeing of much of the uncoordinated movements of troops leading up to that battle).

But much more than that, Cooper had encyclopedic knowledge of hundreds of officers and politicans, and managed to be as one described him "clear-headed and without prejudice"--- the prefect description for someone in the position of adjutant general. Cooper got along well with his superiors while at the same time was a buffer between egotistical generals and the president as well as (whoever was the current) war secretary. Bottom line, Cooper was greatly respected by most and was an integral part of the Southern war effort.

Having gone through his papers along with the preserved parade-states and circulars of the Army of Northern Virginia at the National Archives during many visits there, I am eternally grateful that General Cooper was extraordinarily well-organized. When Cooper left Richmond in April 1865 with the fleeing government, he had carefully packed up all his records. When Davis released him following the flight from Danville, Cooper surrendered, and with his parole turned over to Federal authorities all his records that are today, in essence, the Confederate War Records as preserved in the National Archives and Administration in Washington D.C.

So to answer your question, no one was better qualified to be adjutant and inspector general and I can't imagine anyone doing a better job.

By the way, if memory serves, Cooper was a New Jersey native. With his marriage to George Mason's granddaughter, he soon became an adopted Southerner.

Regards,

 

[NedBaldwin]

He was also from New York but supported the Confederacy.

He was born in New York but does that mean he was from New York?

His mother came from a New York family and he was born at her parents. But his own parents had a place near Alexandria Virginia. Hard to find details but he appears to have lived in Virginia during the years he worked in DC

 

[Saruman]

Only seven Confederates obtained the rank of full General. Most are well known , but Samuel Cooper was appointed first and thus was the highest ranking Confederate general. He was a bit too old to go on active campaigning so was appointed Adjutant and Inspector General of the Confederate Army. But he is not very well known. I was wondering what people thought of the job he did during the Civil War. Would it been better is he had been replaced?

He was certainly a very experienced officer and had over 55 years of service in the U.S. Army. He was also from New York but supported the Confederacy.

Steven E. Woodworth doesn't have a high opinion of Cooper. Some of his thoughts include:

"... Davis was not long in recognizing that Cooper neither would nor could be the kind of army chief of staff he had envisioned. His use of Robert E. Lee in what amounted to the job of chief of staff in 1862 was a tacit admission that Cooper would never be equal to the task."

"While maintaining Cooper in the position of adjutant and inspector general and persevering in the theory that the post was not one of a mere errand-boy to the president, Davis in practice allowed it to become just that. As the war progressed, the correspondence of the Adjutant and Inspector General's Office became more and more mundane, finally reaching a level of almost unrelieved triviality."

"Davis, realising Cooper's inadequacy but liking him as a person, chose not to hurt the old soldier by removing him but rather to allow the position to sink into decrepitude along with him."

 

[Scott Bowden]

For the record, Samuel Cooper was born in Hackensack New Jersey on the Hudson "at the family seat of his maternal ancestors, the Hortons." His mother was from Dutchess county, New York.

There is quite a bit of published information on him and what he did during The War. For anyone interested, I would suggest by starting with the Southern Historical Society Papers.

Regards,

 

[jgoodguy]

Steven E. Woodworth doesn't have a high opinion of Cooper. Some of his thoughts include:

"... Davis was not long in recognizing that Cooper neither would nor could be the kind of army chief of staff he had envisioned. His use of Robert E. Lee in what amounted to the job of chief of staff in 1862 was a tacit admission that Cooper would never be equal to the task."

"While maintaining Cooper in the position of adjutant and inspector general and persevering in the theory that the post was not one of a mere errand-boy to the president, Davis in practice allowed it to become just that. As the war progressed, the correspondence of the Adjutant and Inspector General's Office became more and more mundane, finally reaching a level of almost unrelieved triviality."

"Davis, realising Cooper's inadequacy but liking him as a person, chose not to hurt the old soldier by removing him but rather to allow the position to sink into decrepitude along with him."

IMHO this tracks my view of Cooper, but Davis chose Cooper in order to be the General in Chief and run the war himself. My position is that Cooper was intended to be a figurehead.

 

[NedBaldwin]

For the record, Samuel Cooper was born in Hackensack New Jersey on the Hudson "at the family seat of his maternal ancestors, the Hortons." His mother was from Dutchess county, New York.

I think the first part is wrong but the rest is correct. In Dutchess County NY is a place called New Hackensack which was where his mother's family lived. Subsequent writers have seen the name Hackensack and assumed it was the place in New Jersey. So for the record he was born in New York.

 

[Scott Bowden]

Thanks, Ned, for the correction.

I had been going by what John O'Brien, Emeritus, U of Conn, Storrs, had told me long ago. Having seen your post, I immediately went to the SHSP on my shelves to read what Fitz Lee wrote about Cooper and it all checks out and thankfully now makes sense.

Thanks again.

Regards,

 

[NedBaldwin]

Thanks, Ned, for the correction.

I had been going by what John O'Brien, Emeritus, U of Conn, Storrs, had told me long ago. Having seen your post, I immediately went to the SHSP on my shelves to read what Fitz Lee wrote about Cooper and it all checks out and thankfully now makes sense.

Thanks again.

Regards,

Others have made the same mistake -- Eicher and Eicher in Civil War High Commands also refer to Hackensack, New Jersey.