Shot While On His Back

Union General Robert Latimer McCook was killed August 6th 1862 killed near Huntsville, Alabama.


Robert Latimer McCook was born in New Lisbon, Ohio December 28th 1827. He read for the bar in Steubenville, Ohio in the office of Edwin M Stanton and his father Daniel McCook, and then moved to Cincinnati, Ohio where he opened a practice.

McCook organized the 9th Ohio Infantry at the start of the Civil War. This was a regiment made up mostly of German immigrants, and he was commissioned their Colonel May 6th 1861. During Union General George B McClellan’s campaign in western Virginia, McCook commanded a brigade, and saw action at Rich Mountain and Carnifex Ferry. After this he was transferred to the Army of the Ohio, where his brigade saw action in January 1862 at the Battle of Mill Springs. McCook was wounded there during a bayonet charge, and received a promotion to Brigadier General. He returned to his command before fully recovered, and found traveling on horseback was impossible. He was shot during a skirmish near Huntsville, Alabama with the Confederate 4th Alabama Cavalry led by Captain Frank B Gurley. Shot in the stomach, possibly while lying defenseless in an ambulance, the wound was mortal, and he died August 6th 1862. He is buried in the Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio.

A Druggist, A Soldier

Union General Mahlon Dickerson Manson died February 4th 1895.

Mahlon Dickerson Manson was born February 20th 1820 the son of Davis and Sarah [Cornwall] Manson Jr in Piqua, Ohio. Manson taught school in Montgomery County Indiana, and studied medicine in Cincinnati, Ohio. He served with the 5th Indiana Volunteer during the Mexican - American War. Following that war Manson worked as a druggist in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

When the Civil War started Manson was appointed Captain of the 10th Indiana Infantry. He commanded a brigade at the Battle of Mill Springs in 1862. Because of his actions during that battle Manson was promoted to Brigadier General on March 24th 1862. He was wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Richmond, but was back in action in time to fight Confederate John Hunt Morgan on his raid into Ohio. Manson led the XXIII Corps during the Knoxville Campaign. He returned to Brigade command in the Army of the Ohio during the Atlanta Campaign. Manson was wounded again during the Battle of Resaca. Do to this wound he resigned from the army in December 1864.

Following the war Manson ran as a Democrat and was elected to the United State House of Representatives in 1871. He was also the 20th Lieutenant Governor of Indiana, as well as the State Auditor. Manson died February 4th 1895 in Frankfort, Indiana. He is buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

He Went With His State

Confederate Brigadier General Felix Kirk Zollicoffer was killed January 19th 1862 during the Battle of Mill Springs in Kentucky.

Felix Kirk Zollicoffer was born May 19th 1812 on the family plantation in Bigbyville, Maury, Tennessee, the son of John Jacob and Martha [Kirk] Zollicoffer. He attended local schools and spent one year at Jackson College in Columbia Tennessee. Zollicoffer had left school to apprentice as a printer by the time he was sixteen. He was the editor and part owner of the “Columbia Observer” by 1834, and the editor of the “Mercury” of Huntsville, Alabama. Zollicoffer volunteered for the army in 1836 during the Second Seminole War. When the war was over he returned to home and his newspapers. He took up politics serving as the Comptroller of the State Treasury, and United States Congress.

Although Zollicoffer believed in states rights, he was not in favor of Tennessee seceding, and was a member of the Peace Convention of 1861. However when Tennessee seceded Zollicoffer joined the Confederate Army and was appointed Brigadier General in the District of East Tennessee. He and 4,000 new recruits were sent to Knoxville, Tennessee July 26th 1861 to suppress an East Tennessee resistance to the secession. Zollicoffer’s orders were to guard the Cumberland Gap, and he moved West into southeastern Kentucky, set up winter quarters at Mill Springs, Kentucky. On December 8th 1861 Zollicoffer was replaced by Confederate Major General George B Crittenden, who placed Zollicoffer in command of the First Brigade.

Union Brigadier General George Henry Thomas was ordered to break up Crittenden’s Army and on January 19th 1862 they attacked the Confederate force at Mill Springs. Zollicoffer had moved his troops to the north bank of river which proved to be indefensible, he could not however move the men do an insufficient number of boats. His men were routed. As the battle began to wined down Zollicoffer was shot by Union Colonel Speed S Fry, after wandering into a Union position thinking they were Confederate. He died January 19th 1862. Zollicoffer’s body was embalmed by a Union surgeon and returned to Tennessee where he was buried in the Old City Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee.

Pushing Confederates Out Of Kentucky

The Battle of Mill Springs, near Nancy Kentucky was fought on January 19th 1862, it was the second largest battle fought in Kentucky.

Confederate Brigadier General Felix K Zollicoffer had advanced into Kentucky and set a strong defensive position at Mill Springs. He made this his winter camp, fortifying both sides of the Cumberland River. Union Brigadier General George Henry Thomas was ordered to push the Confederates out of the area. Knowing that the Union troops were in the area, the Confederates decided to go on the defencive and attack.

At dawn on January 19th 1862 the Confederates attacked Thomas’s Union soldiers at Logan’s Crossroads. However the Union force had received reinforcements, causing the Rebel troops to have to retreat. During the resistance Zollicoffer was killed. The Confederates tried again, but a counterattack by the Union troops on the left and right flanks of the Confederate soldiers brook them. The Confederates retreated to Murfreesboro Tennessee, ending their hold in Kentucky