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.

Rise To Command

Union victory at the Battle of Rich Mountain on July 11th 1861 helped rise Major General George B McClellan to command.

On June 27th 1861 Major General George B McClellan who was then in command of the Union army in western Virginia, began moving troops south from Clarksburg VA. They reached the area around Rich Mountain in Randolph County Virginia [now West Virginia] on July 9th 1861 and come up against Confederate Lieutenant Colonel John Pegram. On July 11th 1861 Union Brigadier General William S Rosecrans took the Staunton Parkersburg Turnpike to Pegram’s rear. The next two hours of fighting split the Confederates forces. Pegram surrendered on July 13th 1861. About half of his men managed to escape.

On July 22nd 1861 McClellan was ordered to return to Washington DC, where he would be place in command of the Army of the Potomac. Rosecrans would be give the command of the army in western Virginia.

Further reading on this subject
The Battle of Rich Mountain: An Overview