Full Name:
- Alexander McDowell McCook
Birth Date:
- April 22, 1831
Birth Location:
- Columbiana County, Ohio
Parents:
- Daniel and Martha (Latimer) McCook
Education:
- United States Military Academy (1852)
Occupation:
- Military officer
Career Summary:
- Major General (USA)
- Major General (USVA)
Spouses:
- Kate Phillips (1863)
- Annie Colt (1884)
Place of Death:
- Dayton, Ohio
Date of Death:
- June 12, 1903
Place of Burial:
- Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio
Significance:
- Alexander McDowell McCook was the fifth son of Daniel and Martha (Latimer) McCook.
- Alexander McDowell McCook graduated from the United States Military Academy on July 1, 1852, 30th in his class.
- Alexander McDowell McCook was commissioned as brevet second lieutenant on July 1, 1852.
- Alexander McDowell McCook was promoted to second lieutenant on June 30, 1854.
- Alexander McDowell McCook scouted and fought against the Apache and Ute Indians in New Mexico from 1853 to 1857.
- Alexander McDowell McCook served as an assistant instructor of infantry tactics at the United States Military Academy from February 12, 1858 to April 24, 1861.
- When the American Civil War began, Alexander McDowell McCook was appointed as colonel of the 1st Ohio Infantry on April 16, 1861.
- Alexander McDowell McCook participated in the First Battle of Bull Run (July 21, 1861).
- Alexander McDowell McCook was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers on September 3, 1861.
- Alexander McDowell McCook was promoted to the rank of brevet lieutenant colonel in the regular army for his participation in the capture of Nashville (February 1862).
- Alexander McDowell McCook commanded the 2nd Division of the Army of the Ohio at the Battle of Shiloh (April 6–7, 1862) and the Siege of Corinth (April 29, 1862–May 30, 1862).
- Alexander McDowell McCook was promoted to major general of volunteers on July 17, 1862.
- Alexander McDowell McCook was promoted to command of the 1st Corps of the Army of the Ohio
- Alexander McDowell McCook commanded the 1st Corps of the Army of the Ohio at the Battle of Perryville (October 8, 1862).
- Alexander McDowell McCook was assigned as commander of the Right Wing of the 14th Corps in the Army of the Cumberland
- Alexander McDowell McCook married Kate Phillips on January 29, 1863.
- Alexander McDowell McCook was court-martialed and partially blamed for the Union disaster at Chickamauga. He was not convicted but relieved of duty in the Army of the Cumberland.
- Alexander McDowell McCook was placed in command of the “Defenses of the Potomac River and Washington” and was in charge of all forces defending the capital at the Battle of Fort Stevens (July 11–July 12, 1864).
- Alexander McDowell McCook was without a field command at the close of the Civil War.
- After the Civil War, Alexander McDowell McCook was given command of the District of Eastern Arkansas.
- At the close of the war, Alexander McDowell McCook received brevet promotions to brigadier general and major general in the regular army for service throughout the war.
- Alexander McDowell McCook resigned from the volunteer service on October 21, 1865.
- Alexander McDowell McCook was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the 26th Infantry on March 5, 1867.
- Alexander McDowell McCook served in Texas from 1867 to 1874.
- Alexander McDowell McCook served as the aide-de-camp to the general-in-chief of the U.S. Army, Gen. William T. Sherman from 1875 to 1880.
- Alexander McDowell McCook was promoted to colonel of the 6th Infantry on December 15, 1880.
- Alexander McDowell McCook married Annie Colt on October 8, 1884.
- Alexander McDowell McCook commanded Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and the infantry and cavalry school there from May 13, 1886 to August 28, 1890.
- Alexander McDowell McCook was promoted to brigadier general in the regular army on July 11, 1890.
- Alexander McDowell McCook commanded the Department of Arizona from 1890 to 1895.
- Alexander McDowell McCook was promoted to major general in 1894.
- Alexander McDowell McCook retired from the army in 1895.
- Alexander McDowell McCook served on a commission to investigate the United States Department of War as administered during the Spanish-American War from 1898 to 1899.
- Alexander McDowell McCook died in Dayton, Ohio, on June 12, 1903, at age 72.
- Alexander McDowell McCook is buried in Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio.