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VITAL STATISTICS
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BORN: 1817 in Twiggs City, GA.
DIED: 1894 in Atlanta, GA.
CAMPAIGNS: Antietam, Seven Days, Chancellorsville and Petersburg.
HIGHEST RANK ACHIEVED: Brigadier General.
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BIOGRAPHY
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| Born on July 31, 1817, in Twiggs County, Georgia; Philip Cook was the son of Virginians in Georgia. After studying at Oglethorpe University, he graduated from the law school of the University of Virginia in 1841. Until 1861, he lived in Macon County, Georgia. In early 1861, he volunteered as a private in the 4th Georgia Infantry. After being sent with the regiment to Portsmouth, Virginia, he became its adjutant . Having fought in the Seminole Wars, Cook had enough experience to help him during the regiment's Virginia Peninsula campaigns. By the end of the Seven Days' Campaign, he had obtained a position as lieutenant colonel of the regiment. After being present at the Second Battle of Bull Run and Battle of Antietam, he was promoted to colonel. Leading the 4th Georgia, he took part in the Second Battle of Fredericksburg and the Battle of Chancellorsville. He was wounded in the leg, and was cited for gallantry. After taking three months off for rehabilitation, he returned to the field, and took a leave of absence to sit in a session of the Georgia legislature. Cook took over brigade command when Brig. Gen. George P. Doles was killed at Cold Harbor in June of 1864. Cook was wounded again at the Siege of Petersburg, then fought under Maj. Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur at Cedar Creek. After his return to Petersburg, Cook was wounded a third time, this time in the arm, during an 1865 aborted Confederate attack on Fort Stedman. During the last weeks of the war, Cook was recovering in a hospital, and was captured when the area was evacuated on April 3, 1865. After General Lee's surrender, Cook moved to Americus, Georgia, where he set up a law practice and was active in politics. Serving in the US House of Representatives from 1873 to 1883, he became Georgia's secretary of state in 1890 and was part of the commission that built Atlanta's state capitol. Cook died in Atlanta, Georgia on May 21, 1894. |
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