ENTRY

Philip St. George Cocke (1809–1861)

SUMMARY

Philip St. George Cocke was a wealthy plantation owner in Powhatan County and in Mississippi, who accumulated hundreds of slaves and thousands of acres of land. He became a leading advocate of agricultural interests, serving as president of the Virginia State Agricultural Society from 1853 to 1856, and promoting agricultural education. Cocke served as a lieutenant in the United States Army during the South Carolina Nullification Crisis in 1832, and in 1860, organized a cavalry troop in response to John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry. When volunteers were combined into the Confederate army following the start of the American Civil War (1861–1865), Cocke’s rank was reduced from brigadier general to colonel. He took offense and later complained bitterly when Confederate general Pierre G. T. Beauregard did not praise him enough during the First Battle of Manassas (1861). In a state of despondency and mental anguish over what he regarded as poor treatment by General Robert E. Lee and others, he committed suicide on December 26, 1861.

Cocke was born on April 17, 1809, in Surry County and was the son of John Hartwell Cocke (1780–1866), a planter and reformer, and his first wife, Ann Blaws Barraud Cocke, who died in December 1816. He attended the University of Virginia for the 1825, 1827, and 1827–1828 sessions before entering the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, on July 1, 1828. After graduating sixth in a class of forty-five in 1832, Cocke served as a second lieutenant of artillery in the United States Army and was stationed at Charleston, South Carolina, during the Nullification Crisis. On April 1, 1834, he resigned his commission, and on June 4 of that year in Surry County he married Sally Elizabeth Courtney Bowdoin. They had seven daughters and four sons.

Philip St. George Cocke’s Plantation and Farm Book

Cocke inherited and acquired great wealth, including extensive agricultural holdings in Virginia and Mississippi. He bought several properties in Powhatan County, including Belmead, where he built a mansion overlooking the James River to serve as his family home. By 1860 Cocke owned more than 27,000 acres of land and more than 610 slaves in the two states and reckoned his net worth at more than $1,000,000. His widely scattered plantations required management through overseers, and he compiled detailed manuals for directing the work. Cocke gained renown as a leading advocate of agricultural interests. He built an extensive library of more than 600 titles, including a wide array of volumes on agriculture and plantation management. As president of the Virginia State Agricultural Society from 1853 to 1856, he promoted the cause of agricultural education. Attempting to establish a program of agricultural studies at the University of Virginia, Cocke pledged $20,000 in bonds to help endow a professorship. After that plan failed, he proposed developing a school of agriculture at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington. Cocke served on VMI’s board from 1846 to 1852 (from June 1851 through June 1852 as president) and from 1858 until his death, again as board president. His second plan for agricultural education died during the Civil War.

Architectural Plans for Belmead

Cocke was enamored of Gothic architecture and sponsored the New York architect Alexander Jackson Davis, who worked in that style. Under Cocke’s patronage, Davis designed Belmead and Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Powhatan County, where Cocke and members of his family worshiped, as well as Gothic Revival structures for the Virginia Military Institute. Cocke also engaged Davis to prepare a Greek Revival design for the Powhatan County courthouse.

In response to John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry, Cocke organized a Powhatan cavalry troop that drilled in 1860. In April of the following year he became a brigadier general of volunteers and was ordered to Alexandria, where he initially commanded the defenses in northern Virginia. He issued a call to arms to the men of central Virginia. A few weeks later, when the volunteers were folded into the Confederate army, Cocke was commissioned a colonel, a reduction in rank that deeply offended him. In a flurry of letters he complained bitterly about what he regarded as shameful treatment. Cocke commanded the 5th Brigade at the First Battle of Manassas in July 1861, but he felt insulted afterward when he believed that General Pierre G. T. Beauregard insufficiently praised his achievements.

Let the Bearer

Cocke possessed a strong impulse to public service and an equally strong sense of self-importance and high opinion of his own abilities as a military commander. Proud and temperamental, he was easily affronted and quick to perceive malice in others’ treatment of him. In October 1861 Cocke was promoted to brigadier general but too late to salve his wounded pride. His manner became distracted, and one colleague feared he was no longer of sound mind. On December 26, 1861, in a state of despondency and mental anguish over what he regarded as poor treatment by General Robert E. Lee and others, Philip St. George Cocke committed suicide at Belmead by shooting himself in the head with a pistol. He was buried on his estate, but in 1904 his remains were reinterred in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.

MAP
TIMELINE
April 17, 1809
Philip St. George Cocke is born in Surry County.
1825 and 1827—1828
Philip St. George Cocke attends the University of Virginia.
July 1, 1828
Philip St. George Cocke enters the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
1832
Philip St. George Cocke graduates sixth in a class of forty-five from the U.S. Military Academy and goes on to serve as a second lieutenant of artillery in the U.S. Army. He is stationed in Charleston, South Carolina, during the Nullification Crisis.
April 1, 1834
Philip St. George Cocke resigns his commission in the U.S. Army.
June 4, 1834
Philip St. George Cocke marries Sally Elizabeth Courtney Bowdoin.
1846—1852
Philip St. George Cocke serves on the Virginia Military Institute's board of directors (from June 1851 through June 1852 as president).
1853—1856
Philip St. George Cocke serves as president of the Virginia State Agricultural Society.
1858—1861
Philip St. George Cocke serves a second term as the president of the Virginia Military Institute's board of directors.
1860
By this year, Philip St. George Cocke owns more than 27,000 acres of land and more than 610 slaves in Virginia and Mississippi and reckons his net worth at more than $1,000,000.
1860
In response to John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, Philip St. George Cocke organizes a cavalry troop.
April 1861
Philip St. George Cocke becomes a brigadier general of volunteers and is ordered to Alexandria, where he initially commands the defenses in northern Virginia.
May 1861
When volunteers are folded into the Confederate army, Philip St. George Cocke is commissioned a colonel, a reduction in rank that deeply offends him. In a flurry of letters he complains bitterly about what he regards as shameful treatment.
July 21, 1861
Philip St. George Cocke commands the 5th Brigade at the First Battle of Manassas, but feels insulted afterward when he believes that General Pierre G. T. Beauregard insufficiently praises his achievements.
October 1861
Philip St. George Cocke is promoted to brigadier general but too late to salve his wounded pride.
December 26, 1861
In a state of despondency and mental anguish over what he regards as poor treatment by General Robert E. Lee and others, Philip St. George Cocke commits suicide at his home Belmead in Powhatan County by shooting himself in the head with a pistol. He is buried in Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery.
FURTHER READING
  • Koons, Kenneth E. “Cocke, Philip St. George.” In Dictionary of Virginia Biography, Vol. 3, edited by Sara B. Bearss, 335–336. Richmond: Library of Virginia, 2006.
CITE THIS ENTRY
APA Citation:
Koons, Kenneth & Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Philip St. George Cocke (1809–1861). (2020, December 07). In Encyclopedia Virginia. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/cocke-philip-st-george-1809-1861.
MLA Citation:
Koons, Kenneth, and Dictionary of Virginia Biography. "Philip St. George Cocke (1809–1861)" Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, (07 Dec. 2020). Web. 23 Sep. 2023
Last updated: 2021, December 22
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