CSA Bio: William R. Cox
Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 7:56 pm
Brig. Gen. William R. Cox (b. 1832, d. 1919) Warrior, jurist and statesman, William Ruffin Cox is forever tied to famous “lasts” among Confederate generals. Troops of the Cox Brigade launched the last offensive operations for the Army of Northern Virginia just prior to the surrender at Appomattox. And Cox was one of the final Confederate brigadiers to die, passing in Richmond, Virginia, Dec. 26, 1919. Cox frequently was the target of enemy fire. His tombstone at Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, North Carolina, reads, “He bore to his death scars of 11 wounds received in battle.” Cox was born March 11, 1832, in Scotland Neck, North Carolina. According to the tombstone, he fought at Meadow Bridge (Mechanicsville), Seven Days, Malvern Hill, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Spotsylvania, Valley Campaign, Petersburg and Appomattox. Grandson of a British naval officer who settled in North Carolina, Cox and his mother moved to Tennessee after the death of his father. He graduated from Franklin College in 1853 and Lebanon College Law School in 1855. After admission to the Tennessee bar, he practiced in Nashville. In 1857, he married Penelope B. Battle and ran the Edgecombe County plantation her family owned. Cox formed a militia company prior to the Civil War and volunteered it for service at the start of the conflict. He was appointed major of the Second North Carolina Infantry and went with that unit to Virginia. It was reported Cox fought with boldness and courage. At Chancellorsville, that boldness and courage caused Cox to be hit five times. Recovering from his wounds, Cox next drew praise at Spotsylvania Court House, where his regiment held the center of Gen. Ramseur’s line. Despite suffering from enfilading fire, Cox drove two lines of Federal infantry into retreat. That earned Cox the temporary rank of brigadier general May 31, 1864. He assumed command of what had been Ramsuer’s Brigade as Ramseur was promoted to major general. One of his fellow brigadiers in the division was his wife’s distant cousin, Cullen Battle. Cox commanded the last offensive of the Army of Northern Virginia, hours before its surrender by Gen. Robert E. Lee. Following the war, Cox turned to politics. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1880-86. He served as Secretary of the Senate from 1893-1900. He also was chairman of the North Carolina state executive committee, solicitor of the metropolitan district and a grand master of the Grand Lodge of Masons in North Carolina. After his death, Cox was buried in the Battle section of Oakwood Cemetery.
