Samuel P. Cox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Williamsburg, Kentucky, U.S.
Gallatin, Missouri, U.S.
Samuel P. Cox | |
|---|---|
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| Born | December 16, 1828 Williamsburg, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | August 21, 1913 (aged 84) Gallatin, Missouri, U.S. |
| Branch | Union Army |
| Known for | Commander of troops who killed "Bloody Bill" Anderson |
| Battles / wars | Skirmish at Albany, Missouri |
Samuel P. Cox (December 16, 1828 – August 21, 1913) was an American businessman and soldier who is best remembered as the commander of the Union troops who killed "Bloody Bill" Anderson at the Battle of Albany, during the American Civil War.
An alleged attempt to assassinate Cox in 1869 in reprisal for the killing marked the first time that Frank James and Jesse James were publicly identified as outlaws.
Cox was born in Williamsburg, Kentucky. He moved with his parents to Daviess County, Missouri in 1839. He joined the Army during the Mexican–American War in 1847. After the war, he returned to Gallatin, Missouri and briefly settled in Grass Valley, Nevada and Oroville, California (1854–1856) before returning to Daviess County in 1857, where he was briefly a deputy sheriff. He worked for Russell, Majors and Waddell as a wagon master during the Utah War in 1858–59.[1]
Civil War
In 1861 Cox joined the Missouri Militia with the rank of major. During this time he was elected in absentia circuit clerk of Daviess County in 1862. He resigned in 1863, citing ill health, and returned to Gallatin.[1] In 1864, he returned to the Missouri Militia, this time as a lieutenant colonel of the Thirty-third Regiment of Missouri State Militia.[1]
Battle of Albany
On September 27, 1864, Anderson's troops seeking to assist Price's Raid, a Confederate attempt to retake Missouri in the Civil War, killed more than 100 in the Centralia Massacre. Union soldiers were scalped, mutilated, and shot at point-blank range while unarmed, prompting an all-out effort to pursue Anderson. Among Anderson's men at Centralia were reported to be Frank James and Jesse James, although their notoriety had not been established at that point.[2] Anderson held off the Union troops pursuing him using guerrilla attacks, by sending out small contingents which were attacked by Union troops, which in turn were overwhelmed by hidden Confederate troops.[3]
On October 26, 1864, in the community of Albany, Missouri (now Orrick, Missouri and unrelated to another similarly named town).[4] Cox used Anderson's strategy against him, luring Anderson's men screaming the Rebel Yell to charge a seemingly vulnerable Union advance only to run into the guns of the Union lines. Anderson was shot twice in the back of the head. His body was taken back to Richmond, Missouri where it was placed on display.[5] Various reports indicated that he had a scalp on his saddle and another report indicated that Anderson had 59 knots on a rope on his horse indicating the men he had killed.[4]
The attacking Confederate force only had included Anderson and five or six men and the Confederate losses in the battle including the attacking line as well as those in the rear was just 7. Four Union soldiers were shot but no injuries were fatal.[2]
