View source for Francis Cockrell

{{Short description|American politician (1834–1915)}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2013}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|image = Francis Cockrell - Brady-Handy.jpg
|jr/sr              = United States Senator
|state               = [[Missouri]]
|term_start          = March 4, 1875
|term_end            = March 3, 1905
|predecessor         = [[Carl Schurz]]
|successor1          = [[William Warner (Missouri)|William Warner]]
|birth_name                = Francis Marion Cockrell
|birth_date         = {{birth date|1834|10|1}}
|birth_place        = [[Warrensburg, Missouri|Warrensburg]], [[Missouri]]
|death_date         = {{death date and age|1915|12|13|1834|10|1}}
|death_place        = [[Washington, D.C.]]
|party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|allegiance = {{flagicon|Confederate States of America|1865}} [[Confederate States of America]]
|branch ={{army|CSA}}
|serviceyears  =1861–1865 (CSA) 
|rank = [[General (CSA)#Brigadier general|Brigadier General]] 
|unit= [[1st Missouri Infantry (Confederate)|1st Missouri Infantry Regiment]]
|commands= {{nowrap|2nd Missouri Infantry Regiment}}<br />[[First Missouri Brigade]]<br />French's Division
|battles = [[American Civil War]]
|signature = Signature of Francis Marion Cockrell (1834–1915).png
}}
[[File:Brigadier General Francis Marion Cockrell.jpg|thumb|Cockrell in military uniform, January 1864]]
[[File:20-13-147-cockrell-cropped.jpg|thumb|Relief portrait by [[Allen George Newman]] at [[Vicksburg National Military Park]]]]

'''Francis Marion Cockrell''' (October 1, 1834{{spaced ndash}}December 13, 1915) was a [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] military commander and American politician from the state of [[Missouri]]. He served as a [[United States senator]] from Missouri for five terms. He was a prominent member of the famed [[South–Cockrell–Hargis family]] of [[Southern United States|Southern]] politicians.

==Early life and family==
Cockrell was born in [[Warrensburg, Missouri]], the son of Nancy (Ellis) and Joseph Cockrell, the sheriff of Johnson County. His older brother was [[Jeremiah Vardaman Cockrell]], who was a congressman from [[Texas]] in the 1890s. Francis Cockrell attended local schools and Chapel Hill College in [[Lafayette County, Missouri]], graduating in July 1853; He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1855, practicing law in Warrensburg until the outbreak of the Civil War.<ref name=StarObit>{{cite news|title=Former Senator Cockrell is Dead|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1915-12-13/ed-1/seq-2/|access-date=January 14, 2016|work=Evening Star|date=December 13, 1915|location=Washington DC|page=2}}</ref>

Cockrell was married three times. His first wife, Arthusa Dorcas ''Stapp'' (1830–1859), with whom he had three sons.  His second wife, Anna E. ''Mann'' (1840–1871) of Kentucky, died of [[Tuberculosis|consumption]]. In July 1873, he married Anna Ewing (1846–1894), the eldest daughter of Judge [[Ephraim Brevard Ewing]] from Missouri.<ref name=WifeObit>{{cite news|title=Mrs. Cockrell's Life Ends|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89067274/1894-01-11/ed-1/seq-2/|access-date=January 14, 2016|work=Mexico Weekly Ledger|date=January 11, 1894|location=Mexico, Missouri|page=2}}</ref>

==Civil War==
At the beginning of the [[American Civil War]] in 1861, Cockrell joined the [[Missouri State Guard]] as a [[Captain (United States O-3)|Captain]].<ref name=StarObit/> After being mustered into the Confederate States Army in the 2nd Missouri Regiment in early 1862 (which was formed as the 1st, but renumbered as Bowen had already formed a regiment); being promoted to [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]]. Cockrell commanded a brigade in the [[Vicksburg Campaign]].  He distinguished himself at the [[Battle of Champion Hill]], launching a counterattack that temporarily ousted troops of [[XVII Corps (ACW)|XVII Corps]] off the hill. He also took part in the [[Battle of Big Black River Bridge]]. His brigade was able to escape just before federal troops seized the bridge.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.battleofchampionhill.org/cockrell.htm|title=Civil War Correspondence of Col. Francis M. Cockrell|publisher=James and Rebecca Drake|access-date=January 14, 2016}}</ref><ref name=Eicher/>  He was wounded in the hand by an exploding shell during the [[Siege of Vicksburg]].

Cockrell was promoted to [[Brigadier General (CSA)|brigadier general]] on July 18, 1863.<ref name=Eicher>Eicher, p. 179.</ref> He went on to fight in many of the battles of the 1864 [[Atlanta campaign]], and participated in Hood's Tennessee Campaign later that year where he was wounded at the [[Battle of Franklin (1864)|Battle of Franklin]] on November 30, 1864. In 1865, Cockrell commanded a division in defence of [[Battle of Fort Blakeley|Fort Blakeley]], Alabama. On April 9, 1865, shortly before the war ended, Cockrell was captured there but was paroled on May 14.<ref name=StarObit/><ref name=Eicher/> Cockrell's [[First Missouri Brigade]] was considered one of the finest on either side, and Cockrell himself is widely recognized as one of the best combat brigadiers of the entire war.{{citation needed|date=February 2013}} After the war ended, he returned to his law practice in Missouri.

==Postbellum career==
In 1874, Cockrell, who became a member of the [[United States Democratic Party]], was elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri by the state legislature. His first and only elected office,<ref>{{cite news|title=Cockrell is Dead|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82016014/1915-12-13/ed-1/seq-1/|access-date=January 14, 2016|work=The Topeka State Journal|date=December 13, 1915|location=Topeka, Kansas}}</ref> he served in the Senate from 1875 to 1905,<ref name=StarObit/> when he retired. He held several committee chairmanships, including the chairmanships of the Claims Committee, Engrossed Bills Committee and Appropriations Committee during his senate career.  He received 42 votes for President of the United States at the [[1904 Democratic National Convention]], but was defeated by [[Alton B. Parker]].

He was appointed to the [[Interstate Commerce Commission]] by President [[Theodore Roosevelt]]<ref name=StarObit/> in 1905, serving in that capacity until 1910. In 1911, he was appointed commissioner to negotiate the boundaries between the state of Texas and the [[New Mexico Territory]],<ref name=StarObit/> which was about to become a state. In 1913, [[Woodrow Wilson]] appointed him as the civilian member on the Board of Ordnance and Fortifications for the [[United States Department of War|War Department]], where he served until his death in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name=StarObit/>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|American Civil War}}
* [[List of American Civil War generals (Confederate)]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* Bailey, Anne, "Francis Marion Cockrell", ''The Confederate General'', Vol. 2, [[William C. Davis (historian)|Davis, William C.]], and Julie Hoffman (eds.), National Historical Society, 1991, {{ISBN|0-918678-64-1}}.
* Eicher, John H., and [[David J. Eicher|Eicher, David J.]], ''Civil War High Commands'', Stanford University Press, 2001, {{ISBN|0-8047-3641-3}}.
* Sifakis, Stewart. ''Who Was Who in the Civil War.'' New York: Facts On File, 1988. {{ISBN|978-0-8160-1055-4}}.
* [[Ezra J. Warner (historian)|Warner, Ezra J.]] ''Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders.'' Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. {{ISBN|978-0-8071-0823-9}}.
* Williamson, Hugh P. "Correspondence of Senator Francis Marion Cockrell: December 23, 1885-March 24, 1888." ''Bulletin of the Missouri Historical Society'' 28 (July 1969): 296-305.

==External links==
*{{Find a Grave|9913}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-par|us-sen}}
{{U.S. Senator box
|state=Missouri
|class=1
|before=[[Carl Schurz]]
|after=[[William Warner (Missouri)|William Warner]]
|alongside=[[Lewis V. Bogy]], [[David H. Armstrong]], [[James Shields (politician, born 1810)|James Shields]], [[George Graham Vest|George G. Vest]], [[William J. Stone]]
|years=1875&ndash;1905}}
{{S-end}}

{{USSenMO}}
{{SenAppropriationsCommitteeChairs}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cockrell, Francis}}
[[Category:1834 births]]
[[Category:1915 deaths]]
[[Category:Confederate States Army brigadier generals]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 1904 United States presidential election]]
[[Category:Democratic Party United States senators from Missouri]]
[[Category:People of the Interstate Commerce Commission]]
[[Category:People of Missouri in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Missouri Democrats]]
[[Category:20th-century United States senators]]
[[Category:19th-century United States senators]]
[[Category:United States senators who owned slaves]]