Cobb, Thomas Read Rootes, 1823-1862

Thomas Read Rootes Cobb (1823-1862) was a lawyer of Georgia and later a Confederate brigadier general. He was killed at the Battle of Fredericksburg, Va.

From the guide to the Thomas Read Rootes Cobb Letters, ., 1855-1862, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)

Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb (1823-1862), lawyer and Brigadier General, born at Cherry Hill plantation in Jefferson County, Georgia. During the Civil War, he commanded Cobb's Legion and was killed at Fredericksburg, Virginia.

From the description of Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb papers, 1852-1862. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 38477899

Thomas Read Rootes Cobb (1823-1862) was born in Jefferson County, Georgia to John A. Cobb and Sarah Rootes Cobb. In 1842, he graduated from the University of Georgia and was admitted to the bar. In 1844, he married Marion Lumpkin, daughter of the Supreme Court of Georgia Chief Justice Joseph Henry Lumpkin and Callender G. Lumpkin. The couple had six children together: Lucy, Sarah, Marion, Callie, Joseph and Thomas. Marion Lumpkin had a sister, Callie Lumpkin (1826-1905), who married Porter King. This couple had 8 children, 5 of whom died in infancy. From 1849 to 1857, he worked as reporter for the Georgia Supreme Court. In 1857 the Cobb's oldest daughter Lucy died. Thomas Cobb had earlier helped found the Athens Female Institute, and in 1859 it was renamed the Lucy Cobb Institute in her honor. Cobb also served as a delegate to the Secession Convention and wrote a treatise in support of slavery titled, An Inquiry into the Law of Negro Slavery in the United States of America. During the Civil War, he served in the Confederate Congress where he was chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. In the summer of 1861, he organized Cobb's Legion and was commissioned as a colonel in the army. In November 1862, he was promoted to brigadier general. At the Battle of Fredricksburg, he was mortally wounded in the thigh by an artillery shell and died on December 13, 1862.

From the description of Thomas R.R. Cobb family letters, 1849-1857. (Atlanta History Center). WorldCat record id: 237125968

Georgia statesman and Confederate general, from Cherry Hill (Jefferson Co.), Ga.

From the description of Papers, 1852-1862. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 19347555

Lawyer of Georgia; later Confederate brigadier general.

From the description of Thomas Read Rootes Cobb letters, 1855-1862 [manuscript]. WorldCat record id: 24150865

"Thomas R. R. Cobb was one of antebellum Georgia's foremost legal authorities and most outspoken advocates of slavery and of secession from the Union. He fought for the Confederacy as a brigadier general and was killed at the Battle of Fredericksburg in 1862. ... In 1854 his sister, Laura Cobb Rutherford, appealed for a female high school in Athens. Cobb responded by raising money and organizing a group of trustees to form the Athens Female High School. The school opened in January 1859 and was soon renamed the Lucy Cobb Institute in honor of Cobb's eldest daughter, who died of fever at age thirteen in 1858. Cobb was also instrumental in reorganizing and expanding the University of Georgia. In 1859 he established the Lumpkin Law School with the aid of his father-in-law, Joseph Henry Lumpkin, a state supreme court justice for whom the school was named." - "Thomas R. R. Cobb." New Georgia Encyclopedia. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org (Retrieved July 31, 2008)

"The Civil War governor of Georgia, Joseph E. Brown, was one of the most successful politicians in the state's history and the father of two-term governor Joseph M. Brown." - "Joseph E. Brown." New Georgia Encyclopedia. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org (Retrieved July 31, 2008)

From the description of Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb letter to Governor Joseph Emerson Brown, 1860 September 17. (University of Georgia). WorldCat record id: 441882587