Francis Marion Cockrell was born October 1, 1834, near Warrensburg, Missouri; he graduated from Chapel Hill College in 1853, and became a lawyer in 1855. With the start of the Civil War, Cockrell raised a company for the Missouri State Guard and fought at Carthage and Wilson’s Creek. Early in 1862, he transferred to Confederate service and participated in the Battle of Pea Ridge.

Cockrell led the First Missouri Brigade during the Vicksburg campaign, was wounded in the hand during the siege of that city, and was captured when Vicksburg fell. Promoted to brigadier general on July 23, 1863, while a prisoner, he was exchanged that September. Cockrell formed another brigade of Missourians at Demopolis, Alabama, and led them through the Atlanta campaign. He was seriously wounded at the 1864 Battle of Franklin, but recovered and joined his command at Fort Blakely, guarding land access to Mobile. When the fort fell to Union forces on April 9, 1865, Cockrell was captured with 1,300 other Confederates.

After the war, Cockrell returned to Missouri and practiced law. In 1874 he was elected to the United States Senate, where he served thirty years. In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Cockrell to the Interstate Commerce Commission, a position he held for five years.

Cockrell died in Washington, D. C., on December 13, 1915, and is buried in Warrensburg, Missouri.

Carte-de-Visite by L.S. Neff, Warrensburg, Mo.

Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 31540