"The Fighting McCooks"

James H. Rodabaugh is a graduate of Miami University , Oxford, Ohio, and received his Ph.D. degree at Ohio State University. He and Mrs. Rodabaugh are the authors of Nursing in Ohio, a History (1951), and he has written and published a biography of Robert Hamilton Bishop, a pioneer educator. He is editor of the Ohio Historical Quarterly and head of the Division of History and Science of the Ohio Historical Society. "The Fighting McCooks" JAMES H. RODABAUGH One of this country's most famous families of fighting soldiers lived in eastern Ohio and achieved its fame during the Civil War. The famous "fighting McCooks" included Daniel McCook of Carrollton, his nine sons, and their cousins, the five sons of Dr. John McCook of Steubenville, Daniel's brother. The McCooks were a Scotch-Irish family which moved from Pennsylvania into Ohio in the 1820"S. Daniel and John settled at Lisbon, Columbiana County, in 1826. Within a few years, Daniel moved to Carrollton, the county seat of Carroll County, and several years later John moved to Steubenville. Both men became prominent in their communities. Daniel arrived in Carrollton at the time of the organization of the county and became the first clerk of the court of common pleas. He also was a prosperous businessman and operated a brick plant and dealt in real estate. In addition, he became one of the Democratic Party leaders in eastern Ohio. John practiced medicine in Lisbon and Steubenville and also played an important role in the Democratic Party. Here in eastern Ohio the two brothers brought up their large families, mostiy boys—fourteen of them— who were destined to make a notable mark in American military history. The military career of the family began before the Mexican War when Daniel's third son, John James, entered the United States Naval Academy. After his graduation he went into active service in the navy. He was serving as a midshipman on the frigate Delaware in 1842 when he died of a fever and was buried at Rio de Janeiro. Three of Daniel's other sons also began their service before the Civil War: George Wythe, a law 287 288JAMES H. RODABA U C H partner of Edwin M. Stanton, served as an officer of the Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry and returned from Mexican War service as the regiment 's commander; Alexander McDowell graduated from West Point in 1852 and served several years on the western frontier in campaigns against the Indians; Edwin Stanton graduated from the naval academy and served as a midshipman in the navy from 1854 to 1856. In John's family one member, Roderick Sheldon, entered military service before the Civil War. He graduated from Annapolis in 1859. During the Civil War, Daniel and his eight surviving sons and John and his five sons offered their services to the Union. All fourteen participated actively in the war, thirteen of them as officers. The "Tribe of Dan" produced two major generals, two brigadier generals, two colonels, two majors, and one private in the war. The "Tribe of John" contributed one major general, one brigadier general, two lieutenants—one a chaplain— and a lieutenant in the navy. Four of Daniel's family lost their lives, including the father who died of wounds received in the Battie of Buffington Island with John Morgan and his guerrilla band. Daniel had been present at the first battle of Bull Run and in October, 1861, fought in the skirmish at Bolivar Heights, near Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, although he was then sixty-three years old. Of Daniel's sons, the oldest, Latimer A. McCook, entered the service as an assistant surgeon but was soon promoted to surgeon, with the rank of major. He served throughout the war, was twice wounded, and died in 1869 as a result of his wounds and exposure on the field. The second son, George Wythe, who had served as attorney general of Ohio, was appointed colonel by Governor William Dennison to muster in the first two Ohio regiments sent to Washington after Lincoln's call to arms. He organized several Ohio regiments and commanded the 157th Ohio in the field in the summer...