James Wallace Cooke, born in North Carolina, joined the U.S. Navy in 1828. In May 1861, while holding the rank of Lieutenant, he resigned his United States' commission and joined the Virginia State Navy, entering the service of the Confederate States in the following month. Later in 1861, he was placed in command of the small gunboat Ellis and was captured with her after a hard fight off Roanoke Island, N.C., on 10 February 1862. Wounded in that action and soon paroled, he was promoted to Commander in June 1862.
Commander Cooke's next assignment was to oversee the construction of the ironclad ram Albemarle. After many difficulties, CSS Albemarle was successfully completed in April 1864, and Cooke became her commanding officer. On 19 April and 5 May, he took her into action against Federal forces, sinking one gunboat and disabling or driving off others. That June he was promoted to the rank of Captain and was later placed in charge of Confederate Naval forces on North Carolina's internal waters, holding that position until the end of the Civil War. Captain James W. Cooke died at Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1869.
This page features our only picture of James Wallace Cooke.
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If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."
16 October 1999