Major Jesse James Cox
Captain, Prattville Dragoons, 7th Alabama Infantry, Co. I
Major, General J.K. Jackson's Battalion of Sharpshooters
(2nd Georgia Battalion Sharpshooters)
Jesse James Cox was born in the town of Washington, Autauga County, AL. He is the son of Wade H. Cox, who is credited by many as the founder of Washington, after his arrival to that place in 1818. Washington was located where Autauga Creek empties into the Alabama River. One of the main businesses there was a large lumberyard that supplied the food for the hungry boilers on the many steamboats that operated the Alabama River.
Wade Cox owned and operated the ferry at the landing that connected Autauga County to Montgomery. Daniel Pratt’s plank road also came to this place from his cotton gin factory in Prattville. Jesse grew up here, seeing the daily riverboat traffic with their unloading and loading of passengers and goods from the massive steamers. It is no wonder that when Jesse reached adulthood, benefited with his father’s wealth, he chose to apply his trade in the steamboat business.
Jesse became one of, if not the most famous steamboat captain on the Alabama River. He formed Cox, Brainard & Co. of Mobile, which owned and operated at least seven different steamers that ran daily routes along the whole of the Alabama River from Wetumpka to Mobile. The steamers were named the LA GRANDE, ST. NICHOLAS, SOUTHERN REPUBLIC, JEFF DAVIS, HENRY J. KING, SENATOR, AND ST. CHARLES. It is known from news clippings, that from time to time, Jesse himself was Captain of the steamboats FASHION, ST. NICHOLAS, and MESSENGER. His steamers transported passengers, as well as cotton and other goods. They were some of the fastest and most luxurious boats on the river. Cox also operated a business located at Court Square in Montgomery called J.J. Cox & Co. The lucrative steamboat business during the pre-war years of Alabama’s cotton trade, propelled Jesse J. Cox high up the social ladder within the State, and made him one of the most prominent citizens of Autauga County.
Cox loved his steamboats so, that he patterned his magnificent home on Washington Ferry Road after them. The home was even reported to have been shaped like a steamboat. Silver plates bearing the name of Captain Cox were fixed to the driveway gates that led up to the home. He constructed parlors that resembled the saloons aboard his steamers. Similar styles of furniture, ornaments, and fully colored skylights adorned his home. All the door knobs throughout the home were made of solid silver. A unigue home indeed for his wife Laura Chisholm Cox and their young family. He was boasted as a perfect gentleman and boatman, who paid unique attention to his passengers, supplying them with the finest accommodations, exquisite meals, and catering to their special needs & comfort.
One has to wonder if Captain Cox's Steamboat house was the inspiration for Dr. Rufus Bailey who built a Steamboat house in 1858 at Huntsville, Texas as a wedding present for his son. His son and new daughter-in-law refused to move into the house. In 1862, Sam Houston rented the house, and in midsummer of the next year, he was stricken with pneumonia and died in the downstairs front room on July 26, 1863. Today the house is part of the Sam Houston Memorial Museum at Huntsville, Texas.
Sam Houston Steamboat House, Huntsville, Texas
Photo courtesy of Steven Butler - http://www.watermelon-kid.com/adventures.htm
Take a virtual tour of the STEAMBOAT HOUSE......... http://www.shsu.edu/~smm_www/Tour/grounds/sh1.shtml
Captain Cox's local popularity was honored by the citizens of Montgomery in 1858 by the presentation to him of an exquisite sterling silver water cooler & matching silver ladle. The cooler was described as being richly embellished and engraved on its side with the inscription: "Captain Jesse J. Cox, From his friends of Montgomery, Alabama, January 1, 1858."
As Old Autauga readied for war in early 1861, Jesse Cox joined the local cavalry unit that formed near his home, the Prattville Dragoons. He enlisted at the rank of Private, but when the company was accepted into Confederate service at Montgomery, Jesse was unanimously elected Captain.
Prattville Dragoons Company Flag
Cox and his Dragoons were sent to Pensacola, Florida where they received training and prepared to advance north to meet the enemy. At Pensacola, the Dragoons were attached to the 7th Alabama Infantry Regiment as Company I. They were sent to Corinth, Mississippi where Jesse first briefly encountered the enemy while on scouting patrols.
The Prattville Dragoons also participated at the Battle of Shiloh. Wilbur F. Mims records in his War History of the Prattville Dragoons, that the company was “on the field from start to finish doing duty as couriers for the different commanding Generals, and sometimes used for charging batteries….the duties of the company carried them to every part of the battlefield, and many acts of gallantry were accorded by proper authorities.”
Mims states that the company returned to Corinth where the Dragoons took care of their sick and wounded. A party commanded by Lt. Oliver was sent out to find the enemy and were fired upon, with loss to the party. Corinth was evacuated and the army moved to Tupelo. While at Tupelo, Captain Cox, along with Lieutenants Oliver and Felder, tendered their resignations. All three applications were accepted, and each Officer was later given a command in the Infantry.
While Cox and his Dragoons were fighting at the front, back home in Alabama, the schooner “Jesse J. Cox” was captured on March 26, 1862 by the U.S.S. Cayuga, a 691-ton Unadilla class screw steamer gunboat. The Jesse J. Cox was sailing from Mobile to Havana with a cargo of cotton and other supplies when she was overtaken by the Cayuga.
Federal Gunboat U.S.S. Cayuga
Continue to J.J. Cox Page 2
