Francis Marion Cockrell - Warrensburg, Mo. - Specific Veteran Memorials on Waymarking.com

Francis Marion Cockrell (October 1, 1834 – December 13, 1915) was a Confederate military commander and American politician from the state of Missouri. He served as a United States Senator from Missouri for five terms. He was a prominent member of the famed South–Cockrell–Hargis family of Southern politicians.

At the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861, the militia officer joined the Missouri State Guard as a Captain. After being mustered into the Confederate States Army he briefly served in the 1st Missouri Infantry Regiment before transferring to the 2nd Missouri Regiment in early 1862; being promoted to colonel. Cockrell commanded a brigade in the Vicksburg Campaign. He distinguished himself at the Battle of Champion Hill, launching a counterattack that temporarily ousted troops of XVII Corps off the hill. He also took part in the Battle of Big Black River Bridge. His brigade was able to escape just before federal troops seized the bridge. He was wounded in the hand by an exploding shell during the Siege of Vicksburg.

Cockrell was promoted to brigadier general on July 18, 1863.[4] He went on to fight in many of the battles of the Atlanta Campaign, and participated in Hood's Tennessee Campaign later that year (where he was wounded). In 1865 Cockrell commanded a division in defence of Fort Blakely, Alabama. On April 9, 1865, shortly before the war ended, Cockrell was captured there but was paroled on May 14. Cockrell's Missouri Brigade was considered one of the finest on either side, and Cockrell himself is widely recognized as one of the best combat brigadiers of the entire war. He returned to his law practice in Missouri.