Guide to the Edward L. Cook Papers
Processed by Edward C. Fields; also student assistant Victoria Rockwood
Department of Special Collections
© 2002
Davidson Library
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Phone: (805) 893-3062
Fax: (805) 893-5749
Email: special@library.ucsb.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/speccoll.html
Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Guide to the Edward L. Cook Papers, 1862-1865
Collection number: Wyles Mss 39
Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara- Department of Special Collections
- Davidson Library
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- Santa Barbara, CA 93106
- Phone: (805) 893-3062
- Fax: (805) 893-5749
- Email: special@library.ucsb.edu
- URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/speccoll.html
- Processed by:
- Edward C. Fields; also student assistant Victoria Rockwood
- Date Completed:
- 01 November 2002
- Encoded by:
- David C. Gartrell
© 2002 Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Title: Edward L. Cook Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1862-1865
Collection Number: Wyles Mss 39
Creator:
Cook, Edward Leigh
Extent:
.2 linear feet
(1 half-size document box)
Repository:
University of California, Santa Barbara. Library. Department of Special Collections
Santa Barbara, California 93106-9010
Physical Location: Vault
Language:
English.
None.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or
quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given
on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
Edward L. Cook Papers. Wyles Mss 39. Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa
Barbara.
Gift of Mr. And Mrs. Durward Sydney Riggs, 1964.
Drawn from an entry in:
New York in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, v.4, Albany, 1912:
Edward Leigh Cook (1835-1919) enlisted at Buffalo to serve three years and mustered in as Corporal, Company H, September 4,
1864. He was promoted to the rank of Sergeant, March 16, 1864. Further promotions followed: Second lieutenant, April 21, 1864;
mustered in as First Lieutenant, August 4, 1864; as Captain, Company F, January 28, 1865; mustered out with company, August
28, 1865, at Richmond, Va. Other listings from his military career: Major, N.Y. Volunteers, by brevet; commissioned Second
Lieutenant, May 18, 1864, with rank from April 21, 1864, replacing E. Nichols who was promoted; First Lieutenant, November
19, 1864, with rank from July 1, 1864, replacing M. Friday who was dismissed; Captain, January 20, 1865, with rank from December
9, 1864, replacing J.H. Dandy who was promoted.
Scope and Content of Collection
Primarily correspondence of Edward Leigh Cook, a resident of Nunday, N.Y. Cook was a Civil War Union soldier who served with
the 100th New York Infantry, Co. F. and Co. H. The letters date from September 17, 1862 to September 6, 1865. Almost all were
written to his parents and sisters while Cook served in Virginia, South Carolina, and Florida. (There is at least one item
that seems to have been written by a comrade to Cook's sister Laura).
In most of his correspondence, Cook describes various aspects of military life: travel, weather, the rigors of life in the
field, and his private cares and concerns. He also gives his account of a number of battles in which he participated (Fort
Sumter, Fort Wagner) in vivid detail. Cook also makes note of a number of famous personages and events: a visit by General
Grant, the Sherman Campaign, troop movements and reported observations by Generals Lee, Sheridan, Grant and others. He describes
his reactions to the death of Lincoln, the end of the war, and his desire to return home as soon as possible following Lee's
surrender and the cessation of hostilities.
Box 1: 1
Correspondence, 1862
Box 1: 2
Correspondence, 1863
Box 1: 3
Correspondence, 1864
Box 1: 4
Correspondence, 1865