John B. Cocke

John Benjamin Cocke was an American lawyer who served as a senior officer of the Confederate States Army, commanding the 39th Arkansas Infantry Regiment in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War from 1863 until he was killed in action at the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry in 1864.

Biography

Cocke was born about 1833 in Madison County, Alabama, to Jester and Eliza Cocke. Removing to Monroe County, Arkansas, before the war; he commenced the practice of law at Clarendon, the county seat. He was married to Mahalia S. Murrah on November 7, 1861, in Limestone County, Alabama. Cocke was commissioned a second lieutenant in Company A of the 15th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, on April 30, 1861; later attaining the rank of colonel in the 39th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, and was in some of the most important battles of the Trans-Mississippi Theater. He was at Prairie Grove, Helena, Mansfield, and Pleasant Hill. Cocke was killed on April 30, 1864, at Jenkins' Ferry. His burial location is unknown.