contributed by Darrell H. Jackson
g-g-g-nephew

1839 - 1853:  Served as a Deacon in the Longfield Baptist Church, (Campbell County, TN)
 
August 1842: Joined the Indian Creek Baptist Church (Campbell County, TN)
 
1846-1848:  Served in the Mexican War as an enlisted man under Colonel Richard Waterhouse and Captain Jordan Council in the 4th Tennessee Infantry of Knoxville. He joined about the first of September 1847 and served until about August first of 1848.
 
August 21, 1850:  In the 1850 Campbell Co, TN census he states that the value of the real estate that he owns was $300.00. Most people in the census did not own any property. Those few that did seldom exceeded $500.00.
 
August 5,1860:  Was living in Coal Creek, Campbell Co, TN during the 1860 census. His Real Estate was valued at $1,000.00 and personal estate at $200.00.
 
June 1861: Was the Campbell County, TN Representative to the Greenville Convention that adopted a Declaration of Grievances that was sent to the TN State Government protesting the state seceding from the Union.
 
August 8, 1861 to May 17, 1862: Served as a Captain (Commander) of Co A, 1^st Tennessee Volunteers, a Company he organized in East Tennessee after the state seceded from the Union. Being a strong Unionist he trained this Company in secrecy and within two months marched them north through the Cumberland Gap and joined the Union Army with the Army of the Cumberland. His company fought in the battle at Mills Springs.
 
May 18, 1862 to May 31, 1863:  Promoted to Colonel and commanded the 6^th Tennessee Volunteer Regiment in the Army of the Cumberland. He was given the task of recruiting and organizing this Regiment from Unionist of East Tennessee. During the battle of Murfreesboro the regiment fought off Confederate cavalry while serving as guard for an ammunition train from Nashville. He commanded his regiment in the Chattanooga and Knoxville areas.
 
June 18, 1862 to October 3, 1862: Commanded the 6^th Tennessee Volunteer Regiment, 25^th Brigade, 7^th Division, Army of the Cumberland of the United States Army. They occupied the Cumberland Gap after the Confederates evacuated it until they were forced to evacuate it in turn. After the evacuation the division returned to Greenup, KY.
 
June 1-4, 1863: Commander, 3^rd Brigade, 3^rd Division, 23^rd Corps, Army of the Ohio.
 
March 7 to April 14, 1864: Commander, 3^rd Brigade, 3^rd Division, 12^th Corps, Army of the Cumberland.
 
April 25 to May 3, 1864: Commander, 1^st Brigade, 2^nd Division, 23^rd Corps, Army of the Ohio.
 
June 4 to October 11, 1864: Commander, 1^st Brigade, 2^nd Division, 23^rd Corps, Army of the Ohio.
 
July 30, 1864:  Promoted to Brigadier General.
 
October 11 to November 11, 1864: Commander, 2^nd Division, 23^rd Corps, Army of the Ohio.
 
November 11, 1864 to January 14, 1865: Commander, 1^st Brigade, 2^nd Division, 23^rd Corps, Army of the Ohio.
 
January 14 to February 2, 1865: Commander, 2^nd Division, 23^rd Corps, Army of the Ohio.
 
He commanded these brigades against General Hood's invasion of Tennessee and the battles of Franklin and Nashville. He was then Transferred to General William T. Sherman and participated in his "March to the sea". Also known as the "March through Georgia". During Sherman's campaigns he commanded the following brigades and divisions:
 
February 9 to April 6, 1865: Commander, 1^st Brigade, 2^nd Division, 23^rd Corps, Department of North Carolina.
 
April 4-20, 1865: Commander, 1^st Brigade, 2^nd Division, 23^rd Corps, Department of North Carolina.
 
April 20-26, 1865: Commander, 2^nd Division, 23^rd Corps, Department of North Carolina.
 
April 26-30, 1865: Commander, 1^st Brigade, 2^nd Division, 23^rd Corps, Department of North Carolina.
 
April 30 to June 12, 1865: Commander, 2^nd Division, 23^rd Corps, Department of North Carolina.
 
January 15, 1866: He was brevet Major General of Volunteers on his mustering out of the Service. (By General Order #168)
 
After returning home he ran for either the U. S. Senate or Governor of Tennessee as a Republican. What ever the case, he lost in the election.
 
Based on an book titled Indians to Interstate a book about Caryville, Tennessee, he was placed in command of a group of loyal men (State Militia) enlisted by Governor Brownlow to put down Ku Klux Klan agitation in Tennessee sometime after the Civil War.
 
During his absence with the Army his oldest son had to leave home to keep from being drafted into the Confederate Army, a second son died at birth and his wife became "sickly", never fully recovering. She died in 1875.
 
According to The Land of the Lake, there is some questions raised about the death date of his first wife and the son born while he was away during the Civil War. It does give some dates, battles and quotes by him and others. 
 
It is said that he worked 10 years as a collector of Internal Revenue in Knoxville.
 
In 1875, he remarried and some time after, migrated with his family to Kansas where he continued farming.
 
Upon his death his body was returned to be buried in the National Veterans Cemetery in Knoxville. It is said that the Knoxville and Nashville newspapers covered his memorial and funeral services. 
 
Before and after the war he was a Deacon in the Longfield Baptist Church.
 
Politically he was a Whig, Abolitionist and a Republican.
 
His home and (flour?) mill location from different sources are as follows:
 
1. Behind what is now Norris Dam on the Clinton River.
 
2. A Farm in Campbell County, 5 miles south of Jacksburg (Jacksboro?) on Cove Creek.

References

1. Knoxville or Nashville? Weekly Journal and Tribune dated Wednesday, 5-25-1910, on page 3. The article was titled: General Joseph A. Cooper Dies in St. John's Kan. It is available at the Tennessee State Library and Archives, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville, Tennessee 37243-0312.
2. Land of the Lake: A History of Campbell County, Tennessee by Dr. G. L. Ridenour, published by Action Printing, LTD, Jacksboro, Tennessee, 1941.
3. Indians to Interstate: A Book About Caryville, Tennessee, compiled by Melba Jackson as a contribution to Tennessee Homecoming 1986, published by Action Printing, LDT, Jacksboro, Tennessee, 1986.
4. The Civil War and Campbell County Tennessee, by Gregory K. Miller, published by Action Printing, LDT, Jacksboro, Tennessee, 1992.
5. A Promise of Good Things - Longfield Baptist Church - 1831-1981, by Edith Wilson Hutton, published in Oakridge, TN.
6. Generals in Blue, LSU Press.
7. Quite Places:  Burial Sites of Civil War Generals in Tennessee by 

the East Tennessee Historical Society.
8. Historical Times Illustrated, Encyclopedia of the Civil War, 

Patricia L. Faust, Editor.