Cadmus wilcox biography of william

United States Army officer (1824–1890)

Cadmus Marcellus Wilcox (May 20, 1824 – December 2, 1890) was a career United States Army officer who served in the Mexican–American War and also was a Confederategeneral during the American Civil War.

Early life and career

Wilcox was born in Wayne County, North Carolina. One of his brothers, John A. Wilcox, would later serve in the First Confederate Congress as a representative from Texas. The family moved to Tipton County, Tennessee, when Cadmus was only two years old.

He was raised and educated in Tennessee, studying at Cumberland University before being nominated to the United States Military Academy at West Point from the Memphis district. He graduated in 1846, standing 54th out of 59 cadets, and was brevetted a second lieutenant in the 4th U.S.

Infantry on July 1.^[1] Among his West Point classmates were future Civil War generals George B. McClellan and Thomas J. Jackson.^[2]

With the