William R . Cox William Ruffin Cox ( March 11 , 1832 – December 26 , 1919 ) was an American soldier and politician from the state of North Carolina . He was a brigadier general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War , a three - term member of the United States House of Representatives from 1881 to 1887 , and Secretary of the United States Senate from 1893 to 1900 . Early life and career . William R . Cox was born in Scotland Neck , Halifax County , North Carolina , to an aristocratic family that lived in North Carolina since the colonial days . His father died when Cox was only four years old . His mother and his siblings subsequently moved to Nashville , Tennessee , where he was raised and educated . He graduated from Franklin College in Franklin , Tennessee and studied at the Lebanon Law School . After passing his bar exam , Cox formed a partnership with a prominent Nashville attorney , and his practice flourished . In 1857 , Cox ceased his practice , married , moved back to North Carolina , and owned a plantation in Edgecombe County . Two years later , he moved to Raleigh and entered politics , running as a Democrat for the state legislature . He was narrowly defeated , losing a hard - fought election by just thirteen votes in his district . Civil War . With North Carolina ' s secession and the outbreak of the Civil War in early 1861 , Cox raised and outfitted the " Ellis Artillery Company . " He soon afterwards raised an infantry company and was appointed as the major of the 2nd North Carolina by Governor Ellis . He fought in the Battle of Antietam , and was given a promotion to lieutenant colonel , as he and the officer previously holding that rank were promoted with the death of the regiment ' s first colonel , Charles C . Tew , in that battle . Not long afterwards , the new colonel resigned and Cox assumed command of the veteran regiment . He was formally commissioned as the colonel of the 2nd North Carolina in March 1863 . In May of that year , Cox was wounded three times in the fighting at the Battle of Chancellorsville . Despite his painful wounds , he stayed in command until late in the fighting when exhaustion forced him to retire to a field hospital to be treated . Missing the Gettysburg Campaign due to his injuries , Cox did not return to the field until the Fall of 1863 . While temporarily in command of Ramseur ' s Brigade because the general was on leave to get married , Cox was wounded in the face and right shoulder early in the battle of Kelly ' s Ford on November 7 , 1863 . Shipped to the hospital in Richmond , the wound resulted in a 40 - day furlough to recuperate . [ Source : Compiled Service Records in National Archives for William R . Cox , Colonel , 2nd North Carolina Infantry ] He fought with distinction at the battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House , being personally commended by General Robert E . Lee for bravery in fighting on May 12 . Not long afterwards , he was assigned command of a brigade of North Carolina infantry , despite being junior in rank to other colonels in the brigade . He led his troops at the Battle of Cold Harbor and then accompanied the Army of the Valley under Maj . Gen . Jubal Early in the Shenandoah Valley . At the Battle of Monocacy , Cox ' s brigade played a prominent role in the day - long fighting . Returning to the Army of Northern Virginia , Cox served in the trench defenses during the Siege of Petersburg , including the counterattack of Confederate forces on the Union ' s Fort Stedman . Promoted to brigadier general , Cox led a division during the final year of the war , including the Appomattox Campaign . He surrendered his men to the Federal army at Appomattox Court House in April 1865 and returned home . During the course of the war , he survived a total of eleven wounds . Postbellum career . After the war , Cox resumed his legal practice in Raleigh and became President of the Chatham Railroad . He spent six years as the solicitor ( prosecuting attorney ) for metropolitan Raleigh , and was chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party from 1874 through 1877 . In January 1877 , he became Circuit Superior Court Judge of the Sixth Judicial District . He endured the death of his wife in 1880 . He resigned his judgeship when he was elected to the United States Congress , serving for six years as a representative from North Carolina . In the House , he championed civil service reform , a stance which alienated some prominent Democrats , leading to him losing the party nomination for re - election in 1886 . He remarried and retired to his plantation in Edgecombe County , but was appointed Secretary of the U . S . Senate to replace former Union army general Anson G . McCook in 1893 . He served until the turn of the century , when he again retired , this time for good , to his plantation . At the time of his death in 1919 , he was one of the last surviving generals of the Confederate army . He is buried in Raleigh ' s Historic Oakwood Cemetery . Namesake . In World War II the United States liberty ship s , , and were all named in his honor .