Philip St . George Cooke Philip St . George Cooke ( June 13 , 1809 – March 20 , 1895 ) was a career United States Army cavalry officer who served as a Union General in the American Civil War . He is noted for his authorship of an Army cavalry manual , and is sometimes called the " Father of the U . S . Cavalry . " His service in the Civil War was significant , but was eclipsed in prominence by the contributions made by his famous son in law , J . E . B . Stuart , to the Confederate States Army . Early life . Cooke was born in Leesburg , Virginia , June 13 , 1809 . He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1827 and was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the infantry . He served at a variety of installations in the American West and in the Black Hawk War . In 1833 he was promoted to first lieutenant in the newly formed 1st U . S . Dragoons . Cooke went on numerous trips of exploration into the Far West with the Dragoons . As Captain in command of 200 Dragoons , he disarmed and arrested Colonel Snively ' s Republic of Texas company of about 100 men , who were attempting to disrupt trade along the Santa Fe Trail , in what was described as the Second Texas Santa Fe Expedition . During the Mexican - American War he led the Mormon Battalion from Santa Fe to California , receiving a brevet promotion to lieutenant colonel for his service in California . In the 2nd U . S . Dragoons he defeated the Jicarilla Apache in Ojo Caliente , New Mexico in 1854 , was in the 1855 Battle of Ash Hollow against the Sioux , and was sent to keep the peace in Bleeding Kansas in 1856 - 1857 . Acquainted with Brigham Young , Cooke took part in the Utah expedition of 1857 – 58 , after which he was promoted to colonel and assigned command of the 2nd U . S . Dragoons . He was an observer for the U . S . Army in the Crimean War , and commanded the Department of Utah from 1860 until 1861 . The issue of secession deeply divided Cooke ' s family . Cooke himself remained loyal to the Union , but his son , John Rogers Cooke , became an infantry brigade commander in the Army of Northern Virginia . J . E . B . Stuart , the famous Confederate cavalry commander , was Cooke ' s son - in - law . Cooke and Stuart never spoke again , Stuart saying , " He will regret it only once , and that will be continually . " Civil War . At the start of the Civil War , the U . S . Army had five mounted regiments . Cooke commanded the 2nd Dragoons , which was redesignated the 2nd U . S . Cavalry . As they prepared to ride into their first battles , they had the potential opportunity to learn from the two - volume manual on cavalry tactics written by Cooke in 1858 , but not published until 1862 . It was a controversial work at the time and the War Department chose not to make it the basis for official doctrine . Cooke espoused the value of mounted attacks as the primary purpose for cavalry forces ; others , more sensibly , realized that the emergence of the rifled musket as an infantry weapon made the classic cavalry charge essentially obsolete and recommended a mission emphasis on reconnaissance and screening . Even those who agreed that cavalry charges retained some value found reasons to disagree with Cooke . A prominent theory of cavalry charges at the time , endorsed by future generals Henry W . Halleck and George B . McClellan , was that the cavalry should be deployed in double ranks ( a regiment would deploy in two lines of five companies each ) , which would increase the shock effect of the charge by providing an immediate follow - up attack . Cooke ' s manual called for a single - rank formation in which a battalion of four companies would form a single line and two squadrons of two companies each would cover the flanks . A third battalion would be placed in reserve a few hundred yards to the rear . Cook believed that the double - rank offensive promoted disorder of the horses in the ranks and would be difficult to control . Cooke was appointed brigadier general , U . S . Army , on November 21 , 1861 , to rank from November 12 , 1861 . President Abraham Lincoln nominated Cooke for the appointment on December 21 , 1861 and the U . S . Senate confirmed it on March 7 , 1862 . He initially commanded a brigade of regular army cavalry within the defenses of Washington , D . C . For the Peninsula Campaign , he was selected by McClellan to command the Cavalry Reserve , a division - sized force , of the Army of the Potomac . When Confederate forces evacuated the city of Yorktown , Cooke was sent along with Major General George Stoneman in pursuit and his cavalry was roughed up in an assault ordered by Stoneman against Fort Magruder . He saw subsequent action at the battles of Williamsburg , Gaines ' Mill , and White Oak Swamp . Cooke ordered an ill - fated charge of the 5th U . S . Cavalry at Gaines ' Mill during the Seven Days Battles , sacrificing nearly an entire regiment of regulars . After the Peninsula , Cooke left active field service . One proximate reason was the embarrassment he suffered when his son - in - law , Jeb Stuart , humiliated the Union cavalry by completely encircling the Army of the Potomac in his celebrated raid . Cooke served on boards of court - martial , commanded the District of Baton Rouge , and was superintendent of Army recruiting for the Adjutant General ' s office . On July 17 , 1866 , President Andrew Johnson nominated Cooke for appointment to the brevet grade of major general in the regular army , to rank from March 13 , 1865 , and the U . S . Senate confirmed the appointment on July 23 , 1866 . Postbellum life . Cooke commanded the Department of the Platte from 1866 to 1867 . He retired from the Army with almost 50 years service on October 29 , 1873 as a brigadier general . Cooke is the author of a variety of memoirs of his service : " Notes of a Military Reconnaissance , from Fort Leavenworth , in Missouri , to San Diego , in California " ( 1848 ) , " Scenes and Adventures in the Army : or , Romance of Military Life " ( 1857 ) , " Cavalry Tactics " ( 1862 ) , " Handy Book for United States Cavalry " ( 1863 ) , and " The Conquest of New Mexico and California " ( 1878 ) . Cooke died in Detroit , Michigan , and is buried there in Elmwood Cemetery . Camp Cooke , an Army camp in Santa Barbara County , California , was named for him . The spot is now occupied by Vandenberg Air Force Base . Legacy . Camp Cooke ( 1866 - 1870 ) , the first military post in the Montana Territory , was named in honor of Phillip St . George Cooke while he was the commander of the Department of the Platte which included the Montana Territory . Camp Cooke ( 1941 - 1953 ) was the name given to the military post near Lompoc California . It was deactivated from 1953 to 1957 , at which time it was activated as Cooke Air Force Base ( 1957 - 1958 ) but was officially renamed Vandenberg Air Force Base in 1958 . Camp Cooke and Cooke Air Force Base in California were named in honor of Philip St . George Cooke . Historians theorize that St . George , Utah was named after Phillip St . George Cooke . During the period of 1857 to 1861 Col . Cooke was in Utah . He was a close personal friend of Brigham Young and donated equipment and wagons to the settlement of the southern part of Utah .