James Wallace Cooke was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 naval officer, serving in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 and during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 serving in the Confederate Navy

Confederate States Navy

The Confederate States Navy was the naval branch of the Confederate States armed forces established by an act of the Confederate Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the American Civil War...

.

James Wallace Cooke was born in North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 and joined the United States Navy in 1828. In May 1861, while holding the rank of lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

, he resigned his U.S. commission.

Civil War service

At the start of the Civil War in 1861 Cooke joined the Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 State Navy, and entered the service of the Confederacy

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 in the following June. Later that year he was placed in command of the small gunboat

Gunboat

A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...

 CSS Ellis

CSS Ellis

CSS Ellis was a gunboat in the Confederate States Navy and the United States Navy during the American Civil War. It was lost during a raid while under command of famed Navy officer Lieutenant William B...

, and was captured with her after a hard fight near Roanoke Island

Roanoke Island

Roanoke Island is an island in Dare County near the coast of North Carolina, United States. It was named after the historical Roanoke Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the area in the 16th century at the time of English exploration....

, North Carolina on February 10, 1862. Wounded in that action and soon paroled, he was promoted to commander

Commander (United States)

In the United States, commander is a military rank that is also sometimes used as a military title, depending on the branch of service. It is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the military, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Naval rank:In the United States...

 in June 1862.

Commander Cooke's next assignment was to oversee the construction of the ironclad ram CSS Albemarle

CSS Albemarle

CSS Albemarle was an ironclad ram of the Confederate Navy , named for a town and a sound in North Carolina and a county in Virginia...

, under construction at "Edward's Ferry" near modern day Scotland Neck, North Carolina

Scotland Neck, North Carolina

Scotland Neck is a town in Halifax County, North Carolina, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 2,362. It is part of the Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

, from January 1863. After many difficulties, Albemarle was successfully completed in April 1864, and Cooke became her commanding officer. On April 19 and May 5, he took her into action against Federal forces, sinking one gunboat and disabling or driving off others. That June he was promoted to the rank of captain and was later placed in charge of Confederate navel forces on North Carolina's internal waters, holding that position until the end of the Civil War in 1865.