John A. Wilcox

John Allen Wilcox (or John Alexander Wilcox) (April 18, 1819 – February 7, 1864) was a politician from Mississippi and Texas who served in the United States House of Representatives in the early 1850s and then in the Confederate Congress during the American Civil War. He was born in Greene County, North Carolina, the son of Ruben and Sarah (Garland) Wilcox. During his childhood, the Wilcox family moved west, and it is likely that he was raised and educated in Tipton County, Tennessee, where the family settled. One of his brothers, Cadmus M. Wilcox, would later become a general in the Confederate States Army, a connection that placed John A. Wilcox within a family deeply involved in Southern military and political affairs.

As a young man, Wilcox moved to Mississippi, where he read law and entered public life. He became active in state politics and served as secretary of the Mississippi State Senate, gaining experience in legislative procedure and public administration. During the Mexican–American War, he enlisted in the United States Army and served as lieutenant colonel of the 2nd Mississippi Volunteer Infantry, participating in the conflict that significantly expanded United States territory. When hostilities ceased, he returned to Mississippi and established a law practice in Aberdeen, continuing to build his reputation as an attorney and political figure.

Wilcox’s national political career began in the context of the turbulent sectional politics of the 1850s. In 1850, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Mississippi. Identified in contemporary accounts with the Unionist Party and also elected as a Whig, he represented Mississippi for one term in the Thirty-second Congress, serving from March 4, 1851, to March 3, 1853. In this capacity, John A. Wilcox contributed to the legislative process during a significant period in American history, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of his constituents. He won his seat by defeating future Civil War general Winfield S. Featherston but was defeated for re-election in 1852, ending his brief tenure in the U.S. Congress.

In 1853, Wilcox moved farther west to San Antonio, Texas, where he resumed the practice of law and quickly became involved in the political life of his adopted state. During the mid-1850s he briefly aligned himself with the nativist Know Nothing movement and served as a presidential elector in 1856. By 1858, however, he had joined the Democratic Party and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention that year, reflecting his shift toward the dominant Southern Democratic position in the years immediately preceding the Civil War. His legal and political work in Texas helped establish him as a prominent advocate of states’ rights and Southern interests.

With the intensification of sectional tensions and talk of secession in Texas, Wilcox emerged as a strong supporter of secession and states’ rights. In 1861 he was selected as a delegate to the Texas Secession Convention, where he served on the committee that drafted the ordinance of secession formally withdrawing Texas from the Union. Later that year, in November 1861, he was elected to the First Confederate Congress as a representative from Texas and traveled to Richmond, Virginia, to assume his duties. In the Confederate legislature he served on various committees and became known as a staunch supporter of the policies of President Jefferson Davis. In addition to his legislative work, he was active in helping raise recruits and in organizing the famed Texas Brigade, contributing to the Confederate war effort both politically and militarily.

After his term in the First Confederate Congress expired, Wilcox entered active military service with the Confederate States Army. He joined as a volunteer aide to Major General John B. Magruder and was given the rank of colonel. In this capacity he participated in operations along the Texas coast and served in the Battle of Galveston, further underscoring his commitment to the Confederate cause through both civil and military service. His dual role as legislator and field officer was characteristic of many Southern leaders who combined political leadership with direct involvement in the war.

Wilcox was elected to the Second Confederate Congress but died in Richmond on February 7, 1864, unexpectedly of apoplexy, shortly before taking his seat in the new legislature. He was initially buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia, a prominent resting place for many Confederate leaders. In 1897 his remains were reinterred in Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C., reflecting his earlier national service in the United States Congress as well as his later Confederate career. After his death, his wife and two young children were taken in by his brother, General Cadmus M. Wilcox, who assumed responsibility for the family in the difficult final year of the Civil War.