The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Wilcox, Cadmus Marcellus

WILCOX,, Cadmus Marcellus, American soldier: b. Wayne County, N. C., 19 May 1826; d. Washington, D. C., 2 Dec. 1890. He was graduated from West Point in 1846, served in the Mexican War, and in 1860 was promoted captain. In 1861 he resigned from the army and entered the service of the Confederacy. He participated in the first battle of Bull Run, was promoted brigadier-general in October, and in 1863 became major-general. He was engaged in the second battle of Bull Run, at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Salem Heights, Gettysburg and other important battles, and was present at the surrender at Appomattox courthouse. He was offered a commission as brigadier-general in the Egyptian army after the close of the Civil War, but declined it. In 1886-89 he was chief of the division of railroads at the general landoffice in Washington. He wrote &lsquo;Rifles and Rifle Practice&rsquo; (1859); translation &lsquo;Austrian Infantry Evolutions of the Line&rsquo; (1860); and an excellent &lsquo;History of the Mexican War,&rsquo; the manuscript of which was completed and published by his niece, M. R. Wilcox (1892).