Henry A. Cobb, an Accomplished Military General in Marin
By Robert L. Harrison
Henry Arthur Cobb (1817–1892) was well known in Marin County and particularly admired in Sausalito. In 1850 he arrived in San Francisco, transferred from the Texas military to the California Militia — today’s National Guard — and by 1860 rose to the rank of Brigadier General. General Cobb became a prominent figure in several civic endeavors in Sausalito including: an 1869 founding board member and President of the Sausalito Land and Ferry Company; the 1870 donor of the land and a house for a new Sausalito public school; and, as President of the Land and Ferry Company, host of the 1873 formal opening of Sausalito’s first railroad, the North Pacific Coast.
Cobb was a native of England’s Channel Islands, born on the Island of Guernsey. He came to the United States in 1835 and soon located in Texas. He was one of the first Texas volunteer rangers, vice-counsel for France, and a Lieutenant in the Texas navy. In the 1846–1848 Mexican-American War, Cobb served under General Zachary Taylor and Colonel Albert Sidney in the 1st Texas Rifles. He was promoted to Lieutenant for his gallantry in battles at Palo Alto and Monterrey.
In San Francisco, Cobb opened the auction house Cobb & Company. As a real estate auctioneer it was said he had no equal and conducted every great sale made in California in the 1850s and ‘60s. The October 12, 1859 Daily Alta California reported aggregate proceeds from a one-day auction of over $200,000 (over $6 million in 2021 dollars). Cobb enjoyed significant wealth from his auctioneering, yet most understood that he took less in personal income as compared to others in the field.
General Cobb was active in the Democratic Party in both Marin County and San Francisco. In the mid-19th century the area was dominated by the Republican Party occasioning Cobb to lose several elections. He was defeated in the 1857 and 1861 elections for State Senator. In the May 1861 local city election he lost the contest for 2nd District Supervisor.
Running in the September 1866 election for San Francisco Tax Collector, the Evening Bulletin charged the General with wavering loyalty to the Union. He responded with a firm statement of allegiance to the Union: “I now hold a commission from this State, on the back of which I took and subscribed the oath of allegiance to the United States Government.” Cobb lost the city post to a member of the Union Party, the temporary name for the Republican Party.
General Cobb enjoyed his first political victory in September 1867, defeating the Union Party’s candidate for the Fourth Ward School Director seat. He served one term as President of the Board where he gained the respect of San Francisco school teachers and staff.
Cobb was also active in Marin politics. He served for several years on the Marin County Central Democratic Committee. On August 26, 1875 the Republican leaning Marin Journal noted General Cobb’s nomination for Mayor of San Francisco: “Though we are against him in politics we should feel a good degree of local pride in his election, as we consider him as partly a citizen of Marin county, where he has large interests…. He is man of great decision of character, rare executive abilities, and inflexible honesty.”
Cobb was nominated for Mayor by the San Francisco Central Independent Democratic Committee. Despite his history of Democratic Party activity, the Republican leaning Daily Alta California recommended Cobb for Mayor and suggested he run as a Republican. The Republican Party did not nominate Cobb. In 1875 the Democratic Party split with the Democratic Municipal Committee, nominating Andrew Jackson Bryant for Mayor while Cobb ran as an Independent Democrat. He finished fourth behind Democrat Bryant, a Republican and a second Independent candidate.
Throughout the Civil War, Brigadier General Cobb commanded the Second Division of the California Militia. The Militia was not called to the battlefields in the east primarily because of the cost of moving troops across the continent. The Militia was assigned to protect the Union’s California assets and maintain the loyalty of both civilians and military units, particularly in southern California.
On November 21, 1862 an advertisement appeared in the Daily Alta California: “Cavalry Company for the East.” After paying the cost of their own transport, the men answering the ad left from San Francisco, sailed to Panama, marched across the Isthmus and boarded a ship for Boston. There they became “Company A of the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry.” Soon an additional 400 Californians were formed into four more companies of the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment. In 1864 the Californians were engaged in the largest cavalry charge ever made by the American Army at the Third Battle of Winchester. They also played a pivotal role in the Union Counter Charge at Cedar Creek.
In 1870 Cobb was appointed Major General, Commander of the California National Guard, a promotion many felt he was denied due to the politics of the 1860s. On August 21, 1870 the Daily Alta California reported: “Immense Enthusiasm…. His appointment to this important command …assumed the shape of a most enthusiastic ovation…. General Cobb replied….’I have already occupied the position of Major General of a division of the State Militia; but I was deprived of it [the formal appointment], whether justly or not, I will not say. But now my position is exalted…I am unable to express my feelings, and we shall all feel happier over a glass of wine with the old General.’ ”
The “old General” was engaged in the militia action to quell the San Francisco riot of 1877. A mob, consisting of largely out of work white men due to the economic recession of the 1870s, waged a three day uprising against Chinese immigrants. On the third day the police, the militia and about a thousand citizens of the vigilance committee were called out to crush the violence. In the end the riot caused four deaths plus the destruction of Chinese property estimated to be valued over $100,000 (over $2.5 million in 2021 dollars).
The December 20, 1889 Sausalito News published a poem celebrating the role of 60 year old General Cobb in trouncing the 1877 riot. Below are a few lines from “The Charge of Cobb’s Brigade” by Daniel O’Connell:
‘Forward! the old man cried, let the police deride —
Yonder bold mob shall be severed and sundered.’
Hoodlums to the right of him; Hoodlums to the left of him;
Hoodlums in front of him, Then cobblestones thundered.
On them they rushed pell mell, Cobb shrieking, ‘Give them hell.’
Backward the hoodlums fell, charged by Cobb’s hundred….
When shall his glory fade? Oh! The charge he made.
In 1875 Cobb built a summer home next to his son’s, Major Henry Arthur Cobb, Jr., residence on Cazneau Avenue in Sausalito. He served as President of the Board of Directors of the Sausalito Land and Ferry Company from its 1869 incorporation until his death on May 12, 1892. In February that year he visited Texas and Mexico where the 75 year old Cobb was described by the San Antonio Light as “hale and hearty and jovial.” As late as May 6th the Sausalito News reported: “General Cobb will accept the nomination for Supervisor of our district.” On May 20th the lengthy obituary in the News concluded: “He was the soul of honor, and in all the relations of life, was a man to be loved, respected and admired.” Three companies of the National Guard escorted his remains to a resting place at the San Francisco Masonic Cemetery where he was buried with military honors.
