Samuel P. Cox

Samuel P. Cox (December 16, 1828 – August 21, 1913) was an American businessman and soldier who is best remembered as the commander of the Union troops who killed "Bloody Bill" Anderson at the Battle of Albany, during the American Civil War.

An alleged attempt to assassinate Cox in 1869 in reprisal for the killing marked the first time that Frank James and Jesse James were publicly identified as outlaws.

Early life Cox was born in Williamsburg, Kentucky. He moved with his parents to Daviess County, Missouri in 1839. He joined the Army during the Mexican–American War in 1847. After the war, he returned to Gallatin, Missouri and briefly settled in Grass Valley, Nevada and Oroville, California (1854–1856) before returning to Daviess County in 1857, where he was briefly a deputy sheriff. He worked for Russell, Majors and Waddell as a wagon master during the Utah War in 1858–59.

Civil War In 1861 Cox joined the Missouri Militia with the rank of major. During this time he was elected in absentia circuit clerk of Daviess County in 1862. He resigned in 1863, citing ill health, and returned to Gallatin. Anderson held off the Union troops pursuing him using guerrilla attacks, by sending out small contingents which were attacked by Union troops, which in turn were overwhelmed by hidden Confederate troops.

On October 26, 1864, in the community of Albany, Missouri (now Orrick, Missouri and unrelated to another similarly named town). Cox used Anderson's strategy against him, luring Anderson's men screaming the Rebel Yell to charge a seemingly vulnerable Union advance only to run into the guns of the Union lines. Anderson was shot twice in the back of the head. His body was taken back to Richmond, Missouri where it was placed on display. Various reports indicated that he had a scalp on his saddle and another report indicated that Anderson had 59 knots on a rope on his horse indicating the men he had killed.

On December 7, 1869, two men (reported to be Frank and Jesse James) robbed the Daviess County Savings Association Bank and in the process shot the cashier John W. Sheets in the head and heart. Although there was $700 in the bank the robbers left with only $5 in fractional currency. The men were encountered near Kidder, Missouri where one of the men (believed to be Jesse) said that he was the brother of Bill Anderson and that he had avenged Anderson's murder by Cox.

The Gallatin Bank Robbery marked the first time that Frank and Jesse were formally identified as bank robbers. A reward of $3,000 was raised for their capture. Jesse sent a letter to the Kansas City Times saying that he was innocent and could prove he was not in the area. He said he would surrender but was concerned that he would be lynched before he could prove his innocence.

After Jesse James was killed in 1882, Frank James surrendered to the authorities. Frank was not tried for the bank murder however he was tried in 1883 in Gallatin for an 1881 murder of a Rock Island Railroad employee at nearby Winston, Missouri. A jury acquitted him.

Cox was reported to have been in California in 1869 visiting his parents and did not return until 1870 when he continued to operate other business including a hotel, livery and a different mercantile until formally retiring in 1871.