Ira W Cox Page 3

1st Battalion 22nd Infantry

Died A Hero Under the Stars and Stripes

Page 3

Private Ira W. Cox

Company D 22nd Infantry

Ira W. Cox

Courtesy of Richard Hargis

Below is a letter to Ira's parents, reportedly written by his commanding officer,
informing them of his death. The letter was published in a newspaper.
and the scan below is of it published as an article in the paper.

Sadly the scan is incomplete and the officer is not identified.
The writer of the letter indicates he was with Ira during the
engagement with the insurgents and also accompanied Ira's
body for burial in the cemetery at Manila.

An examination of the monthly Return of the 22nd Infantry for August 1899
shows that 2nd Lieutenant Harry R. Campbell was temporarily in command of
Company D from July 14 to August 25 so he is most likely the writer of the letter.

Courtesy of Richard Hargis

Clarence Hawkins, mentioned in the above letter as Ira Cox's friend and comrade was a fellow
Kentuckian who served alongside Ira in Company D.

Clarence Hawkins was born in Dixon County, Kentucky in May 1875.

He enlisted in the Army as a Private for a period of three years on December 13, 1898 at
Evansville, Indiana. His enlistment record indicated he stood 5 feet 8 inches tall, had blue
eyes, light brown hair and a fair complexion. His previous occupation was listed as Hostler
(groom or stableman.)

Hawkins and Ira Cox were two of the 477 recruits assigned to the 22nd Infantry during the
month of December 1898. Ira was recruit number 57 and Hawkins was recruit number 58 and
both were assigned to Company D at Fort Crook, Nebraska on December 19, 1898.

Thus the two of them shared so much in that they both came from Kentucky, both joined the Army
in December 1898 and both were assigned to the same Company in the 22nd Infantry. Ira and Hawkins
trained together and deployed to the Philippines together where they fought in the same battles.

Hawkins became seriously ill and was admitted to the hospital in Manila on February 3, 1900. In May he was shipped
to the United States aboard the transport U.S.A.T. Grant to San Francisco, California where he was sick in the hospital
at the Presidio of San Francisco, California from June 11, 1900 to December 20, 1900.

He was discharged as a Private from the 22nd Infantry on December 12, 1901 at Angel Island,
California with a character rating of Excellent.

He enlisted the following month in the 13th Field Artillery on January 7, 1902. Upon his discharge from
this enlistment he reenlisted two more times in the 3rd Field Artillery. His illness contracted in the
Philippines returned and he was hospitalized in 1907 and again in 1909.

Clarence Hawkins died at Fort Sam Houston on June 20, 1910. His death was recorded in the
Returns of the 3rd Field Artillery as having died of disease on active duty.

He is buried in the San Antonio National Cemetery.

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Also published in a newspaper is the following:
a letter to his family written by Ira on April 5, 1899.

Courtesy of Richard Hargis

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The following poem was written by Ira Cox and was published after his death
in The Hartford Republican, Hartford, Kentucky, August 25, 1899:

From the Library of Congress Chronicling America

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