On 1855 Ferdinand W.C. and Francis Cook, both from New York where they emigrated from England when young, founded their mechanic company in New Orleans, Louisiana.
At the beginning of 1861, with the secession of Louisiana on January and the Fort Sumter’s attack on April, the Cook brothers started their guns manufacturing underlining how good rifles could be manufactured either in England and in America. The bombing of the town from the Union Navy started on April 18, 1861 obliging the Cook brothers to move their manufacturing activity to Athens, Georgia. The guns production in New Orleans, for the short time that it was possible, was limited to about thousand rifles for the infantry and carbines for the artillery, while other seven thousands, including also some carbines for the cavalry, were manufactured in Athens. All the guns made by Cook & Brother were inspired to the well known English models and of course they are among the most interesting and searched for of the produced guns equipping the Confederate troops during the American Civil War.
Historical re-enactment
