Samuel Cooper (general)
Cooper's last official act in office was to preserve the official records of the Confederate Army and turn them over intact to the United States government. They form a part of the Official Records, The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. The publishing started in 1880. Military historians have highly regarded Cooper for this action. Historian Ezra J. Warner believed that in doing so Cooper was "thereby making a priceless contribution to the history of the period."