Education and War Service
Educated at The Citadel, prior to starting his career in agriculture, he attended Harvard University to study the scientific principles of farming. After answering the call to defend his state when the Civil War began, in October 1863, he was wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga, and after a time as a prisoner of war, returned home to spend the rest of his life nursing a shattered hip.
His wounds did not dampen his ambition. He entered into the plantation economy of the day with the stubborn conviction that the South's future hinged on the introduction of scientific principles to farming, coupled with the development of industry.
In March 1865, Coker set out with a large box of food supplies for the Confederate forces in Richmond. On his return to Hartsville, he learned that General Sherman's army was in the Pee Dee, but Sherman's troops had already destroyed his plantation, the livestock driven away or requisitioned, and everything of value in their home had been taken away. Operation Anaconda devastated the local economy.
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