Description:

RECRUITING YANKEE PRISONERS FOR THE CONFEDERACY
JOHN H. BROOKS Confederate military officer, a captain in the 7th South Carolina Battalion (Nelson's), one of only 15 Confederate officers selected to recruit Union prisoners to fight for the Confederacy. Rare war-date A.L.S., 1p. 4to., 'Fort Jefferson' (James Island), SC, Apr. 24, 1864 to Gov. Stephen R. Mallory \in Columbia, Brooks' old brigade commander. Brooks requests a letter of recommendation. He feels certain that an endorsement of his character as an officer to either the Secretary of War, Gen. Braxton Bragg or President Jefferson Davis would result in him being promoted to lieutenant colonel of the 22nd South Carolina Infantry. Docketed by Bonham on verso. Very good. By the fall of 1864 the Confederacy was desperately looking for ways to fill its ever-thinning ranks. One source of manpower was the prisoner of war camps where many Union prisoners were willing to do almost anything to escape the horrific conditions. Brooks was assigned the task of organizing these men. After serving with his original regiments in Virginia, Brooks had resigned his commission in order to raise a company of partisan rangers. With this unit he served in the defense of Charleston until the spring of 1864 when the battalion was sent to Virginia to defend the Richmond-Petersburg area. That October he was ordered to proceed to Florence, South Carolina, to raise a battalion from those Union prisoners who were not U.S. citizens and were willing to take the oath of allegiance to join the Confederate army. His command of six companies, led by detailed officers, was mustered in on November 17th. However, as soon as the unit took the field near Savannah, mass desertions began. Then on the night of December 15 a mutiny led by the non- commissioned officers was crushed before it had fairly begun. The leaders were shot and, upon Brooks' recommendation, the battalion was broken up and the men returned to prison.

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April 1, 2025 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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