The Brooks Brothers
and the 12th
March 26,
2006
INTRODUCTION
The story of the three Brooks brothers of
The William Malone Brooks, Jr. family, originally from
Franklin County, Alabama, arrived in
It is not known why the Brooks family moved from
By 1860 the approaching Civil War was impacting
Bailey’s Between the Enemy and Texas said
that the fighting west of the
presented a different kind of war than was experienced east of the
Parsons’ Texans were typical
Southerners. They enjoyed drinking,
gambling, singing; they were expert horsemen and skillful
marksmen. They took orders cheerfully
when they agreed with the directive and refused when they thought the order
was unreasonable. They were better
at raiding than performing as traditional
cavalry. They lived off the land
and fought with the weapons they brought from
home.
The Texans were aggressive and preferred to take the
offensive. In almost every skirmish
from
Parsons’ Twelfth Texas was composed of men, often young and single,
who joined in 1861 anxious to fight for the
South. Although men joined the
brigade for a variety of reasons, they held one common belief----the desire
to protect
Such was the group of men with whom the Brooks brothers
joined in 1861 to protect their beloved
The three oldest sons of William Malone Brooks, Jr. and
his wife, Eliza Bates Brooks, served and fought in Company D of the
12th Texas Cavalry.
It is possible that all three brothers traveled to Ellis County, Texas
where they enlisted October 28, 1861, along with other “Pin Oak
boys”. John Truss, in his
letter to his wife of August 30, 1861, from
During mid-1861 eight companies, including that from
An interesting account of the days in
At the hour of ten a.m., the bugle sounded and ten companies, comprising
about twelve hundred men, formed a “hollow square” in order to
perform the work at hand; this done, the marshal of the day (whose name is
forgotten) demanded to know the nominations:---First, for Colonel….When
the name of Parsons was called by many voices….a proud form on as proud
an animal glided into the open space and made a brief address to the volunteers
around him, after which the marshal called for a vote and W. H. Parsons was
unanimously elected.
It was at this inspiring event that young Dave decided
to disregard his father’s objections and become a
soldier. The ten companies of
the Fourth Dragoons, the name of Parsons’ organization at the time,
scattered across the northern and central portions of the state collecting
recruits and supplies, finally rendezvousing at
Life in the bivouac area is described in The Ragged
Rebel.
The bivouac, apparently erected in great haste, had a jumbled, cluttered
appearance. Several Sibley tents,
large conical structures ordinary used by infantry rather than cavalry, were
scattered across the plateau.
Several hundred smaller tents of various shape and design also were
in evidence, but tents of all types were vastly outnumbered by a veritable
forest of crude shelters constructed from wagon sheets, sections of oilcloth,
pine boughs, and other makeshift
materials. The occupants of the
camp probably had intended to arrange these structures in neat, orderly patterns,
but the rows of shelters and their accompanying streets were irregular,
intermittent, crooked and unsightly.
There was little movement in the camp, and the entire plateau, soaked
by earlier rains and current drizzle, had a foreboding dreariness about
it. Piles of partly packed boxes
of goods and equipment, dozens of mule- and horse-drawn wagons, and stacks
of freshly cut timber cluttered the
campsite. The center of the bivouac
and the roads that connected with the highway---churned by countless animals,
carts, and wagons---were lakes of mud.
Horses, mules, and oxen, either tethered to tightly strung lariats
or enclosed in rough log corrals, stood motionless in the icy, gray
mist. And little knots of rain-soaked
rangers, dressed in every conceivable gear, huddled around camp fires drinking
boiled coffee.
Unlike Union cavalry, Confederate cavalrymen furnished their own mounts
and most of their firearms. If
a horse or weapon was lost or destroyed, the soldier usually received a sixty-day
furlough to try to replace his loss.
These personal possessions were carefully evaluated by Confederate
appraisers with the expectation that the Confederate government would reimburse
its soldiers after the war for the use of their
property. Since the South lost
the war, of course no reimbursements were ever
made.
The purpose for the regiment being at Sims Bayou was to
give the 12th Cavalry a central position from which to move in
any direction in the event of an
invasion. The camp itself was
situated on a rolling plateau on the north bank of Sims Bayou, east of the
railroad and highway bridges, and approximately halfway between
Despite long periods of wet weather, the Sims Bayou camp grew
rapidly. The mushrooming tent
city---dubbed
“
As the weeks passed, training programs became more
intermittent, and the young men found time “to write letters, lark from
one tent to another, sing jocular songs, compete in shooting and riding contests,
and participate in various kinds of organized
sports.
They enjoyed various
kinds of sports, but the most popular was a game called “town
ball”. On December 21, one
young man of Company F wrote
Within the last two weeks, the health has generally improved, and
the boys are cheerful and gay. They
have several ways of amusing themselves; the most popular one at present
is town ball. Each company has
some two or three Indian
(
The camp received weekly
rations. They also had access
to private donations. The young
troops enjoyed going into
The unpleasantness of heavy rains that fell during January
was compounded by frigid temperatures.
During the following weeks “black depression” affected the
camp. Additional deaths, continued
bad weather, and fading prospects of moving their bivouac made life in the
camps increasingly
intolerable. And
the very fact that they had experienced no military actions depressed them
further.
Finally, it was announced that the 12th would
depart Sims Bayou. On February
27, 1862 Parsons conducted a dress parade on the
Confederate
Map from The Ragged
Rebel by B. P. Gallaway,1988.
This map provides an overview
of the areas in which the 12th Texas Cavalry
fought.
COLONEL WILLIAM HENRY
PARSONS
Col. William Henry Parsons, 1871
William Henry Parsons served in the Mexican War and when
the clouds of the "War for Southern Independence" were rising, he obtained
authorization from the Governor Edward Clark, Headquarters, Texas State Troops,
to form a Regiment of mounted troops in the 9th Military District. His desire
was to form a Regiment of Dragoon’s which he had become familiar with
in the Mexican War. This he did in September 1861. The Regiment was sworn
into State service for one year as the 4th Texas Dragoon’s, which they
used for themselves through out the war. The 12th Regiment was Brigaded with
the 19th Texas Cavalry, the 21st Texas Cavalry, Morgan’s Battalion,
later Regiment and Pratts Battery of 6 guns, and in late May or early April
1865, the 30th Texas Cavalry Regiment. It didn’t leave the field until
May 23, 1865.
At the reunion of Parsons' Brigade held at
"Leaf by leaf the trees are falling
Drop by drop the streams run dry
One by one beyond recalling
Summer roses droop and
die."
"Your letter, dear comrades in arms,
finds me still among those who witness the falling leaves and while I await
the bugle call of my Great Commander, I feel that it is in a strict military
order that he who was your superior officer during those thunderous
days from '61 to '65 should remain on the field until the last man utters
his response to the earthly roll call. ....
"When
the old guard gathers at
DEATH OF GENERAL W.
H.
PARSONS - Waxahachie Daily
Light, Tues. Oct. 8,
1907
General W. H. Parsons, formerly
of Texas, of late years a resident of Washington, D. C. and recently a resident
of the city of Chicago, died on the evening of October 2, 1907, age 81 years,
5 months and 9
days.
General Parsons was commander
of Parsons' Texas Brigade. His last moments were peaceful and the day
before his death had the satisfaction of receiving a letter from one of his
old soldiers, Maj. A. M. Dickman, of
THE LETTERS OF JOHN
TRUSS
A collection of letters written by John W. Truss to his young wife,
Rebecca (Roe) Truss, in the Pin Oak community in eastern Bastrop County,
Texas between the years 1861
and 1864 reveals much about the challenges faced by the young men in the
12th Texas Cavalry.
These letters were published in “The Southwest Historical
Quarterly”, Vol. 2, October 1965.
The article was edited by Johnette Highsmith Ray, a descendant of
John Truss’ daughter, who wrote:
A packet of letters tied in
faded blue was the last of great-grandma’s belongings to be tossed on
the fire, worthless things all, that had been important only to
her. Grandmother watched the
flames sadly a moment, then braved them to retrieve the letters.
“Somehow,” she said, ”it’s like burning part of
her. She read these letters once
in a while until the last.”
Those letters recently came to the writer from an aunt who knew of
her interest in history. They
are of value both as additions to the limited information available on
Parsons’ Brigade and for the insight they offer on the day to day life
and thoughts of a private soldier in the Civil War.
John Truss lived with his young wife on a section of land in Central
Texas, called Pinoak because a little creek by this name ran through that
area. Their farm was approximately
six miles from Paige and fifteen from
Following are brief excerpts from these
letters.
Letter of August 30,
1861 – State of
In this first letter Truss stated that
We
reached Colonel Parsons’ regiment yesterday and were mustered into service
today. Marion and William and
all the Pinoak boys are well; they send their best respects to
all.
Letter of November 18,
1861 –
In this brief letter Truss
said
We
are going to take up the line of march for
Letter of April 18, 1862
–
I
will commence by telling our travels.
We started on the evening of the
9. We stayed at Harris Alsup’s
that night. Next morning which
was Thursday we started on. We
traveled the road that you all
did when you
moved. I thought of you as often
as my horse stepped. We came
to old man Dickson’s. It
rained all night most. The next
morning we left on very muddy roads.
Worse than that I took the sore eyes so bad I could hardly
see. By twelve o-clock we got
to Little River, and it was up right smartly though we crossed it without
quite having to swim. That
night we stayed at Mr. Walker’s, where Father Roe
(Rebecca’s
father) lost his mule
again. The old man doctored my
eyes until we left Saturday morning.
I could not see at all hardly.
I just had to follow the noise of
Letter of July 14, 1862
–
In his letter of July 14,
1862 John Truss mentioned that,
"I take the opportunity to drop you a few
lines. This leaves me in good
health tho I have not got stout yet over the trimbles as
yet. When I wrote my last letter
I trembled like a leave in a tornado and I am not much better yet and I have
a bad chance here to write. The
health is only tolerable good in this portion of the
army. Marion and Steave is
well.
Robert Brooks is unwell and John McKinney is a little
sick.
William Brooks is
dead. He died while I was
out sick. William Wolfenberger
died also. Our brigade under
General Rusk's command attacked the enemy last Monday which was the 7 of
July.
Our
brigade under General Rusk's (Brigadier General Albert Rust of
The battle to which Truss
referred occurred when Union Major General Samuel R. Curtis moved on
Truss’ comments would
seem to indicate that William Brooks died, perhaps of disease, between the
dates of two of Truss' letters: April 18, 1862 and July 14,
1862. He apparently died in
Thousands
of
There are 444 graves in
the cemetery marked "Unknown
Soldier". General Allison
Nelson was Brigadier General of several Texan infantry and dismounted cavalry
regiments, including the 10th Texas Infantry and died of typhoid October,
1862. While many of the
Letter of September 26,
1862 – State of
Truss stated
that
Our
regiment and Carter’s
(George Washington
Carver commanded the 21st
Letter of October 8,
1862 – State of
In this letter Truss told
his wife, Rebecca,
Steave
and Marion
(Rebecca’s
brothers) is well…I have told
you all the late transactions
except one or two little skirmishes which we had last week and this we killed
four in the first and taken three and never lost a man. Those are fed
pickets. In the last we killed
4 and taken 19 and never lost a man.
Got one wounded. He belonged
to our company. His name is
Fost. He got one eye shot
out. We keep the feds
hot. They are getting tired of
We
have twenty regiments of infantry and three of cavalry with
us. At this time we are on White
River today close to Desarc and we have about the same force at Clarington
on
I
would not mind staying here and fighting and watching for Yankees half so
bad if I could get to see you once in a
while. We must bear our separation
with patience. We must look at
the cause and then consider the necessity of our being separated when our
country and our homes and firesides is being runover by a foe that is as
destitute of humanity as the worst savage that the wide world can
afford. How then can any man
stay at home without lending a hand to repel this miserable unfeeling
foe? I could not claim Southern
soil as my home if I were not to help.
It would make any Christian heard (it) shudder to see what I have
seen and know what I know concerning their proceedings in a portion of this
state.
(Prairie County Camp, known as Camp Hope, later renamed
Camp Nelson, is located near Austin,
Arkansas.).
Letter
of November 5, 1862 –
State of
In this letter Truss
said,
It
almost breaks my heart to think of you and think that I have to be away from
you so long but when I think what it is that separates us and look around
me and see the ruins of houses and fields burned down I then feel the love
of my country swell my heart. I
also see helpless women and children left without clothes and shelter or
even anyone to protect them. My
blood boils for revenge. I think
then if it was my own beloved wife that was thus treated by those invaders
of our country, yet what is worse thieves and robbers and cold blooded
murderers. They cannot stand
up and fight us with even numbers like men of
honor. They will lay in bushes
five times our number and when we charge them if they be accident get the
upper hand of one of our men and get him unarmed they will then shoot him,
murder him in cold blood. I hear
that they are invading
We
are camped between White and
Letter of January 3,
1863 – State of
I
wrote you a few days before I left
Desarc. We are at the Rock at
this time. We was ordered to
the post of
We
have had the worst weather I ever
experienced. It began to rain
the evening we left Desarc. We
left there just at dark and the rain poured down all night next day and night
till about midnight. Then the
snow began to fall and fell for two nights and one day as hard as….I
ever saw in my life. It was even
in my boot tops. Several of
Hindman’s men froze to death and hundreds of
mules. Hindman’s men is
deserting every day they are here at
Direct
your letters to
Letter of January 9,
1863 – State of
I
received a letter from you about six days ago. I would have wrote to you
before but I started to Brownsville a few minutes after I received it and
have just returned……We started to go to Fort Smith to reinforce
Hindman but was stopped. The
order was never countermanded yet. I do not know where we will go….There
is talk of us going to Jacksonfort, all talk
though.
Letter of June 7, 1863
– State of
The
rest of the Pinoak boys are well. Our regiment is stationed from the Mississippi
River up to Pine Blue
Letter of February 21,
1864 –
I
have nothing to employ my mind more satisfactory than to write to
you. We are here yet. The talk
is that we will leave here next Tuesday……The small pox is in Hempstead
and
John Truss did survive the
war and returned safely to his home at
Pinoak. The boy who he longed
to see during his war days died in infancy, but his next child, a daughter,
lived to be eighty-five. She
recalled that her father was an educated man who could talk poetry if he
chose and that her mother was wonderfully proud of
him. He died prior to 1880 and,
according to his grandson, was buried in the prairie cemetery not far from
where he lived. He was
buried in the
Other than these letters,
little is known of John W. Truss.
He does appear with his family in the 1850 census of
121/130
Thomas Truss, age 35, born in NC, farmer
Frances A. Truss, age 32, born SC
John W. Truss, age 16,
born
James M. Truss, age 11, born
Louiza F. Truss, age 8, born
Elitha R. Truss, age 5, born
Sylvia A. Truss, age 1/12, born TX
John Truss apparently died
before 1879 because on February 23, 1879 his beloved Rebecca married Joseph
Mains. They are then found in
the 1880 census of
Joseph Mains, age 50, born NY (father born IN/mother born
Rebecca Mains, age 38, born GA (parents born GA)
William W. Mains, age 5months, born TX
Mary E. Truss, age 18, born TX
Catherine Truss, age 12, born TX
Lula Estelle Truss, age 10, born TX
Edward Lee Truss, age 8, born TX
THE
THREE BROOKS BROTHERS OF THE 12TH
CAVALRY
The three oldest sons of William Malone Brooks, Jr. and
wife, Eliza Bates Brooks, promptly joined the 12th Texas Cavalry
shortly after
Robert Levi
Brooks
Born Oct 16, 1842 in
On October 7, 1904, at age 62, Robert Levi Brooks applied
for a Confederate Pension. His
request was approved September 15, 1905.
In his application he stated that:
1. He would be 63 years
old on Oct, 16, 1905.
2. He had resided at
Bracketville,
3. He had “applied
for a pension under this law at Menardville, Menard Co. in 1899
and was rejected because I was under 60 years of
age.”
4. His disabling physical
condition was “siatic rheumatism”.
5. He served in “Company
D., Bastrop Cavalry. M. B. Highsmith
was Capt.,
12th Cavalry Reg. W.H. Parsons Col.
Commanding.”
6. Served 4
years. (War Department’s
record states that he enlisted October 28, 1861
at
7. He owned no real
estate. “Own two horses,
one wagon and harness is all the
personal property I own.
$100.00 would be a very fair valuation for the
outfit.”
Witnesses testifying of his service included J. F. Price,
M. E. Anderson, and E. B. Burleson.
The judge signing the application was M. P. Malone,
The three witnesses who provided statements (all residents
of
1.
M. E. Anderson, age 70.
2.
E. B. Burleson
3.
J. F. Price, age 57.
They each testified that they had known R. L. Brooks since
1859 or 1860, and that each of them knew him in
Robert Levi Brooks died March 29, 1919 in
Robert Levi Brooks (1842-1919) and wife, Catherine Ann
Houston Brooks
William C.
Brooks
Little is known of William C. Brooks other than that he
was born about 1843 in Franklin County, Alabama.
In Watterson Folk of Bastrop County, Texas the
author wrote that “The men and officers of the company varied widely
in age. Captain Highsmith was
thirty-two, as was Lieutenant Moncure.
First Lieutenant Dan Grady was forty and Private A. R. Stephenson
was forty-two.
W. C.
Brooks was
seventeen. Will Eastland was
barely seventeen and was the youngest man in the company by only a few
weeks. He was really only sixteen
when he enlisted but had given his age as
seventeen.”
In the September, 1860 census, William Brooks was listed
as being eighteen years old.
In a letter to his wife dated July 14, 1862, written from
the Prairie County Camp near
It is believed, therefore, that William Brooks died of
a disease in
John Dunn
Brooks
John Dunn Brooks was born March 9, 1846 in Franklin County,
Alabama.
He was living with his
widowed mother, brothers and sister in the 1860 census of
On June 28, 1913, he applied for a Confederate
Pension. The pension was
approved December 1, 1913, allowing a pension from March,
1914. In his application he stated
that:
1. He was honorably
discharged. “Surrendered
as disbanded near
2. His age was sixty-six,
March 9, 1912.
3. He was born
that he arrived in
living in
4. His current address
was
4 years.
5. His occupation was
that of farmer, but he was unable to work.
6. He served 3 years in
Co. D., 12th Texas Highsmith Co., Sleets Brigade, Parsons
Regiment, Cavalry.
Further, he was a Private.
He was never detailed for
Special Service, or Conscription.
Witnesses testifying to his service, before Judge C. R.
Buchanan,
1. E. H. Burditt –
E. H. Burditt was probably Edward H. Burditt, brother of the husband of his
oldest daughter, Cordelia.
2. S. F. Mantooth –
Samuel Finis Mantooth was the son of Samuel Marion and Eliza Malone Brooks
Mantooth, youngest brother of Nancy Jane Mantooth Brooks and youngest sister
of John Dunn Brooks.
R. L. Brooks, brother of John Dunn Brooks, also testified
that
“I, R. L. Brooks, personally know that J. D. Brooks enlisted
and was in the service of the Confederate Army
for nearly 3
years.
Was a private in Co. D.,
12th Texas Cav.”
In August, 1913, an additional witness appeared on behalf of John
Dunn Brooks. M. S. Ussery testified
that he was personally acquainted with
By December 1, 1919, John Dunn Brooks was a patient at
the State Lunatic Asylum in
Widow’s
Pension
On June 30, 1921, his widow, Nancy Jane Mantooth Brooks,
applied for a Widow’s Pension.
Her request was approved July 14,
1921. In her application,
she stated that they were married February 28, 1865 in Angelina County,
Texas. She stated that she was
74 years of age. Her husband
served in Co. D., 12
On September 12, 1921 she again submitted an application
for a pension, that application being cancelled due to the earlier approved
application. In the
2nd application, she stated that her husband was discharged May,
1865. In this application, R.
J. McKinney, age 78, who served with J. D. Brooks in the 12th
Texas Cavalry, and Beulah Ford, her daughter, testified that she was the
widow of J. D. Brooks. R. J.
McKinney testified that, “I served in the same regiment with J. D. Brooks,
he was a good soldier.”
R. J. (Richard James)
Richard James McKinney was
born in 1842 in
Richard and Emma McKinney first appear in the 1870 census
of Hillsboro, Hill Co., TX. He was 28 (b. MS), and she is 22 (b. TN),
with a 2 year old daughter, Lala. Andrew J. McKinney, age 20, is living
with them as a laborer (born in MS), undoubtedly related to Richard.
Her father, William Nunn, age 47, born in TN, and family were living next
door.
Richard and his wife, Emma, appear also in the
1900 Census of Parker County, Texas (
In September, 1921, at about
age 78, R. J. McKinney signed the affidavit in Nancy Jane Mantooth Brooks'
Application for a Confederate Widow's Pension, testifying that he served
in the same regiment as her husband, John Dunn Brooks, in the Civil War.
In 1921, Nancy Jane Mantooth was living with her daughter, Beulah Brooks
Martin Ford, in
There was another R. J. McKinney and John L. McKinney
who appeared in the 1860 census of Bastrop County (ages 21 and 19), originally
thought to be the above R. J. McKinney.
They were the sons of James
J. and Susan G. McKinney. Their
father was born in TN and the two sons were born in
There is a additional, albeit more distant, connection
with R. J. McKinney. Richard
James McKinney (b. 1842 MS) married Emma Jane Nunn in 1865.
Emma's great grandfather was Francis
Nunn (b. 1752/d. 1815 Williamson
In summary, the fathers of George Thomas Nunn and Emma
Jane Nunn, were 1st cousins! One can only wonder if any of those
living at the time knew it!
Nancy Jane Mantooth Brooks died October 15, 1928 at Miles,
John Dunn Brooks with Wife, Nancy Jane Mantooth Brooks and Mother,
Eliza Bates Brooks Green about 1910 – Probably
Mitchell
County ,
Texas
12TH
TEXAS
The
12th Texas Cavalry served exclusively in the Trans-Mississippi Department
as part of Parsons' Cavalry Brigade. It participated in several minor actions
in
Colonel
William Henry Parsons
Lieutenant
Colonels John W.
Mullen
Andrew Bell Burleson
Majors
Emory W. Rogers
Lochlin J. Farrar
Adjutants
William G. Vardell
Andrew Bell Burleson
William M.
Daviess
Non-Commissioned Staff and
Band
H. A. Highsmith, Sergeant-major
W. A. Calfee, Chief Bugler
Dan Price, Orderly Sergeant
J. Lane Oldham, Quartermaster Sergeant
Company
Rosters
Company A,
Hill
Captain- Joseph Wier, age 30, born VA,
Captain- George W. Ingram,
age 31, born NC,
Stock Raiser
(assumed position after death of Wier)
Company B,
Captain-Appleton M. Maddux, age 28, born
Farmer
Company C,
Captain-William Jeff Neal, age 26, born TN, resident/Johnson
Lawyer (youngest of 10 Captains/killed in battle in
AR)
Captain-Thomas F. Haley, age 44, born
Farmer
Captain-Benjamin Barnes, age 28, born GA, resident/Johnson
Stock Raiser
Company D,
Captain-
M. B. Highsmith, age 33, born MO, resident/Bastrop
Farmer
Company E,
Captain-John C. Brown, age 32, born TN, resident/Ellis
Company F,
Ellis and Johnson
Captain- William G. Veal, age 32, born TN, resident/Parker
Prominent Methodist Minister from Weatherford
Company G,
Kaufman
Captain- H. W. Kyser, age 38, born TN, resident/Kaufman
Company H,
Captain- W. J. Stokes, age 36, born TN, resident/ Ellis
Co.,
Stock Raiser (resigned)
Captain- J. Em. Hawkins, age 31, born IN, resident/Ellis
Lawyer (resigned due to wounds)
Captain-William M. Campbell, age 21, born TN, resident/Ellis
Clerk who lived alone at Waxahachie Hotel
Company I,
Williamson Bowies
Captain – J. W. Mullen, age 50, born DE, resident/Williamson
Farmer
Captain- Wiley Peace, age 43, born NC, resident/Williamson
Stock
Raiser
Captain- James C. S. Morrow, age 22, born KY, resident/Travis
Clerk
Company K,
Captain- A. F. Moss, age 46, born NC, resident/Limestone
Farmer (Most wealthy with $27,000/real estate &
$7,500/personal)
Resigned
Captain- James P. Brown, age 32, born GA, resident/Limestone
Farmer
Note: Ages
as of 1861
COMPANY D –
BASTROP
COUNTY
Captain
Malcijah “Kige” B.
Highsmith
(Son of noted Texas Ranger, Samuel Highsmith)
Lieutenants
John W. Reese, First
W. A. Nichols, Second
George
W. Moore, Junior Second
Sergeants
H. H. Turner,
First
J. L. Estes, Fourth
C. J. Miller,
Second
J. W. Brame, fifth
M. T. Skinner, Third
Corporals
S. Morris,
First
Henry Eiker, Third
W. H. Watson,
Second
A. J. Perciville, Fourth
Privates
M. E. Anderson
*
L. C.
Adkins
D.
Awalt
J.
Bell
Thomas R.
Bell
Joel
Berry
W. C.
Bevill
J. W.
Bowen
John Dunn Brooks *
Robert Levi Brooks *
W.C. Brooks * (17 yrs. old)
J. A. Brown
John Buchenan
W. C.
Burrier
John R. Butler*
(Wounded 7/7/62)
E. B. Burleson *
John Butten
*
W. M.
Campbell
W.J.S.
Carter
Henry
Cleveland
Jessie Craft *
Japhet Collins
W. T. Colver
W. B. Clayton
George A. Cupee
James Dancer
* (Wounded 7/7/62)
William
Dixon
C. C. Denman
H. W.
Donald
J. S. Dyer
Will Eastland
(youngest, at 16 yrs.)
John Eggleston
Miles
Epler
Joseph Lafayette
Estes
W.
Farmer
W. M.
Faulkner
John T. Faulkner
F. S.
Faust
Wm.
Fisher
Albert
Fore
Henry W.
Fort
J. W.
Fort
Lewis
Franks
J. S.
Garrett
S. C.
Garrett
W. P. Glass
William P. Gray
S. B. Griffin
W. L.
Hancock
George W. Hendricks
John
Holligan
H. A.
Highsmith
J. D. Hogan
M. S. Hughes
George W. House
P. A. “Pad” Kelly *
Gabriel M. Lentz
John T. Litton (4)
J. L. Litton
William Lehman
A. J. McCall
R. R.
McDuff
W. R.
McGuire
John L. McKinney * (2)
R. J. “Dick” McKinney * (2)
John Meyener
M. C.
Mitchell
Henry Montgomery
J. M.
Moore
W. C. Moore
Thomas Owen * (Killed 7/7/62)
Z. H.
Pannell
F. H.
Perkins
J. W.
Perkins
W. H.
Perkins
J. C. Petty
John M. Perry *
James W. Perry
George B. Percell
A. J.
Perciville
Wm. L. Perciville
* (Killed 7/7/62)
Nicholas
Ponce
James R. Prewitt
Joseph
Preuitt
J. F.
Price
Bart S. Reid
* (Wounded 7/7/62)
O. H.
Reid
S. D.
Reid
James B.
Robinson *
Marion Roe
*
Steve M. Roe *
T. J. Royall
K. W. Reese
J. M. Robins
H. F. Stacey
W. P. Scott
William J.
Smith
Jacob
Standefer” (Killed 7/7/62) (4)
Thomas Standafer * (4)
Richard Standafer (4)
A. R.
Stephenson
Oliver
Taylor
John
Thompson
William
Thompson
James Townsend
(3)
J. B. Turner
C. W. Turner
John W. Truss *
R. S. Tinnin
J. J. Tinnin
Robert Trogdon
J. Sanford
Turner
M. S.
Ussery
James (Jack)
C.
Walker
Henry
Watson
R. H.
Watson
W. H.
Watson
Ed
Weaver
John G.
Weaver
R. R. White
Guy Wolfenbarger
Charles
Wolfenbarger
William
Wolfenbarger *
J. E. Woods
W. D. Woods
Frank
Yoast
Peter Yoast
T. C. Young (1)
W. P. Young (5)
Joseph J.
Young(5)
*
Mentioned in John Truss letters and were among the “Pinoak boys”.
Steve and Marion Roe were undoubtedly
related to his wife, Rebecca Roe Truss.
In his letter of September
26, 1862, when he mentioned the death of William Brooks, he also said that
William Wolfenberger was
dead.
Note:
There are several listings of members of the Highsmith Company in
various publications. These various
listings reflect members at specific points in
time. The above listing is a
combination of all the names in the various listings while some may have
served only a short
time. Spelling
of names varied and some are likely
incorrect.
Notes
(1) T. C. (Thomas Claney) Young served
in the 12th Cavalry with the Brooks
brothers.
He was born 1841
in Marengo Co., AL and died August 28 1882
in Fayette Co.,
Texas Texas , just south of the
Bastrop Bastrop
County Bastrop County ,
Texas
(2) The R.
J. (“Dick”)
(3) It is
believed that this James Townsend is James Madison Townsend, born 1829 in
(4)
Grandsons of Elizabeth James
Standifer.
(5) William
Perry Young and Joseph J. Young were the sons of Joseph Young, the brother
of Michael Young, the founder of Young’s Settlement in
THE LAST YEAR
AND END OF THE
WAR
Descriptions of conditions for the troops during the last
year of the war were provided in several of the publications, as presented
below.
The last year of the war
was incredibly miserable for Parsons’ 12th Texas Cavalry,
as vividly described by David Carey Nance, a member of Company E (Ellis County
Grays) 12th Texas Cavalry in B.P. Gallaway’s Ragged
Rebel.
Although
Dave and his comrades did no fighting during the last year of the war, they
had to struggle with two continuing problems that threatened their very
existence---abject privation and confusion in the higher echelons of departmental
command. Both kept them on the
move searching for food and fodder or responding to conflicting and often
senseless orders which reflected the frustration of the last
days.
After
Yellow Bayou, Parsons’ Brigade was in a devastated
state. It bivouacked near the
…battlefield…four miles from Simmesport until the last week in
May, when it moved to a site on Bayou des Glaize below
Gaunt,
diseased, half-starved, and dressed in rags, Dave and his comrades were no
different from most other soldiers of the western
Confederacy.
“Prince John”
Magruder, formerly Commander of forces in
In
addition to the blitzkrieg of marching orders, Parsons’ boys had to
contend with pneumonia, “third-day chills,” disintegrating clothing,
starvation, and a devastating mortality rate among their
horses. The shortage of food
and fodder, of course, made all other problems more acute, and the
brigade’s constant movement during these weeks can be explained mostly
in terms of its quest for subsistence.
Some regions became totally destitute for
forage. “We are compelled
to abandon the country east of the Ouachita,” a soldier in the Twelfth
wrote shortly before Christmas, “on account of the scarcity of forage
and breadstuffs.”
It
is not surprising that units facing starvation increasingly ignored regulations
and moral standards when foraging.
And Parsons’ Brigade was no
exception. William Steele, before
his elevation to a higher command, urged Parsons to control his troops to
prevent indiscriminate looting and to keep them from becoming “a terror
to the citizens…as has been too frequently the
case.”
Parsons’
new assignment, which he received shortly after Christmas, was to escort
the cotton trains and police the trade, making certain all cotton traders
had permits and that the government got its share of the
profits. But instead
of apprehending violators, many of Parsons’ boys stole cotton themselves
and exchanged it for coffee, guncaps, powder, and bolts of dyed
cloth. Of course their
illegal participation in the trade did not last long, since Parsons was soon
ordered out of the
But
in February, 1865, Parsons’ stay in the
So,
Dave, with his unit, returned to his “own…beloved, adopted
state,” first setting up housekeeping near Waverly in Walker County
near the San Jacinto line and then “in a thicket of timber…(on)
a high rolling plain” in Grimes
County. Parsons’ boys
were delighted with their new surroundings, happy to be far removed from
the desolation and blood-soaked battlefields of
Parsons
drilled his boys incessantly in both Waverly and Grimes County sites, probably
hoping to keep their minds off their pitiful plight and the dismal state
of the war. All the reports from
the East were bad, and everyone wondered how much longer the war could
last.
Perhaps
the worst news of all, however, was the unhappy report that
With morale crumbling, Parsons
moved his brigade to
The
various diminutive regiments of the brigade, now designated dismounted cavalry,
were to become part of General J. H. Forney’s (formerly
Lee surrendered at
Meanwhile,
Dave and the men of Parsons’ Brigade, dejected by their orders to dismount,
maintained their camp near
Then
shortly after nine o’clock on the morning of May 20, Dave and his comrades
were drilling when “a courier on a fast horse” raced into camp,
hit the ground running, and asked for the brigade
commander. Parsons came out of
his tent, conferred briefly with the courier, and asked his sergeant major
to assemble his troops. Lacking
his usual sparkle and charm, he addressed his boys for the last
time.
“Soldiers,”
Parsons began, “from all the information I can gather, the Trans-Mississippi
Department has been surrendered.”
Then he spoke briefly, thanking his officers and men for their loyalty
and confidence in him. Dave and
the men in his brigade, with tears in their eyes, listened in disbelief.
The moment was not unexpected, but now that it was here it somehow seemed
unreal, as if it were part of a bad
dream. Parsons asked his officers
“to divide the teams and wagons” among the men. “Go home,”
he concluded, “the war is
over!” Then he turned and
disappeared into his tent.
The three
“witnesses” in the Confederate Pension Application for Robert Levi
Brooks said that he enlisted in June or July, 1861, enlisted in the town
of
The Confederate Pension
Application for John Dunn Brooks stated that his regiment “surrendered
or disbanded near
In Between the Enemy
and
When
rumors of Robert E. Lee’s surrender in
The
end came late in May. On the
twentieth, the regiments assembled at the little
The
Confederacy had not won its independence, but the Texans who fought with
Parsons could be proud of their record.
From May, 1862, when the first companies arrived at
(
A.M. Dechman, a member of
Parsons' Brigade wrote in 1883:
On
May 23, 1865, our distinguished Brigade Commander Colonel W. H. Parsons called
the Brigade as soldiers together, and as we felt for the last time, then
with a touching and saddened address to his gallant Brigade announced the
end of this great and unequal struggle, bidding us to retain our arms and
horses and to return to our homes, to be faithful there in upholding our
rights as we had been in the field of
battle. Our ranks broken, we
winded our sad and weary way to our homes.
THE BROOKS FAMILY AFTER THE
WAR
It is assumed that Robert
Levi Brooks and his younger brother, John Dunn Brooks, returned to their
homes in May of 1865. It is likely
that their mother was still living in
Lucinda Bates Cook, sister
of Eliza Bates Brooks Green, had relocated from
John Dunn Brooks' Widow's
Pension Application, submitted by Nancy Jane Mantooth, stated that he was
discharged May, 1865 and that his regiment "surrendered or disbanded near
Bryan, Texas in Brazos County at the close of the War."
Robert Levi Brooks had married
Catherine Ann Houston in
At the end of the war, Robert
apparently returned to
By the early 1870’s
all the Brooks family had probably left Bastrop County and were living in
Uvalde County, Texas, near the prominent family of Elijah Anderson Bates,
brother of Eliza Bates Brooks Green.
It is possible that Eliza was also living there at least in 1872 when
her oldest daughter, Mary E. Brooks, married a Mr. Myers in
It is believed, therefore,
that all the Brooks family had left
Thus ends the story of the
Malone Brooks family during the difficult years of the Civil War and the
three Brooks brothers who served in the 12th Texas
Cavalry.
OTHER
ARTICLES, BOOKS AND COMMENTS REGARDING 12TH
CAVALRY
Much has been written about the famous 12th
Texas Cavalry. Included below
are excerpts from only a few published accounts in an attempt to provide
a sense of the lives of these young
HISTORY OF PARSONS’
BRIGADE
A concise history of
Parsons’ Brigade is provided in “The Handbook of Texas
Online”.
Parsons's
Brigade, a Confederate brigade during the Civil War, was organized in the
autumn of 1862 to serve as cavalry for the Army of the Trans-Mississippi
then forming in
In
fall 1862 the brigade served as the cavalry for the Army of the Trans-Mississippi
in eastern
In
June 1863 Parsons took the Twelfth
Early
in 1864 the regiments came together again when Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks's
federal columns began to move up the Red River toward
Subsequently,
the Texans returned to southern
During
the Civil War Parsons's Brigade earned the reputation as one of the finest
mounted units serving in the Trans-Mississippi Department. The brigade took
part in almost fifty battles, although most were too small to rate a name,
and the men were responsible for watching federal operations from
From Handbook of
WATTERSON FOLK
OF
In this excellent narrative
of the events in which the Pinoak boys participated, the author remarked
that
The
men and officers of the company varied widely in
age. Captain Highsmith was
thirty-two, as was Lieutenant Moncure.
First Lieutenant Dan Grady was forty and Private A. R. Stephenson
was forty-two.
W.C. Brooks was seventeen.
Will Eastland was barely seventeen and was the youngest man in the
company by only a few weeks. He
was really only sixteen when he enlisted but had given his age as
seventeen.
Many
of his recruits were young and exuberant and meant to make the most of their
first trip from home. Nevertheless,
some were homesick and wrote seeking news of their
friends. A letter written by
J. T. Faulkner shortly after he
reached Ellis County to his friend
William Wolfenberger, who was still in Bastrop County, gives
in the words of a nineteen-year-old boy an excellent idea of their
spirits:
Dear
friend
I now embrace the present opportunity
of writing you a few lines just to inform you of
my health and whereabouts.
I am at present as fat as a Bear and twise as
wooley. We are at the time encamped
on Red Oak Creek in
(In his letter to his wife of July 14, 1862, John Truss
mentioned that William Brooks is
dead. William Wolfenberger died
also. So, it seems that John
Faulkner’s friend died in 1862.)
M.
B. Highsmith by the summer of 1861, was recruiting men for a company to serve
exclusively as cavalry. The company
was formed July 24, 1861. He
was its first captain. The company
was mustered into service and certified September 16, 1861, for twelve months
wholly within the boundaries of
Most
of the companies were
Parson’s
regiment spent the fall and winter of 1861-1862 near
It
was at
If,
however, the Texans were to do their share for the South, the units had to
be used outside of the state.
Consequently, the
On
October 28, 1861, Colonel Parsons, following instructions, asked all men
in his regiment to join for twelve months of Confederate
service. All accepted but
forty. Among them were fourteen
men from the Highsmith Company.
THE
FORMING OF THE 12TH
Written by: Steve Kruppenbacher
The majority of the companies were formed by William H.
Parsons in the summer of 1861. He later added the “Hill County
Volunteers” under Captain Wier to make company A. Captain Veal also
added his “Texas Mounted Guards” to make Company F. On September
1st 1861 at Camp Beauregard Parson was elected Colonel along with all the
other officers. September 23, Company F was furloughed to get equipped properly,
while the rest marched to Collin county. October 20th at
Spring of 1862 they were sent to
That September Parson received command of the Texas Cavalry
Brigade in
January of 1863 Parson went on the race to rescue Arkansas
Post from Federal troops, only to arrive too late to assist. Colonel Carter
was detached that spring to aid General Marmaduke’s raid into
June of that year Parson’s men were sent with John
Walker’s
By April 1864 Parsons’ brigade was reunited and ordered
to assist in the Red River Campaign, where they were constantly skirmishing
throughout April and May. April 12th they aided in the ambush of Federal
gunboats at Blair’s Landing. The 19th they began to skirmish at
1865 they spent their final months in
SOURCES OF
INFORMATION
A Brief and Condensed
History of Parsons’
Between the Enemy
and Texas: Parsons’s Texas
Cavalry in the Civil
War, Anne J.
Bailey, 1989.
Campaigning with
Parsons’
Civil War Letters
from Parsons’
The Ragged
Rebel: A Common Soldier in W.
H. Parsons’
Watterson Folk of
By: Jerry
L. Brooks, the Great Grandson of John Dunn Brooks
828-837-9868
e-mail:
jbtexan@brmemc.net