Tallapoosa County AlArchives Biographies.....Brewer, Rufus  May 7, 1842 - June 23, 1919
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
John Simmons http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00030.html#0007486 October 27, 2022, 12:45 pm

Author: John Eady Simmons Jr.

Rufus was born in 1842 in Morgan County, Georgia. He was the son of Alford 
Brewer and Mary Coleman. His mother had been married previous to David Coleman. 
Her maiden name was Douglas. The father of Rufus had been married before and had  
at least 6 children from that marriage. Rufus moved with his family to Henry 
County, Georgia and he is listed on the census with his parents and siblngs in 
1850. After 1850 his father moved the family to Tallapoosa County in Alabama. 
His father died in 1855. Rufus lived with his family on the 400 acres 
plantation. 

Rufus is named as a legatee in his father's will. He was living with his widowed 
mother and his siblings in Tallapoosa County in 1860.

War came to the south and to Alabama in April of 1861.
Rufus answered the call to arms and enlisted in the 14th Alabama Infantry in 
Company H in 1861. (The Jackson Avengers)

The 14th Alabama Infantry Regiment was organized at Auburn on 1 Aug 1861 with 
men from Montgomery and Auburn and the counties of Chambers, Jackson, Randolph, 
and Tallapoosa. It went first to Huntsville and remained until October, then to 
Fredericksburg, Virginia where it arrived in November. It was sent to Richmond 
to rest after suffering camp diseases, especially measles. Proceeding to 
Yorktown, it was brigaded under Gen. Roger Pryor of Virginia, Longstreet's 
Division. The command fell back with the army, and fought at Williamsburg with 
heavy loss to four of the companies. In April 1862, it numbered 700 effectives

Rufus was wounded by a piece of shell near Yorktown, Virginia in April of 1862. 
He was sick in hospital in 1862.

 At Seven Pines, ithe 14th was again in action, with but few casualties. It 
participated at Mechanicsville and was almost annihilated at Frazer Farm and 
Malvern Hill, losing nearly all the officers, after charging the enemy's 
positions repeatedly (335 casualties.) It moved toward the Potomac with the army 
and was engaged with slight loss at the 2nd battle of Manassas (47 casualties). 
Greatly reduced in strength, the 14th fought at Sharpsburg, suffering severely 
in casualties. Placed in Cadmus Wilcox' Brigade, Anderson's Division (with the 
8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th Alabama regiments) it was on the line of the 
Rappahannock during the winter of 1862-63 and was in line of battle on the 
heights when Burnside was repulsed at Fredericksburg. The regiment was hotly 
engaged, with heavy loss (151 casualties), at Salem Church (at 
Chancellorsville). It went on the Pennsylvania campaign to Gettysburg, and of 
the 316 men engaged, 15% were casualties. The winter of 1863/64 was passed in 
camp near Orange Court House, and the 14th was engaged at both The Wilderness 
and Spottsylvania. Now in Sanders' Brigade, Mahone's Division, the 14th 
participated in the numerous struggles around Petersburg during the last 10 
months of the war. It surrendered at Appomattox with only 70-80 present under 
Capt. Perry of Lowndes (Crute reports 11 officers and 180 men surrendering). The 
original muster was 1317 names; 250 or more died in battle, 350 died in the 
service, and 159 were discharged or transferred.
 Rufus was admitted to Camp Winder Hospital in Richmond on May 9th of 1863. He 
was admitted there again in 1864. Rufus was captured near Petersburg in October 
of 1864 and sent to Point Lookout, Maryland where he remained a prisoner of war 
until he was paroled on March 28th 1865 and sent to Aikens Landing, Virginia for 
exchange.

His brother, Lucious enlisted in Company A of the 63rd Alabama Infantry. He was 
at Spanish Fort near Mobile and at the Siege of Fort Blakely in April of 1865. 
His brother Julius enlisted in the 38th Tennessee Infantry and died in Jackson, 
Mississippi in May of 1862. 

After the war Rufus returned home and was married to Martha Wright in Tallapoosa 
County, Alabama in 1865. After 1870 he relocated his family to Columbia County 
in southern Arkansas where he was a farmer. He and Martha reared a large family. 
Rufus died in 1919 and was buried in Columbia County.

Additional Comments:
Per his Findagrave memorial he died in Bowie County, Texas and was buried in 
Columbia County, Arkansas.

His brother Lucious was in the same company as their future brother in law, 
Tillman S. Simmons. 

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/tallapoosa/bios/brewer1117gbs.txt

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