ANDREW J. BROOKS

Andrew Jackson Brooks was the son of a native Virginian, Samuel Clifford Brooks and his second wife, Elizabeth J. Tatum. Samuel was called “ Major Brooks” in a letter written by Danville Schoolteacher Thomas Hoy in April, 1851, and was said to be residing in the former home of Joseph Lindley at that time. The family then moved from Danville to Huntsville before the 1860 census.
Andrew was born on November 8, 1844 in Fayette County, Tennessee. His family immigrated from Tennessee to Mississippi where his younger sister was born, and then to Texas in 1850.
His father's sister, Nancy Brooks, was the second wife of Iredell Reding, an early Danville settler. Therefore, Andrew had a step-uncle who signed up with the Lancers, John Baker Reding, as well as a step-cousin, George W. Reding.. Andrew's younger sister was Sina Brooks, who later married Andrew's fellow Cavalryman, Roland K. Truitt.
Andrew was only seventeen, but he gave his age as eighteen when he enlisted on March 29, 1862, in the Second Texas Lancers. he was enrolled by John E. George. His horse was worth $35.00 and his equipment worth $25.00. He had to ride fifty miles to rendezvous at Camp Carter at Hempstead, and he joined the other men there on April 28th for cavalry training.
Andrew rode his horse to Arkansas with his company of Lancers, Company B, 24th Regiment Texas Cavalry, under Captain S. D. Wooldridge.
Upon arrival at Camp Holmes in Arkansas, Andrew was dismounted along with the other men and forced to send his horse back to Texas. He was counted present on the muster roll of August 28, 1862, at Camp Holmes.
From Camp Holmes, the company was marched to Ft. Hindman at Arkansas Post. He spent the fall there, at Ft. Hindman, helping to build cabins for the winter.
Union troops attacked the fort on January 11, 1863, and Andrew fought in what is known as The Battle of Arkansas Post. Sadly, he was mortally wounded and died of his wounds the following day, January 12, 1863.
Many years later, Andrew's sister, Sina, wrote a letter to her niece. She told of her brother's death. A transcript of the letter is preserved in the DAR files.

Thank you to Oscar Redding for providing the document and to Thomas Adkins for preparing it for viewing. You may click on the image to read the letter in full size.

The bodies of the Confederate soldiers are thought to have been buried in a mass grave, perhaps within the Rifle Pits, and there are no markers at the Ft. Hindman National Memorial for those who died there.
You may read Ranger Eric Leonard's answers concerning the place of the burial of the Confederate soldiers at Arkansas Post.
Since there is no memorial marker for Andrew at Arkansas Post, a memorial marker at Old Danville Cemetery or in Huntsville would certainly be in order.

The above biography of Andrew Jackson Brooks has been compiled from Brooks family records submitted by Oscar Redding, from census and county records, and from my Reding family records. Travis Mallett’s Reding pages may be accessed from the biography page of George W. Reding, linked to this page in the above text. The Compiled Service Records were accessed on microfilm at the Confederate Research Center at Hillsboro, Texas. Thomas Adkins' web page on Samuel Clifford Brooks may be accessed at Adkins Family Tree: Samuel Clifford Brooks.

Updated May 4, 2007
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