Theodore W. Brevard, Jr.

Theodore W. Brevard

Theodore Washington Brevard
Birth name Theodore Washington Brevard, Jr.
Born August 26, 1835
Tuskegee, Alabama
Died June 20, 1882 (aged 46)
Tallahassee, Florida
Buried at St. John's Episcopal Church Cemetery
Allegiance Confederate States of America Confederate States of America
Service/branch  Confederate States Army
Years of service 1861 - 1865
Rank Brigadier General
Commands held Florida 2nd Florida Infantry Battalion
Florida 11th Florida Infantry Regiment
Spouse(s) Mary Call
Other work Lawyer

Theodore Washington Brevard, Jr. (August 26, 1835,[1] Tuskegee, AL– June 20, 1882, Tallahassee, FL[2]) was an American military officer best known for having served in the Confederate States Army. During his tenure with the Confederate army, he eventually reached the rank of Brigadier-General. Brevard was captured by the forces of General George Custer and imprisoned at Johnson's Island. He later died in 1882.

He was the son of Judge Theodorus W. Brevard, the namesake of Brevard County, Florida and Caroline E. Mays Brevard. He was the son-in-law of former Florida territorial governor Richard K. Call. Caroline Mays Brevard was his daughter.

Early life and political career

Theodore Washington Brevard, Jr. was born in Tuskegee, Alabama on August 26, 1835 and studied law at the University of Virginia.[2] He was admitted to the Florida bar in 1858, and later served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1858 to 1859, and in the Florida Senate representing the 10th district from 1865 to 1866.[3] In June 1860, Brevard was appointed adjutant and inspector-general for the state of Florida.[4] At the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, he resigned from this post to enter active service, feeling that "he was too young a man to hold a safe and easy position whiles others were in peril".[4]

Military career

Brevard organized the 11th Florida Regiment, which had its origins as a battalion.[4] After obtaining a commission, in the spring of 1861, Brevard assembled a company of volunteers which would later compose the 2nd Florida regiment.[5] The company was ordered to Fernandina Beach and drilled until thoroughly versed with military tactics. Being the first regiment that was ordered by the state of Virginia, it was labeled the representative regiment of Florida.[5]

Captain Brevard returned to Florida in the summer of 1862 after being commissioned to form a battalion of partisan rangers.[5] Six companies forming the second battalion soon enlisted, commanded by Captains Henry Bird, Andrew J. May, John Westcott[5] Walter J. Robinson[5] and Adam Ochus[5] under the command of Brevard, now in the rank of lieutenant-colonel.[5] Under General Joseph Finegan command, the battalion did effective work in south and east Florida and, on May 1864, was ordered to Virginia when the 4th Florida battalion, seven companies, the companies of Ochus and Robinson of Brevard's battalion and Captain Cullen Bradley's unattached company of Florida volunteers were assigned to the 11th Infantry under the command of Colonel Brevard.[5] The battalion took a gallant part in the fighting around Richmond and Petersburg, and were under-fire nearly all the time after reaching Richmond.[4] During the Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road, Brevard learned of the death of his younger brother, Lieutenant Mays Brevard.[6]

Capture and death

Upon the resignation of General Finegan, Brevard was made a brigadier-general and acted as such until 6 April 1865, when, while leading the 5th, 8th and 11th Florida regiments to break a flank movement of the enemy, they were captured by General George Custer's cavalry.[7] Brevard was sent to Washington and later to Johnson's Island where he was imprisoned until his release in August 1865.[6] Brevard died on June 20, 1882[1] in Tallahassee, Florida.[2] The Union army had not realized that they had captured General Brevard, they thought they had captured Colonel Brevard.[8] Despite Custer's habit of enumerating all of his battlefield prizes, no federal provost marshal had counted Brevard as a General.[8] Quite possibly, Brevard had no idea he was a General himself, as his March 28 commission to the post had not reached him due to the chaos of the retreat, and he may not have discovered that he was a general until the war was over.[8]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Theodore Washington Brevard". Civil War Reference. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Warner 1989, p. 35
  3. ↑ The People of Lawmaking in Florida
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Evans 2004, p. 162
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Evans 1899, p. 162
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Evans 2004, p. 163
  7. ↑ Dickinson, J.J. (1899). "Military History of Florida". In Evans, Cement Anslem. Confederate military history; a library of Confederate States history (PDF) 11. Atlanta: Confederate Publishing Co. p. 160.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Marvel 2006, p. 92

References