JOHN WESLEY BREWER
15th Regiment of the Missouri Home Guards 1861
15th Regiment of the Missouri Home Guards 1861
John Wesley Brewer, son of Jacob Fletcher Brewer and Edeith "Eda" Crocker, was born in 1816 in St Clair or Washington County, Illinois, but his father was from Hancock County, Georgia where quite a few of the Brewers lived during the time period of the Oconee Indian Wars. John lived in Benton Township, Polk County, Missouri when he enlisted in the Union army. Missouri was a hotbed of conflict at times, and it became necessary to call home guards into service. He enlisted 6 July 1861 in nearby Bolivar, Missouri in Captain Lanceford's Company of the 15th Regiment of United States Reserve Corps. These enlistments were generally for a 3 month term, as his was, and he was discharged 4 Oct 1861. It appears that he must have re-enlisted, but I've not found any records to prove it. His commanding officer was Colonel James W Johnson. Four companies were organized in this regiment and it existed from June to December of 1861. Only one man was killed in action, but at the Siege of Lexington, September 11-21, large numbers were capture. I don't know if John was among the detachment engaged in this conflict or not, or whether he was among the captured.
As was the case with many of those who fought on either side, John had the misfortune of becoming terminally ill. His fate was decided when he contracted small pox and was unable to recover. Though I have not yet found documentation to prove this, family tradition is that in 1863 his mother and his brother's second wife, Miranda, traveled by horse and wagon to Cape Girardeau, Missouri to bring him home. Some say that small pox was not his only plague, but that he also suffered from a battle injury. If this is true, perhaps he was injured in the above mentioned Siege of Lexington. He died before 13 Aug 1863, when his wife, America, filed for a widow's pension. One strange thing, to me, is that the pension card below states that her widow pension was file 29 Dec 1881, which is much later than the above claimed 1863 date. Also, the act allowing Civil War widow's to apply for a pension was not passed until 27 June 1891. Perhaps in 1863 she was, instead, trying to obtain the last of his pay that was still owed to him.
As was the case with many of those who fought on either side, John had the misfortune of becoming terminally ill. His fate was decided when he contracted small pox and was unable to recover. Though I have not yet found documentation to prove this, family tradition is that in 1863 his mother and his brother's second wife, Miranda, traveled by horse and wagon to Cape Girardeau, Missouri to bring him home. Some say that small pox was not his only plague, but that he also suffered from a battle injury. If this is true, perhaps he was injured in the above mentioned Siege of Lexington. He died before 13 Aug 1863, when his wife, America, filed for a widow's pension. One strange thing, to me, is that the pension card below states that her widow pension was file 29 Dec 1881, which is much later than the above claimed 1863 date. Also, the act allowing Civil War widow's to apply for a pension was not passed until 27 June 1891. Perhaps in 1863 she was, instead, trying to obtain the last of his pay that was still owed to him.
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