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	Record Group Number:	900000
	Series/Collection Number:	M87- 10
	Creator:	Brooks, Thomas Benton, d. 1900
	Title, Dates:	Thomas Benton Brooks papers and correspondence, 1864.
	Amount:	0.25 cubic ft.
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	Organization/Arrangement:	Chronological.
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	Biographical/Historical:	Thomas Benton Brooks was a Union army officer and aide-de-camp to Major-General Quincy Adams Gillmore. Brooks joined the army on August 9, 1861 as a First Lieutenant in the 1st New York Engineers. He advanced to captain on January 21, 1862 and to major and aide-de-camp on August 17, 1863. Brooks received the brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel for meritorious service at the siege of Fort Pulaski in Georgia, and the brevet rank of full colonel for service during the siege of Charleston, South Carolina. In 1864, Brooks went to Fernandina, Florida, to aid in a major Union expedition to establish a loyal Florida government and to interdict Confederate supplies in Jacksonville. He oversaw operations to procure lumber on the Nassau and St. Mary's Rivers in support of that expedition, which ultimately failed with the Union loss at the Battle of Olustee on February 20, 1864. Brooks resigned from the military on October 6, 1864 and returned to civilian life. He died on November 22, 1900.
	Summary:	The collection contains materials dealing primarily with operations in Florida relating to the major Union expedition to establish a loyal Florida government. The documents extend beyond Brooks' duties during his tour at Fernandina and include correspondence from naval and army leaders, reports from commanders, a newspaper account of the movements, and a pamphlet. Of interest are three informative letters written to Brooks by Captain Alfred Sears of the 1st New York Engineers. Also included is Brooks' letterbook that contains copies of his outgoing letters from February to May 1864. These materials give a relatively complete account of operations around Fernandina in early 1864. The collection also contains some miscellaneous Civil War items not related to Brooks but donated as part of his papers, such as several examples of Confederate State currency, military passes, and a reproduction of a poster dated November 28, 1857, advertising a $100 reward for the capture of Eliza, an 18 to 20-year-old fugitive from enslavement in Maryland.
	Finding Aids:	Calendar available. 0 Folder listing available. 0
	Additional Physical Form:	This collection has been digitized and is available on the Florida Memory web site: https://www.floridamemory.com/discover/historical_records/thomas-brooks/
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	Ownership/Custodial History:	Probably came from Ft. Clinch and the Florida Park Service.
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	Electronic Records Access:	https://www.floridamemory.com/discover/historical_records/thomas-brooks/
	Subject Access Fields:	United States. Army. --New York Engineer Regiment, 1st (1861-1865) Civil War (Fla.) Military administration. Florida History Civil War, 1861-1865
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