Colonel George L. Brown, Minersville Hero Of The Civil War

Colonel George L. Brown

Minersville Hero Escapes Numerous Times from Rebel Prisons.
He escaped four times from Rebel camps and was recaptured as often, Twice by Bloodhounds.



George Brown on Right

On July 8, 1914 Col. George L. Brown died at his residence in Minersville. In 1870-1880 Col. Brown had the distinction of holding the office of Commander of the Garand Army of The Republic. (G.A.R.).Col. Brown died from the effects of uremia.
George L. Brown was born in Milton, on December 6, 1838 a son of Isaac and Mary (Lawrence Brown).
He was of a family of fighters who participated in the Civil War. When he was young he was united in marriage to Rachel Moore a daughter of Samuel Moore. Mr. Brown received his education in the academies of Milton, Pa.
In 1861 he moved to Minersville and continued in the mercantile business with G.J. Lawrence and J.S. Lawrence , his uncle’s with whom he was a clerk. When the Civil War broke out he enlisted as a private in Co. I, 101st Penna. Regiment. He was shortly afterwards commissioned as a 2nd Lieut. And in March 1863 was promoted to 1str Lieut.
During his term of service he took part in the siege of Yorktown, the battles of Williamsburg, Savage Station, Fair Oaks the Seven Days fight before Richmond, Charles City Crossroads, Long’s Bridge, Jones Ford, Harrison’s Landing. Goldsboro North Carolina, Southwest Creek, Wilmington Railroad bridge, Swan Quarters, Little Washington, Blunts Creek, Swift Creek, Foster’s Mill Jamestown and Plymouth.
On April 17th to the 20th, 1864, while resisting the final charge of Hokes, North Carolina brigade at Plymouth, N.C. He was wounded in the left arm and left breast, and was taken prisoner. Subsequently he was confined in the prisons at Plymouth, Weldon, Macon and in the jail yards at Charleston, S.C. where with other prisoners he was placed under a heavy artillery bombardment from the Union forces besieging the city. From here was removed to Columbia, camp Sorghum, charlotte, Raleigh and Goldsboro He escaped four times and was recaptured as often, Twice by Bloodhounds.
On November 3, 1864, he escaped from Camp Sorghum, N.C. and was out 17 days before being recaptured. He was finally paroled on February 27th 1865 and sent to Annapolis, Md. Where he was mustered out.
After his return from the war he engaged in the drug business with Jacob S. Lawrence, Under the name Lawrence and Brown. The partner ship continued until 1885 when he retired.
He was a charter member of the Capt. George J. Lawrence Past G.A.R. of Minersville named in honor of his uncle, who died from wounds suffered at Fredericksburg, Va. He served a past commander of the past.






Bio From The regimental History of the 101st P.V.I.
Lieutenant George L. Brown.
At the age of 23 George L. Brown enlisted as a private in Co. I., l01st Regiment, on the I4th day of September, 1861. He was promoted to second lieutenant of his company Jan. 1, 1862, and on March 1, 1863, he was commissioned first lieutenant. To write a history of the activities of Lieutenant Brown while in the service of Uncle Sam, is but to recapitulate the Regimental narrative, for he participated in every battle, skirmish and reconnaissance in which the Regiment was engaged, from the time it cast its fortunes with the Army of the Potomac, until it was finally compelled to lower its colors in the presence of an overwhelming force of the enemy. But even then, Lieut. Brown was saved the mortification of surrendering to the victorious foe in a normal condition. In the final charge made by the enemy and before he became a prisoner of war he had been made hors de combat by a severe wound in the left arm and breast.
After the capitulation of the garrison at Plymouth, on April 20, 1864, Lieut. Brown, owing to his severe wounds, was kept a prisoner at Plymouth until he was able to travel. After leaving Plymouth he was confined at Weldon, N. C.; Macon, Ga.; in jail yard at Charleston, S. C., and for a time in the Old Marine Hospital at Charleston, where he and his fellow prisoners were under the fire of the Federal batteries. From Charleston he was moved to Columbia, S. C., from where he escaped, and after eluding the enemy until he had reached east Tennessee, he had to undergo the chagrin of surrendering to blood-hounds. He was then confined in the jail at Columbia, and while there, was placed in irons, bucked and gagged, for the simple offense of communicating with a fellow prisoner of war, Maj. Teller, who was held as a hostage. From Columbia he was moved to Charlotte, N. C., thence to Raleigh, and finally Goldsboro. During his imprisonment he escaped four times, but was recaptured before he succeeded in reaching the Federal lines; however, he was only captured once by the bloodhounds. He was paroled for exchange, Feb. 27, 1865, and owing to the depleted ranks of the Regiment, the near termination of the war, which was then known to be practically at an end, and the fact that he was under parole, he was mustered out of the service at Washington, D. C., March 15, 1865.
Lieut. Brown was born at Milton, Penna., December 6, 1838. Patriotic blood flows in his veins, his paternal grandfather having served in the war of 1812. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was engaged in business as a merchant, but he did not rest until he was freed from it, and in the service of his country.
In January, 1863, when Wessells brigade was encamped at New Bern, N. C., it was rumored that the Regiment was to go to Charleston, S. C. Among a batch of papers, sent to the writer, by Lieut. Brown, some of which have been used in the Regimental narrative, one verbatim, the writer found a letter writ
ten by Lieut. Brown to his father. This letter explains how these papers came to be preserved, even when everything, pertaining to the Regiment and with it, was lost twice in battle. But it does more than this; it gives an insight into the character of the writer, and will recall to the mind of the comrades an event in the history of the Regiment that most of them had forgotten. The letter is as follows:
Head Quarters Co. I, 101st P. V., Encamped 2 miles from New Bern, N. C, Jan. 16, 1863.
Dear Father: Enclosed you will find copies of papers which I wish you to keep for me. I am well and expect to join this grand expedition of forty days' length. I presume it is to Charleston; but I dare not say where.
Remember me to all. I will win a bar on my shoulders this expedition or I will quit. Write me soon and direct to Co. I, 101st P. V., Wessell's Division, Hunt's Brigade, Washington, D. C. Your Son, GEORGE.

I saw the page that you had done on Col. George Lawrence Brown. I noticed that you didn't have a picture of his grave or mention where he is buried. I thought maybe you would like the attached pictures. he and his wife and children are buried in the Union Cemetery, Minersville, Schuylkill County, Pa. Right by his two uncles Capt. George J. Lawrence and Jacob S. Lawrence

Thank you Debbie for the photo's





Another Member of the Brown Family
Sibmitted by Art

Below is an obituary on George Brown's , my great uncle, brother Webster Casing brown

ANOTHER BROWN MUSTERED OUT
Col. Geo. L Brown’s Brother
Dies in Iowa
A SOLDIER BOY AT SIXTEEN
“Web” Brown Was Only a Boy in the
Civil War but He Stood Up Heroically
And came out With Great Honor



Died at Fort Dodge, Iowa, Dec 31, 1898, of Bright’s disease *, Webster C. Brown, late Co. E, 9th Pa. Cav. and brother of Col. Geo. L. Brown, of this place. “Web” as he was called, joined the army when a little over sixteen years old, joining company at Murfreesboro, Tenn. He was a gallant soldier boy. Though only a private, Gen. Judson Kilpatrick, who commanded the division in the service to which he belonged, often visited him at his farm in Iowa after his discharge. He fought at Murfreesboro, Tenn., Readyville, Tenn., joined in Sherman’s grand march to the sea in First Brigade, Third Calvary Division, and was one of the boys that helped force and take the roads to Macon and Milledgeville in Georgia. He was in the charge that captured Lovejoy station, Sept. 17, 1864, and came away unscathed. He fought at Buckhead Creek, Bear Creek, Waynesboro, and arrived with his company and regiment at Savannah, GA., Dec 21. –Then participated in all of the cavalry movements made toward the rebel prison pens, Florence, Milan and Columbia. He was in the fights of Blackville and Aiken, at Columbia, S.C. and a third soldier in the charge over Columbia Bridge, forcing his way amid fire and flame trying to rescue his brother George, whom he knew was confined in Columbia, S.C. stockade as a prisoner of war. But alas, his disappointment. The rebels had loaded the prisoners of war a few hours before and shipped them to Charlotte, N.C. He was engaged at Brier Creek Fayetteville, N.C. , Mar. 11, 1865; Aurerysboro, N.C. , Mar16; Bentonville, N.C. , Mar 17, and whilst in the great charge on McLaw’s rebel division between Bentonville and Raleigh was badly wounded and sent to Willets Point Hospital, N.Y. In April 1865, he was sent to his home in Milton, Pa., a cripple for life. He was buried at Fort Dodge, Iowa, his late home, Jan. 2, 1889, by his Post of the Grand Army of the Republic. But two brothers of the Brown boys are left --- George L., late 101st P.V.V., of Minersville, and I.W., late 28th P.V., of Chicago.