That Little Fat Man (Tombstone Tuesday)

Amory Lewis Brown
(Nov 15, 1832 - Feb 23, 1915)
Photo by James Allen

..."with a hole in his head, done at Chancellorsville, is Amory L. Brown, and as clever as he is plump" is a description given in 1873 of an employee of the Great Dry Goods Emporium of Middle Georgia.¹

We can learn a lot more about A. L. Brown's Confederate service by reading his pension applications at Ancestry, as well as his service record file at Fold3. Amory applied for an Indigent Pension in the years 1903 through 1907 (at least). The paperwork for 1903 states he was born 1834 in Burke County, Georgia, and remained a resident of the state of Georgia from that point on. Amory enlisted 4 March 1862 and served in Company H of the 45th Georgia regiment. He remained a soldier in said unit until late March of 1865, when he was taken as a prisoner of war at Petersburg and sent to Fort Delaware. He was not released until June of that year -- a couple of months after the war was supposedly over.

After the war, Amory supported himself as a salesman in a dry goods store. But by the late 1890's (if not before) was unable to do so. He states:

I suffer all the time from Rheumatism - and have for years - I have a wound in my head received during the war. Leaves a sunken place above my eyes just below the top of my forehead, and it causes some great pain - Headaches - Vertigo - [awful?] [?] for all work. Cant get employment on account of this head attack and Rheumatism.

The application also included an affidavit from physicians Gewinner and Gostin:

On account of frequent attacks of Rheumatism, coupled with his age (he is now 68 yrs of age) he is utterly unable to make a living. At the battle of Chancellorsville, Va. he was shot in the head leaving a depression in the skull and this at times causes him considerable trouble.

Amory's Confederate service record (at Fold3) describes him as having a light complexion, dark hair, blue eyes, and a height of 5' 5". It also shows Lt. Brown in a hospital at Richmond, Virginia in May of 1863. He was transferred to Macon, Georgia for 30 days.

What amazes me is Lt. Amory L. Brown returned to his unit and kept pressing forward!

Recap: Amory enlists 4 March 1862. A little more than a year later he is shot in the head during the Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia and taken to a Richmond hospital. He is given a transfer to Macon, Georgia for 30 days. Amory then returns to his unit and continues to serve until he is captured as a prisoner of war in Petersburg, VA late March 1865 and taken to Fort Delaware. He is not released until June, so he cannot even begin to make his way home until two months after Lee's surrender.

Wow.


Footnote:
1. "The Great Dry Goods Emporium of Middle Georgia." Macon Weekly Telegraph (Georgia), 25 March 1873, pg. 7; digital image, GenealogyBank, (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed March 2013), Historical Newspapers.