"First Lieutenant Elias Brookings, Jr., 31st Maine Infantry, found himself in an unusual situation at the end of the war. His unit had been overrun during the frantic fighting around Fort Mahone on April 2, 1865. The Federals ultimately won the battle and forced the Confederates to evacuate not just their line, but Petersburg and Richmond as well. Brookings, however, would accompany Lee's retreat westward as a prisoner of war.
Elias was born on January 1, 1836 in Woolwich, Maine. He graduated from Waterville College (modern-day Colby College) in 1862 and served as principal of Cherryfield Academy. He married Frances Redman on February 24, 1864. A month and a half later he responded to a call for volunteers and on April 9th he mustered into service as first lieutenant of Company H, 31st Maine Infantry.
The regiment departed for Virginia on April 18th and was attached to the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division of Ambrose Burnside's 9th Corps. They were immediately thrown into combat and saw heavy fighting throughout the Overland Campaign. Brookings suffered a minor wound at Cold Harbor on June 6th, but quickly returned to his company at Petersburg. There, he participated in the doomed assault at the Crater on July 30th and fought again at Peebles Farm in late September. After that offensive, the unit garrisoned Fort Fisher as it was built before transferring east to Fort Davis. There, heavy casualties between the pair forced its sister regiment, the 32nd Maine Infantry, to fold into its ranks…"
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