Theophilus Hunter Holmes

From Dixiepedia: The PC-Free Encyclopedia

Theophilus Hunter Holmes (13 November 1804 - 21 June 1880) was born in Sampson County, North Carolina. He was the son of Gabriel Holmes, who had served as Governor of North Carolina and as a United States Congressman. The younger Holmes graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1829 and served at various stations on the western frontier, in the Florida War, the Texas occupation, and the Mexican War, receiving the brevet rank of major for his actions at Monterey. When the War Between the States began, he was Superintendent of the General Recruiting Service, stationed at Governor’s Island, New York, but he returned to his North Carolina estate, resigned his commission on 22 April 1821, and was promptly made Brigadier General of North Carolina troops. When North Carolina seceded, he was given a commission as Brigadier General in the Confederate Army, and served in most of the campaigns in northern Virginia until September of 1862, when he was given command of the Trans-Mississippi Department, with headquarters at Little Rock, Arkansas. When offered a commission as Lieutenant General along with the new job, he declined at first, but relented when Confederate president Jefferson Davis pressed the issue (Holmes and D.H. Hill were the only two North Carolinians to reach the rank of Lieutenant General in the Confederate Army.) In March of 1863, he was relieved of command in the department by General E. Kirby Smith at his own request. On 3 July 1863, he and General Sterling Price attacked Helena, Arkansas, but were driven back with heavy losses. His health began to fail and he returned to North Carolina where he was assigned command of the Reserve Forces of North Carolina. He died in Fayetteville, Cumberland County, North Carolina.