Holmes, Theophilus Hunter

Life Span
to
Full name
Theophilus Hunter Holmes
Place of Birth
Burial Place
Birth Date Certainty
Exact
Death Date Certainty
Exact
Gender
Male
Race
White
Sectional choice
South
Origins
Slave State
No. of Spouses
1
No. of Children
6
Family
Gabriel H. Holmes (father), Mary Hunter (mother), Laura Wetmore (wife, 1841)
Education
West Point (US Military Academy)
Occupation
Military
Farmer or Planter
Church or Religious Denomination
Presbyterian
Military
US military (Pre-Civil War)
Confederate Army

Theophilus Hunter Holmes (American National Biography)

Scholarship
Holmes was devoted to saving Arkansas, even refusing [President Jefferson Davis'] request to send a portion of his troops to reinforce Vicksburg. He praised Arkansans as "true and loyal" and his troops as "noble men," but civilians and soldiers alike lost confidence in him. The Federals advanced steadily into the state and laid waste to northern Arkansas. Holmes admitted that he was unequal to his task as early as October 1862. Davis finally responded to public pressure by replacing him as department commander with General Edmund Kirby Smith in March 1863 and reassigning Holmes to command the District of Arkansas, which also included Indian Territory and Missouri. In this post, too, Holmes proved unsuccessful, most tragically when his outnumbered army failed to take strongly held Federal positions at Helena in July 1863. When Kirby Smith and several leading Arkansas politicians petitioned to have Holmes removed from Arkansas altogether, Holmes resigned in March 1864. In April Davis reassigned Holmes to command reserve troops in his native North Carolina. He served in this largely administrative post until April 1865.
Daniel E. Sutherland, "Holmes, Theophilus Hunter," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/05/05-00357.html.
Chicago Style Entry Link
Castel, Albert. "Theophilus Holmes: Pallbearer of the Confederacy." Civil War Times Illustrated 16 (July 1977): 10-17. view record
How to Cite This Page: "Holmes, Theophilus Hunter," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/index.php/node/5921.