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Major General Joseph Holt

Judge Advocate General,U.S. Army

1862 ~ 1875

S. Fugelsang

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General Holt: Life & Achievements

• Born 6 January 1807, Breckinridge Co., Kentucky; died August 1894, Washington, DC

• Prominent Lawyer

• Buchanan Administration

• Judge Advocate General during Civil War and under three presidents

• Helped prosecute Lincoln assassination conspirators

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Holt as Lawyer and Professional

n Assistant editor of Public Advertiser

n Served as Commonwealth’s Attorney

n Several noted speeches at Democratic political conventions

n Appointed to Board of Visitors at the U.S. Military Academy

n Later married Margaret Wickliffe, daughter of former governor Charles Wickliffe

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Buchanan Administration

n Commissioner of Patents (1857)

n Postmaster General (1859)n Prohibited circulation of any

document promoting insurrection or inciting rebellion, including abolitionist material

n Secretary of War (1860)n Strong advocate for

preservation of the Union

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Lincoln Administrationand Civil War

• Although a Democratic slaveholder, Holt became a close associate of Lincoln’s after the Election of 1860

• Began to advocate for the Union, angering many in the South— former allies viewed as a “personal treason”

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Holt & Kentucky’s Decision to Remain in the Union

Symbolic importance– Birthplace of Lincoln and wife,

but also of Jefferson Davis

Lincoln on Kentucky– “I hope to have God on my side, but I

must have Kentucky.”– “I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the

same as to lose the whole game . . . . We would as well consent to separation at once, including surrender of the capital.” (September 1861)

Lincoln and Davis

Tactical importance– Sizeable population– Agricultural wealth– Ohio River as a defensible

Confederate boundary

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Initial Neutrality• Kentucky = neutral at first

• Many favored both union and slavery; wanted Kentucky to act as a mediator

• Governor Beriah Magoffin– Favored right of secession, while

trying to avoid it– After attack on Fort Sumter, refused

Lincoln’s request for four regiments to help quash rebellion [April 1861]

• General Assembly passed declarations of neutrality, officially proclaimed on 20 May 1861– Magoffin forbade federal troops from

crossing through Kentucky

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Holt’s Advocacy“[I]n this struggle for the existence of our Government, I can neither practise nor profess nor feel neutrality. I would as soon think of being neutral in a contest between an officer of justice and an incendiary arrested in an attempt to fire the dwelling over my head; for the Government whose overthrow is sought, is for me the shelter not only of home, kindred and friends, but of every earthly blessing which I can hope to enjoy on this side of the grave.”

— After Kentucky officially assumed aposition of neutrality. 31 May 1861.

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“I wish solemnly to declare before you and the world that I am for this union without conditions, one and indivisible, now and forever. I am for its preservation at any cost of blood and treasure against its assailants. I know no neutrality between my country and its foes, whether they be foreign or domestic; no neutrality between the glorious flag which floats over us, and the ingrates and traitors who would trample it in the dust.”

— 13 July 1861

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Effect of Holt’s Advocacy:Unionist majorities in elections

of June & August 1861

• 9 of 10 congressional seats• 76 of 100 seats in House; 27 of 38 in Senate• Lincoln credited Holt for these results

• September 1861:– General Assembly declares Ky a Union state– Orders Union flag to be raised over state capitol

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Judge Advocate General, 1862 ~ 1875

Hon. John A. Bingham, Holt, and Holt’s Assistant, Col. H.L. Burnett

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Act of 17 July 1862n Increased no. of cases requiring presidential review prior to

execution of a sentence

n Until this point, a field commander in time of war could order into execution any sentence in any case, except those in which a general officer was accused

n Now, TJAG began to exercise an appellate function over cases in which the accused had been sentenced to death or imprisonment

n TJAG assigned rank of colonel

n About 35 judge advocates nominated/appointed (congressional approval required)

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Approach to Courts-Martial“On September 27, 1862 a court-martial found a Private James Horry, 29th Regiment, Missouri Volunteers, guilty of desertion and sentenced him to ‘be shot to death with musketry.’ In reviewing the record, Holt discovered that the court-martial had only four officers appointed to it, and the ad hoc judge advocate was not properly sworn into his duties, in violation of the Articles of War. On November 5, he wrote to [Secretary of War] Stanton, ‘the objections to this record are, in the main, certainly fatal to the legality of the sentence.’ Stanton agreed and forwarded Holt’s arguments to Lincoln. On March 25, 1863 Private Horry was returned to his regiment, served honorably and survived the war.”

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Bureau of Military Justice (1864)

n Part of the War Department; forerunner of OTJAG

n As senior judge advocate, Holt brevetted brigadier general

n 1884: Bureau consolidated with the existing corps of judge advocates into the “Judge Advocate General’s Department”:n TJAG (BG)n Assistant Judge Advocate General (COL)n 3 DJAGs (LTC)n 3 judge advocates (MAJ)n Such number of line officers authorized by the Secretary of War

to serve as acting judge advocates (CPT)

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Some Notable Cases

n Oversaw court-martial against Major General Fitz-John Porter for disobeying orders

n Investigated northern “Copperheads” for acts of rebellion and oversaw military commissions against Confederate sympathizersn Lambdin P. Milligann Clement Vallandigham

n March 1865: For his service during the war, Holt brevetted major general

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Lincoln Assassination Trial (1865)

• Apex of Holt’s career• Results:

– One sentenced to 6 years’ imprisonment (pardoned 1869)– Three sentenced to life imprisonment (one died; two

pardoned in 1869)– Four hanged on 7 July 1865

• Mary Surratt = first woman executed by federal govt.• Holt vigorously pursued Jefferson Davis for his alleged

involvement in the conspiracy, but he was never prosecuted

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Members of the Military Commission for the trial of Lincoln ConspiratorsHolt, Gen. Robert S. Foster, Col. H.L. Burnett, Col. D.R. Clendenin

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Criticism & Controversy

• Criticism– Heavy-handed trial tactics, questionable evidence– Gross perjury by government witness(es)– Suppression of favorable evidence

• Controversy– Later, President Johnson accused Holt

of suppressing a note from the militarycommission recommending clemencyfor Mary Surratt

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Henry Wirz Military Commission (July 1865)

n One of the nation’s first war crimes tribunals

n Holt directed/reviewed proceduresn Wirz

n Confederate officer charged with murder, conspiracy

n March 1864: Assigned command of Camp Sumter, a Confederate military prison near Andersonville, GA

n Significancen Controversyn Military/legal precedent

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Later Life and Death

• December 1875: Holt voluntarily retired after 13 years, making him the longest-serving TJAG in Army history

• Continued to read/correspond, but remained mostly a recluse relegated to defending his past actions

• 1894: Holt’s death drew newspaper coverage nationwide, and flags flew at half-mast– Buried next to his family home in Kentucky

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Controversy after Death

• Heirs unable to find a will

• A mysterious will subsequently surfaced, leading to extensive litigation and the first ever will-contest to reach the Supreme Court– Throckmorton v. Holt, 180 U.S. 552 (1901)

• Contest lasted eight years

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Legacy√ Loyalty

– To the Union– Role in winning Kentucky over– “While Lincoln and Holt had different social and

political backgrounds, Holt was entirely devoted to Lincoln and Lincoln recognized the depth of his loyalty.”

√ Duty– Opinions as TJAG promoted uniformity and equity in

the administration of military justice– “The expansion of military law has never grown to the

Civil War’s extremes since 1868 . . . . Joseph Holt welcomed this expansion and indeed pushed for it, because he felt it necessary to preserve the Constitution and the Union.”

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Respect

“Despite his growing dislike of slavery, at no point before the war did he politically embrace emancipation, and he found the abolitionist movement distasteful.”

However, “Holt was . . . dedicated to . . . over time, both the abolition of slavery and the elevation of blacks to equality of citizenship under the law. This was a remarkable evolution of a man who was reared in a slave owning family and had, on the eve of the war, disdained abolitionists.”

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Selfless Service

Work ethic• Attorney, Commissioner of Patents, Postmaster General,

orator, TJAG under three presidents• Accumulated 37 volumes of letters in 13 years as TJAG

Personal cost of Holt’s adherence to the Union• “Some Democrats . . . considered him a turncoat”• Relations with family• Former Kentucky governor Charles Wickliffe (father of

Holt’s deceased wife) is said to have chipped the name “Holt” off his daughter’s tombstone— due to Holt’s unionist activity and role in the Lincoln conspiracy trial

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Honor and Integrity?

• “[L]ife and career suffered from one controversy after another”

• “. . . was a very controversial, and often, very hated man”

• “[P]apers often smeared his name”

• “. . . ruthless, mean-spirited, and vindictive”

• “Holt’s detractors grew in number throughout the war and Reconstruction”

• “[A]ttacks on Holt’s character [were] the norm in the half decade after the war”

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“Lincoln’s Forgotten Ally”• Might have been more famous had he been more

politically ambitious

• Reputation undermined byKentucky’s trajectory duringand following Reconstruction

• Reputation underminedby President Johnson

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Questions?