Theophilus Hunter Holmes (1804-1880) was born in North Carolina and served as governor of that state from 1821 to 1824. He graduated from West Point in 1829 in the same class as Robert E. Lee, then served as an officer in the Mexican War. He resigned his commission in the U.S. Army during the Siege of Fort Sumter, and Confederate President Jefferson Davis, a friend, appointed him brigadier general in the Confederate Army. Brig. Gen. Holmes briefly commanded the North Carolina southern coastal defenses from May 27 to June 1st, when he was ordered to report to Richmond. He was then assigned to command the Department of Fredericksburg, which consisted of defenses along the Potomac River. Holmes missed the First Battle of Manassas and went on to fight in the 1862 Peninsula Campaign before being transferred out west.
Spirit of '61 