Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 1.djvu/719

 Rh his corps. General J. E. Johnston said of him that "he was more capable of commanding twenty thousand men in battle than any other Confederate general." General Hardee died at Wytheville, Va., November 6, 1873, and his remains were interred at Selma, Ala., where he had resided after the war.

Lieutenant-General Theophilus H. Holmes was born November 11th, 1804, in Sampson county, North Carolina, the son of Gabriel Holmes, congressman and governor. He was graduated from the West Point military academy in 1829; served in frontier duty in Indian Territory and elsewhere; was promoted lieutenant and captain of the to 1842; was stationed at New Orleans and vicinity; joined the Texas army of occupation; won the brevet of major at Monterey and was distinguished at Vera Cruz. Subsequently he was on duty in garrison and on the frontier; took part in the expeditions against the Seminoles and the Navajoes; was promoted major March 3, 1855, and when the Confederacy was formed held the position at Governor's Island of superintendent of the general recruiting service of the United States army. He resigned early in 1861 to take part in the Southern struggle for independence. President Davis, who had known "him from his schoolboy days, had served with him in garrison and in field, and with pride watched him as he gallantly led a storming party up the rocky height at Monterey," promoted him from colonel, C. S. A., his first Confederate rank, to that of brigadier-general, June 5, 1861. He commanded a brigade at Aquia Creek, which he led to Manassas for participation in the defeat of McDowell. Subsequently he was put in command of the Aquia district, with the rank of major-general, the other two districts of the department being under Stonewall Jackson and Beauregard. He commanded a division during the Seven Days' battles before Richmond, and at the conclusion of that campaign