Milton M. Holland, a Civil War soldier, was the first Texan to be awarded the Medal of Honor.
Born a slave in Panola County in 1844, he and his two brothers, William H. and James, were purchased and freed by their supposed father, Bird Holland, who sent them north to be educated. Their mother was a slave owned by Spearman Holland.
After the war, Spearman gave his plantation to his ex-slaves, since they had farmed and harvested the land. Holland’s Quarter still exists in Panola County. Ironically, Bird Holland was killed at Pleasant Hill on April 9, 1864 as a major in the 22nd Texas Infantry.
Milton enlisted in the 5th United States Colored Troops. He was promoted to Sgt-Major of the regiment by August 1864. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his courage on Sept. 29, 1864, at the Battle of New Market Heights or Chaffin’s or Chapin’s Farm. The citation stated: “Took command of Company C, after all the officers had been killed or wounded, and gallantly led it.”
A ceremony honoring Milton M. Holland will be held on the south steps of the State Capitol on Saturday, September 27th, from 1 to 3 p.m. All are welcome to attend this ceremony, which will include the presentation of the colors by Buffalo Soldiers re-enactors, a short speech on Sgt. Holland, and presentation of a plaque honoring him.
If any Holland family members are able to attend the ceremony, they will be acknowledged during the event.
The above notice was published in The Panola Watchman on September 12, 2014 and is based in part on this piece published online in The Handbook of Texas by the Texas State Historical Society: https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fhobt
NOTE TO MY READERS : While checking the internet about Spearman Holland, I was surprised to see a photograph from this blog included with the article of my father Dr. Virgil M. Holland and his brother, Samuel L. Holland labelled as “decedents of Spearman Holland”.
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| Samuel L. Holland with his brother Dr. V.M. Holland |
There is no relationship between the Hollands of Holland Quarters and the Hollands that settled in the Fairplay Community of Panola County. Major Holland was an earlier settler in the county. My father and his family came from Benton, County Tennessee at a later date.
My family is also not related to the defender of the Alamo, named Tapley Holland.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Daughters of the American Revolution, The Alamo Heroes and Their Revolutionary Ancestors (San Antonio, 1976). Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Muster Rolls of the Texas Revolution (Austin, 1986). Bill Groneman, Alamo Defenders (Austin: Eakin, 1990).Citation
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.Bill Groneman, "HOLLAND, TAPLEY," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fhobd), accessed September 19, 2014. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
Holland, too young to enlist into the United States Army at the start of the Civil War, worked as a shoemaker for the quartermaster department of the army until he was allowed to enlist. In June 1863 in Athens, Ohio, he joined the Fifth United States Colored Troops, commanded by Gen. Benjamin F. Butler. He fought in the battle of the Crater in the Petersburg campaign in Virginia during 1864 and at Fort Fisher, North Carolina, in January 1865. He rose to the rank of regimental sergeant major. All of the white commanding officers either were killed or wounded during the engagements at Chaffin’s Farm and New Market Heights, Virginia, between September 28 and 30, 1864. Holland assumed command and led the black troops in battle. He routed the enemy and led them to victory. For leading the charge, during which he was wounded, he received the Congressional Medal of Honor on April 6, 1865, for his bravery in Virginia. Holland was promoted to captain, but the War Department refused the commission on grounds of his race.
In January 1865 Holland patrolled the lowlands of North Carolina and captured Confederate guerilla fighters and freed slaves in accordance with the Emancipation Proclamation. Holland was mustered out of the army at Carolina City, North Carolina, on September 20, 1865. His father and former owner, Bird Holland, had been killed at the battle of Mansfield (see RED RIVER CAMPAIGN) in April 1864 while serving as a major in the Confederate Army.
After the war Milton Holland lived in Washington, D.C., where he worked in the Auditor Office of the United States government; he later became chief of collections for the Sixth District. He also established the Alpha Insurance Company, one of the first African-American-owned insurance companies, in Washington, D.C. Holland married Virginia W. Dickey. He died at the age of sixty-five of a heart attack on May 15, 1910, at his farm near Silver Springs, Maryland, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, United States Senate, Medal of Honor Recipients, 1863–1973 (Washington: GPO, 1973). Rayford W. Logan and Michael R. Winston,eds., Dictionary of American Negro Biography (New York: Norton, 1982). Marion L. Martinello and Melvin M. Sance, A Personal History: The Afro-American Texans
(San Antonio: University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures, 1982).
National Park Service: Holland, Milton M.
(http://www.nps.gov/rich/historyculture/holland.htm), accessed August
20, 2012. “Sgt. Maj. Milton M. Holland,” African-American News &
Issues (http://www.aframnews.com/html/2006-03-22/blackhistory.htm),
August 20, 2012. Texas State Cemetery: Milton M. Holland
(http://www.cemetery.state.tx.us/pub/user_form822.asp?pers_id=11147),
accessed April 23, 2013.Citation
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.Paul M. Lucko, rev. by Omar Carrizales, "HOLLAND, MILTON M.," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fhobt), accessed September 19, 2014. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Modified on May 22, 2013. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
HOLLAND, SPEARMAN
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
James K. Holland, "Diary of a Texan Volunteer in the Mexican War," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 30 (July 1926). Texas Democrat, May 20, 1846, Texas House of Representatives, Biographical Directory of the Texan Conventions and Congresses, 1832–1845 (Austin: Book Exchange, 1941).Citation
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.Carolyn Hyman, "HOLLAND, SPEARMAN," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fho28), accessed September 19, 2014. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
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