Joseph Holt

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Joseph Holt

Joseph Holt (born January 6, 1807 in Breckinridge County , Kentucky, † August 1, 1894 in Washington DC ) was a senior member of the Buchanan government and a judge advocate general in the United States Army , most notably during the Abraham Lincoln Trial . According to him, Holt County named in Nebraska.

First years

Holt attended Saint Joseph's College in Bardstown, Kentucky and Center College in Danville, Kentucky . Holt then settled in Elizabethtown, Kentucky and opened a law firm there. He later married Mary Harrison and moved to Louisville Advertiser in 1832 . There he was an editorial assistant and a Commonwealth attorney between 1833 and 1835. Some time later, Joseph and Mary moved to Port Gibson, Mississippi , where he practiced as a lawyer. He only returned when his wife died of tuberculosis . Holt also had to recover from this disease.

James Buchanan's government

Holt married a second time, Margaret Wickliffe. The two moved to Washington when he became the United States Commissioner of Patents . In this position he was between 1857 and 1859 until he was appointed Minister of Post by President James Buchanan . It was to fill the vacancy created by the death of Aaron V. Braun . Troubled times came for the government when the Confederates were formed and when cabinet members resigned. However, Hold was an anti-slavery believer and a strong supporter of the Union . He was promoted to Secretary of War after the resignation of John B. Floyd . Deputy Post Minister Horatio King successfully followed him as Post Minister. Holt was one of the first leaders in the Civil War and Minister of War until the end of Buchanan's tenure.

Judge Advocate General

Holt entered the Army with the rank of Colonel . In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln named him the Union Army's first Judge Advocate General . All judge advocates at this level before him were below the rank of general. In the same year, Lincoln offered Holt the position of Secretary of the Interior and in 1864 that of Attorney General . Holt refused each of these. He was one of the many politicians eligible for the Republican vice presidency . However, Andrew Johnson made the race. Meanwhile, Lincoln won his second term election. He prevailed against the Democratic candidate General George McClellan .

Lincoln assassination

On April 14, 1865, Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth carried out a pistol attack on President Lincoln in Ford's Theater . He died in the early morning hours of the following day. Secretary of State William H. Seward and Vice Secretary of State Frederick W. Seward were also injured by one of Booth's accomplices, Lewis Paine , with both surviving. Holt drafted an order under President Andrew Johnson ordering the arrest of Jefferson Davis and five other suspects. John Wilkes Booth was shot dead by Sergeant Boston Corbett while attempting his arrest on April 26, 1865 .

As Judge Advocate General in the US Army, Holt was the presiding judge in the trial of the co-conspirators. He was assisted by two lawyers, John Bingham and General Henry Burnett . The defendants were George Atzerodt , David Herold , Lewis Powell better known as Lewis Paine, Samuel Arnold , Michael O'Laughlen , Edman Spangler , Samuel Mudd and Mary Surratt . The trial began on May 10, 1865. The three spent nearly two months in court awaiting a verdict from the jury. Holt and Bingham tried to cover up the fact that there were two plans. The first was to kidnap Abraham Lincoln and trade him for the Confederate prisoners. The second was to assassinate President Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William H. Seward to throw the government into short-term chaos. It was important for the prosecution not to reveal the existence of a diary found on Booth's body. From the diary entries it was clear that the assassination plan was dated April 14th. Surprisingly, the defense did not claim that Booth's diary was just a court invention. In retrospect, Holt was accused of withholding evidence, but it was never proven.

On June 29, 1865, the eight were found guilty of conspiracy to assassinate President Lincoln. Arnold, O'Laughlen and Mudd were sentenced to life imprisonment, Spangler received six years imprisonment, Atzerodt, Herold, Powell and Surratt were to be hanged. They were executed on July 7, 1865. Surratt was the first woman in American history to be hanged under federal jurisdiction. O'Laughlen died in prison in 1867. Arnold, Spangler, and Mudd were pardoned by President Johnson in the spring of 1869.

Holt's public image has been tarnished by the prosecution. Many historians believe that the trial ended Holt's political career. In 1866, Holt provided a treatise entitled Vindication of Judge Advocate General Holt From the Foul Slanders of Traitors, Confessed Perjurers and Suborners, Acting in the Interest of Jefferson Davis , which cleared up the confusions of the trial.

Last years

General Holt remained Judge Advocate General until his resignation on December 1, 1875. He had a quiet retirement and died in Washington on August 1, 1894. He was buried in the Stephensport, Kentucky family cemetery.

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personal data
SURNAME Holt, Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician and general in the United States Army
DATE OF BIRTH January 6, 1807
PLACE OF BIRTH Breckinridge County , Kentucky
DATE OF DEATH August 1, 1894
Place of death Washington, DC