General Holmes and Vicksburg.

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Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Did Lieutenant General Theophilus Hunter Homes do enough to aid Vicksburg?

General Homes had a good pre War record and Jefferson Davis had great enough confidence in him to promote him to Lieutenant General early in the War. The Battle of Arkansas Post did inflict a major loss of his available forces. Still, did General Homes fully understand the overall situation and could he have some how did a better job of supporting Vicksburg?. Perhaps Davis placed too much confidence in Homes abilities.
 
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Its Holmes, not of fan of him, but not sure what you expect him to have done...…..His best troops had already been sent to Pemberton when the Army of the West transferred to the west. What Pemberton had left was mostly cavalry under Marmaduke and Shelby in Arkansas and Taylor's division in Louisiana, which both tried to create diversions through Helena and Milikens Bend, but he certainly had no force to try direct relief against corps of Union infantry at Vicksburg and he had his own department he was tasked to protect
 
"Granny" Holmes, as he was known to his troops, was another of the failures dumped by Lee in the Western Theater of the war following the Seven Days where he lived up to his sobriquet. His promotion to Lt. General was a part of his being "kicked upstairs" to get him out of Lee's army. The only story I remember ever seeing about him concerned an incident when his camp came under bombardment by, I believe, Union vessels. Supposedly Holmes stepped out of his tent and asked if anyone had heard anything. (He was deaf.)
 
The best service he could have offered (considering the poor condition of his department) was to at least launch small attacks and generally harass Grant’s fifty mile-long supply line from Miliken’s Bend to Hard Times during the vulnerable time Grant was limited to that one swamp-consumed road.

If there was ever a time Grant got “lucky,” it is during this time, between mid-March to May 3, when this 50 mile supply line was “largely” unopposed or threatened by forces in the Trans-Mississippi.

That Pemberton (or even Johnston) was precluded from giving orders to Troops in the Trans-Mississippi was the first nail to be hammered into Vicksburg’s coffin. It was a critical opportunity that was missed because of administrative rules and regulations.
 
I think one mistake that was made, though I'm not sure the blame falls on Holmes, is that Walker's Division had arrived near Monroe LA about May 7, some 70 miles west of Vicksburg. Rather than move east towards Vicksburg, they moved south towards Alexandria. As Alan has pointed out, these troops could have caused real trouble for Grant in May. But with the circuitous route they took, they did not reach Grant's (now former) supply line until June.
 
I think one mistake that was made, though I'm not sure the blame falls on Holmes, is that Walker's Division had arrived near Monroe LA about May 7, some 70 miles west of Vicksburg. Rather than move east towards Vicksburg, they moved south towards Alexandria. As Alan has pointed out, these troops could have caused real trouble for Grant in May. But with the circuitous route they took, they did not reach Grant's (now former) supply line until June.
Good point!
 
Bumping this thread cuz it interests me, How responsible was Holmes for helping out Vicksburg? Could he have done more?
Could of Holmes done more, or should have Holmes done more? He could have always done more, but was it wise to do more? This is important to understand what were Holmes responsibilities and what were his orders. He may have helped to effect a break out from Vicksburg or perhaps helped to evacuate the Vicksburg garrison across the river. However, was the Vicksburg garrison about to break out or evacuate? It is possible that Holmes could have gotten his army destroyed in the attempt. Holmes could have attempted to stop Union naval operations, but the well placed artillery at Vicksburg were unable to stop the Union navy.
 
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