Word Celebrity Blog

Milton Murray Holland


Milton Murray Holland was born a slave near Austin, Texas in 1844 on the Holland Family Plantation. He was the son of Bird Holland and owned by Spearman "Major" Holland, Bird Holland's half brother.

Sometime in the 1850s, Bird Holland purchased the freedom of his three sons Milton, William, and Kemp, and sent them to school in Ohio. Milton Holland was enrolled in the Albany Enterprise Academy, a school run by free African Americans.

Milton Holland tried to enlist at the start of the Civil War but was too young, so he worked for the quartermaster department of the United States Army as a shoemaker for a period of time before he was allowed into the Army.
























He joined the 11th Ohio Militia Infantry in 1862, which was mustered into the Union forces on June 22, 1863, at Delaware, Ohio. He was assigned to the 5th United States Colored Troops commanded by General Benjamin F. Butler.

Milton Holland served in the Petersburg Campaign of 1864, where his unit participated in capturing Petersburg Station and several Confederate officers there. Milton Holland climbed in rank, advancing to Sergeant Major by September 1864.

On September 29, 1864, as first sergeant of Company "C", Holland was with the James River fleet in its advance near Richmond, Virginia. At the Battle of Chaffin's Farm, his company was ordered to make the attack. They struck the first blow at Petersburg by capturing the Confederate flag, the signal station, and the officers at the station. When all of the White commanding officers were killed, wounded or disabled during the advance. Sgt. Milton Holland took command and led the troops in battle. The fighting was fierce with shells raining down in front of the black troops, but despite his wounds, Sgt. Holland and his men were able to capture the important Confederate position. For his leading the charge, during which he was wounded, Sgt. Holland was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.


























He was one of 22 black soldiers to receive the honor during the Civil War and the first African American recipient from Texas. He was field promoted to captain for his action at Chaffin's Farm, but his commission was refused by the War Department, which did not allow African Americans to become officers.

Sgt. Holland then took part in patrols around the lowlands of North Carolina surrounding Fort Fisher in January of 1865. The patrols captured Confederate guerilla fighters and freed slaves according to the
Emancipation Proclamation.

Sgt. Milton Murray Holland received his Medal of Honor on April 6, 1865, and was mustered out of the Army on September 20, 1865.

His father, Bird Holland, died at the Battle of Mansfield, Louisiana, in 1864, while serving as a Major in the Confederate Army.  His brother, William Holland, served with the Sixteenth U.S. Colored Troops and
returned to Texas after the war to become a prominent state legislator.


























After the war, Milton Holland lived in Washington D.C., where he was employed by the United States Government in the Auditor Office, eventually becoming chief of collections for the Sixth District.

Before the end of the 19th century, Milton Holland founded the Alpha Insurance Company in Washington, D.C., one of the earliest insurance companies owned by a black American.



























Milton Murray Holland died of a heart attack on his farm near Silver Springs, Maryland, on May 15, 1910, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Section 23  Site 21713.





















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An order from Gen. Benjamin Butler, dated 11 October 1864, had this to say:

    Milton M. Holland, sergeant-major, Fifth U.S. Colored Troops, commanding Company C; James H. Bronson, first sergeant, commanding Company D; Robert Pinn, first sergeant, commanding Company I, wounded; Powhatan Beaty, first sergeant, commanding Company G, Fifth U.S. Colored Troops--all these gallant colored soldiers were left in command, all their company officers being killed or wounded, and led them gallantly and meritoriously through the day. For these services they have most honorable mention, and the commanding general will cause a special medal to be struck in honor of these gallant colored soldiers.

    Official Records, #89, p168.

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Medal Of Honor

MILTON M. HOLLAND

Rank and organization:
Sergeant Major,
5th U.S. Colored Troops.

Place and date:
At Chapins Farm, Virginia,
September 29, 1864.

Entered service at:
Athens, Ohio.

Born:
1844,
Austin, Texas.

Date of issue:
April 6, 1865.


















Citation:

Took command of Company C, after all the officers had been killed or wounded, and gallantly led it. 

*****

Milton Holland’s insightful vision for a brighter tomorrow for black people is evident in his letters underlining the reasons why he and so many other black troops gave up so much to serve under difficult conditions. Highlighting it, he said, “The boys are generally well and satisfied though they are deprived of all the comforts of home, and laboring under great disadvantages as regards to pay and having families to support upon less wages than white soldiers, still trust that when they do return, they will be crowned with honors, and a happier home prepared for them when they will be free from the abuses of northern and southern fire-eaters…There is a brighter day coming for the colored man, and he must sacrifice home comforts, it necessary to speed the coming of the glorious day.”