Joseph Holt

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This article is about the 19th century U.S. lawyer and politician. For the brewery, see Joseph Holts (brewery).

25th United States Secretary of War
Joseph Holt

18th United States Postmaster General
In office March 9, 1859 – December 31, 1860
Preceded by	Aaron V. Brown
Succeeded by	Horatio King
In office December 31, 1860 – March 2, 1861
Preceded by	John Buchanan Floyd
Succeeded by	Simon Cameron
6th Judge Advocate General of the United States Army
In office September 3, 1862 – December 1, 1875
Preceded by	John F. Lee
Succeeded by	William McKee Dunn

Born	January 6, 1807 Breckinridge County, Kentucky, USA
Died	August 1, 1894 Washington, D.C., USA
Political party	Democrat, Republican
Spouse	Mary Harrison Holt Margaret Wickliffe Holt

General Joseph Holt (January 6, 1807 – August 1, 1894) was a leading member of the Buchanan administration and was Judge Advocate General in the United States Army, most notably during the Lincoln assassination trials.

1 Early life
2 James Buchanan's administration
3 Judge Advocate General
- 3.1 Abraham Lincoln assassination
4 Later life
5 External links

[edit] Early life

Born in Breckinridge County, Kentucky on January 6, 1807, he was educated at Saint Joseph's College in Bardstown, Kentucky and Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. He settled in Elizabethtown, Kentucky and set up a law office in town. He later married Mary Harrison and moved to Louisville, Kentucky in 1832 where he became assistant editor of the Louisville Advertiser and the Commonwealth's Attorney from 1833 to 1835. Joseph and Mary moved again to Port Gibson, Mississippi where Holt continued to practice law, but came back to recuperate from tuberculosis after losing his wife to the disease.

[edit] James Buchanan's administration

Holt remarried Margaret Wickliffe and the two moved to Washington D.C. when Holt became United States Commissioner of Patents. He served in this position from 1857 until 1859 when he was appointed United States Postmaster General by President James Buchanan to fill the vacancy caused by the death of his predecessor Aaron V. Brown. Rough times came through in the Buchanan administration when the Confederacy was formed and many cabinet members resigned, but Holt was anti-slavery and a strong supporter of the Union. He was promoted to Secretary of War upon the resignation of John B. Floyd. Assistant Postmaster General Horatio King succeeded him as Postmaster General. Holt was one of the first leaders in the Civil War and served as Secretary of War until the end of Buchanan's presidency.

[edit] Judge Advocate General

Holt joined the Army as a colonel and in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Holt Judge Advocate General of the Union Army. Lincoln also offered Holt the position of Secretary of the Interior that same year and Attorney General later in 1864, but he passed off both of them. He was one of the many politicians considered for the Republican Vice Presidential ticket. Andrew Johnson had won the ticket and Lincoln won his second term over Democratic nominee General George McClellan.

[edit] Abraham Lincoln assassination

Main Article: Abraham Lincoln assassination

Joseph Holt (center) along with John Bingham (left) and Henry Burnett (right) were the three judges incharge of the Lincoln assassination trial.

On April 14, 1865, President Lincoln was shot by Confederate sympathiser John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre and died the next morning. Secretary of State William H. Seward and Assistant Secretary of State Frederick W. Seward were also severly injured by one of Booth's accomplices, Lewis Paine, but both had survived. Holt prepared an order for the signature of President Andrew Johnson which ordered the arrest of Confedrarte President Jefferson Davis and five other suspects. John Wilkes Booth was caught on April 26, 1865, but was shot and killed Sergeant Boston Corbett.

As Judge Advocate General of the Army, Holt was the head judge in the trial against the accused along with two assistant judge advocates, John Bingham and General Henry Burnett. The accused conspirators where George Atzerodt, David Herold, Lewis Powell a.k.a. Paine, Samuel Arnold, Michael O'Laughlen, Edman Spangler, Samuel Mudd and Mary Surratt. The trail began on May 10, 1865. The three spent nearly two months in court, awaiting a verdict from the jury. Holt and Bingham attempted to obscure the fact that there were two plots. The first plot was to kidnap Abraham Lincoln in exchange for the Confederate prisoners the Union had. The second was to assassinate President Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State Seward in a plot to throw the government into electoral caos. It was important for the prosecution not to reveal the existence of a diary taken from the body of Booth. The diary made it clear that the assassination plan dated from the 14th of April. The defense surprisingly did not call for Booth's diary to be produced in court. Holt was accused of withholding evidence, but it was never proven.

On June 29, 1865, the eight were found guilty for their involvment in the conspiracy to kill the President. Arnold, O'Laughlen and Mudd where sentenced to life in prison, Spangler six years in prison and Atzerodt, Herold, Paine and Surratt were to hang. They were executed July 7, 1865. Surratt was the first woman in American history to be executed. O'Laughlen died in prison in 1867. Arnold, Spangler and Mudd where pardoned by President Andrew Johnson in early 1869.

Holt's public image was besmirched by his prosecution, and many historians believe that the trial ended Holt's political career. In 1866, Holt issued a pamphlet titled 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 confusion about the trial.

[edit] Later life

General Holt continued to be Judge Advocate General until he retired on December 1, 1875. He had a quiet retirement and died in Washington, D.C. on August 1, 1894. He is buried in the Holt Family Cemetery in Stephensport, Kentucky.

[edit] External links

Preceded by: Aaron V. Brown	United States Postmaster General March 9, 1859–December 31, 1860	Succeeded by: Horatio King
Preceded by: John Buchanan Floyd	United States Secretary of War December 31, 1860–March 2, 1861	Succeeded by: Simon Cameron
Preceded by: John F. Lee	Judge Advocate General of the United States Army September 3, 1862–December 1, 1875	Succeeded by: William McKee Dunn