Night lingered in the early morning hours, when the wail of missiles suddenly split the silence. Every fiery vein was reflected in the harbor’s water as Confederate troops pressed closer to the besieged Fort Sumter.
The date was April 12, 1861. Tensions between the North and South had been steadily mounting for more than a decade. But with President Abraham Lincoln at the helm, a total of seven states had already seceded and the threads of a nascent democracy were quickly wearing thin. The deadliest war in the United States’ history had begun.
The grueling skirmish in South Carolina continued through the next day and night before finally subsiding with a Southern victory on April 13, 1861. The next day, President Lincoln drafted a call to arms.
As the nation braced itself for war, Athens, Ohio, prepared.
Men rushed to enlist. Pride coursed through the town as two companies, the 3rd and the 22nd Ohio Volunteer Infantries (OVI), rapidly formed. A total of 196 soldiers signed up to fight in the first drive for enlistment. Among the first men was Nelson Van Vorhes.
Volunteer lists quickly filled up. At the time, only white men were allowed to serve as soldiers. Although the state of Ohio never allowed slavery, it did institute a set of codes colloquially referred to as “Black Laws.” Blacks were not enslaved, but the treatment they endured was far from humane and one of the notable restrictions placed on them was a forbiddance to serve in the militia.
Treatment of mulattos — a term used to refer to persons with one black and one white parent — was not so clear-cut.
Milton Holland, a mulatto, was part of the throng ready to suit up for battle. Holland, 16 at the time, was not allowed to join the local forces. It is speculated however, that despite being fair skinned, Holland was not denied enlistment solely because of his young age.
Holland was born in Texas as a slave. His owner and presumed father, Bird Holland, brought Milton and his brothers to Albany and enrolled them in the Albany Enterprise Academy, leaving his children with a local family and returning to Texas. The school was the first in the country to admit students regardless of gender and race.
During his time there, Milton learned shoemaking, basic reading and arithmetic.
When the war broke out, Van Vorhes was a 38-year-old editor of the Athens Messenger and politician afforded every opportunity society could provide. Holland was a 16-year-old, light-skinned mulatto boy stuck between privilege and prejudice. But these narratives would soon intertwine, woven together by the men’s connections to Albany and the looming conflict.
No tangible evidence exists showing that Holland and Van Vorhes interacted before the war. There are no letters between the two, no photographs, nothing. One common theory among local historians, though, is that Van Vorhes might have met Holland during visits to Albany, where his wife’s family lived.
The details of their initial acquaintance are hard to pinpoint, but their relationship is easily substantiated. Shortly after Van Vorhes was mustered to Camp Dennison, he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. This afforded Van Vorhes the privilege of having servants assist him with domestic duties while he tended to field and tactical duties. Holland filled this role for Van Vorhes.
Van Vorhes affectionately and frequently referenced to Holland in his personal correspondence. In a letter dated Dec. 1, 1861, from Camp Haycraft in Elizabethtown, Ky., Van Vorhes write to his wife expressing his frustration over a slight ailment and gratitude for his tent mate, “my boy — Milt.”
Van Vorhes was only with the 3rd OVI until August 1861. He reenlisted with the 18th OVI in September and was promoted from Lieutenant to Regimental Quarter Master. The following August, he was promoted to Colonel of the 92nd OVI.
Only a couple of months into his time with the 92nd OVI, Van Vorhes fell ill with what many historians believe to be tuberculosis. He returned to Athens, and Holland came with him.
Van Vorhes returned a colonel, and despite no involvement with any significant battles, his title earned him higher political esteem. He sold his stake in the Messenger and resumed his political career, holding a seat in the Ohio Legislature from 1850 to 1872 and serving as Speaker of the House for four of those years.
While Van Vorhes returned to a career, Holland began building his own.
Holland returned to Athens, familiar with military tactics and training drills. Even though he did not fight in battle in his first stint in the army, being in the camp allowed him to observe and become acquainted with the way of the Union Army.
As a result, he decided to assemble a company of soldiers who had initially not been allowed to enlist. Holland was able to recruit and assemble a company that ran regular drills at the Athens County Fairgrounds.
In 1863, President Lincoln decided to establish companies of colored troops. The first company would be based out of Massachusetts and any black in the North could sign up to fight. Holland intended to join the efforts in Massachusetts, but the regiments quickly filled up.
Holland decided, with the aid of attorney and political activist John Langston, to station and train the troops in Ohio. He moved the company to Camp Delaware, just north of Columbus, and trained the men there. It officially became Company C of the 127 OVI and was later renamed the 5th USCT.
Discrepancies between what soldiers were told they would be paid and what they actually received emerged in the 5th USCT, though. The lack of compensation left many of the soldiers’ families without a source of income and was an instance of blatant racism.
When Holland tried to speak in defense of his company, he was demoted from his position as sergeant.
But the company continued to fight. Holland kept his troops’ morale strong despite repeated injustices, and the reaction to colored troops improved as the war endured. By 1864, the company finally received the promised salaries, and in September, Holland was returned to his post as sergeant.
The company fought in a skirmish around New Market Heights, Va., in 1864. This fight was particularly devastating, as only 200 of the company’s 540 men survived. The Confederates there adopted a common tactic, targeting the white officers, with only five of 14 surviving the battle.
After one damaging charge, Holland took command and led the soldiers in a second charge, despite a wound he sustained earlier in the day.
Holland received a Medal of Honor in April 1865 for his valor at New Market Heights. Ohio Governor David Tod also offered Holland an appointment as captain. The only caveat was that his appointment would be approved as a white man.
After years of fighting against the prejudice and oppression of minorities, the only reason he received the recognition was because he was light-skinned enough to pass as white.
He refused.
mh317008@ohiou.edu
@ThePostCulture
