James T. Holtzclaw

James Thadeus Holtzclaw (December 17, 1833 – July 19, 1893) was an Alabama lawyer, railroad commissioner, and general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He played a prominent role of several major engagements of the Army of Tennessee in the Western Theater.

Early life and career James T. Holtzclaw was born in McDonough in rural Henry County, Georgia, in the winter of 1833. His parents, Elijah and Mary Holtzclaw, were from Chambers County, Alabama, where young Holtzclaw was raised and educated. He obtained his primary education at the local Presbyterian high school, East Alabama Institute, in Lafayette.

In 1853, he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy, but declined and did not formally enter the school. In December, he began to study law in Montgomery, Alabama, under the famed pro-secession "Fire-Eater" William Lowndes Yancey. He passed his bar exam in 1855, and established a private practice in Montgomery, Alabama. A fellow lover of fine horses, he became a lifelong friend and supporter of Yancey. He married Mary A. "Molly" Cowles, a daughter of another prominent Montgomery resident.

Civil War service At the outbreak of the Civil War in early 1861, Holtzclaw served as a lieutenant in a local militia company, the Montgomery True Blues. He participated in the capture of the U.S. Navy yard in Pensacola, Florida. In May, he enlisted in the Confederate army as a lieutenant in the 18th Alabama Infantry. He was promoted to colonel and served for a time in Montgomery. He took part in John Bell Hood's campaign in Tennessee and was wounded a third time, this time a severe contusion on his ankle, during the Battle of Franklin on December 17. However, he maintained his duties and his brigade acted as rear guard for the army following the disastrous Battle of Nashville.

James T. Holtzclaw died at his home in Montgomery at the age of sixty.