him head of the District of Arkansas and in June, ordered Holmes to make a desperation attack to take some pressure off the beleaguered Vicksburg garrison. On July 4, the day Vicksburg fell to Ulysses Grant's army, Holmes attacked the Union garrison at Helena, Arkansas with 8,000 men. He planned a coordinated attack in conjunction with Sterling Price, John S. Marmaduke, James Fleming Fagan, and, Governor of Arkansas, Harris Flanagin. Despite miscommunication, the Confederates had some success. After hours of fighting, a general retreat was called, and the Confederates pulled back to Little Rock, Arkansas. On July 23, Holmes became ill and temporarily relinquished command in Arkansas to Sterling Price. Price evacuated Little Rock on September 10, and two weeks later Holmes resumed command. In a letter sent to Jefferson Davis on January 29, 1864, Kirby Smith reported that Holmes's age was catching up to him and that he was deficient in energy and apparently also suffering memory problems, thus he needed to be replaced by a younger man. The soldiers he commanded in Arkansas had already taken to sarcastically calling him "Granny". Upon learning of this, an insulted Holmes resigned his post on February 28. Later service and life In April 1864, Holmes commanded the Reserve Forces of North Carolina. Holmes saw little action after being appointed to this new position. He held this position until the end of the Civil War. Holmes, along with General Joseph E. Johnston, surrendered to William Tecumseh Sherman on April 26, 1865. He returned to North Carolina, where he spent the rest of his life as a farmer. Holmes died in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and is buried there in MacPherson Presbyterian Church Cemetery. See also List of American Civil War generals (Confederate) References Citations Sources Works cited Dougherty, Kevin, and Michael J. Moore. The Peninsula Campaign of 1862: A Military Analysis. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2005. . Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. . Hilderman, Walter C. III Theophilus Hunter Holmes: A North Carolina General in the Civil War. McFarland & Company Inc., 2013. . Hoig, Stan. Beyond the Frontier: Exploring the Indian Country. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998. . Johnston, Joseph E. Narrative of Military Operations. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1874. McCrady, Edward, and Samuel A'Court Ashe. Cyclopedia of Eminent and Representative Men of the Carolinas of the