major general on October 7, 1861. He subsequently commanded the Aquia District before being assigned to the Department of North Carolina. Peninsula Campaign During the Peninsula Campaign in the spring of 1862, Holmes was moved to the Richmond area to defend it from the Union assault on the Confederate capital; thus he became temporarily attached to the Army of Northern Virginia. His division consisted of the brigades of Brigadier-Generals Junius Daniel, John G. Walker, Henry A. Wise, and the cavalry brigade of Brig. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart. On June 30, 1862, while the battle of Glendale was fought to the north, Holmes was ordered to cannonade retreating Federals near Malvern Hill. His force was repulsed at Turkey Bridge by artillery fire from Malvern Hill and by the Federal gunboats Galena and Aroostook on the James. During the battle of Malvern Hill on July 1, 1862, his force was in reserve. After the Seven Days Battles, Robert E. Lee expressed displeasure at Holmes's mediocre performance. The two also had fundamental disagreements on strategy and Lee appears to have not been alone in his belief that the nearly 60-year-old Holmes was too old, sluggish, and passive (better as an administrator than a field commander) to wage the aggressive war of movement that Lee planned. In truth, the entire Confederate counterattack in the Seven Days Battles had been handled defectively and many generals were to blame, including Lee himself. Jefferson Davis in particular did not think Holmes was any more at fault than the rest of the Army of Northern Virginia's command structure. Nonetheless, his age and unremarkable record in the war up to this point were factors against him and Lee quickly made it clear that Holmes would not make the cut during the post-Seven Days restructuring of the army. General D.H. Hill, who was known for his sarcastic temperament, also widely spread the story of Holmes saying "I thought I heard firing." at Malvern Hill. Trans-Mississippi Department Holmes was then reassigned to commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department. He was promoted to lieutenant-general, on October 10, 1862, by Jefferson Davis, but declined on the grounds that he had not done anything to deserve this promotion. However, Davis urged him and eventually he accepted. During his time as commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department, Holmes failed to perform his most important duty: defend the Confederacy's hold on the Mississippi River. He refused to send troops