WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Steve Stivers (R – OH) today introduced legislation to correct an historic injustice. Stivers introduced the bill with Congressman Al Green (D-TX) to restore the commission earned by Sergeant Major Milton M. Holland, who was promoted to the rank of Captain due to his acts of heroism during the Civil War. However, the promotion was unjustly rescinded because of his skin color.
“Milton Holland earned the rank of Captain for his acts of valor during the Civil War, and it was an outrage that he was stripped of the rank because of his race,” Stivers said. “It is many years later, but I hope this bill will, in some small way, right a wrong.”
Milton Holland was born a slave near Austin, Texas and is the first African American from Texas to receive the Medal of Honor. Holland was freed from slavery and was sent with two of his brothers to Ohio to receive an education at the Albany Enterprise Academy.
At the onset of the Civil War in 1861, Holland was one of thousands that rushed to join the United States Army only to be turned away by a federal law restricting African-Americans from military service. Following the law’s repeal, Holland enlisted in Athens, Ohio with the Fifth United States Colored Infantry Regiment, a unit that suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Chapin’s Farm outside Petersburg, Virginia on September 29-30, 1864.
When all the white officers had been killed or wounded in battle, Holland commanded his company to victory, demonstrating acts of heroism that would earn him the Medal of Honor, and a promotion to Captain.
However, Holland was stripped of his rank as Captain when the U.S. Department of War determined his commission was in violation of its ban, at the time, on non-white officers. It is an injustice that Holland became a victim of the very racial inequality he fought to end. In an effort to finally honor and recognize Holland’s sacrifices for our nation, Stivers’ legislation authorizes and requests the President to posthumously commission Milton M. Holland to the rank of Captain.
