Sgt-Major Milton M. Holland
Longview New-Journal, 21 May 2004The Panola County Historical and Genealogical Association today is honoring Sgt. Major Milton M. Holland, the first black Texan to receive a Medal of Honor during the Civil War.
The ceremony will begin at 1:30 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial in downtown Carthage at 213 N. Shelby St. The Carthage High School band will play a medley of military marches and the Shady Groves Missionary Baptist Church choir from Long Branch also will perform.
The public is invited, and Holland's brother's family members will attend the ceremony.
Holland was born Aug. 1, 1844, on a farm outside Carthage where he was held as a slave, according to the Panola County Historical and Genealogical Association's research. According to information on the U.S. Army Center of Military History's Web site, Holland was born in Austin.
What is certain is that he served in the Company C, 5th U.S. Colored Troops, the 5th Ohio. For his bravery during a battle in Chapins Farm, Va., he was awarded the medal of honor on April 6, 1865. Holland received the medal during the war after he led the troop after all the officers had either been killed or wounded.
Holland died in 1910 in Maryland.
The ceremony was planned after a Holland family member asked the Veterans Memorial Committee if a plaque could be mounted at the veterans' memorial site. The family will provide the plaque.
Holland doesn't have any direct descendants in Panola County, but direct descendants of Holland's two brothers live in the area, according to M.M. Bounds, chairman of the Veterans Memorial Committee in Carthage.
Bounds said the veteran memorial also honors military service members from Panola County who died in battle during the Civil War, the two world wars and the Korean and Vietnam wars.
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