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On September 15, 1862, roughly 400 men of the 2nd and 20th Georgia Infantry regiments took position on an imposing bluff some 50 feet above Burnside Bridge on Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland. The Georgians quickly prepared their defenses. The 20th Georgia guarded the western opening of the bridge and ground to the north, while Lt. Col. William R. Holmes' 2nd Georgia extended the line south of it.
September 17, 1862, became the most documented day of William Holmes' 40-plus years. A native of Burke County, Georgia, Holmes had become a prominent physician before the war, leading Co. D of the 2nd Georgia Infantry off to fight in 1861. According to the Georgia Journal and Messenger (October 15, 1862), "Colonel Holmes was often heard to say he would be slain in battle, and if so, that he did not care what became of his body."
Unmarried, with only a mother and aunt at home, Holmes requested that if he fell—as he believed he would—his "beautiful blood bay” horse be sent to his aunt. On the morning of September 17, as cannon fire echoed from the north and fighting closed in, Holmes told his superiors he “would hold the Bridge or die in the ditch," wrote Philip Thomas Tucker in Burnside's Bridge: The Climactic Struggle of the 2nd and 20th Georgia at Antietam Creek.
Throughout three Federal assaults, Holmes' leadership shone. One soldier later wrote, "[He was as] brave a man as I ever saw. He was perfectly cool & calm & did not seem to know what the word danger meant."
Around noon, the final Union attack began, led by two regiments. One eyewitness recalled seeing Holmes shoulder a rifle and personally shoot down the color bearer of the 51st Pennsylvania. Yet despite Holmes' heroics and the stubborn resistance of his men, the Federals at last forced their way across the bridge.
Recognizing the futility of holding the bluff, the Georgians withdrew. In a final act of sacrifice, Holmes drew his sword and led a small detachment of the 2nd Georgia down the slope to the creek bank. Near the bridge's western end, according to the History of the Twenty-First Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, Holmes "with a cry of defiance shook his sword in the faces of our men for a moment, and then fell pierced by a dozen bullets." Several of his men attempted to recover his body, but heavy fire and the enemy’s proximity prevented them.
Union soldiers who crossed the bridge soon encountered Holmes' body lying in a ditch. Capt. James Wren of the 48th Pennsylvania wrote in his diary: "[Holmes] was in full uniform & had a fine gold watch which one of our troops relieved him of … Captain Gilmour, of Co. H of our regiment, got a shoulder knot & the Buttons off his Coat was all cut off by the men as relics of the event."
Yet those same Federals recognized his courage. Writing in the Weekly Constitutionalist (Augusta, GA) on December 3, 1862, William A. Campbell observed: “The Yankees greatly eulogized Col. Holmes for his bravery, and one of them took his watch from his pocket and said he should keep it in remembrance of him.”
Holmes’ horse, as he wished, reached his aunt in Georgia. His body never returned and rests in an unmarked grave, though a memorial headstone now stands for him in the Confederate Cemetery in Waynesboro, Georgia.
Whether enemy or friend, Holmes’ valor was undeniable. Pvt. Charles Frederick Terrill of Company C, 2nd Georgia, captured it best: “[Holmes] was foolishing brave.”
