FAMOUS AMERICAN JUDGES
JUSTICE
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. By Henry Inman - Virginia Memory, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index. php?curid=9538002
By Harry Munsinger Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1841-1935. Photo by Harris & Ewing. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540
O
liver Wendell Holmes, Jr. was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 8, 1841.1 Using money inherited from her family, Holmes’s mother bought a New England farm near Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Holmes grew to love New England while visiting the family farm. A parochial school for boys and private tutors provided his early education. In 1856, Holmes entered Harvard College2 and studied Latin, Greek, and Rhetoric. Holmes was an excellent student and made friends easily.
The Civil War The attack on Fort Sumter in April 1860 meant Civil War. Holmes withdrew from Harvard and enlisted as a private in the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, believing the war would end in a few months. In 1861, war seemed like a grand game for Harvard’s bright young men. Of the 578 Harvard men who served in the Union Army during the Civil War, 36% were killed or seriously wounded. Holmes was injured three times.
Battle of Ball’s Bluff
3
For Holmes and his comrades, the Battle of Ball’s Bluff on the banks of the Potomac River was the first taste of combat. Holmes viewed the battle as a personal triumph because he was brave, although his regiment was badly defeated. Nearly everything went wrong at the Battle at Ball’s Bluff. Holmes was hit in the ribs by a spent bullet and then shot through the chest. Bleeding badly, he was carried down the bluff to a boat and taken to a field 18 San Antonio Lawyer® | sabar.org
hospital. Holmes spent weeks recuperating in Philadelphia before his father moved him to Boston. Holmes rejoined his regiment in March 1862, near Washington, D.C. He felt more afraid in later battles.
Battle at Antietam Shortly after Holmes rejoined his unit, the unit fought at Antietam, the bloodiest single day in the history of the United States Army. The Army lost more men that day than on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. Holmes was hit in the neck but managed to walk back to a field hospital for treatment. Surgeons neglected Holmes because they felt he would not survive. He surprised everyone and lived. He returned to his regiment in Fredericksburg, Virginia, but came down with dysentery the day before Union troops attacked the city and were slaughtered by Confederate soldiers. When Holmes returned to his unit, he was wounded by shrapnel in the heel. After that injury, everyone called him Achilles.
Other Military Service Holmes missed the battle at Gettysburg because of his heel wound, but when he returned to duty, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and offered command of a Negro regiment. He declined the command, saying he wanted to stay with the Massachusetts militia. In spring 1864, Holmes was assigned to a general’s staff, where he no longer faced enemy fire on the battlefield. He met President Lincoln while serving as a staff officer. Reportedly, he told Lincoln to “get
down or you will get your head blown off.” Holmes spent the rest of the war carrying messages. During one ride, he ran into twenty Confederate soldiers, but he galloped through their line on the side of his horse to avoid being shot. Holmes concluded during the war that everything has a price, and it is best to know the cost before undertaking the task.
Holmes the Lawyer and Common Law Scholar Holmes entered Harvard Law School when the war ended.4 He applied himself diligently because he wanted to succeed and viewed technical expertise as important. After graduating, Holmes went on a grand tour, visiting the House of Commons, viewing the Magna Carta, and touring London art museums. He climbed mountains, stayed with the Duke of Argyll, and went fishing and hunting in Scotland. Holmes was admitted to the bar in March 1867. After marrying Fanny B. Dixwell in June 1872, Holmes practiced law, edited the American Law Review, lectured on constitutional law at Harvard, and prepared a revised edition of Commentaries on American Law.5 An invitation to deliver twelve public lectures to the Lowell Institute motivated Holmes to write about the common law. Holmes argued that the common law is a summary of procedures and decisions developed by judges to settle disputes rather than a systematic theory of law. He organized the common law according to three principles: first, the common law changes, but conceals