Law in War, War as Law: Brigadier General Joseph Holt and the Judge Advocate General's Department in the Civil War and Early Reconstruction, 1861-1865 and Lincoln's Forgotten Ally: Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt of Kentucky

AuthorFred L. Borch III
PositionRegimental Historian and Archivist for the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps
Pages113-121
2011] BOOK REVIEWS 113
LAW IN WAR, WAR AS LAW: BRIGADIER GENERAL
JOSEPH HOLT AND THE JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL’S
DEPARTMENT IN THE CIVIL WAR AND EARLY
RECONSTRUCTION, 1861–18651
LINCOLN’S FORGOTTEN ALLY: JUDGE ADVOCATE
GENERAL JOSEPH HOLT OF KENTUCKY2
REVIEWED BY FRED L. BORCH III*
While very different in approach and scope, these two books about
Major General Joseph Holt, who served as the Judge Advocate General
(JAG) from 1862 to 1875, are important additions to American military
legal history.
Joshua E. Kastenberg, an Air Force judge advocate now serving as a
military judge, has written a unique study of Holt and his role in the
development of military law during the Civil War era. Law in War, War
as Law examines how then-Brigadier General (BG) Joseph Holt,3 and the
* Mr. Borch is the Regimental Historian and Archivist for the U.S. Army Judge Advocate
General’s Corps. He graduated from Davidson College (A.B., 1976), from the University
of North Carolina (J.D., 1979), and from the University of Brussels, Belgium (LL.M,
magna cum laude, International and Comparative Law, 1980). Mr. Borch also has
advanced degrees in military law (LL.M, The Judge Advocate General's School, 1988),
National Security Studies (M.A., highest distinction, Naval War College, 2001), and
history (M.A., University of Virginia, 2007).
Mr. Borch was recently awarded a Fulbright for the Netherlands for 2012–2013 and
will be a Visiting Professor at the University of Leiden.
Fred Borch is the author of a number of books and articles on legal and non-legal
topics, including Judge Advocates in Combat: Army Lawyers in Military Operations
from Vietnam to Haiti (2001), and Judge Advocates in Vietnam: Army Lawyers in
Southeast Asia (2004). His latest book, For Military Merit: Recipients of the Purple
Heart was published by Naval Institute Press in 2010.
1 JOSHUA E. KASTENBERG, LAW IN WAR, WAR AS LAW: BRIGADIER GENERAL JOSEPH HOLT
AND THE JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERALS DEPARTMENT IN THE CIVIL WAR AND EARLY
RECONSTRUCTION, 1861–1865 (2011).
2 ELIZABETH D. LEONARD, LINCOLNS FORGOTTEN ALLY: JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL
JOSEPH HOLT OF KENTUCKY (2011).
3 When Congress created the position of Judge Advocate General (JAG) on July 17,
1862, it provided that the JAG would have the “rank, pay and emoluments of a colonel of
cavalry.” Consequently, Joseph Holt began his career as the JAG as a colonel but, when
Congress authorized the JAG to be a brigadier general (BG) on June 20, 1864, he became
BG Holt. After the death of Lincoln, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton promoted Holt to
the rank of brevet major general as a reward for Holt’s superb wartime. This explains

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