Father: James Gadsden Holmes
Mother: ?Elizabeth Ford Desaussure - died in 1826 or ?Charlotte Maria Henrietta Motte - died in 1868
1845-1846 - Attended, Medical College of the State of South Carolina, Charleston, SC (from: Charleston, SC; preceptor: Dr. Thomas Young Simons)
1849 - M.D. degree, University of Pennsylvania Medical Department, Philadelphia, PA (from: SC; thesis: "Gastritis")
1850 - Practiced medicine, Spring Garden, Ward 1, Philadelphia Co., PA
1851 - Practiced medicine, Philadelphia, PA
1851 - Published a medical article entitled, "A case of sciatica successfully treated with chloroform"
08/31/1855 - Traveled to Virginia to assist in treating yellow fever victims in Norfolk and Portsmouth during an epidemic
1860 - Practiced medicine, Ward No. 1, Charleston District, SC
06/01/1861 - Asst. Surgeon, attending troops of the Confederate States Infantry
07/19/1861 - Appointed Asst. Surgeon, Provisional Army of the Confederate States
08/31/1861 - Assigned to duty with the Army of the Potomac [Confederate] and ordered to report to Surgeon Thomas Henry Williams, Medical Director, Manassas Junction [VA]
09/02/1861 - Asst. Surgeon, 6th SC Infantry, 3rd Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia
09/24/1861 - Asst. Surgeon, 6th SC Infantry, Camp Pickens, VA
10/09/1861 - Tendered resignation from the Confederate States Army
10/19/1861 - Resignation accepted
06/06/1862 - Enlisted as a Pvt., Capt. Edward L. Parker's Co, Marion [SC] Artillery, Simons Bluff [?SC], 2nd Military District, Dept. of S.C., Ga. & Fla.
06/06/1862 - Pvt., Marion [SC] Artillery
06/00/1863 - Detailed as Hospital Steward, Marion [SC] Artillery
08/10/1863 - Passed a Confederate Army Board of Medical Examination for the position of Asst. Surgeon [probably in Charleston, SC]
08/10/1863 - As Asst. Surgeon, "assigned to charge Negro Laborers - Sullivan's Island [near Charleston, SC - S.O. 155/4 Dept. S.C.- Ga.- Fla. - Beauregard]
08/12/1863 - Promoted to Asst. Surgeon
08/22/1863 - "Assistant Surgeon John B. Holmes will report to Surgeon R. L. Brodie, medical director, &c., for assignment to duty." [S.O. 199/4]
10/17/1863 - Asst. Surgeon, Marion [SC] Artillery
10/26/1863 - Ordered to turn over hospital property and report to Headquarters by Medical Director R[obert] L[ittle] Brodie
12/02/1863 - Asst. Surgeon, Charleston, SC
12/10/1863 - Court-martial proceedings against him were held in Charleston, SC [charged with neglect of duty & drunkenness while caring for sick negro laborers on Sullivan's Island, SC. The charges appear to have been
dismissed.]
01/13/1864 - Assigned to duty [?where] (S.O. 13/4 Dept. S.C.-Ga.-Fla.-Beauregard)
01/20/1864 - Assigned to duty [?where] (S.O. 14/2 Dept. S.C.-Ga.-Fla.- Walker)
02/02/1864 - Appointed Asst. Surgeon, Provisional Army of the Confederate States, to rank from 08/10/1863
02/02/1864 - Confirmed as Asst. Surgeon by the Confederate States Senate
03/01/1864 - Asst. Surgeon, Pocotaligo, SC
04/18/1864 - Medical Officer, 4th GA Battalion & 4th FL Battalion, Combahee Ferry, SC
08/20/1864 - Asst. Surgeon, Grahamville, SC
00/00/1866 - Died, ?Charleston, SC

Bob Krick provided input to this biography.

This biographical sketch is from:
Hambrecht, F.T. & Koste, J.L., Biographical
register of physicians who served the
Confederacy in a medical capacity.
12/10/2013. Unpublished database.