Hollins

party in Kansas; he served in the territorial and
state legislature; and he was an adjutant-general
during the Civil War. He became president of
the Merchants' National Bank and of the Excel-
sior Coke and Gas Company of Topeka and was
for many years the largest tax-payer in the city.
He was married, on June n, 1854, to Mary
Dillon Jones of Meadville, Pa.; they had two
children.

[See G. D. Bradley, The Story of the Santa Fe
(1920); W. E. Connelley, A Standard Hist, of Kan.
and Kansans (1918), vols. I-III; and D. W. Wilder,
The Annals of Kan. (1875). Information as to certain
facts was supplied by Holliday's children, Chas. K.
HoUiday, Sacramento, Cal., and Lillie H. Kellam,
Bronxville, N. Y.] L.R.H.

HOLLINS, GEORGE NICHOLS (Sept. 20,
1799-Jan. 18, 1878), naval officer, was born at
Baltimore, Md., the son of John Hollins, a prom-
inent merchant of that city, and his wife, Janet
Smith, sister of Gen. Samuel Smith. He was a
brother of Robert S. Hollins, secretary of the
Northern Central Railway, and of Smith Hol-
lins, mayor of Baltimore in 1852. After his pre-
liminary education in Baltimore, he applied for
a midshipman's warrant, which he received in
February 1814. At this time he is described as
being "manly, active, intelligent, and ambitious."
He went immediately to sea, was on the President
with Capt. Decatur when it was captured off
Long Island in January 1815, and was held pris-
oner until peace was declared. He served also
with Decatur against the Algerians, 1815, and
was aide to Commodore Chauncey in 1818. On
Jan. 13, 1825, he was commissioned lieutenant;
he commanded the Peacock in 1836, and the
Cyane and Savannah in 1844; he was commis-
sioned commander Sept. 8, 1845, and served in
the Mexican War. On July 13, 1854, & com"
mand of the Cyane, he bombarded and destroyed
the town of San Juan de Nicaragua (Grey Town)
in retaliation for outrages to American citizens
and property. After commanding the Navy Yard
at Sackett's Harbor for a short time, he was or-
dered to the Mediterranean Squadron and was
promoted captain, Sept 14, 1855.

In May 1861, in command of the Swquehanna
at Naples, he received orders to return to New
York and to report to the secretary of the navy.
Upon his arrival in America, his sympathy for
the Confederate cause led him to resign his com-
mission. Dismissed from the United States
Navy June 6, 1861, he was commissioned cap-
tain in the Confederate States Navy, June 20,
1861. By permission of Governor Letcher of
Virginia, who furnished him $1,000 with which
to buy arms, and with a hastily assembled force
which included his two sons, Hollis captured
shortly afterwards the steamer St. Nicholas,

Hollis
plying between Baltimore and Washington, near
Point Lookout, Chesapeake Bay. With this ves-
sel he immediately took as prizes the MonticeUo
with United States mail and dispatches from
Brazil and 3,500 bags of coffee, the Mary Pierce
with 260 tons of ice, and the Margaret with 270
tons of coal. These supplies were diverted to the
use of the Confederate forces at Fredericksburg,
and the St. Nicholas was converted into a gun-
boat. On July 31, 1861, Hollins took command
of the Naval Station at New Orleans, with the
rank of commodore. By the first of October he
had his small "Mosquito Fleet" of seven varied
vessels in readiness, and with that force he drove
from the river, Oct. 12, 1861, a superior Union
force of five ships, sank the Preble, and captured
a supply ship. By February 1862, he had col-
lected, fitted out, or built a considerable fleet of
steam war-vessels, floating batteries, and fire
ships, and had under construction several iron-
clads, including the Louisiana.
In February 1862 Hollins was made flag-cap-
tain and placed in command of the naval forces
operating in the upper Mississippi, where he
engaged in almost continuous fighting around
Columbus, New Madrid, Island No. 10, Fort
Pillow, and Memphis. He strongly urged the
Navy Department to allow him to defend New
Orleans; and it is quite possible and not improb-
able that if his advice had been accepted he could
have prevented Farragut's victory on Apr. 24,
1862, by combining his own ships with those at
New Orleans and cooperating with the forts be-
low. After the Union success, Hollins was called
to Richmond to serve on the court martial of
Commodore Tattnall, and saw other routine ser-
vice until the close of the war. He then returned
to Baltimore, and was appointed to duties in the
city court. He died in Baltimore of paralysis,
recognized as a brave and able officer, a thorough
seaman, and a worthy gentleman. He was twice
married, both wives being daughters of Colonel
Steritt of Baltimore.
War of the Rebellion: Official Records (Navy);
J. T. Scharf, Hist, of the Confederate States Navy
(1887) ; W. M. Robinson, The Confederate Privateers
(1958); T. H. S, Haraersley, Gen. Reg. of the U. S.
Navy for One Hundred Years (1882); Naval War
Records: Officers in the Confederate States Navy
(1898) ; W. H. Parker, Recollections of a Naval Officer,
1841-65 (1885) ; R. W. Neeser, Statistical and Chrono-
logical Hist, of the U. S. Navyt 1775-1007 (2 vols.,
1909); E. S. Maclay, A Hist, of the U. S. Navy (1894),
vol. II; The Sun (Baltimore), Jan. 19, 1878; Army
and Navy Jour., Jan. 26, 1878.] W.K.D.
HOLLIS, IRA NELSON (Mar. 7, i8s<5-Aug.
14, 1930), naval engineer, educator, was born
at Mooresville, Floyd County, Ind, the son of
Ephraim Joseph Hollis (1825-1910) and Mary
(Kerns) Hollis, During: the Ģiv# War Jii$ fe-