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Robert Fredrick Hoke (1837-1912)

According to Captain Samuel A. Ashe, North Carolina legislator and historian,  “Hoke was Lee’s best general and the most distinguished soldier in North Carolina.” The Confederate service of Robert Fredrick Hoke, a Lincolnton native, earned him the title “the Stonewall of Fork Road” and the respect of many North Carolinians.

Robert Frederick Hoke was born at Lincolnton, North Carolina on May 27, 1837, son of Michael & Frances (Burton) Hoke. His father was a brilliant lawyer, orator and candidate for governor in 1844. General Hoke was educated at Lincolnton Academy and attended the Kentucky Military Institute.

The outbreak of war in 1861 found Hoke managing his families various manufacturing enterprises, including a cotton mill and iron-works. Hoke entered the Confederate military as a lieutenant of the 1st North Carolina Volunteers, with which he took part in the battle of Big Bethel. Hoke was subsequently promoted major and lieutenant colonel of the 33rd North Carolina and colonel of the 21st. Hoke made a distinguished record on all the battlefields of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia from the Seven Days to the campaign of Chancellorsville. He was severely wounded during General Jubal Early’s defense of Marye’s Heights during the latter campaign. In the meantime, Hoke was appointed brigadier general to rank on January 17, 1863 for gallant service at Fredericksburg.

A fully recovered Hoke was restationed in North Carolina, suppressing desertion in the western part of the State, and later in eastern North Carolina. For his brilliant exploit in capturing Plymouth and its garrison of 3000 Northerners, he was promoted major general by President Jefferson Davis from April 20, 1864. He aided Beauregard in bottling up Butler at Drewry’s Bluff and in the repulse of Grant at Cold Harbor; his division was again ordered to North Carolina in December 1864. After participating in the defense of Fort Fisher and the Wilmington campaign where he earned the name “the Stonewall of Forks Road”, he served gallantly under Joseph E. Johnston at Bentonville until the final surrender.

After the war Hoke returned to private pursuits and refused all political honors. With reluctance Hoke did accept an appointment from Governor Vance as State Director of the North Carolina Railroad and held that position for a few years. Hoke's nephew, Hoke Smith, became a successful attorney who provided legal advice to Hoke's railroad operations. Smith would become Secretary of the Interior in Grover Cleveland's second administration.

On January 7, 1869 he married Lydia VanWyck, and they had six children. One, Dr. Michael Hoke, became a distinguished orthopedic surgeon in Atlanta. General Hoke for a while operated the Cranberry Iron Works and was also president of the North Carolina Home Insurance Company in Raleigh where he lived for many years. On July 3, 1912, he died in Raleigh and was buried with military honors from the Church of the Good Shepherd (Episcopal) of which he was a member.

(Originally posted in its unabridged form at Cape Fear Historical Institute)