Important Arkansas historical events and significant anniversaries for July 29, with notable births and deaths of people with Arkansas connections for this date. Information is drawn from state archives, historical societies, contemporary newspapers and other media archives, and legal records. Much of this information comes from the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, an online publication. ChatGPH has collected this data.
On July 29, 1864, Union military authorities executed four young Confederate-aligned guerrillas at Fort Smith. William Mays, John Simmons, Lewis Pitts and Andrew J. McCasland had been convicted by military commissions in two separate cases. Mays and Simmons were accused of killing Perry H. Longley, a civilian who had been traveling near Waldron in Scott County. Pitts and McCasland were connected to an attack by bushwhackers wearing Union uniforms against an outpost of the Union First Arkansas Cavalry. The deceptive use of Federal uniforms was treated as a particularly serious violation of the laws of war.
On July 29, 1975, three men were charged in Pulaski County with robbery and rape. A single public defender was later appointed to represent all three, even though their possible defenses conflicted. The resulting case, Holloway v. Arkansas, reached the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1978, the Court held that a trial judge’s refusal to appoint separate attorneys after being warned of conflicts of interest violated the defendants’ Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel. The ruling became an important national precedent governing joint representation in criminal cases…