Helm attended the U.S. Military Academy and graduated ninth out of a class of forty-two; he was initially posted to the dragoons.

He resigned the year after graduating to be a Kentucky lawyer and legislator and in 1856, he married Mrs. Lincoln's half-sister. Although their politics varied widely, Lincoln and Helm were close friends. In April, 1861, Lincoln offered Helm the job of Army Paymaster. Helm declined and at the start of the Civil War, he recruited the 1st Kentucky Cavalry for the Confederacy.

He received a colonel's commission in October, 1861, and occupied Bowling Green, Kentucky with Brigadier General Simon Buckner. He was sent south and received promotion to Brigadier General in March, 1862. On April 6th, at the end of the first day of fighting in the battle of Shiloh, Helm incorrectly sent word from his post in north Alabama that Union Major General Don Carlos Buell's force was pressing for Decatur, Alabama instead of moving to Grant's aid. General Beauregard, who assumed command after General Johnston's death at Shiloh, later claimed that he disregarded Helm's message, yet he did not press his advantage on April sixth. By morning, Union reinforcements had arrived, strengthening the Federal position and denying victory to the Confederate troops.

Shiloh did not affect Helm's career. Posted to Vicksburg in Summer, 1862, he tool part in Breckinridge's expedition to Baton Rouge but missed the battle because of injuries sustained in a fall from his horse. In January, 1863, he joined the Army of Tennessee and served in the Tullahoma and Chickamauga campaigns under Breckinridge. On September 20, he was mortally wounded at Chickamauga and died that night.

And far from Chickamauga, in the capitol of the United States, another Kentuckian grieved at the news of Helm's death. His brother-in-law, Abraham Lincoln, sorrowed deeply. "I feel as David of old did," he lamented, "when he was told of the death of Absalom."

Union General Stephen Gano Burbridge

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