Stokes was elected as a member of the Opposition Party to the Thirty-sixth Congress by Tennessee's 4th congressional district, serving from March 4, 1859, to March 4, 1861. He entered the Union Army on May 15, 1862, as a major of the Tennessee Volunteers. He served as colonel of the 5th Regiment Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry until he resigned on March 10, 1865.[2] He briefly served in temporary brigade command in the Army of the Ohio between June 17, 1863, and August 6, 1863.[2] On December 24, 1866, PresidentAndrew Johnson nominated Stokes for the award of the honorary grade of brevetbrigadier general to rank from March 13, 1865.[3] The U.S. Senate confirmed the award on February 21, 1867.[3] He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1867, and commenced practice in Alexandria, Tennessee, in DeKalb County, Tennessee.
^Lehman, Christopher P. (2019). Slavery's reach : Southern slaveholders in the North Star State. Saint Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press. p. 120. ISBN9781681341354.
^ abcEicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. Civil War High Commands. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN0-8047-3641-3. p. 413