Edmund Kirby Smith
Edmund Kirby Smith | |
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General (C.S.) | |
Commands held | |
Wars | Mexican–American War American Civil War |
Signature |
Smith was wounded at the
He quickly fled to Mexico and then to Cuba to avoid arrest for treason. His wife negotiated his return during the period when the U.S. government offered amnesty to those who would take an
Early life and education
Edmund Kirby Smith was born in 1824 in
In 1837, his sister Frances married
On July 1, 1841, Smith entered West Point and graduated four years later in 1845, ranking 25th out of 41 cadets.[8] While there, he was nicknamed "Seminole", after the Seminole people of Florida who had successfully resisted removal by the United States. He was commissioned as a brevet second lieutenant in the 5th U.S. Infantry on July 1, 1845. Smith was promoted to second lieutenant on August 22, 1846, now serving in the 7th U.S. Infantry.[11]
Early military career
In the
After that war, Smith served as a captain (from 1855) in the
Smith also taught at West Point after the war. He collected and studied materials as a botanist; like many other military officers, he was also a scientist. He donated to the Smithsonian Institution some of his collection and reports from his time at West Point.[14] Smith continued his botanical studies as a hobby for the remainder of his life. He is credited with collecting and describing several species of plants native to Tennessee and Florida.[15] Smith was assigned to teach mathematics at West Point from 1849 to 1852. According to his letters to his mother, he was happy with this environment.[16]
Returning to troop-leading assignments, Smith served in the Southwest. On May 13, 1859, he was wounded in his thigh while fighting Comanche in the Nescutunga Valley of Kansas. also known as the Battle of Crooked Creek (Kansas).[5] When Texas declared secession from the United States in 1861, Smith, promoted to major on January 31, 1861, refused to surrender his command at Camp Colorado in what is now Coleman, to the Texas State Troops under Colonel Benjamin McCulloch; he expressed his willingness to fight to hold it.[9] On April 6, he resigned his commission in the United States Army to join the Confederacy.[11]
American Civil War
On March 16, 1861, Smith entered the Confederate States Army as a major in the
Army of Tennessee
In February 1862, Smith was sent west to command the eastern division of the Army of Mississippi (often referred to prematurely as the Army of Tennessee). Cooperating with General Braxton Bragg in the invasion of Kentucky, he scored a victory at the Battle of Richmond, Kentucky on August 30, 1862, but did not link up with Bragg's army until after the Battle of Perryville. On October 9, he was promoted to the newly created grade of lieutenant-general, commanding the 3d Corps, Army of Tennessee.[19] Smith received the Confederate "Thanks of Congress" on February 17, 1864, for his actions at Richmond.[a]
Trans-Mississippi Department
On January 14, 1863, Smith was transferred to command the Trans-Mississippi Department (comprising Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, western Louisiana, Arizona Territory, and the Indian Territory). He remained west of the Mississippi River for the balance of the war, based part of this time in Shreveport, Louisiana. As forces under U.S. Major-General Ulysses S. Grant tightened their grip on the river, Smith attempted to intervene. However, his department never had more than 30,000 men stationed over an immense area, and he could not concentrate forces adequately to challenge Grant nor the U.S. Navy on the river.[19]
Following the U.S. capture of the remaining strongholds at Vicksburg and Port Hudson and their closing of the Mississippi to the Confederacy, Smith was virtually cut off from the Confederate capital at Richmond. He had to command a nearly independent area of the Confederacy, with all the inherent administrative problems. The area became known in the Confederacy as "Kirby Smithdom".[20] He was thought of as a virtual military dictator and negotiated directly with foreign countries.[21]
In the spring of 1864, General Taylor, directly under Smith's command, soundly defeated General Banks at the
With the pressure relieved to the north, Smith attempted to send reinforcements east of the Mississippi. But, as in the case of his earlier attempts to relieve Vicksburg, it proved impossible due to U.S. Navy control of the river. Instead, he dispatched Major-General
By now a general (as of February 19, 1864, one of seven generals in the Confederate Army),
Later life
After the war, Smith was active in the telegraph business and higher education. From 1866 to 1868, he was president of the
In 1875, Smith left that post to become a professor of mathematics and botany at the
Personal life
In August 1861, Smith met Cassie Selden (1836–1905), the daughter of Samuel S. Selden of Lynchburg. While recovering from being wounded at the
The couple briefly reunited when Cassie followed her husband to
In 1875, Smith accepted an appointment as a professor at the
Reynold, William, Joseph, and Ephraim all played for the Sewanee Tigers football team. Joseph and Ephraim both achieved All-Southern status in football. Joseph was a member of the famed 1899 "Iron Men" and Ephraim was selected for Sewanee's All-Time football team.[31]
Legacy
- A Baton Rouge was named Edmund Kirby Smith Hall. It was demolished in 2022.
- A portrait of Edmund Kirby Smith by Cornelius Hankins hangs in the Wyatt Center at Vanderbilt University.[28]
- In 1922, the state of Florida erected a civil rights activist and educator Mary McLeod Bethune.[34] The statue was to be moved to the Lake County Historical Museum in Tavares, after residents of his birthplace, St. Augustine, expressed no interest.[35] While Smith never lived in Lake County, when he was born, it was a part of St. Johns County, whose seat is St. Augustine. At a County Commission meeting on July 24, 2018, about 24 residents spoke against, and none in favor, of bringing the statue to Lake County. Chairman Sullivan assured the crowd that the commission would tell the Historical Museum "that there is no longer a want or desire to bring this statue to Lake County".[36] Despite the strong opposition from the public and nine mayors in the county, the Board of County Commissioners voted on August 6, 2019, to approve the statue installation.[37] Hundreds protested the transfer of the statue to Lake County on August 10, 2019, and citizen groups posted an online petition voicing opposition to the project, whose local sponsor was the Sons of Confederate Veterans.[38] On July 7, 2020, Lake County commissioners voted 4–1 against accepting the statue.[39]
- At the University of the South, in Sewanee, Tennessee, where he taught, he is commemorated by Kirby-Smith Point.
- The Kirby-Smith Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy at Sewanee, and the Kirby-Smith Camp 1209, Sons of Confederate Veterans, in Jacksonville, Florida, are named for him.
- Kirby Smith Middle School in Jacksonville was named for him. It was renamed Springfield Middle School in 2020.[40]
- During World War II the 422-foot (129 m) liberty ship SS E. Kirby Smith was built in Panama City, Florida, in 1943, and named for him.[41]
- In 2004, a life-sized statue of Kirby Smith and Alexander Darnes in an imaginary meeting (see below) was made by Maria Kirby Smith, a great-granddaughter of Smith.[8] It is installed in the courtyard of the Segui-Kirby Smith House, now owned by the St. Augustine Historical Society. This is the first public sculpture in the city to commemorate an African-American man.[12] Kirby-Smith said that she suspected Darnes was related to Smith as a half-brother or nephew, as her detailed work on the statues made her aware of the two men's close physical resemblance.[13]
See also
Notes
- ^ "... for the signal victory achieved by him in the battle of Richmond, Kentucky, on the thirtieth of August, and to all officers and soldiers of his command engaged in that battle" (Eicher & Eicher 2001, p. 494).
- ^ Carol Ann McCormick. Stars and Bars ... and Botany: E. Kirby Smith, UNC Herbarium Report, August 2011.
- ISBN 9781621901006.
- ^ General Kirby Smith Collection, Florida Museum of Natural History.
- ^ a b Webster & Webster 2000, p. [page needed].
- ^ a b c d Chisholm 1911, p. 260.
- ^ Webster & Webster 2000, p. 14.
- ^ Edmund Kirby-Smith Papers, 1776–1906 (bulk 1840–1866), The Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina, accessed November 25, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Matthew White, "Science, Race and Reunion: The Memorialization of Edmund Kirby Smith and His Slave Alexander Darnes", 2011 Phi Alpha Theta Biennial Conference, Orlando, Florida; Academia website.
- ^ a b c d e Nofi 1995, pp. 347–48.
- ^ [Frances Marvin Smith Webster and Lucien Bonaparte Webster, The Websters: Letters of an American Army Family in Peace and War, 1836–1853], ed. by Van R. Baker, Kent State University, 2000.
- ^ a b c d Eicher & Eicher 2001, pp. 493–94.
- ^ a b "Alexander Darnes and Kirby Smith Share Rare History" Archived September 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Jacksonville Historical Society.
- ^ a b Call, James (June 5, 2016). "What if Gen. Kirby Smith's statue was replaced by one of his former slave, Alex Darnes, M.D.?". Tallahassee Democrat. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
- ^ Julie B. Maglio, "Sculpture of Confederate General to be removed from Statuary Hall in D.C." Archived August 23, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, Hernando Sun, May 31, 2016.
- ^ Small, John K. "Studies in the Botany of the Southeastern United States.-Ix. I. The Sessile-Flowered Trillia of the Southern States." Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 24, no. 4 (1897): 169–178.
- ^ "Letter from Edmund K. Smith to Frances K. Smith, February 14, 1849", Edmund Kirby-Smith Papers, Record Group #404 Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina
- ^ Lossing 1881, p. 1306.
- ^ Wagner, Gallagher & Finkelman 2002, p. 422.
- ^ a b c d Cunningham 1992, p. 166.
- ^ Davis 1999, p. 94.
- JSTOR 1850453.
- ^ Maritime Activity Reports 1942, pp. 101–2.
- ^ Sheehan-Dean 2007, pp. 145–47.
- ^ Mechem & Malin 1964, p. 281.
- ^ Townsend 2006, pp. 136–37.
- The Manchester Guardian, September 4, 1865.
- ^ Morris, Roy Jr. (March 29, 2017). "Bushrod Johnson: Yankee Quaker, Confederate General". Warfare History Network. Archived from the original on November 18, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
- ^ a b "Vanderbilt Collection – Peabody Campus – Wyatt Center: Edmund Kirby Smith". Tennessee Portrait Project. National Society of Colonial Dames of America in Tennessee. Archived from the original on September 15, 2015. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
- ^ Jones 1955, pp. 177–79.
- ^ "Mrs. Cassie Kirby-Smith". Confederate Veteran. 15: 563. 1907 – via archive.org.
- ^ "Sewanee's All-Time Football Team". Sewanee Alumni News. February 1949.
- ^ "Edmund Kirby Smith". Retrieved September 17, 2018..
- ^ "Florida House panel OKs bill to remove Confederate statue". Retrieved September 17, 2018.
- Palm Beach Post. Archived from the originalon June 16, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
- ^ Commentary: Statue of Confederate general is no 'piece of art,' has no place in Lake County museum Retrieved July 2, 2018.
- ^ McNiff, Tim (July 24, 2018). "Lake County Commission does about-face on confederate statue". Daily Commercial.
- ^ Ritchie, Lauren (August 5, 2019). "Lake County Commission Chairwoman Leslie Campione responsible for racial divide". Orlando Sentinel.
- ^ "Hundreds protest Confederate statue in Lake County: 'It is dividing us'". August 11, 2019.
- ^ "Lake County asks Gov. DeSantis to move statue of Confederate out of their community". WOFL (FOX 35 Orlando). July 7, 2020.
- ^ "Meeting Minutes", Duval County Public Schools, June 16, 2020.
- ^ Maritime Activity Reports 1942, p. 135.
References
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911), , Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 25 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 260
- Cunningham, Sumner A.; Sons of Confederate Veterans (Organization); Confederated Southern Memorial Association (U.S.); United Confederate Veterans; United Daughters of the Confederacy (1922), Confederate Veteran, S.A. Cunningham
- ISBN 978-0-8061-3129-0
- Eicher, John H.; ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1
- Jones, Katharine M. (1955), Heroines of Dixie, New York: Konecky & Konecky
- Lossing, Benson John (1881), Harpers' Popular Cyclopaedia of United States History from the Aboriginal Period to 1876, New York: Harper, OCLC 1446520
- Maritime Activity Reports (1942), Marine News, vol. 29
- Mechem, Kirke; Malin, James Claude (1964), The Kansas Historical Quarterly, Kansas State Historical Society
- ISBN 978-0-306-80622-3.
- Sheehan-Dean, Aaron (2007), Struggle for a Vast Future: The American Civil War, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, ISBN 978-1-84603-213-4
- Townsend, Stephen A. (2006), The Yankee Invasion of Texas, College Station: Texas A&M University Press, ISBN 978-1-58544-487-8
- Wagner, Margaret E.; ISBN 978-0-684-86350-4
- Webster, Frances Marvin Smith; Webster, Lucien Bonaparte (2000), Baker, Van R. (ed.), The Websters: Letters of an American Army Family in Peace and War, 1836–1853, Kent State University Press, ISBN 978-0873386548
Further reading
- Forsyth, Michael J. (2003), The Camden Expedition of 1864 and the Opportunity Lost by the Confederacy to Change the Civil War. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., ISBN 978-0-7864-1554-0.
- Kerby, Robert L. (1991). Kirby Smith's Confederacy : the Trans-Mississippi South, 1863–1865. Reprint of 1972 edition. ISBN 0817305467.
- Parks, Joseph Howard (1954), General Edmund Kirby Smith, CSA. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, ISBN 978-0-8071-1800-9.
- Pollard, Edward Alfred (1867), Lee and His Lieutenants: Comprising the Early Life, Public Services, and Campaigns of General Robert E. Lee and His Companions in Arms, with a Record of Their Campaigns and Heroic Deeds. New York: E.B. Treat & Co, OCLC 1487259.
- Prushankin, Jeffery S. (2005), A Crisis in Confederate Command: Edmund Kirby Smith, Richard Taylor and the Army of the Trans-Mississippi. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, ISBN 978-0-8071-3088-9.
- Smith, Ephraim Kirby (2006), To Mexico with Scott: Letters of Captain E. Kirby Smith to His Wife, edited and with Introduction by R.M. Johnston, scanned and reissued.
- Sifakis, Stewart (1988), Who Was Who in the Civil War. New York: Facts on File, ISBN 978-0-8160-2202-1.
- Silkenat, David. Raising the White Flag: How Surrender Defined the American Civil War. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2019. ISBN 978-1-4696-4972-6.
- ISBN 978-0-8071-0823-9.
External links
- Official
- General information