Edmund Kirby Smith – Early Life & Career:
Born May 16, 1824, Edmund Kirby Smith was the son of Joseph and Francis Smith of St. Augustine, FL. Natives of Connecticut, the Smiths quickly established themselves in the community and Joseph was named a federal judge. Seeking a military career for their son, the Smiths sent Edmund to military school in Virginia in 1836. Completing his schooling, he earned admittance to West Point five years later. A middling student, Smith, who was known as “Seminole” due his Florida roots, graduated ranked 25th in the class of 41. Assigned to the 5th US Infantry in 1845, he received a promotion to second lieutenant and a transfer to the US 7th Infantry the following year. He remained with the regiment through the beginning of the Mexican-American War in May 1846.
Edmund Kirby Smith – Mexican-American War:
Serving in Brigadier General Zachary Taylor’s Army of Occupation, Smith took part in the Battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma on May 8-9. The 7th US Infantry later saw service in Taylor’s campaign against Monterrey that fall. Transferred to Major General Winfield Scott’s army, Smith landed with American forces in March 1847 and began operations against Veracruz. With the fall of the city, he moved inland with Scott’s army and earned a brevet promotion to first lieutenant for his performance at Battle of Cerro Gordo in April. Nearing Mexico City late that summer, Smith was brevetted to captain for gallantry during the Battles of Churubusco and Contreras. Losing his brother Ephraim at Molino del Rey on September 8, Smith fought with the army through the fall of Mexico City later that month.
Edmund Kirby Smith – Antebellum Years:
Following the war, Smith received an assignment to teach mathematics at West Point. Remaining at his alma mater through 1852, he was promoted to first lieutenant during his tenure. Departing the academy, he later served under Major William H. Emory on the commission to survey the US-Mexico boundary. Promoted to captain in 1855, Smith changed branches and shifted to the cavalry. Joining the 2nd US Cavalry, he moved to the Texas frontier. Over the next six years, Smith took part in operations against the Native Americans in the region and in May 1859 received a wound in the thigh while fighting in the Nescutunga Valley. With the Secession Crisis in full swing, he was promoted to major on January 31, 1861. A month later, following Texas’ departure from the Union, Smith received a demand from Colonel Benjamin McCulloch to surrender his forces. Refusing, he threatened to fight to protect his men.
Edmund Kirby Smith – Going South:
As his home state of Florida had seceded, Smith assessed his position and accepted a commission in the Confederate Army as a lieutenant colonel of cavalry on March 16. Formally resigning from the US Army on April 6, he became chief of staff to Brigadier General Joseph E. Johnston later that spring. Posted in the Shenandoah Valley, Smith received a promotion to brigadier general on June 17 and was given command of brigade in Johnston’s army. The following month, he led his men at the First Battle of Bull Run where he was badly wounded in the shoulder and neck. Given command of the Department of Middle and East Florida while he recovered, Smith earned a promotion to major general and returned to duty in Virginia as a division commander that October.
Edmund Kirby Smith – Moving West:
In February 1862, Smith departed Virginia to take command of the Department of East Tennessee. In this new role, he advocated for an invasion of Kentucky with the goal of claiming the state for the Confederacy and obtaining needed supplies. This movement was finally approved later in the year and Smith received orders to support the advance of General Braxton Bragg’s Army of Mississippi as it marched north. The plan called for him to take his newly-created Army of Kentucky north to neutralize Union troops at Cumberland Gap before joining with Bragg to defeat Major General Don Carlos Buell’s Army of the Ohio. Moving out in mid-August, Smith quickly diverted from the campaign plan. Though he won a victory at Richmond, KY on August 30, he failed to unite with Bragg in a timely manner. As a result, Bragg was held by Buell at the Battle of Perryville on October 8. As Bragg retreated south, Smith finally rendezvoused with the Army of Mississippi and the combined force withdrew to Tennessee.
Edmund Kirby Smith – Trans-Mississippi Department:
From 1862 until the wars end Confederate Lt. Gen.. E. Kirby Smith commanded the Trans-Mississippi Department. By early May 1865 no regular Confederate forces remained east of the Mississippi River. Smith received official proposals that the surrender of his department be negotiated. The Federals intimated that terms could be loose, but Smiths demands were unrealistic. Smith then began planning to Continue the fight. Lt. Gen. U. S. Grant took preliminary steps to prepare a force to invade West Texas should that prove necessary. It did not.
The wars last land fight occurred May 12–13 May at Palmito Ranch, where 350 Confederates under Col. John S. “Rest in Peace” Ford scored a victory over 800 overconfident Federals under Col. Theodore H. Barrett. But afterward the Confederates learned that Richmond had fallen and Gen. Robert E. Lee had surrendered more than a month earlier. The news devastated their morale, and they abandoned their lines. A similar decay in morale occurred all over the department. On May 18 Smith left by stagecoach for Houston with plans to rally the remnants of the departments troops. While he traveled, the last of the departments army dissolved. On 26 May, at New Orleans, Lt. Gen. Simon B. Buckner, acting in Smiths name, surrendered the department. Smith reached Houston May 27 and learned that he had no troops. Not all of the Trans-Mississippi Confederates went home. Meeting with General Edward R.S. Canby at Galveston, TX, Smith finally surrendered his command on May 26. 1865. Some 2,000 fled into Mexico; most of them went alone or in squad-sized groups, but one body numbered 300. With them, mounted on a mule, wearing a calico shirt and silk kerchief, sporting a revolver strapped to his hip and a shotgun on his saddle, was Smith.. Concerned that he would be tried for treason, he fled to Mexico before settling in Cuba. Returning to the United States later in the year, Smith took an oath of amnesty at Lynchburg, VA on November 14.
Edmund Kirby Smith – Later Life:
After brief tenure as president of the Accident Insurance Company in 1866, Smith spent two years heading the Pacific and Atlantic Telegraph Company. When this failed, he returned to education and opened a school at New Castle, KY. Smith also served as president Western Military Academy at Nashville and chancellor of the University of Nashville. From 1875 to 1893, he taught mathematics at the University of the South. Contracting pneumonia, Smith died on March 28, 1893. The last living commander on either side to hold the rank of full general, he was buried in the University Cemetery at Sewanee.