Charles Ferguson Smith
Charles Ferguson Smith (1807-1862) - Born 24 Apr 1807, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Died 25 Apr 1862, Savannah, Tennessee. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1825 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Artillery. He returned to West Point as an instructor and was appointed Commandant of Cadets as a first lieutenant, serving in that position from 1838 to 1843.
He distinguished himself in the Mexican-American War, serving under both Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott, at Palo Alto, Resaca, Monterrey, and Churubusco. He received brevet promotions from major through colonel for his service in these battles and ended the war as a lieutenant colonel in the regular army. In Mexico City, he was in charge of the police guard from the end of the war until 1848. He commanded the Red River expedition in Minnesota of 1856–57, and served under Albert Sidney Johnston in Utah (1857–60), commanding the Department of Utah himself from 1860 to 1861, and the Department of Washington (at Fort Washington, Maryland) very briefly at the start of the Civil War.
After the outbreak of the war in 1861, Smith served on recruiting duty as commander of Fort Columbus, New York. He was commissioned a brigadier general of volunteers (August 31, 1861), and as colonel in the regular army, commanding the 3rd U.S. Infantry regiment, as of September 9. He was soon transferred to the Western Theater and became a division commander in the Department of the Missouri under Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, who had been one of his pupils at West Point.
He led his division of raw volunteers with success at the Battle of Fort Donelson in February 1862. At Savannah, Tennessee, Smith jumped into a rowboat and seriously injured his leg, forcing him out of field duty. His senior brigadier led his division at the Battle of Shiloh. Smith died of an infection following his leg injury at Savannah, Tennessee, and is buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia.
Fort C.F. Smith in the Montana Territory was named in his honor.
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- Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
- Robertson Jr., James I., article in Civil War Times, February 1986, p. 25.
- Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, 1964, ISBN 0-8071-0822-7.