Page 103 - 86-Book2

The boys say, ‘He’s got the fight in him.’” The following spring on April 25, 1864, Smith
led the charge during the attack on the fort at Watauga Bridge and was the first man to
cross the Confederate parapet and charged General John Morgan’s men at Morristown.
His men drove Morgan from the field. A report noted that “Col. Trowbridge and Major
Smith are not the men to retire without a vigorous effort to accomplish the object of their
mission...A more gallant charge was never made...” On May 11, Smith was sent to Knoxville to serve as assistant inspector general on General David Tillson’s staff, but returned to the 10th Cavalry by August. When they left to attack Carter Station, Smith was with them. “Maj. Smith, who is always
sure to be with us if there is a prospect of a fight ahead, commanded the 1st battalion...” Later that month, he was again on staff duty, this time with General Gillem and was then requested to report to General Tillson and take command at Strawberry Plains.
With less than 100 men, his men were ambushed by a Confederate regiment, but he led them
in a charge and broke through the Confederate lines and initially captured 60 of them. During
the pursuit, he found himself charging right into General Wheeler’s camp of several thousand Confederates and fell back with the enemy in hot pursuit for five miles. Only he and 18 of his men returned, but they had completed their mission and had vital intel for higher command. It was noted as “perhaps, one of the most gallant charges of the war, and had much to do in saving the Plains,
by consuming the enemy’s time and causing a diversion.” That November, he was ordered to assist General Gillem at Bull’s Gap where he faced General John C. Breckenridge’s command. When they came under attack, the artillery piece they had on a train car initially tore the Confederates to shreds, but the engineer fled when they came under fire, leaving Smith and his men 40 miles from Union lines, dismounted, and alone against around 3,500 men after Gillem’s troops fled. He held his ground and gave Breckenridge’s command heavy fire at close range, temporarily halting their advance, but Smith was forced to withdraw to the woods and worked his way back to Strawberry Plains.
He was then appointed assistant inspector general on General George Stoneman’s staff in the Department of the Cumberland. In the spring of 1865, Stoneman placed Smith in command of two squadrons and ordered them to charge the Confederate batteries at Salisbury, North Carolina. With their carbine fire and yells, they drove the Confederates back. When the Confederates reformed, Smith had another horse shot out from under him and was superficially cut by a fragment of
the shell. With fresh forces, he again charged the Confederates and captured the first piece of Confederate artillery and the battery’s flag. All of the Confederate artillery and 2,000 prisoners were shortly captured, but Smith’s fight continued on. In command of two regiments the following day, they struck out to attack the Confederate cavalry. That night, in command of four squadrons, his men were fired upon five times by Confederate forces along the road to Statesville,
but they drove their assailants away, reportedly without firing a shot. He soon returned back to General Gillem’s staff at Chattanooga where he was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the 10th Michigan Cavalry.
In late April as the war was coming to a close, General Tillson wrote to the adjutant general in Washington with a recommendation that Smith “be appointed Colonel of the First U.S.C.
Artillery, Heavy. Lieutenant Colonel Smith has served
under my command, or in immediate observation
for the past 18 months. His conspicuous courage,
capacity and gallantry have made him an object of admiration of the entire command. He has upon his
person several scars for wounds received in battle, in which he has repeatedly exhibited the most distinguished bravery and fortitude. I know of no officer of his rank possessing
a more brilliant and deserving record in the entire army. The
undersigned raised and organized the First U.S.C. Artillery, Heavy,
and feels warmly interested in its reputation and success, and feels
quite sure that in neither of the respects will the Regiment be inferior
to any in the service, should Colonel Smith be made its Commander.” Major General
Stoneman also approved and wrote his own testimony of Smith’s merits, noting that they were “unsurpassed by any officer of may acquaintance...” Provisional Governor Parson Brownlow of Tennessee presented Smith with a bronze statue of a thoroughbred horse. Smith was appointed 2nd lieutenant in the 8th U.S. Cavalry, but opted to return to civilian life when the war came to an end and requested to rejoin the 10th in Memphis. He was promoted to their colonel and took command when Colonel Trowbridge departed. He received a brevet promotion to brigadier general and mustered out with his men on November 11, 1865.
After the war, Smith worked as the general manager of the National Hotel in Grand Rapids.
He married in 1867 and then left for Kansas City to where he leased the Pacific Hotel. He soon moved to Denver and owned cattle ranches in Colorado and New Mexico. In Denver, he was the commander of the Governor’s Guards in Denver. He returned to Grand Rapids in 1873, and was the commander of the Grand Rapids Guards (Company C of the 2nd Regiment) and then took command as colonel of the regiment.
101