Gustavus Woodson Smith

{{Short description|American military officer (1821–1896)}} {{Use American English|date=May 2022}} {{Other people|Gustavus Smith}} {{More citations needed|date=June 2020}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}  {{Infobox military person | name = Gustavus Woodson Smith | birth_date = {{birth date|1821|11|30}} | death_date = {{death date and age|1896|06|24|1821|11|30}} | birth_place = [[Georgetown, Kentucky]], U.S. | death_place = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S. | burial_place = Cedar Grove Cemetery, [[New London, Connecticut]], U.S. | burial_label = Place of burial | image = Smith, Gustavus Woodson 1.jpg | caption = Gustavus Woodson Smith, photo taken during the Civil War 1861–65 | nickname = | allegiance = {{Flag|United States of America|1851}} {{flag|Confederate States of America}} | branch = {{army|USA|1851}} {{army|CSA}} | service_years = 1842–1854 (USA) 1861–1863, 1864–1865 (CSA) | rank = [[File:Union army cpt rank insignia.jpg|35px]] [[Brevet (military)|Brevet]] [[Captain (United States O-3)|Captain]] (USA) [[File:Confederate States of America General-collar.svg|35px]] [[General officers in the Confederate States Army#Major general|Major General]] (CSA) | commands = [[Army of Northern Virginia]] | battles = {{Tree list}} * [[Mexican–American War]] ** [[Battle of Cerro Gordo]] ** [[Battle of Contreras]] * [[American Civil War]] ** [[Battle of Seven Pines]] ** [[Battle of Atlanta]] ** [[Battle of Honey Hill]] {{Tree list/end}} | awards = | other_work = Civil engineer streets commissioner iron manufacturer insurance commissioner author | signature = Gustavus Woodson Smith signature.svg }} '''Gustavus Woodson Smith''' (November 30, 1821 – June 24, 1896), more commonly known as '''G.W. Smith''', was a career [[United States Army]] officer who fought in the [[Mexican–American War]], a civil engineer, and a [[Major General (CSA)|major general]] in the [[Confederate States Army]] during the [[American Civil War]]. He briefly commanded the [[Army of Northern Virginia]] from May 31 until June 1, 1862, following the wounding of General [[Joseph E. Johnston]] at the [[Battle of Seven Pines]], and before General [[Robert E. Lee]] took command. Smith later served as an interim [[Confederate States Secretary of War]] and in the [[Georgia Militia]].

==Early life and Mexican-American War== Smith was born in [[Georgetown, Kentucky]], and was a brother-in-law of [[Horace Randal]] and a distant relative of [[John Bell Hood]]. He graduated from the [[United States Military Academy]] as a [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] [[Second Lieutenant#United States|second lieutenant]] in 1842. Smith finished eighth out of 56 cadets. He entered the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]] afterward and was promoted to second lieutenant on January 1, 1845.<ref name=Eicher495>Eicher, p. 495.</ref>

Smith fought in the [[Mexican–American War]], winning two brevet promotions for his actions. On April 18, 1847, he was appointed brevet first lieutenant for his service at the [[Battle of Cerro Gordo]], and on August 20, 1847, brevet [[Captain (U.S. Army)|captain]] for his service at the [[Battle of Contreras]]. In 1848 he became an original member of the [[Aztec Club of 1847]].

On March 3, 1853, Smith was promoted to [[First Lieutenant#United States|first lieutenant]]. He resigned his commission on December 18, 1854, to become a civil engineer in New York City, and was Streets Commissioner there from 1858 to 1861.<ref name=Eicher495 />

==Civil War== Smith's home state of Kentucky became a [[Border states (American Civil War)|border state]] when the American Civil War began in 1861. Some months afterward, Smith presented himself in [[Richmond, Virginia]], to serve in the [[Confederate States Army]]. Commissioned as a [[Major General (CSA)|major general]] on September 19, he served in [[Northern Virginia]] as a divisional and "wing" commander. He fought in the [[Battle of Seven Pines]] near Richmond during the [[Peninsula Campaign]].

On May 31, 1862, because he was the senior major general in the [[Army of Northern Virginia]], Smith briefly took command after Gen. [[Joseph E. Johnston]] was wounded at Seven Pines. However, Smith's nerve broke, and [[Jefferson Davis]] replaced him with [[Robert E. Lee]] the following day, June 1. On June 2, Smith took a leave of absence to recuperate.<ref>[https://dlxs2.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moawar&cc=moawar&idno=waro0014&node=waro0014%3A2&frm=frameset&view=image&seq=687 ''The war of the rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies'']. Series 1, Volume 11 (Part III), p. 685</ref>

In late August, Smith returned and took command of the defenses around Richmond, which was expanded to become the Department of North Carolina & Southern Virginia in September. In addition, he acted as interim [[Confederate States Secretary of War]] from November 17 through November 21, 1862.

Smith resigned his commission as a major general on February 17, 1863, and became a volunteer aide to General [[P. G. T. Beauregard]] for the rest of that year. Smith was also the superintendent of the [[Etowah Iron Works]] from 1863 until June 1, 1864, when he was commissioned a major general in the [[Georgia Militia]], commanding its first division until the war's end.<ref name=Eicher495/>

==Postbellum life and death== Smith was paroled in [[Macon, Georgia]], on April 20, 1865, and moved to [[Tennessee]] to become an iron manufacturer from 1866 to 1870. He moved back to Kentucky to become Insurance Commissioner until 1876, then moved to New York City and began writing. Smith authored ''Notes on Insurance'' in 1870, ''Confederate War Papers'' in 1884, ''The Battle of Seven Pines'' in 1891, and ''Generals J. E. Johnston and G. T. Beauregard at the Battle of Manassas, July 1861'' in 1892. His final work, ''Company "A," Corps of Engineers, U.S.A., 1846–48, in the Mexican War'', was published in 1896 after his death.

In December 1894, he was one of nineteen founders of the [[Military Order of Foreign Wars]] - a military society for officers who were veterans of wars with foreign nations and their descendants.

Smith died in [[New York City]] in 1896 and was buried in the [[Cedar Grove Cemetery (New London, Connecticut)|Cedar Grove Cemetery]] in [[New London, Connecticut]].<ref name=Eicher495/>

==See also== {{Portal|American Civil War|Biography}} * [[List of American Civil War generals (Confederate)]]

==References== '''Notes''' {{Reflist}}

'''Bibliography''' * Eicher, John H., and [[David J. Eicher]], ''Civil War High Commands.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-8047-3641-1}}. * Sifakis, Stewart. ''Who Was Who in the Civil War.'' New York: Facts On File, 1988. {{ISBN|978-0-8160-1055-4}}. * [[Ezra J. Warner (historian)|Warner, Ezra J.]] ''Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders.'' Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. {{ISBN|978-0-8071-0823-9}}.

==External links== {{commons category}} * {{Gutenberg author | id=35010| name=Gustavus Woodson Smith}} * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Gustavus Woodson Smith}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Gustavus Woodson}} [[Category:1821 births]] [[Category:1896 deaths]] [[Category:People from Georgetown, Kentucky]] [[Category:Confederate States Army major generals]] [[Category:Executive members of the Cabinet of the Confederate States of America]] [[Category:19th-century American politicians]] [[Category:Members of the Aztec Club of 1847]] [[Category:American military personnel of the Mexican–American War]] [[Category:People of Kentucky in the American Civil War]] [[Category:United States Military Academy alumni]] [[Category:Burials at Cedar Grove Cemetery (New London, Connecticut)]]