{{short description|Brigadier general in the Union Army}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2023}} {{Infobox military person |name=William Sooy Smith |birth_date={{birth date|1830|7|22}} |death_date= {{death date and age|1916|3|4|1830|7|22}} |image=William Sooy Smith.jpg |caption= |nickname= |birth_place=[[Tarlton, Ohio]], US |death_place=[[Medford, Oregon]], US |burial_place= [[Forest Home Cemetery, Chicago|Forest Home Cemetery]]<br />[[Forest Park, Illinois|Forest Park]], [[Illinois]] |burial_label= Place of burial |allegiance= United States<br/>[[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] |branch= [[United States Army]]<br/>[[Union Army]] |service_years=1853–1854; 1861–1864 |rank= [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier General]] |unit= |commands= [[13th Ohio Infantry|13th Ohio Infantry Regiment]]<br />1st Division / [[XVI Corps (Union Army)|XVI Corps]]<br />Cavalry / [[Military Division of the Mississippi|Mil. Div. of the Mississippi]] |battles=[[American Civil War]] * [[Battle of Shiloh]] * [[Battle of Perryville]] * [[Vicksburg Campaign]] * [[Battle of Okolona]] |awards= |relations= |signature = Signature of William Sooy Smith (1830–1916).png }} '''William Sooy Smith''' (July 22, 1830 &ndash; March 4, 1916) was a [[United States Military Academy|West Point]] graduate and career [[civil engineer]] who became a [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] in the [[Union Army]] during the [[American Civil War]].

In civilian life, he was a renowned [[engineer]] involved in [[bridge]] construction that included the building of the first large all steel bridge in the world.<ref name=CWR>Civil War Reference [http://www.civilwarreference.com/people/index.php?peopleID=4272 ''Civil War Reference''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324015108/http://www.civilwarreference.com/people/index.php?peopleID=4272 |date=March 24, 2012 }} accessed and retrieved 2011-07-03</ref>

==Early life and career== Smith was born in [[Tarlton, Ohio]], and graduated from [[Ohio University]] in 1849 with an engineering degree. He furthered this degree at West Point as soon as he left the university, graduating sixth in his class from the [[United States Military Academy|U.S. Military Academy]] in 1853. Smith resigned from the Army on June 19, 1854 to accept a position with the [[Illinois Central Railroad]].

Smith established the engineering company Parkinson & Smith in 1857, and was involved in the first [[surveying|surveys]] for a bridge between the United States and [[Canada]] across the [[Niagara River]] near [[Niagara Falls]].

==Civil War== [[File:CMH Pub 75-15 page 13.jpg|thumb|[[Battle of West Point|Battles of West Point]], [[Battle of Okolona|Okolona]], and [[Battle of Ivey Farm|Ivey Farm]] in eastern Mississippi, February 1864 (CMH Pub 75-15 Map 1)]] [[File:22-26-038-smith.jpg|thumb|Bust of Smith by [[Solon Borglum]] at [[Vicksburg National Military Park]]]]

In 1861 at the outbreak of the Civil War, Smith joined the [[13th Ohio Infantry]], and by June he was commissioned as its [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]]. After serving in [[West Virginia in the American Civil War|western Virginia]], he was appointed [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] ([[United States Volunteers|volunteers]]) on April 16, 1862 to rank from April 15, 1862.<ref>Eicher, John H., and [[David J. Eicher]], ''Civil War High Commands.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-8047-3641-1}}. p. 728.</ref><ref>[[President of the United States|President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]] sent the nomination of Smith for the appointment to the U.S. Senate on April 5, 1862, during the [[Battle of Shiloh]], and the Senate confirmed the nomination on April 15, 1862. Eicher, 2001, p. 728.</ref> Smith participated in the [[Vicksburg campaign]], commanding the [[XVI Corps (Union Army)|XVI Corps]]' first division.<ref name=CWR/>

On January 27, 1864, as part of the [[Meridian Campaign]], Smith was given the command of General Hurlbut's force of 7,000 cavalry, to be consolidated from their positions throughout western Kentucky and Tennessee,<ref name=CWR/> along with the 2,500 that was already under his command. However, Smith delayed his advance waiting on one of the units, [[George E. Waring Jr.|Waring]]'s brigade, which was ice bound near Columbus, Kentucky.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sherman |first1=William T. |title=The Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4361/4361-h/4361-h.htm#ch15 |website=www.gutenberg.org/ |publisher=D. Appleton 1889 |access-date=6 June 2021}}</ref> He did not start his advance until February 11, ten days later than planned. Smith's force did not join up with Sherman at Meridian as forces under Maj. Gen. [[Nathan Bedford Forrest]] defeated him on February 22, 1864 in the [[Battle of Okolona]]. Smith was forced to fight an eleven-mile running battle before retreating across the state line into [[Tennessee in the American Civil War|Tennessee]] on February 26. Consequently, he was criticized for putting Sherman's [[Battle of Meridian|Meridian Expedition]] in danger.<ref name=ABPP>The American Battlefield Protection Program [https://web.archive.org/web/20070714153443/http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/abpp/battles/ms013.htm ''Okolona''] retrieved July 7, 2007</ref>

Afterwards, he served as chief of [[cavalry]] in both the Department of Tennessee and the [[Military Division of the Mississippi]], under [[Ulysses S. Grant]] and [[William T. Sherman]].<ref name=CWR/> He resigned from the Army in July 1864 due to [[rheumatoid arthritis]].

==Postbellum career== [[File:Williamsmithlaterlife.jpg|thumb|Smith in later life]] After leaving the army Smith returned to [[civil engineering]]. In 1867, he sank the first pneumatic [[caisson (engineering)|caisson]] of the Waugoshanee lighthouse in the [[Straits of Mackinac|Straits of Mackinaw]]. At [[Glasgow, Missouri]], from 1878 to 1879, Smith worked on the [[Glasgow Railroad Bridge]]. This was the first all-steel bridge, which crossed the [[Missouri River]].<ref name=CWR/>

In 1876 Smith was awarded the American Centennial Exposition prize, and continued to work in engineering until retirement to [[Medford, Oregon]] towards the end of his life.<ref name=CWR/> After his death in 1916, he was buried in [[Forest Home Cemetery, Chicago|Forest Home Cemetery]] in [[Forest Park, Illinois]].

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

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{commons category-inline}} * {{Find a Grave|9838}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, William Sooy}} [[Category:1830 births]] [[Category:1916 deaths]] [[Category:Union army generals]] [[Category:People of Ohio in the American Civil War]] [[Category:United States Military Academy alumni]] [[Category:Ohio University alumni]] [[Category:American civil engineers]] [[Category:People from Tarlton, Ohio]] [[Category:Burials at Forest Home Cemetery, Chicago]] [[Category:Engineers from Ohio]]