Word Celebrity Blog

Major General Andrew Jackson Smith


It is sad,but I believe that most people in the United States know very little about the history of our nation, nor do they know about the men and women who are responsible for the outcome.

If you were to ask your neighbors to name some generals from the Civil War, about 50% could not recall 1, another30% might recall 1 or 2, 10% might recall 3 to 5. The remaining 10% of Americans might be able to recall 6 to 10 or more. I seriously doubt if there would be  many who would mention Major Geneneral Andrew Jackson Smith, despite the very famous person that he was named after.





















There were very many generals involved in the the Civil War. Some of them, in both the Confederate and the Union armies, were very good. It is my belief that Geneneral Andrew ackson Smith was the Best Of Them All. The 3 main reasons (there are more) for myasserting this are: (1) His record - he never lost a battle. (2) Lack of credit - Superior officers very often took credit for the actions of Gen. A. J. Smith and his troops (3) He believed in and operated on the concept of "Total War".

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Major Geneneral Andrew Jackson Smith (April 28, 1815 – January 30, 1897) was a United States Army general during the American Civil War, rising to the command of a corps. He was most noted for his victory over Confederate General S.D. Lee at the Battle of Tupelo, Mississippi, on July 14, 1864 in which General Nathan Bedford Forrest was in command of the Confederate right wing.


Early life

Andrew Jackson Smith was born in rural Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Just north of Philadelphia, on April 28, 1815. He was a small boy who made up for his size with his daring.  He grew up on a working but very prosperous farm known as Crystal Springs Farm in Buckingham Township.

He was of Scots decent and raised in the Presbyterian Church. A. J. Smith was the son of Samuel Smith, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Andrew Jackson Smith was named after his father's commander at the War of 1812's Battle of New Orleans, who later became President of the United States.

His older brother Samuel A. Smith, was a respected judge and congressman with a long and successful political career. He had 2 other brothers: George A. Smith, and Jenks Smith.

His father and brothers were Jacksonian Democrats. His oldest brother was elected to congress as a member of this Democratic party.

His brother, Samuel, was also brigade inspector of militia for the Bucks and Montgomery County district as A. J. was growing up and his father had one of the most impressive military records in the state. 

Andrew Jackson Smith was known as a small man with a fighting spirit.

He was appointed to West Point from the State of Pennsylvania on July 1, 1834.

He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1837 ranking 36th in a class of 45 graduates; that is, within nine of the bottom. In Smith's class were McDowell, Casey, and R. S. Granger, who subsequently made names on the Union side during the Civil War, and Beauregard, Hardee and Edward Johnson of the Confederate service. Among his college mates in the preceding class were Hooker, Sedgwick, French, Bragg, Early and Pemberton, while in the succeeding class were Halleck, Isaac I. Stevens, Lawton, and others who afterward became conspicuous on one side or the other.


























Upon his graduation Andrew J. Smith entered the old First Dragoons as a Second Lieutenant, and served against the Indians of the plains and in Oregon. He also had a share in the Mexican war. At the outbreak of the Rebellion he was already a Major in the First Dragoons. October 3, 1861, he was appointed Colonel of the Second California Cavalry, but was soon detached, for in February, 1862, he turned up a Chief of Cavalry of the Department of the Missouri.

He was engaged on active service on the frontier in the Southwest and in the Mexican- American War. He later fought against Native Americans in the Washington and Oregon territories. He was successively promoted to first lieutenant in 1845, to captain in 1847, and to major in early 1861.






















The American Civil War

In the Union Army there served twenty-four persons of the name of Smith, as Generals or Brevet Generals, and on the Confederate side there were six General Smiths of the various grades. Of the twenty-four Union General Smiths, six or eight were conspicuous officers; the others were not so well known, though nearly all the Smiths performed their parts in the war with honor and more or less glory to their cause and themselves.

Among the numerous military Smiths who served the Union cause with fidelity, C. F. Smith, Baldy Smith, Morgan L. Smith, John E. Smith, Thomas Kirbv Smith, W. Sooy Smith and Giles A. Smith were bright names in our military annals.  For long-continued, unceasing, uncomplaining and uniformly successful service Gen. A. J. Smith held the record over all the other Smiths, numerous and deserving and distinguished as some of them were. Few Generals of any names soared higher than he, for he was in the front of the most distinguished commanders of the war.

 At the outbreak of the Civil War, Major. Andrew J. Smith became a colonel of the 2nd California Volunteer Cavalry in the Union Army, rising early in 1862 to the rank of brigadier general in the United States Volunteers and to the chief command of the cavalry in the Department of the Missouri.




















From March through July, he served in the same capacity in the Department of the Mississippi. Assigned afterwards to the Army of the Tennessee, he took part in the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou and the capture of Arkansas Post. He commanded a division of the XIII Corps in the Vicksburg Campaign. Later, he led a division of the XVI Corps in the Red River Campaign of Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks, and received the brevet rank of colonel in the regular army for his services at the action of Pleasant Hill.


























It was one of the odd things in Gen. A. J. Smith's career, that he never appeared to be permanently attached to any unit, anywhere, but was constantly tossed about from pillar to post, at the will and necessity of his superiorss. whenever they needed him for important detached service.

Gen. A. J. Smith wrote very few letters of complaint, and he never grumbled, no matter what kind of the duty assigned to him. He was soon a favorite for the most difficult and  dangerous undertakings, and was always available.




















When  Gen.Nathaniel Prentice Banksneeded help,  Gen. U. S. Grant said: "Send A. J. Smith." .

When ConfederateGen. Sterling Price had to be chased out of Missouri; the order came: "Send up A. J. Smith;" .

When the Confederate Gen.Nathan Bedford Forrest had whipped nearly every Union General sent after him, Gen. A. J. Smith was put onto his trail and defeated him. and the time that Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood was camped in front of Nashville, Gen. George Henry Thomas did not attack until Gen. A. J. Smith's army arrived. .


























Gen. A. J. Smith  went about the assigned tasks in the most effective manner and without delay. That he was selected for these various expeditions is strong proof of the high estimate placed upon A. J. Smith's military capacity by his superior officerss.

General Smith may have been of small physical stature, and had rather abrupt manners, and yet he was very popular with his troops. His accomplishments in battle had earned for his troops, the title of "Smith's Guerrillas."

General Smith's troops were used as shock troops in the toughest situations faced by the western Union forces. As one of "Smith's Guerrillas" said "We have been to Vicksburg, Red River, Missouri, and about everywhere down South and out West, and now we are going to Hell, if old A. J. orders us!" - and Hell is exactly where many in Mississippi and Louisiana would have liked to see Gen. A. J. Smith and his "Guerrillas". sent to hell.  To them Smith's Guerrillas were a scourge that burned their property during Sherman style marches. Smith and Sherman first applied this method while together in their march to Meridian, Mississippi. A. J. Smith was the wily tactician, and Sherman, the brilliant strategist. They had a strong mutual respect for each other from their days together in the Mexican War. They began to destroy civilian property and practice "Total War" during there march. After Gen. A. J. Smith's detachment from Gen. Sherman's Corps, War was often Hell for the civilians in the South along the marches of both Generals' troops.

In July 1864, A. J. Smith became a lieutenant colonel in the regular army and a major general in the volunteers, leading Union troops against Confederate Maj. Gen. Sterling Price during "Price's Raid" into Missouri. He was brevetted brigadier general in the regular army for his services at the Battle of Tupelo, where he defeated Nathan Bedford Forrest. Maj. Gen. Smith was then summoned to join forces with Maj. Gen. George Henry Thomas at Nashville, Tennessee, then threatened by the advance of Confederate Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood. He bore a conspicuous share in the crowning victory at the Battle of Nashville, being brevetted major general for his success in leading his troops past the Confederates' south flank. He commanded the XVI corps in the final campaign against Mobile, Alabama, in 1865.




















Chickasaw Bluffs.


A. J. Smith's Major campaigns:  Corinth, Chickasaw Bluffs, Arkansas Post, Vicksburg Red River,  Tupelo, and Mobile.

























Heros Of Red River.


The Union cause owed General Andrew Jackson Smith a great debt of gratitude.


Life After The Civil War





















The national authority was restored to all quarters of the army. A. J. Smith remained in command of the district of Montgomery until the fall of 1865. He was then transferred to the district of Western Louisiana. He was mustered out of the volunteer service on January 15, 1866, and made Colonel of the Seventh Regular Cavalry on July 28, 1866, but resigned on May 6, 1869, and entered upon civil pursuits.

Soon after General Grant became President, in 1869, he appointed General A. J. Smith to be postmaster of St. Louis, where he continued to reside until his death.

Under a special law, passed in December, 1888, General Smith was re-appointed into the army as Colonel, January 22, 1889, and on the same day was placed on the retired list.

After serving as postmaster of the St. Louis, city auditor and commander of a state militia brigade, Andrew Jackson Smith died  at his home in St. Louis, on January 30, 1897, at the age of 82.













Andrew Jackson Smith was buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery, Plot Block 104, Lot 11, Saint Louis, Missouri.

























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The Rebel Yell

"If you claim you heard it and weren't scared, that means you never heard it!". -- Union Soldier


Some believe that the "Rebel Yell" is derived from Native American cries. Confederate soldiers may have either imitated or learned the yell from Native American groups, many of whom sided with the Confederacy. Some Texas units mingled Comanche war woops into their version of the yell. The yell has also been associated with hunting cries

Historian Grady McWhiney, says that it ia derived from the screams traditionally made by Scottish Highlanders when making a Highland charge during battle. At the Battle of Killiecrankie  "Dundee and the Chiefs chose to employ perhaps the most effective pre-battle weapon in the traditional (highland) arsenal - the eerie and disconcerting howl," also "The terror was heightened by their wild plaided appearance and the distinctive war cry of the Gael - a high, savage whooping sound...."

Earlier documentation by the Romans during the conquests of Britain, suggest the use of a particular yell uttered by the northern Celtic tribes of the region, in conjunction with wearing blue body paint and no clothing. The Roman armies never were able to conquer the Celtic tribes and built a huge stone wall to keep them out of Britain.