Giles Alexander Smith
Giles Alexander Smith | |
|---|---|
 Giles Alexander Smith | |
| Born | September 29, 1829 Jefferson County, New York |
| Died | November 8, 1876 (aged 47) Bloomington, Illinois |
| Place of burial | Evergreen Memorial Cemetery, Bloomington, Illinois |
| Allegiance | United States of America Union |
| Service/ | United States Army Union Army |
| Years of service | 1861 - 1866 |
| Rank |  Major General |
| Commands | 8th Missouri Volunteer Infantry |
| Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Giles Alexander Smith (September 29, 1829 – November 8, 1876), was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Biography
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Smith was born in Jefferson County, New York. When he was 18, he moved to southwestern Ohio, and for a decade engaged in business in Cincinnati. In the late 1850s, he moved to Bloomington, Illinois, where he was proprietor of a hotel.
At the beginning of the Civil War, he joined the 8th Missouri Volunteer Infantry, in which he became a captain. He took part in the capture of Fort Donelson, the Battle of Shiloh, and the operations against Corinth, becoming, later in 1862, colonel of a regiment which he led at Chickasaw Bayou. After the final campaign against Vicksburg, on August 4, 1863 he was appointed brigadier general of volunteers to rank from August 4, 1863.[1][2] He was wounded at the Third Battle of Chattanooga. He took part in the Atlanta Campaign, the March to the Sea and the Carolinas Campaign.[3] He was appointed to the rank of major general of volunteers on November 24, 1865, the last one based on seniority for the Civil War.[4]
His brother Morgan Lewis Smith was a Union Army brigadier general of volunteers.[5]
After the war, Smith declined the offer of a colonelcy in the Regular Army.[3] He was mustered out of the volunteers on February 1, 1866.[6] He was subsequently engaged in Illinois politics, retiring from public life in 1872.[3] Smith was an Illinois delegate to the Republican National Convention. He moved to California in 1874 in a futile attempt to improve his health, but returned to Illinois two months before his death. He died at Bloomington, Illinois, and was buried in Bloomington Cemetery.[7]
See also
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Notes
[edit]- ^ Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1. p. 728.
- ^ President Lincoln sent the nomination of Smith's appointment to the U.S. Senate on December 31, 1863 and the Senate confirmed the appointment on April 1, 1864. Eicher, 2001, p. 728.
- ^ a b c Chisholm 1911.
- ^ President Andrew Johnson nominated Smith for the appointment on January 23, 1866 and the U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment on February 23, 1866. Eicher, 2001, p. 705.
- ^ Eicher, 2001, p. 498.
- ^ Eicher, 2001, p. 705.
- ^ Eicher, 2001, p. 495.
References
[edit]- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Smith, Morgan Lewis s.v. Giles Alexander Smith". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 267.
- Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1.
