James Argyle Smith
Encyclopedia
James Argyle Smith was an United States Army
officer, and a graduate of West Point. He is known for being a Confederate
brigadier general during the Civil War
, his works in the educational system in Mississippi
, and in the Bureau of Indian Affairs
.
as a boy. He went to West Point, graduated in 1853, and became a second lieutenant in the infantry. Smith served in various posts in the west including the Jefferson Barracks Military Post
. Smith fought at the Battle of Ash Hollow
against the Sioux
in 1855. Then from 1857 to 1858, Smith fought in the Utah War
against the Mormons. One year after returning from the Utah War Smith was promoted to a first lieutenant. In May 1861 Smith resigned his commission to join the Confederate Army.
. In March 1862 he became a major
and the adjutant-general to General Leonidas Polk
. At the Battle of Shiloh
Smith became the lieutenant-colonel of the Second Tennessee Infantry Regiment. General Bushrod Johnson
commended Smith on his bravery at the Battle of Perryville
and he was put in command of the 5th Confederate Infantry. His bravery was also noticed at the Battle of Murfreesboro by both General Cleburne
and General Leonidas Polk
. After his performance at the Battle of Chickamauga
and the praise he received from Polk, Smith was promoted to brigadier general. At the Battle of Missionary Ridge General Smith attacked Sherman's flank preventing the Union Army
of blocking off General Bragg's
retreat. During the Battle of Missionary Ridge
Smith was shot through both thighs while leading his men. After recovering Smith fought at the Battle of Atlanta
where his brigade captured fifteen artillery pieces. During this battle he was wounded again. He was under the command of Cleburne
at the Second Battle of Franklin, and after Cleburne's death Smith took over command at Nashville
. General Smith and General William Bate
led Cheatham's
corps at the Battle of Bentonville
.
Smith was elected the Mississippi State Superintendent of Public Education from 1878 to 1886. He then became an agent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs
from 1893 to 1897. He later become the Marshal of the Supreme Court of Mississippi
. James Argyle Smith died on December 6, 1901 in Jackson, Mississippi
and was buried at the Greenwood Cemetery.
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
officer, and a graduate of West Point. He is known for being a Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
brigadier general during the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, his works in the educational system in Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, and in the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...
.
Early life and career
James Smith was born and raised in TennesseeTennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
as a boy. He went to West Point, graduated in 1853, and became a second lieutenant in the infantry. Smith served in various posts in the west including the Jefferson Barracks Military Post
Jefferson Barracks Military Post
The Jefferson Barracks Military Post, located on the Mississippi River at Lemay, Missouri, which is just south of St. Louis, Missouri,was, at first owned land by the DeGamache's then borrowed by military leaders, but after war, the land was not returned. It was an important and highly active U.S....
. Smith fought at the Battle of Ash Hollow
Battle of Ash Hollow
The Battle of Ash Hollow, also known as the Battle of Bluewater Creek, was an engagement of the First Sioux War, fought on September 2 and 3, 1855 between United States Army soldiers under Brigadier General William S. Harney and a band of the Brulé Sioux along the Platte River in present-day Garden...
against the Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
in 1855. Then from 1857 to 1858, Smith fought in the Utah War
Utah War
The Utah War, also known as the Utah Expedition, Buchanan's Blunder, the Mormon War, or the Mormon Rebellion was an armed confrontation between LDS settlers in the Utah Territory and the armed forces of the United States government. The confrontation lasted from May 1857 until July 1858...
against the Mormons. One year after returning from the Utah War Smith was promoted to a first lieutenant. In May 1861 Smith resigned his commission to join the Confederate Army.
Civil War service
Smith joined the Confederate Army in 1861 with the rank of lieutenantLieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
. In March 1862 he became a major
Major (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, major is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel...
and the adjutant-general to General Leonidas Polk
Leonidas Polk
Leonidas Polk was a Confederate general in the American Civil War who was once a planter in Maury County, Tennessee, and a second cousin of President James K. Polk...
. At the Battle of Shiloh
Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. A Union army under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had moved via the Tennessee River deep into Tennessee and...
Smith became the lieutenant-colonel of the Second Tennessee Infantry Regiment. General Bushrod Johnson
Bushrod Johnson
Bushrod Rust Johnson was a teacher, university chancellor, and Confederate general in the American Civil War. He was one of a handful of Confederate generals who were born and raised in the North.-Early life:...
commended Smith on his bravery at the Battle of Perryville
Battle of Perryville
The Battle of Perryville, also known as the Battle of Chaplin Hills, was fought on October 8, 1862, in the Chaplin Hills west of Perryville, Kentucky, as the culmination of the Confederate Heartland Offensive during the American Civil War. Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Mississippi won a...
and he was put in command of the 5th Confederate Infantry. His bravery was also noticed at the Battle of Murfreesboro by both General Cleburne
Patrick Cleburne
Patrick Ronayne Cleburne was an Irish American soldier, best known for his service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, where he rose to the rank of major general....
and General Leonidas Polk
Leonidas Polk
Leonidas Polk was a Confederate general in the American Civil War who was once a planter in Maury County, Tennessee, and a second cousin of President James K. Polk...
. After his performance at the Battle of Chickamauga
Battle of Chickamauga
The Battle of Chickamauga, fought September 19–20, 1863, marked the end of a Union offensive in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia called the Chickamauga Campaign...
and the praise he received from Polk, Smith was promoted to brigadier general. At the Battle of Missionary Ridge General Smith attacked Sherman's flank preventing the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
of blocking off General Bragg's
Braxton Bragg
Braxton Bragg was a career United States Army officer, and then a general in the Confederate States Army—a principal commander in the Western Theater of the American Civil War and later the military adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.Bragg, a native of North Carolina, was...
retreat. During the Battle of Missionary Ridge
Battle of Missionary Ridge
The Battle of Missionary Ridge was fought November 25, 1863, as part of the Chattanooga Campaign of the American Civil War. Following the Union victory in the Battle of Lookout Mountain on November 24, Union forces under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant assaulted Missionary Ridge and defeated the...
Smith was shot through both thighs while leading his men. After recovering Smith fought at the Battle of Atlanta
Battle of Atlanta
The Battle of Atlanta was a battle of the Atlanta Campaign fought during the American Civil War on July 22, 1864, just southeast of Atlanta, Georgia. Continuing their summer campaign to seize the important rail and supply center of Atlanta, Union forces commanded by William T. Sherman overwhelmed...
where his brigade captured fifteen artillery pieces. During this battle he was wounded again. He was under the command of Cleburne
Patrick Cleburne
Patrick Ronayne Cleburne was an Irish American soldier, best known for his service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, where he rose to the rank of major general....
at the Second Battle of Franklin, and after Cleburne's death Smith took over command at Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. General Smith and General William Bate
William B. Bate
William Brimage Bate was the governor of Tennessee from 1883 to 1887 and subsequently a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1887 until his death...
led Cheatham's
Benjamin F. Cheatham
Benjamin Franklin Cheatham , known also as Frank, was a Tennessee aristocrat, California gold miner, and a General in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, serving in many battles of the Western Theater.-Early years:Cheatham was born in Nashville, Tennessee on a plantation...
corps at the Battle of Bentonville
Battle of Bentonville
At 3 p.m., Confederate infantry from the Army of Tennessee launched an attack and drove the Union left flank back in confusion, nearly capturing Carlin in the process and overrunning the XIV Corps field hospital. Confederates under Maj. Gen. D.H. Hill filled the vacuum left by the retreating...
.
Postbellum career and death
After starting a farm in MississippiMississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
Smith was elected the Mississippi State Superintendent of Public Education from 1878 to 1886. He then became an agent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...
from 1893 to 1897. He later become the Marshal of the Supreme Court of Mississippi
Supreme Court of Mississippi
The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the highest court in the state of Mississippi. It was created in the first constitution of the state following its admission as a State of the Union in 1817. Initially it was known as the "High Court of Errors and Appeals." The Court is an appellate court, as...
. James Argyle Smith died on December 6, 1901 in Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
and was buried at the Greenwood Cemetery.
See also
- List of American Civil War generals