Thomas Benton Smith (February 24, 1838 – May 21, 1923) was a

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Early life

Smith was born in Mechanicsville, Tennessee. He attended the local schools before enrolling in the Nashville Military Academy. He received an appointment to the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...

, but resigned and returned home. He subsequently took a position working for the Nashville & Decatur Railroad.

American Civil War

With

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Ordinance of Secession An Ordinance of Secession was the name given to multiple resolutions drafted and ratified in 1860 and 1861, at or near the beginning of the Civil War, by which each seceding Southern state or territory formally declared secession from the United ...

and the outbreak of the Civil War, Smith enlisted in the Confederate Army in the

20th Tennessee Infantry Regiment The 20th Regiment, Tennessee Infantry was an infantry regiment from Tennessee that served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Notable battles that the regiment was engaged in include the Battle of Mill Springs and the Bat ...

and was elected a second lieutenant.Warner, p. 284. He first saw combat action at the

Battle of Mill Springs The Battle of Mill Springs, also known as the Battle of Fishing Creek in Confederate terminology, and the Battle of Logan's Cross Roads in Union terminology, was fought in Wayne and Pulaski counties, near current Nancy, Kentucky, on January 1 ...

in January 1862, and in April of that same year participated in the

Battle of Shiloh The Battle of Shiloh (also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing) was fought on April 6–7, 1862, in the American Civil War. The fighting took place in southwestern Tennessee, which was part of the war's Western Theater. The battlefield i ...

. Later in the year, after being promoted to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

of the 20th Tennessee and assigned command of a small

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

, he was part of the Confederate forces that unsuccessfully tried to seize the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

post at

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

. Confederate Army commander

John C. Breckinridge John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16, 1821 – May 17, 1875) was an American lawyer, politician, and soldier. He represented Kentucky in both houses of Congress and became the 14th and youngest-ever vice president of the United States. Serving ...

remarked in his official report that Smith "moved against the enemy in fine style." At the end of the year, he fought in the

Battle of Stones River The Battle of Stones River, also known as the Second Battle of Murfreesboro, was a battle fought from December 31, 1862, to January 2, 1863, in Middle Tennessee, as the culmination of the Stones River Campaign in the Western Theater of the Ame ...

, where he suffered a serious wound that put him out of action for much of 1863. After his recuperation, Smith resumed field duties, but was again wounded at the

Battle of Chickamauga The Battle of Chickamauga, fought on September 19–20, 1863, between United States, U.S. and Confederate States of America, Confederate forces in the American Civil War, marked the end of a Union Army, Union offensive, the Chickamauga Campaign ...

in September. After another lengthy recovery period, he returned to action during the 1864 Atlanta Campaign. He was promoted to brigadier general on July 29, 1864, and commanded an infantry brigade ( Tyler's Tennessee Brigade), assigned to Bates Division, Hardee's Army Corps in the

Army of Tennessee The Army of Tennessee was the principal Confederate army operating between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. It was formed in late 1862 and fought until the end of the war in 1865, participating i ...

comprising the 2nd, 10th, and 20th Tennessee, the 37th Georgia, the 30th, 37th, and 50th Tennessee, consolidated, and the 4th Georgia

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

sharpshooter A sharpshooter is one who is highly proficient at firing firearms or other projectile weapons accurately. Military units composed of sharpshooters were important factors in 19th-century combat. Along with "marksman" and "expert", "sharpshooter" i ...

s. His first action as a general officer on the extreme left of the Confederate flank at the

Battle of Utoy Creek The Battle of Utoy Creek was fought August 4–7, 1864, during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War. Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's Union armies had partially encircled the city of Atlanta, Georgia, which was being held by Confed ...

, he personally led his brigade in a charge against attacking Union soldiers capturing some 30 Union soldiers and the colors of the 8th Tennessee Infantry and 112th Illinois Infantry. The unit was cited in the OR by his corps commander, Lieut. Gen.

Stephen D. Lee Stephen Dill Lee (September 22, 1833 – May 28, 1908) was an American officer in the Confederate Army, politician and first president of Mississippi State University from 1880 to 1899. He served as lieutenant general of the Confederate ...

, to whom Bates Division was attached for duty. Smith led his brigade in an assault at the

Battle of Jonesborough The Battle of Jonesborough (August 31–September 1, 1864) was fought between Union Army forces led by William Tecumseh Sherman and Confederate forces under William J. Hardee during the Atlanta Campaign in the American Civil War. On the first ...

, however the terrific fire from the Federal entrenched troops, required them to withdraw to a gully for protection during the assault on August 30, 1864 and they were unable to dislodge the Federal

Army of the Tennessee An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. His military career ended at the

Battle of Nashville The Battle of Nashville was a two-day battle in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign that represented the end of large-scale fighting west of the coastal states in the American Civil War. It was fought at Nashville, Tennessee, on December 15–16, 1 ...

on December 16. Smith surrendered during the battle. After Smith had surrendered and been disarmed, Union Colonel William L. McMillen, whose brigade had suffered heavily in an engagement with Smith's Brigade, reportedly berated and then attacked the Confederate general, now a disarmed prisoner, with Smith's own sword (one source says "wantonly and repeatedly"). Smith's resultant

brain injuries Neurotrauma, brain damage or brain injury (BI) is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors. In general, brain damage refers to significant, undiscriminating t ...

were so severe that for a time it was feared he would not live. Confederate General

William B. Bate William Brimage Bate (October 7, 1826March 9, 1905) was a planter and slaveholder, Confederate officer, and politician in Tennessee. After the Reconstruction era, he served as the 23rd governor of Tennessee from 1883 to 1887. He was elected to th ...

in his report stated, "General T. B. Smith, commanding Tyler's brigade, and Finley's, bore themselves with heroic courage both through good and evil fortune, always executing orders with zeal and alacrity, and bearing themselves in the face of the enemy as became reputations which each had heretofore bravely won."''Official Records'', Vol. 45, Part 1, p. 750. Held at

Johnson's Island Johnson's Island is a island in Sandusky Bay, located on the coast of Lake Erie, from the city of Sandusky, Ohio. It was the site of a prisoner-of-war camp for Confederate officers captured during the American Civil War. Initially, Johnson ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and later at Fort Warren in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, Smith was not released until July 24, 1865.

Post-war

Smith recovered enough to be able to do some railroad work after the Civil War. He ran for a seat in the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

in 1870, but lost the election. However, lingering effects of the savage beating caused permanent damage, and Smith spent much his last 47 years in an

insane asylum The lunatic asylum (or insane asylum) was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. The fall of the lunatic asylum and its eventual replacement by modern psychiatric hospitals explains the rise of organized, institutional psychiatry ...

in Nashville, emerging occasionally for army reunions and other social events. He was buried beside many of his former comrades in the Confederate Circle of Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville. He outlived McMillen by 21 years.

Notes

References

* Eicher, John H., and

David J. Eicher David John Eicher (born August 7, 1961) is an American editor, writer, and popularizer of astronomy and space. He has been editor-in-chief of ''Astronomy'' magazine since 2002. He is author, coauthor, or editor of 23 books on science and American ...

, ''Civil War High Commands.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. . * Evans, Clement A., ed
''Confederate Military History: A Library of Confederate States History''
12 vols. Volume 8. Porter, J. D. ''Tennessee''. Atlanta: Confederate Publishing Company, 1899. . Retrieved January 20, 2011. * Sifakis, Stewart. ''Who Was Who in the Civil War.'' New York: Facts On File, 1988. . * U.S. War Department, ''The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies'', 70 volumes in 4 series. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1880-1901. * Warner, Ezra J. ''Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders.'' Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. .

External links