Riverfront Rowdy: USA Brig. Gen. Morgan L. Smith

[Battleline]

Brig. Gen. Morgan L. Smith (b. 1821, d. 1874) Service in the Civil War might have been the boring part in the life of Morgan Lewis Smith. Before the war, Smith embarked on a number of different careers while living a nomadic life. Born in Mexico, New York, Smith grew up in Jefferson County, New York. His family included his younger brother, Giles, who also would serve under him in the war and later ascend to major general. At the age of 21, Morgan left home. He was a school teacher in New Albany, Indiana. For five years, he was in the U.S. Army under an assumed name. He worked as a riverboatman on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers starting in 1850. When the Civil War came, Smith recruited a regiment with many of the soldiers coming from the riverfront rowdy elements of St. Louis. This became the 8th Missouri Infantry. Smith was assigned as the unit’s colonel. Smith gained a reputation as a strict disciplinarian, which he needed to mold the riverfront rowdies into a capable fighting unit. First assigned to combat guerrillas around St. Louis, the regiment was late sent to Paducah, Kentucky. On the field, he displayed bravery, almost reckless in doing so at times. During the campaign against Forts Henry and Donelson, the unit saw action. Smith commanded a brigade in Brig. Gen. Lew Wallace’s division which assaulted the outer works at Fort Donelson. Smith was praised for his actions. At Shiloh, it was part of Wallace’s division, which missed the first day but played a major role in rolling back the Confederates April 7, 1862. On that day, Smith’s command had no reported skulkers, only killed and wounded. There, he caught the eye of his future commander, Maj. Gen. William Sherman. The 8th Missouri was the first Federal unit into Corinth, Mississippi, in May of 1862. On July 16, 1862, Smith was promoted to brigadier general. Smith’s brigade operated out of Memphis in the summer and fall of 1862 against partisan activity. In December, the unit was heavily engaged at the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou Dec. 27-28, 1862. Here, Smith was severely wounded in the hip. He was replaced in regimental command by his brother. The wound kept Smith out of action until August of 1863, when he joined up with the army in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He commanded the 2nd Division of the XV Corps, Army of the Tennessee, during the operations in and around Chattanooga and then in Knoxville. His command included the 1st Brigade, commanded by his brother, and his beloved 8th Missouri Infantry. He led this division through the Atlanta Campaign and briefly commanded the XV Corps when Maj. Gen. John A. Logan was temporary commander of the Army of the Tennessee following the death of Maj. Gen. John McPherson near Atlanta July 22, 1864. Aggravation of his wound forced Smith from field command not long after the close of the Atlanta Campaign. After sick leave, he was assigned to command at Memphis and then the District of Vicksburg. He was there at the end of the war. He resigned his commission July 12, 1865, thus missing the omnibus promotions at the end of the war and a chance to muster out as a major general. He was consul general in Honolulu under President Andrew Johnson and then became a businessman in Washington, D.C. He represented clients in claims against the government and bid on mail routes. He also was connected with a building association. While on a trip to Jersey City, New Jersey, Smith suddenly died Dec. 28, 1864. His former commander, Gen. Sherman, wrote a glowing tribute in the Washington Chronicle “In the many battles which we were afterward engaged his force always bore a prominent part, and his personal conduct always drew from Gen. Grant and myself the highest praise.” Smith was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

[Gil R.]

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