Heroes of the Great Conflict; Life and Services of William Farrar Smith, Major General, United States Volunteer in the Civil War.
by James Harrison Wilson.
William Farrar Smith, the subject of this sketch, graduated at West Point in 1845, fourth in a cla.s.s of forty-one members. He died at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the 28th of February, 1903 in his seventy-ninth year.
The publication of the Rebellion Records puts within the reach of every student the official reports of the various campaigns and battles of the Great Conflict, but something more is needed. They deal but slightly with men"s motives, and still less with their personal peculiarities. They give only here and there any idea whatever of the origin of the plans of campaigns or battles and rarely any adequate description of the topography of the theatre of war, or of the difficulties to be overcome. They describe but superficially the organization, equipment, armament and supply of the troops, and leave their trials, hardships and extraordinary virtues largely to the imagination. They are entirely silent as to the qualities and idiosyncrasies of the leaders. Neither romance nor personal adventure finds any place within their pages, and fine writing is entirely foreign to their purpose. They are for the most part dry and unemotional in style, and are put together so far as possible chronologically in the order of their importance without the slightest reference to literary effect. While nothing is more untrustworthy generally than personal recollections of events which took place over a third of a century ago, those which are supported by letters and diaries are of inestimable value in construing and reconciling the official reports. But this is not all. The daily journals and other contemporaneous publications are quite important and cannot be safely left out of account. All must be taken into consideration before the final distribution of praise and blame is made, or the last word is written in reference to events or to the great actors who controlled or took part in them.
In the list of the most notable men of the day the name of Major General WILLIAM FARRAR SMITH must be recorded. He belonged at the outbreak of the Civil War, to that distinguished group of which Lee on the Southern side and McClellan on the Northern, were the center.
Joseph E. Johnston and William B. Franklin were his most intimate friends, and I but recall what was then the popular belief when I state that they were widely regarded as the best educated and the most brilliant officers in the service. They were in middle life, in the full enjoyment of their powers, and it was the confident opinion of those who knew them best, that they were sure to become conspicuous leaders in the impending conflict. Great things were expected of them, and in this the world was not disappointed. They all reached high rank and great distinction, but only one of the group was fortunate enough to enroll himself amongst the world"s great commanders. Johnston rose to the leadership of an independent army but failed to win a great victory or to secure the entire approval of his superiors. Franklin was without doubt a corps commander of sound judgment and unshakable courage, but he also failed to achieve the success that was expected of him, and to secure the support and confidence that his high character fully ent.i.tled him to look for from his Government. Smith who was not inferior to the ablest of his friends and contemporaries, in the art and science of war, had a career of great usefulness, in which he rendered services of extraordinary value and brilliancy but which ended in disappointment and unhappiness.
He was however not only a conspicuous officer connected with important events throughout his life, and especially during the Great Conflict, but he was a singularly virile and independent character who exerted great influence over all with whom he came in contact. He was strong, self-contained and deliberate in speech, and having been an industrious student and an acute thinker all his life, his opinions always commanded attention and respect. It so happened that his services brought him into the very focus of events on more than one occasion. It so happened also that I was more or less intimate with him to the time of his death, from the date of my entry into the Military Academy, where I had the good fortune to receive his instruction in mathematics.
I first met him in the field, while I was serving temporarily on the staff of General McClellan, and he was commanding a division in the Antietam campaign, and next at Chattanooga, whither I was sent in advance of General Grant to prepare for his coming, after the disastrous battle of Chickamauga.
Shortly afterwards Smith was transferred to Grant"s staff as Chief Engineer, and we messed and served together, in the closest intimacy throughout that campaign, and until I was a.s.signed to duty in the War Department in charge of the Cavalry Bureau. I saw him frequently while I was commanding a division of cavalry and he an army corps in Grant"s overland campaign against Richmond. During the latter period we were exceedingly intimate, and when we were not serving together an active correspondence was kept up between us. It is a source of pleasure and satisfaction to me that this intimacy became still closer after General Smith was appointed agent of the United States and a.s.signed as a civil engineer to the charge of the river and harbor works on the Delaware and Maryland peninsula, with his office at Wilmington, Delaware. This long and close intimacy, extending as it did over the greater part of a lifetime, has afforded me an ample opportunity of studying his character and familiarizing myself with the facts of his military career, and with the point of view from which he considered his relations to the men and events with which he was so conspicuously connected.
A man of great purity of character and great singleness of purpose, he took an intense interest in whatever his hand found to do. He felt a deep and abiding concern in all public and professional questions, and was both a tender and affectionate friend and an unrelenting enemy. He was a bold and resolute thinker who indulged in no half way measures.
The bolder his plans and the more dangerous his undertakings, the more careful was he in working out the details, and the more attentive was he in supervising their execution. He left nothing to chance, but provided for every possible contingency with infinite care and yet he was a rapid worker. Methodical in his habits, untiring in his application and deliberate in his manner, he was always ready, always on time and nearly always successful.
In following him through the trials and vicissitudes of his active life it will be seen that he was one of the most interesting personalities of his day. He played a bold and distinguished part in the war for the Union, quite out of proportion to the actual command which fell to his lot. Indeed, it may well be doubted if any other single officer exerted a more potential or beneficial influence than he did upon the plans and operations in which he took part. While he was austere and reserved in manners, he was most highly esteemed by all with whom he served, and received unstinted praise for his suggestions and a.s.sistance, and yet strangely enough he became involved in several notable military controversies, which so enlisted his interest and wounded his pride as to materially change his career and cause him great unhappiness, during the later years of his life.
It may be truly said that he came to know by experience the dangers of frankness and friendly criticism, and that even the most patriotic and unselfish men in these modern times, like those of antiquity "have their ambitions which neither seas nor mountains nor unpeopled deserts can limit;" their egotism and personal interests "which neither victory nor far-reaching fame can suppress;" their secret motives and purposes which "cause them to injure one another when they touch and are close together." After all, generals and statesmen are but fallible men, the most magnanimous of whom are watchful of their rivals, and love not those who despitefully use them. In the vindication of his claims that he has rendered some service to his country, General Smith has made several valuable contributions[1] to current American history, and has in addition left a ma.n.u.script volume of personal memoirs upon which I shall draw as occasion offers, and which will doubtless be published in due time. They were written during the last two years of his life and throw an interesting light, not only upon his own deeds and character, but upon the life and services of his friends and contemporaries. They are conceived in a kindly and charitable vein which does credit both to his heart and to his understanding.
[Footnote 1: From Chattanooga to Petersburg under Generals Grant and Butler, Houghton, m.u.f.fin & Co., N.Y. 1893.]
WILLIAM FARRAR SMITH was born at St. Albans, in Northern Vermont, on the 17th of February, 1824. He came of good New England stock, which emigrated from Ma.s.sachusetts to the valley of Lake Champlain before the beginning of the last century. Both his paternal and maternal ancestors and relations were notable people, and took prominent parts in the troubles of a thinly-settled frontier, and especially in the French and Indian war, and in the Committee of Safety, as well as in the militia and volunteers during the Revolutionary War. They fought at the battle of Lake George, at the capture of Fort Ticonderoga, and at the affairs at Hubbardton and Bennington. They were the companions of Stark, Seth Warner and Ethan Allen, and appear to have borne themselves bravely and well upon all occasions. They were by name Robinsons, Saffords, Fays, Butlers and Smiths. There is a well-founded tradition that his father"s family, which came from the old hill town of Barre, Ma.s.sachusetts, were known during the earlier colonial days as Smithson, but before emigrating to Vermont dropped the second syllable for the sake of simplicity, and always thereafter called themselves Smith.
William"s father was a respectable farmer at or near St. Albans. His uncle John was a lawyer and a judge of distinction, and during the excitement growing out of the Canadian rebellion of 1837, was elected to the next Congress. He was a Democrat and the only one up to that time ever elected from the State. During his term of service he gave the appointment of cadet at West Point to his nephew William. His cousin John Gregory Smith, also a lawyer of distinction, was afterwards Governor of Vermont, and for many years president of the Vermont Central and Northern Pacific Railroads. His grandmother Smith also from Barre, was the sister of a certain Captain Gregory of the Highland regiment serving in Boston before the Revolution. Through this connection the General always believed he received a strain of McGregor blood, for many of that clan took the name of Gregory after their immigration to the colonies.
His own mother was Sarah Butler, a direct descendent of Isaac and Samuel Robinson who were believed to have come in the direct line from the celebrated puritan pastor, John Robinson, of Leyden, who was long recognized by even those who differed with him on questions of doctrine as "the most learned, polished and modest spirit that ever separated from the Church of England." To the prepotency of this distinguished divine, General Smith often, in a tone of mingled banter and seriousness, attributed not only his habit of mature reflection and love of learning, but also his "moderation combined with firmness" upon all questions which engaged his attention.
Be all this as it may, it is certain that his family were straight Anglo-Saxons, who like the rest, came into New England under the pressure of religious and political disturbance at home, and brought with them the st.u.r.dy virtues and ineradicable prejudices of their race.
It is equally certain that this race, whatever its origin and however it may have been compounded and produced, has thriven and expanded in America, and that our country is indebted to it for not only its greatest scholars, divines and statesmen, but for its greatest soldiers as well. General Smith belonged by nature and education to both cla.s.ses, and before this sketch is concluded I hope to show that in the highest walks of his chosen profession he had few equals and no superiors.
Like many another youth, his latent love of arms and his determination to go to West Point were aroused by seeing a company of regular soldiers, and making the acquaintance of its officers, at his native town. They were sent there to maintain order and prevent violations of the neutrality laws during the Canadian disturbances in 1837-8. From the day of his cadetship he received the sobriquet and was always thereafter designated familiarly by his more intimate friends as Baldy Smith in contradistinction from other officers of the same patronymic.
In the old days his name would have been written Baldysmith.
He was a brilliant and faithful student and became in turn a cadet-corporal, color-sergeant and lieutenant. When it is recalled that he received those honors from that prince of soldiers Captain (afterwards Major General) Charles F. Smith, then commandant of cadets, and in whose presence it is said no graduate of his time could ever appear without involuntarily a.s.suming the position of a soldier, it will be understood that young Smith was brought up under proper influences and sent forth with the highest ideals of his profession. He graduated in the "fives" of his cla.s.s. He was commissioned as a Brevet Second Lieutenant in the corps of Topographical Engineers, and served with it continuously till, for convenience and simplicity of administration, it was merged with the Corps of Engineers after the outbreak of the Rebellion. At the request of his chief, he gave up two-thirds of the usual graduating leave of absence to lend a hand to an under-manned surveying party on Lake Erie. His services were from the first of the scientific and useful rather than the showy sort. They brought him a wide range of valuable experience, extending from the surveys of the great lakes to explorations of Texas and Arizona, covering a period of seven years, two of which were spent under Joseph E. Johnston and William H. Emory, then of the same corps, while engaged in establishing the new boundary line between Mexico and the United States. During his service in that region he located the stage and wagon-route from San Antonio to El Paso, surveyed a part of the Rio Grande Valley, and familiarized himself with the topography and resources of Northwestern Texas and the state of Chihuahua in Mexico.
Later he was transferred to Florida and made surveys for a ship ca.n.a.l across the peninsula from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico.
Subsequently he had charge of the Eleventh District in the light-house service with his headquarters at Detroit. He then became a.s.sistant Secretary, and finally on the retirement of his friend, Captain Franklin, Engineer Secretary of the Light-House Board. He had previously asked for service with the army in Mexico, but this had been denied. His service in Texas and Florida had brought him in contact with a number of officers who afterwards became distinguished in the Civil War. Among the most notable of these were Buell, Joseph E.
Johnston, McClellan, Meade, Burnside and Emory. His light-house service gave him a friendly a.s.sociation with Commodore Shubrick and Captain (afterwards Admiral) Jenkins of the navy, General Totten of the army, Professor Bache of the Coast survey and Professor Henry of the Smithsonian Inst.i.tute, and opened to him a wide acquaintance with the scientific thought of the day. While connected with the Light-House board he planned and supervised the construction of four first-cla.s.s light-houses, one for Montauk Point, two for Navesink Highlands and Sandy Hook, and one for Cape Canaveral. These were all works of the highest cla.s.s, fully abreast of the world"s best practice at the time.
His experience in connection with the Light-House Board prepared the way for a piece of specially useful service to the country during the exciting period just prior to the outbreak of actual hostilities between the North and the South. His position gave him access to the Secretary of the Treasury, as the chief of the department to which the Light-House Board belonged. The storm then brewing showed itself in that board, made up, as it was, of Northern and Southern men, as well as elsewhere, and being intensely loyal, Smith took measures to protect and supply the princ.i.p.al light-houses on the southern coast. It will be remembered that Howell Cobb of Georgia was succeeded by General John A.
Dix of New York as Secretary of the Treasury, and that the latter aroused the drooping hopes of the country by his celebrated order: "If any man attempts to haul down the American flag shoot him on the spot."
Smith was privy to and encouraged the issuance of that order.
Immediately afterwards General Dix gave him _carte-blanche_ over the light-house service, in pursuance of which he visited all the important southern light stations, winding up at Key West. He found that place cut off from communication with Washington, and liable to fall at once under the control of the Secessionists. The Collector of Customs was a southern man and disloyal. The people of the town were in sympathy with him, and were doing all they could to overawe Captains Hunt and Brannan, who were stationed there with a small force of regular artillery. They were loyal and able officers. Both rose to distinction afterwards, but having been left without instructions they were at a loss as to their proper course till Smith arrived with the latest news from Washington. His clear and determined counsel gave them heart and encouragement, under which they made good their hold upon the fort and the island. They were reinforced in due time, which enabled the government to hold this important strategic position at the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico till the termination of the war put an end to all danger. Before returning to the north, Smith visited Havana, where he obtained valuable information for future use.
So far his work had been preparatory, and one of the most useful features of it was his tour of duty at West Point. His services in the south, and especially at Corpus Christi, had brought on a severe attack of malarial poisoning, ending in congestive chills and shattered health, followed by sick-leave and a return to the north. Before he had entirely recovered he was ordered to West Point, as princ.i.p.al a.s.sistant Professor of Mathematics. This was in 1855, but his illness had so seriously affected his head as to make it impossible for him to discharge the duties of his position in a manner satisfactory to himself. As one of his pupils, I failed to discover any lack of knowledge or perspicacity on his part. To the contrary, he impressed the sections of which he had charge as a very clear-headed man with remarkable powers of mind and great apt.i.tude as a disciplinarian and teacher. It is now known, however, that the close attention and mental exertion which his duties required of him gave him such pain as to make it imperative that he should be relieved, and this was done at his own request after a year"s hard work and suffering. The injury he had received was unfortunately never entirely overcome. Throughout the whole of his subsequent life he was subject to recurrent attacks of malaria, accompanied by pain in the head with a tendency to mental depression, which disabled him entirely at times, and upon one most important occasion compelled him to leave the field, when his interests and his inclinations demanded that he should remain. I refer now especially to the time when he was a.s.signed by General Grant to the command of the Army of the James, to succeed Major General Butler, who was at the same time ordered to return to Fortress Monroe. It will be remembered that this order was never carried into effect, but that General Smith, who was suffering from one of his attacks, took leave of absence, much to the concern of his friends, and went by the way of Fortress Monroe to New York. There was no great movement under way at the time, but before his leave of absence had expired he was notified that the order in question had been countermanded. Various explanations were given for this action, and I shall recur to it again. But it is believed by those who were interested in General Smith, and had confidence in his unusual capacity for high command, that his relief was largely, if not altogether, due to intrigue, on the part of General Butler, aided perhaps by an exaggerated estimate on the part of General Grant of that officer"s political importance, which General Smith could easily have defeated had he been on the ground in actual command of the army to which he had been a.s.signed.
But to return to his services at West Point. It was during this year that he greatly widened his knowledge of military history and the art of war. Although far from well, he led the studious life of a scientist, and in the daily companionship of the professors and of Lieutenants Silvey and Holabird, two officers of distinguished talent and learning, he obtained new and broader views of professional subjects. He had early become noted as having an investigating mind which could not be satisfied with superficial knowledge, and for a sound and conservative judgment which gave great weight to his conclusions. He was most deliberate and methodical in his habits of thought, and had an unusually tenacious grip upon the thread of his argument. His manners and movements, while free from every appearance of hurry and excitement, were habitually so well ordered that he was enabled to cover a great deal of ground in a small s.p.a.ce of time.
Always a close student of the higher branches of his profession, and belonging to an elite corps which at that time had no part in the command of troops, he became a proficient in military organization, administration and logistics, and also in strategy and grand-tactics, as taught in the text books, long before the outbreak of the war for the Union, but it is to be observed that he never claimed to have become specially skilled in minor tactics, or in the daily routine of company or regimental service. He was, however, so profoundly devoted to the military profession in a larger way, that at times he gave to those less learned than himself the idea that he was a pedant in knowledge and a martinet on duty. With imperturbable self-possession, great lucidity of statement and a decidedly deliberate and austere manner, he was widely recognized as a masterful man, who won easily and without effort the respect and admiration, not only of the cadets who fell under his charge at West Point, but afterwards of the men and officers who came under his command from the volunteers. To such as are acquainted with West Point life, or with the relations existing between officers and men in the army, no higher evidence can be given of Smith"s real abilities and strength of character. It is a creditable fact that no cadet, however adroit or skilful can cheat his way through the Military Academy, and that no officer, however plausible, can for any considerable time deceive or impose upon the cadets with a pretense of knowledge or a show of character which he does not possess. The same is true perhaps in a less degree of the volunteers and their officers.
Occasionally a cadet or an officer may be so modest or un.o.btrusive or so slow of development as to escape the critical observation of his a.s.sociates, but in most cases he becomes sufficiently known to justify a correct estimate of his character and a fair prediction, under favorable opportunities, as to his probable course and success in life.
Of WILLIAM F. SMITH it may be truthfully said that he made his best friends among the cadets he taught and the subordinates he commanded, not one of whom ever deserted him in trouble or adversity, denied the greatness of his talents or questioned the elevation of his character.
His troubles and differences were always with those above him, never with those under his command.
As is frequently the fate of the strong man gifted with an a.n.a.lytical mind, and an outspoken contempt of pretense and sham, it was Smith"s misfortune upon more than one occasion to arouse the animosity and opposition of those having higher rank than himself. Direct and vigorous in his methods, and confident of the rect.i.tude of his purposes, he never hesitated to give his views to such as he believed to be ent.i.tled to them, without reference to whether they would be well received or not. Loyal and truthful by nature, he always held others to the high standard which he set up for himself. Brought up to a rigid observance of military discipline, it is not to be denied that he was exacting in a high degree, with those over whom he found himself in command. While he never permitted those below him to vary from or to disregard his instructions, it is perhaps true that like most men of talent, he was somewhat impatient of restraint, especially in cases where he felt himself to be abler than his commanding officer, or better informed as to the actual conditions of his work, and yet no man knew better than he when the time for discussion and the exercise of discretion ended and that for obedience and vigorous action began. If at any time later in life he seemed to forget the true rule for his own guidance, it must be inferred that he was sorely tried by the ignorance or incompetency of those above him, or had overestimated their forebearance or friendship for him, or their zeal for the public service. Always highly conscientious in his purposes and independent in his thoughts it was but natural that he should scorn "to crook the pregnant hinges of the knee where thrift may follow fawning." Not always as patient and conciliatory with his equals as a less virile or rugged nature would have made him, he occasionally aroused antagonisms and made enemies, as such characters always do, and those enemies were not slow to impugn his motives, nor to do what they could to mar his career. Withal, it will appear from a careful study of his life and services as set forth in the records, and as explained by his own writings, that his critics have signally failed to mar the foundation of his reputation or to deprive him of the fame to which his brilliant achievements so justly ent.i.tle him.
The culmination of the political agitation for the dissolution of the Federal Union, and the commencement of actual hostilities between the government and the seceding states, found WILLIAM F. SMITH, only a captain by law, after fourteen years of continuous service, a few months over thirty-seven years of age, and in the full maturity of his faculties. As before stated, his health was never afterwards altogether stable, but it was sufficiently re-established to enable him to throw himself heartily into the struggle and to perform such duties as fell to his lot with a fair degree of endurance. Although a Democrat, as far as he had any party connection, his sympathies were all with the Union and National Government, and impelled him to lose no time, but make haste, on his return from Key West and Havana, to obtain such employment as might be open to him. The first duty that was offered him was in New York, where he was engaged for several weeks in mustering the volunteers into the United States service.
During this period, on the 24th of April, 1861, he was married to Miss Sarah Lyon, a young lady of New York, who was famous for the loveliness of her person and character, whom he had first met two years before. It was on a short wedding trip to his native state that he offered his services to the Governor. The latter had already raised and organized two regiments of infantry but without hesitation he promised Captain Smith the next, as soon as it should be called for.
Meanwhile he was still subject to duty as an engineer officer, and as such, strangely enough was ordered to report to Major General Benjamin F. Butler, fresh from the life of a successful lawyer, then in command at Fortress Monroe, where he arrived on the 1st of June, 1861. While there he conducted several important reconnaissances in the direction of Yorktown and Big Bethel, and thus became acquainted with a region in which he was afterwards to play a most important part. His services lasted something less than two months, and became still more notable from the fact that they made him thoroughly acquainted with General Butler. They were brought suddenly to an end by the reappearance of his old trouble, which in time made it necessary for him to take a sick-leave. The surgeon who had him in charge directed him to again seek the tonic climate of Brattleborough in his native State. According to promise, his good friend, the Governor, took the earliest opportunity to send him his commission as Colonel of the Third Regiment of Vermont Volunteer Infantry, to date from July 16th. But owing to the scarcity of regular officers, he had previously been ordered to duty on the staff of General McDowell, then commanding the army in front of Washington, though, his health did not permit him to join in time to take part in the forward movement which ended in the disastrous battle of Bull Run.
As soon however as his strength was sufficiently re-established Colonel Smith repaired to Washington, and in the rush and excitement which prevailed after the return of the defeated army to that neighborhood, he was engaged in helping to fortify and defend that city till the danger was past and the requirements of his regiment made it necessary for him to take command and begin its preparation for active service.
It is to be noted that there was an unaccountable reluctance on the part of the War Department at the time, to permit the detachment of officers belonging to the various staff corps, for the purpose of commanding volunteers, but this was overcome without much difficulty in his case, and he began his career as an infantry colonel opportunely at the very time that McClellan was re-organizing the defeated army and badly needed the a.s.sistance of educated officers. Deeply impressed with the importance of stimulating the pride of the volunteers, and of keeping alive the heroic traditions of their state by all proper means, Colonel Smith recommended that the Vermont regiments should be brigaded and trained together, and fortunately this was approved by General McClellan. The Green Mountain men had won great renown in the Colonial and Revolutionary Wars by virtue of their state organization and services and the marked individuality which characterized them. It was a happy thought to keep them together during the Civil War. The sequel showed that it was not only highly beneficial to the national cause, but that it added greatly to the fame of the Vermont men.
As the war was a sectional one in its origin, many of our best officers believed that the volunteer regiments should be formed into brigades and divisions, without reference to the States from which they came.
They held that an army organized in this way would more rapidly develop the national spirit and become a more efficient military machine than one formed on state or sectional lines, and the general practice to the end of the war, in the Union army, was in accordance with this idea.
The Vermont brigade, composed of the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Vermont Regiments, was the one notable exception to this practice and the result was in every way satisfactory. It preserved its ident.i.ty till the end of the war and became famous as one of the best and most distinctive organizations that ever upheld the Union cause. It was composed almost entirely of native Vermont men, racy of the soil, hardy, self-reliant and courageous, and always ready for the serious business of warfare. It owned its early and enduring discipline to Smith, who was appointed Brigadier General on the 13th of August, and from that time forth it never ceased to have a place in his affections.
From the first he took a special pride in his regiment, and devoted himself earnestly to its instruction and discipline, for the perfection of which it soon became noted, but in those days of rapid changes, when the loyal states were sending forth their volunteers by the hundred thousand, brigades soon grew into divisions, and divisions into army-corps and armies.
General Smith was then at exactly the right age, and had already achieved such a high reputation as a scientific and competent soldier, that he was called upon after only a few weeks" service as a brigade commander to take charge of a division of three brigades. Looking about him with anxious care for a suitable successor, he a.s.signed the Vermont Brigade to the command of Brigadier General William T.H. Brooks, a graduate of West Point from Ohio, but a grandson of Vermont. He was a veteran of the Mexican and Indian Wars, in which he had gained great experience, and from which he became justly famous as one of the finest soldiers of his time. A man of striking countenance, great physical vigor and dauntless courage, he was an ideal leader of the Vermont men and at once won their confidence and respect. It is one of the traditions of the times that under him "The Iron Brigade," as it soon came to be known throughout the army, was never repulsed and never failed to accomplish the task before it. Its "skirmish line" was believed to be "stronger than an old-fashioned line of battle," and when it covered the advance, the column behind it had to put forth its best efforts to keep up. From the brigadier general to the lowest private, they not only knew their business, but just when they should be called upon to take the lead. It was one of the grizzled privates during the pursuit of Lee from the field of Gettysburg, who perceiving that the cavalry was making but poor progress, said from the ranks as General Sedgwick was pa.s.sing: "I "low you want to get to Williamsport tonight, don"t you, Uncle John?" "Yes, my man," said the General.
"Well, in that case you had better put the Vermont brigade to the front!" The suggestion was at once adopted, and under the st.u.r.dy advance which followed the desired camp was reached that night without a check or a halt by the way.
The other two brigades of Smith"s division were commanded, respectively, by Windfield Scott Hanc.o.c.k and Isaac I. Stevens, two soldiers of the highest quality, and both destined to achieve undying fame. When their subsequent career is considered it may well be doubted if there was ever a division in the Union army commanded by abler men than Hanc.o.c.k, Stevens, Brooks and Baldy Smith. During the formative period of the Army of the Potomac, when all were drilling, all studying tactics, all teaching guard duty and all striving hard to establish a satisfactory state of military discipline, Smith varied this irksome work by an occasional review, or by the still more exciting exercise of a reconnaissance in force, thus adding practice to precept, and bringing regiments and brigades to act coherently together. In all this he handled his division skillfully and well, and consequently soon had the satisfaction of showing those in authority over him that it was in admirable spirits and condition.
How far he favored the policy of delay for the purpose of increasing the army"s strength and perfecting its organization is not certainly known, but it must be admitted on his own testimony that he belonged to the coterie of officers who fully trusted and supported McClellan in the determination to make complete preparation before moving against the enemy. Nor is it known what part he took in the selection of the line of operations ultimately adopted by McClellan for the capture of Richmond. Perhaps this is not important, for neither the duty nor the responsibility of the choice was his. It is not likely, however, that he was consulted for his acquaintance with McClellan was not at first close or intimate. At a later period he joined his friend General Franklin, then generally acknowledged as one of the leading military men of the day, in a letter to the President recommending the transfer of the Army of the Potomac from the vicinity of Fredericksburg to the James River, as near to Richmond as practicable, and urging its reinforcement by all the troops that could be gathered from the departments of the Atlantic seaboard. Without discussing here the origin or the wisdom of this controverted proposition, it may be remarked that it was supported by such an array of arguments and influence as would doubtless have secured another trial for it, even in the face of its failure under McClellan, had the condition and strength of the army, and the resources of the country been considered by the administration sufficient to meet all the requirements of the civil and military situation.
At a still later period after General Grant had come to the head of military affairs, had decided to take personal charge of operations in Virginia, and was seriously considering the appointment of General Smith to the immediate command of the Army of the Potomac, it became known to me, through a letter from the latter, that he strongly favored a "powerful movement from the lower James River, or even from the sounds of North Carolina" against the interior of the Confederacy. I was at that time serving in Washington, as the Chief of the Cavalry Bureau, and upon receipt of the letter laid it before General Rawlins, Grant"s able Chief of Staff, but without giving it my concurrence or approval, for such consideration as he might think best to give it. It was received at a juncture when the selection of a proper plan of operations was conceded to be a matter of the gravest importance. It is an interesting fact that the plan in question did not receive the support of Rawlins, although both he and Grant, fresh from the victory of Chattanooga, were warm friends and admirers of General Smith as a strategist. Rawlins, with unerring instinct, took strong grounds against it, for the reason, as he vigorously expressed it, that he could not see the sense of going so far, and taking so much time to find Lee with a divided army, when he could be reached within a half day"s march directly to the front, with the entire army united and reinforced by all the men the government had at its disposal. Knowing that this was Grant"s argument as well, I have always supposed that his final decision to advance directly from Culpepper Court House against Lee"s army, and to retain Meade in immediate command of the Army of the Potomac, while the entire available force of Butler"s Department should advance directly from Fort Monroe under the immediate command of General Smith, was due partly to Smith"s decided opposition to the overland line of operations, and to his tenacious adherence to the princ.i.p.al features of the plan which he and Franklin had recommended to Lincoln. Meade"s approval of the direct line of advance, and his cheerful support of Grant"s plans as explained in detail, aided by Butler"s a.s.surances of hearty co-operation, doubtless had much to do with the retention of those officers in their respective places, and in the a.s.signment of Smith, much to his disappointment, to a relatively subordinate position on the line he had so openly preferred. It may also account in some degree for the failure of those distinguished generals to work as harmoniously with each other to the common end, as was necessary to ensure success.
Before following this interesting subject to its conclusion, the part actually played by General Smith in McClellan"s Peninsular Campaign should be briefly recounted. After the Army of the Potomac had been transferred to the lower Chesapeake, by water, instead of landing at Urbana or on the estuary of the Rappahannock, as was at first intended, out of fear of the Merrimac, which had played such havoc with the wooden frigates of Goldborough"s fleet, in Hampton Roads, it was disembarked at Fortress Monroe. It necessarily lost some time here before it could be reunited and begin its march up the Peninsula. It had hardly got well under way, when much to the disappointment of the country it found itself stopped for thirty days, by an insignificant stream and a weak line of entrenchments held by a few guns and a single division of Confederate Infantry, under the command of General Magruder.
The so-called "Siege of Yorktown" followed, and General Smith, chafing at the delay which he conceived to be unnecessary set about studying the situation in his own front, with the keen eye of an experienced engineer. Having the year before familiarized himself with the lay of the land near Fort Monroe, he was quick to grasp every condition which favored an advance. A careful reconnaissance of his immediate front enabled him to surprise a crossing of Warwick River and to carry a section of the fortified line beyond. This as might have been expected was done by a detachment of the Vermont Brigade, which made a gallant effort to maintain the lodgement it had gained, but as it was not supported by McClellan, it was withdrawn after suffering a loss of 165 men killed, wounded and missing. This was the first engagement in a campaign destined to cost the lives of many brave men and to end in a terrible disaster to the national arms.
After making a heroic stand and holding McClellan and his overwhelming force at bay for nearly a month, Magruder abandoned his lines and fell back to Williamsburgh on the road up the Peninsula to Richmond. He was slowly followed by McClellan"s army. Smith"s division having crossed the Warwick at Lee"s mill, led in the pursuit, coming up with the enemy strongly posted in a new line of fortifications covering the town of Williamsburg. Smith"s engineering skill and his quick intelligence served him again most fortunately, and with the aid of Captain West of the Coast Survey then serving on his staff, soon enabled him to find the weak spot in the enemy"s position. This time it turned out to be on the extreme left, where he had failed, probably through lack of troops, to occupy the extensive works which had been previously constructed.
Realizing intuitively the futility of a front attack against such entrenchments, Smith threw Hanc.o.c.k"s brigade promptly to the right and under cover of the woods, succeeded without serious loss or delay in occupying one of the works from which, with his division he could easily have swept the whole line had he not been restrained by the presence of his seniors.
Unfortunately McClellan was in the rear, but Sumner and Heintzelman, corps commanders, were soon upon the ground, and with prudent but ill-timed conservatism declined to sanction the proper movement to reinforce Hanc.o.c.k, for fear that it would bring on a general engagement before the army could be properly closed up and placed in position to partic.i.p.ate. Smith recognizing, the great advantage certain to arise from pushing promptly through the opening he had already found, besought Sumner for permission to go with the rest of his division to Hanc.o.c.k"s a.s.sistance, but this was also denied. As other troops arrived on the field, Smith moved to the right to make place for them, with the hope that he might be permitted to continue his march un.o.bserved till he had come up with his advanced brigade, but orders were sent which arrested him before he had accomplished the object he had in view. All day long he was held in the leash with certain victory in sight.
McClellan arrived on the field late in the afternoon, but before he could get a satisfactory understanding of the condition of affairs, night came on. Consequently nothing decisive was done that day and a great opportunity was lost. The wily Magruder, seeing that his left had been turned, and that his position was untenable, abandoned his works under cover of darkness and fell back towards Richmond. Obviously this result was due, first, to the fortunate discovery made by General Smith and his engineer, and to the successful turning movement of Hanc.o.c.k, based thereon; and, second, to the certainty that if properly reinforced by the rest of Smith"s division, and by other divisions, if necessary, as it surely would be as soon as the national commander had come to comprehend the real condition of affairs, the Confederate forces would be taken in flank and rear and overwhelmed.
This was Smith"s last chance at anything like independent action.
During the remainder of this ill-starred campaign he played the part of a subordinate division commander, in a large army engaged in a complicated series of movements and battles, and of course had no control over the general plans or operations. There is no evidence that he was ever consulted by anyone except his corps commander Franklin who was himself also a subordinate. The army lacking field experience, did not work well together as a whole. The corps commanders had been selected and appointed by the Secretary of War, without reference to McClellan"s wishes or recommendations. Several of them were veterans, who received their a.s.signments because of seniority rather than for special apt.i.tudes, and this naturally begot a disposition on the part of the division commanders, who were generally younger and perhaps more ambitious men, to look carefully after their own troops and leave larger affairs to their seniors. At all events, Smith"s princ.i.p.al care henceforth was to handle his own division and look out exclusively for its requirements, and this he did prudently and well, especially during the Seven days" battle, and during the change of base from the York to the James River. His brigades, led as I have pointed out, by very able men, were more or less constantly and successfully engaged. They took a most creditable part in the battles of Golding"s Farm, Savage Station and White Oak Swamp.
Throughout the whole of this trying time of incessant marching and fighting Smith remained watchful and wary, directing his division through every peril, and finally conducting it, without material loss, but with increased confidence in itself and in its leader, to the new base which had been selected for the army. His cool and confident bearing, and his skillful conduct throughout this campaign, won for him the brevet of Lieutenant Colonel in the regular army and the rank of Major General of Volunteers.
It was during the night march from Malvern Hill that General Smith encountered General Fitz-John Porter, his cla.s.s-mate whom he always regarded as a first-cla.s.s soldier, and with whom upon this occasion he had a conversation, the facts of which go far to justify this high estimate. Noting that Porter seemed greatly depressed he asked what was the matter. In reply, Porter told him that as soon as he had become certain the evening before that the enemy had been broken and beaten back from his reckless attack on the Union lines at Malvern Hill, and had withdrawn in disorder from the field, he had gone to McClellan on board the boat which he had occupied with his headquarters, and had begged him with all the arguments he could bring to bear, and all the force he could command, to a.s.sume the offensive at dawn. He said he had spent half the night in advocacy of this policy, expressing the confident belief that if adopted it would result, not only in the destruction of Lee"s army, but in the capture of Richmond. He had no doubt that our own army, encouraged by the sanguinary repulse it had finally inflicted upon the enemy, would respond to every demand which could be made upon it, and would thus turn a series of indecisive combats, which the country would surely regard as defeats, into a magnificent victory. Smith"s testimony shows this splendid conception to have been no afterthought with Porter, as it was with many who subsequently came to understand the facts of the case, but coming as it did hot from a desperate battle field, must be regarded as the inspiration of true military genius, while the fact that McClellan rejected it must always be considered as the best possible evidence of his unreadiness to meet great emergencies. Smith does not say specifically that he approved it, but the context of his narrative leaves but little doubt that he thought favorably of it and would have given it hearty support.