Smith, Edmund Kirby

Smith, Edmund Kirby, or Edmund Kirby-Smith, 1824–93, American soldier, Confederate general in the Civil War, b. St. Augustine, Fla. A West Point graduate, he was cited for gallantry in the Mexican War. A major when he resigned from the U.S. army (Mar., 1861) to fight for the Confederacy, he served in the Shenandoah under J. E. Johnston, and fought at Bull Run (July). Smith led the Confederate advance into Kentucky and defeated a Union force at Richmond, Ky. (Aug., 1862). He ably commanded the isolated Trans-Mississippi Dept. (1863–65) and was promoted to general in Feb., 1864. The unsuccessful Red River campaign of Nathaniel P. Banks was directed against his forces. Smith was the last Confederate general to surrender (May 26, 1865). After the war he was chancellor of the Univ. of Nashville from 1870 to 1875 and professor at the Univ. of the South, Sewanee, Tenn., from 1875 to 1893.

Bibliography

See biographies by A. H. Noll (1907) and J. H. Parks (1954); R. L. Kerby, Kirby Smith's Confederacy (1972).

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Smith, Edmund Kirby (1824–93) soldier; born in St. Augustine, Fla. Resigning from the U.S. Army (1861) after 16 years—including service in the Mexican War and on the frontier—he joined the Confederate army. He led the advance into Kentucky (1862) and fought at the battle of Perryville; he was then reassigned to head the Trans-Mississippi Department. On June 2, 1865, he became the last senior Confederate commander to surrender. He was president of the University of Nashville (1870–75), and then he taught mathematics at the University of the South at Sewanee (1875–93).