conversations and the writings of all the parties thereto, is that the
representations of Butler, and especially his comments upon Smith's
criticism of the battles and management of the campaign, were the
principal factors in convincing Grant that the best way out of the
complications was to relieve Smith and restore Butler to full command.
This way had been foreseen and suggested by Smith himself for he had
asked more than once to be relieved from further service in the field
on account of ill health, which made it impossible for him to undergo
exposure to the hot sun, but his request had been denied, doubtless
from a sincere desire on Grant's part to have the advantages of his
services in the solution of the complicated problem which yet
confronted the army. Had this request been granted when made, or had it
been granted afterwards, and placed on the ground of a personal favor
for the benefit of his health, which might well have been done, General
Smith has frankly admitted that he would have had no shadow of excuse
for anything but thanks. But when he was relieved without notice or any
assignment of cause, as he was starting on sick leave, and the order
was concealed from him till he had returned, a suspicion at once arose
in his mind as to the motives which inspired it, and the suspicion was
claimed by him as a sufficient justification for telling the world all
he knew in regard to those who were responsible for the action of which
he complains. His military criticism, however indiscreet, had always
been direct and manly. Its soundness had been approved by some of the
best officers ill the service, including Grant himself, but it must be
observed that the latter in his final report of the campaign, takes
pains to make the point, evidently to forestall criticism, that he held
himself responsible for only the general plans of the campaigns and
operations, and that in accordance with an invariable habit, he left
the details and the actual conduct of the battles to his subordinate
commanders. The wisdom of this arrangement is not here in question,
though much might be said against it. Its effect, if admitted, as a
sound rule of action, must be to transfer the responsibility for a
bloody and costly campaign to the shoulders of Meade, Humphreys,
Burnside, Butler, Sheridan, Hunter, and in a number of cases even to
those of corps and division commanders, instead of leaving it where it
more justly belongs, on the shoulders of those who were responsible for
the working organization of the army, and for the details of its staff
arrangements.
General Smith's true place in history does not depend solely on these
considerations, nor on his contributions to the history or criticism of
the war. Fortunately for him the military committee of the House of
Representatives of the Fiftieth Congress on its own motion, long after
all these incidents had been closed, investigated his military career,
for the purpose of deciding upon his fitness for the retired list, and
on April 20, 1888, it submitted to the House of Representatives a
highly favorable report, from which the following extract is taken:
"On October, 1863, he [General Smith] was transferred to the
West, where he in turn became Chief Engineer of the
Department of the Cumberland, on the staff of General George
H. Thomas, and of the Military Division of the Mississippi,
on the staff of General Grant. As such he devised the plan of
operations by which the Army of the Cumberland was saved from
starvation and capture at Chattanooga, and was duly credited
with the same by General Thomas. He also devised the plan of
operations by which Bragg's army was overthrown and driven
back from Missionary Ridge, for which services he was again
appointed and this time confirmed as Major General of
Volunteers, also as Brevet Brigadier General, United States
Army."
After referring to other incidents of his life, which have been
considered more fully in this account of his public services and need
not he repeated here, this report added, although General Smith had
resigned from the army many years before, that he was
"fully entitled at the hands of the government to be retired
for a lifetime of hard and conspicuous service, in which he
has displayed the most incorruptible honesty, the most
outspoken patriotism and devotion and the highest ability. It
has been the good fortune of but few men in any age or in any
country to save an army and to direct it to victory, from a
subordinate position. Such service in Europe would secure
honor and riches. In ours it should certainly result in an
assignment to a place on the retired list of the army, with
the rank of Major General, and the appropriate pay for the
remaining years of his life. The committee therefore
unanimously recommend the passage of the bill."
The final action taken in this case, while highly creditable to General
Smith, was not as liberal as the House Committee thought it ought to
be. The Senate Committee, while concurring in the commendation of the
General, in conformity to its own practice cut his rank on the retired
list down to that of Major, which was the actual grade he held in the
regular army at the date of his resignation. It was a piece of
ungracious and niggardly economy, for the services which entitled him
to retirement were those of a general officer, and as he was actually
promoted from Brigadier General to Major General in recognition
thereof, the House of Representatives was clearly right in recommending
his retirement with the higher grade. General Smith, who had not in any
way asked for this recognition, was strongly inclined to decline it,
but on the solicitation of his friends he finally accepted it.
At the end of the war General Smith, notwithstanding the differences
which had arisen between him and his official superiors, received the
brevet of Major General for "gallant and meritorious services in the
field during the rebellion."
After his relief from further service in the field, General Smith
remained at New York, awaiting orders, till November 24th, 1864, at
which time he was assigned to special duty under the orders of the
Secretary of War. This detail was voluntarily tendered and took him to
New Orleans, where he was engaged in looking into the military
administration of the department, under Butler and his successors, and
in reference to which he made several confidential reports which have
never been given to the public. Perceiving that his military career was
practically at an end, and that he was not likely to receive
satisfactory recognition on the reorganization of the army, he resigned
his volunteer commission on the 4th of November, 1865, and took a leave
of absence as a Major of Engineers, from December 15th, 1865, to March
7th, 1867, on which later date his resignation from the army was
accepted. He had meanwhile taken employment as President of the
International Ocean Telegraph Company, and had visited Florida, Cuba
and Spain for the purpose of obtaining an exclusive concession for a
term of years, for laying, maintaining and operating an ocean telegraph
cable from Jacksonville to Havana. He was most successful in his
negotiations, and in the construction and management of his lines, till
1873, when he and his associates sold out under advantageous terms to
the Western Union Telegraph Company. For the next two years he resided
abroad, mostly in England, with his family. During this time he visited
nearly all the countries of western Europe, where he met and made the
acquaintance of many leading men in the highest walks of life.
In May, 1873, General Smith was appointed one of the police
commissioners for New York City, which place he filled till December
31st of that year, when he was appointed president of the board. He
held this office till March 11th, 1881, during which time he took an
important part in elevating and perfecting the police service. He was,
however, too honest and independent to get on harmoniously with the
politicians, and after an open breach with a number of them, including
the Mayor, he resigned his position and retired to private life.
While engaged in this service he took an active interest in the
presidential campaign. It will be remembered that the closeness of the
vote between Mr. Tilden and General Hayes, and the high degree of
tension between the opposing parties and their managers, filled the
country with alarm, in the midst of which General Smith was consulted
by the friends of Mr. Tilden, with the view of devising measures
against the possibility of a subversion of the government by military
or arbitrary power, but fortunately the device and action of the
Electoral Commission averted all danger of that sort. The timid and
vacillating behavior of Mr. Tilden during the emergency and afterwards
was, however, a powerful factor in the estrangement of his supporters,
and did much to bring about the nomination of General Hancock by the
next Democratic National Convention. General Smith and his friend
General Franklin took an active interest in the canvass and convention,
and although they were soldiers without political experience, it is
believed that their endorsement of Hancock and their work in his behalf
was one of the most powerful influences in securing his nomination.
They had been his life-long friends and his comrade during the great
conflict, and hence felt justified in giving him their most earnest
support.
At the close of the presidential campaign, the result of which was
necessarily disappointing to General Smith, he was compelled, by
unfortunate investments, to look about for an occupation. His friend,
General John Newton was then Chief of Engineers and the system of
Internal Improvements, which had long been favored by the Republican
party, was being carried forward by bountiful appropriations from
Congress. Many officers and civil engineers were required for the
supervision of the various river and harbor works, and General Smith,
having had wide experience, was, by the act of his friend, appointed
Government Agent, and placed in charge of the works on the Peninsula
between the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays, with his headquarters at
Wilmington, Delaware. On March 1st, 1889, he was, in compliance with a
special Act of Congress, put upon the retired list of the army, with
the rank of Major. This at once raised the question whether he could
draw the pay appropriate to his retired rank, and at the same time
receive pay as a Government Agent. After argument by his friend, the
Honorable Anthony Higgins, the United States Senator from Delaware, the
case was decided in his favor on the theory that an "agent" was not an
officer, within the meaning of the law. The decision in this case was
similar to that made in the case of Quartermaster General Meigs, who
was employed to supervise the construction of the Pension Office in
Washington, after he had been placed on the retired list. Under the
decision General Smith continued to perform the duties and draw the pay
of Agent, till 1901, when he voluntarily gave up the appointment and
definitively retired from business of every kind. For the last ten
years or more he resided in Philadelphia, where he enjoyed the
acquaintance and society of his chosen friends to within a few weeks of
his death, which occurred on the 28th day of February, 1903, four years
subsequent to the death of his wife.
He retained his wonderful intellectual powers, absolutely unimpaired,
to the date of his final illness. With keen wit, sparkling repartee and
a mind always on the alert for fresh information and the beauties of
literature, he remained a delightful and instructive companion to the
end. Firm in the Christian faith and fully satisfied that life had
nothing further in store for him worth waiting for, he took his
departure in to the Silent Land composed and free from regret, like a
strong man going to sleep. He left a son and daughter with many friends
and hosts of companions scattered throughout the country to mourn his
loss. His native State had filled his heart with pride and satisfaction
by giving on the walls of its capital to a bronze effigy and tablet
with a laudatory inscription celebrating his virtues and his most
distinguished services, and handing down his memory to future
generations as one in every way worthy of their respect and admiration.
[Illustration:
This tablet is presented to Vermont by soldiers from other states who
admire so much her great soldier son
Brevet Major General
William Farrar Smith,
U.S. Army.
The extracts here quoted from the letter of the assistant secretary of
war C.A. Dana, to General Grant, dated December 21, 1863, show that at
a crisis in the Nation's life he was in the thoughts of Lincoln,
Stanton and Grant, as the general best qualified for the most important
command.
"The surest means of getting the rebels altogether out of
East Tennessee is to be found in the Army of the Potomac.
This naturally led to your second proposition, namely that
either Sherman or W.F. Smith should be put in command of that
army. Both the Secretary of War and Gen. Halleck said 'Gen.
W.F. Smith would be the best person to try'. The President,
the Secretary of War and Gen Halleck agree with you in
thinking that it would be on the whole much better to select
him."
* * * * *
Series I Vol. XXXI Page 457 Official Records Union and Confederate
Armies. (War of the Rebellion)]
I cannot close this sketch without repeating in part my personal
testimony to the strength and elevation of General Smith's character.
He was blessed by a singularly clear, orderly and comprehensive mind,
and was most industrious and persistent in its use. Somewhat phlegmatic
and deliberate in temperament and manner, he gave the impression
occasionally that he was lacking in push and energy, but such was not
the case in fact. During his services on the Rio Grande he suffered, as
previously related, a malarial attack from which it is now evident he
never entirely recovered. Under exposure to the summer sun, he was for
the rest of his life liable to a recurrence of the symptoms especially
those pertaining to the head, and this may have made him more or less
irascible at times. Military habits are at best not calculated to
develop a mild and patient behavior, nor to beget a spirit of
resignation to unjust or arbitrary treatment, especially if it comes
from higher authority, and is not merited.
General Smith was the last man to lay claim to a saint-like character,
but according to those who knew him best he possessed a just and even a
charitable disposition, which made him fair towards his equals and most
considerate towards his subordinates. He was, however, above all
things, logical, and as a close student of his profession, he
invariably followed the established principles of the military art to
their legitimate conclusions. In the presence of great military
problems and responsibilities such as those with which he had to deal
at Chattanooga, he became absorbed and reticent if not austere and had
but little to say except to those with whom it was his duty to talk.
There the solution was so clearly his own that no one thought of
disputing it with him till years afterwards. But in the conduct of
operations against Lee, there were so many roads open, so many
commanders in the field, and so many plans of operations suggested, so
many considerations to be observed that no one man except Grant who was
clad with special powers for the emergency, could hope for the honor of
directing all movements. That became his exclusive function as soon as
he was made Lieutenant General, but unfortunately, as has been shown,
he and Smith began drifting apart from the day of their arrival in the
East, and long before the great task before them was accomplished they
had by their own peculiarities, looking at the problem from different
points of view, and aided doubtless by the misrepresentations and
selfish purposes of others, become hopelessly out of harmony with each
other.
This is not the place to pronounce final judgment between them. They
knew each other well, and although Grant had said towards the close of
their friendship, "General Smith, while a very able officer, is
obstinate, and is likely to condemn whatever is not suggested by
himself," he had shown an earnest desire that his great talents should
be utilized. On the other hand Smith, who was intimately acquainted
with both the strength and the weaknesses of Grant's character, had
full confidence in the soundness of his judgment, when left free from
prejudice and misrepresentation, to act upon a full statement of the
facts. Neither had hitherto shown himself to be particularly sensitive
to criticism from the other, and both were in the highest degree
patriotic and loyal to the cause. They had worked harmoniously and with
marked success together in the West. Not a shadow had come between
them. The case must therefore have been a most complicated one which
made it impossible for them to work together in the same manner and to
the same end in the East. The severance of their relationship, to
whatever influence it may be attributed, is profoundly to be regretted,
not only because it prematurely ended the military career of General
Smith, but because it must have injuriously affected the fortunes of
General Grant as well as of the country and the army, at a time when
both sorely needed the help of every capable soldier. These results are
all the more to be deplored because no one can study the circumstances
connected therewith, without reaching the conclusion that they were
brought about by methods which were themselves not above criticism, and
which finally resulted in the downfall of their author.