Kirby Smith CSA
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Edmund Kirby Smith CSA (1824 - 1893)

General Edmund Kirby (Kirby) Smith CSA aka Kirby-Smith
Born in St. Augustine, St. Johns, Florida, United Statesmap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married 24 Sep 1861 in Lynchburg County, Virginia, USAmap
Descendants descendants
Died at age 68 in Sewanee, Franklin, Tennessee, United Statesmap
Problems/Questions Profile managers: Larry Huey private message [send private message] and Shelley Monson private message [send private message]
Profile last modified | Created 1 Apr 2013
This page has been accessed 3,676 times.

Contents

Biography

Notables Project
Kirby Smith CSA is Notable.
General Kirby Smith CSA served in the United States Civil War.
Side: CSA

Confederate soldier and educator. Buried in the University of the South Cemetery, Sewanee, Franklin, TN. Son of Joseph Lee Smith. [1]

Nicknamed "Seminole" for his native state. Civil War Confederate General. There are several internet websites about this famous ancestor. Search for Edmund Kirby Smith for more information.

Edmund was born in 1824 in St. Augustine, Florida. He graduated from the US Military Academy in 1845, served with his brother in the Mexican-American War under Gen. Zachary Taylor, and when his home state of Florida seceded from the Union, he joined the Confederate Army. He was promoted to Brigadier-General in June of 1861, and was wounded at the First Battle of Bull Run. While recuperating, he met his wife-to-be, Cassie Selden. He returned to duty as a Major-General in the Army of Northern Virginia.

In 1862, he won the Battle of Richmond, and in October, was promoted to Lieutenant-General. Edmund Kirby Smith was one of the most despised Civil War commanders in East Tennessee. [2]

In January of 1863, he was given command of the Trans-Mississippi Department, and remained there for the rest of the war.

In February of 1864, he was promoted to full general. He was the last full general to surrender at the end of the war, two months after the surrender of Robert E. Lee. He then left the U.S. and went first to Mexico, and then to Cuba, to escape a charge of treason. In November of 1865 he returned to the U.S. when he was given amnesty.

After the war, he started a telegraph company, which failed after two years. From 1870 to 1875 he was the Chancellor of the University of Nashville, and in 1875, he left that institution to take a position of professor of mathematics and botany at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.

He passed away in 1893. He was the last surviving full general of the Civil War (not counting brevet generals).

The only Smith in the Statuary Halls of the US Capitol is Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith. Info about him in "Famous Americans" is under his father's name of Joseph Lee Smith.

Slaves

Photographed Primary Sources

FindAGrave.com memorial #8829 in University Cem, Sewanee, Franklin, TN

DNA

Descendant of yDNA group NE18 brother William Smith (c1617 ENG-1670 CT) m Elizabeth Stanley on SmithConnections Northeastern DNA Project.[4]

Research Notes

His family adopted the spelling "Kirby-Smith" after his death.[5]

Sources

  1. Dictionary of American biography by American Council of Learned Societies, Published 1943. Vol 10 page 424
  2. http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=1215 Tennessee Encyclopedia
  3. The Doctor and the Confederate, Jan 2023 Article in the The Smithsonian.
  4. SmithConnections Northeastern DNA Project, haplogroup Rb1 NE18 Christopher Smith.
  5. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/E-Kirby-Smith

See Also

  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8829/edmund-kirby-smith: accessed 27 June 2023), memorial page for GEN Edmund Kirby-Smith (16 May 1824–28 Mar 1893), Find a Grave Memorial ID 8829, citing University of the South Cemetery, Sewanee, Franklin County, Tennessee, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave.




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Comments: 4

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Could someone please look at his biography? "Last surviving CW general" needs to be corrected or qualified. At least 4 generals survived him, if you include brevets: Chamberlain (d. 1914), Spear (d. 1917), McCausland (d. 1927), and the venerable Aaron Daggett (d. 1938 at age 100!). Thanks!
posted by D Armistead
I have qualified the statement, hopefully to your satisfaction.
posted by Shelley (Mair) Monson
As a member of the US Black Heritage Project, I have added a slave sectionfor Edmund Kirby Smith on this profile with categories using the standards of the US Black Heritage Exchange Program. This helps us connect enslaved ancestors to their descendants. See the Heritage Exchange Portal for more information.
posted by Carolyn (Atkinson) Martin
edited by Carolyn (Atkinson) Martin
Added multiple references to the General’s spouse’s profile which may be of interest to you as he is listed on many of them.

Martha

posted by [Living Edgerton]

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