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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.
FindAGrave.com memorial #8829 in University Cem, Sewanee, Franklin, TN
Descendant of yDNA group NE18 brother William Smith (c1617 ENG-1670 CT) m Elizabeth Stanley on SmithConnections Northeastern DNA Project.[4]
His family adopted the spelling "Kirby-Smith" after his death.[5]
See Also
Acadian heritage connections: Kirby is 19 degrees from Beyoncé Knowles, 17 degrees from Jean Béliveau, 18 degrees from Madonna Ciccone, 18 degrees from Rhéal Cormier, 17 degrees from Joseph Drouin, 19 degrees from Jack Kerouac, 15 degrees from Anne Murray, 19 degrees from Matt LeBlanc, 15 degrees from Roméo LeBlanc, 18 degrees from Azilda Marchand, 14 degrees from Marie Travers and 18 degrees from Clarence White on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.
S > Smith > Edmund Kirby Smith CSA
Categories: 5th Regiment of Infantry, United States Army, Mexican-American War | 7th Regiment of Infantry, United States Army, Mexican-American War | First Battle of Bull Run | Wounded in Action, Confederate States of America, United States Civil War | University of the South Cemetery, Sewanee, Tennessee | St. Johns County, Florida, Slave Owners | St. Johns County, Florida | United States Military Academy | Confederate States Army Generals, United States Civil War | Department of East Tennessee, Confederate Army, United States Civil War | Department of Middle and Eastern Florida, Confederate Army, United States Civil War | Trans-Mississippi Department, Confederate Army, United States Civil War | Notables
edited by Carolyn (Atkinson) Martin
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