St. Johns County, Florida

Edward Kirby Smith

Edward Kirby Smith was born in St. Augustine, Florida, on May 16, 1824. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1845, received the rank of brevet second lieutenant, and at once took part in the Mexican War. He went to West Point as professor of mathematics, received a captain's commission, and west to the frontier in 1855. In 1861 he was promoted to major and, when Florida seceded, was appointed lieutenant-colonel in the Confederate army. He made himself a great record during the Rebellion, reaching in 1864 the rank of full general. General Smith's most efficient service was in managing the blockade-running department in the Southwestern States. He forwarded much cotton to Europe and received in return from France and England munitions of war and material for clothing. He established furnaces and factories and, when the war closed, his department was more than self-supporting. General Smith did some excellent work in the field and won some notable battles. He was president of the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company (1866-68), chancellor of the University of Nashville (1870-75), and professor of mathematics in the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee, from 1875 until his death on March 28, 1893.

Adapted from New Americanized Encyclopædia Britannica (Twentieth Century Edition), 1907.