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William F. Smith (Military Officer)William Farrar Smith, (February 17, 1824 – February 28, 1903) was an engineer, Union Army officer in the American Civil War, and police commissioner of New York City. Smith, known to his friends as "Baldy", despite a full head of hair, was born in St. Albans, Vermont. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1845 and was commissioned a lieutenant in the corps of topographical engineers, returning to West Point in 1846 as assistant professor of mathematics until 1848. He surveyed the Texas–Mexico border, and then served in Florida until 1855, when he returned to his former duty at the military academy. From 1856 until April, 1861, he served in a variety of coastal commands, constructing and operating lighthouses. Soon after the start of the war in 1861, Smith served with Major General Benjamin F. Butler at Fort Monroe, Virginia. He was promoted to colonel of the 3rd Vermont volunteer infantry regiment and participated in constructing the defenses of Washington, D.C. He was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers and brigade command in the Army of the Potomac on August 13, 1861. Smith first saw combat in the Peninsula Campaign, and was brevetted lieutenant colonel of regulars for gallant service at the Battle of White Oak Swamp, June 30, 1862. He was promoted to major general of volunteers on July 4, 1862, and led a division at the Battle of South Mountain and Antietam. Smith commanded the VI Corps of the Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862, He was transferred to command the IX Corps of the Department of the Susquehanna in February, 1863, and became a major in the Corps of Engineers in March. That month his temporary rank of major general of volunteers expired due to Congressional inaction and he resumed his rank of brigadier general of volunteers. He commanded a division of the Department of the Susquehanna in June and July, 1868, became chief engineer of the Department of the Cumberland in October, and then of the Military Division of the Mississippi in November, 1863. During Ulysses S. Grant's relief of Union forces prior to the Battle of Chattanooga, Smith was instrumental in the logistical movements at Brown's Ferry, which provided not only critical food and supplies to the Army of the Cumberland at Chattanooga, but also to bring up reinforcements from William T. Sherman and Joseph Hooker. A Congressional committee later found that "... General William F. Smith had saved the Army of the Cumberland from capture, and afterward directed it to victory." Smith was restored to his temporary rank as major general of volunteers in March, 1864, and given command of the XVIII Corps of the Army of the James, which he commanded at the Battle of Cold Harbor and in the Siege of Petersburg until July, when he was reassigned to be Assistant Inspector General of the Military Division of West Mississippi. On March 13, 1865, he was brevetted as brigadier general in the regular army, for his service in Chattanooga; he was later brevetted major general for his general service during the war. After the war, Smith became president of the International Telegraph Company in 1865, Police Commissioner of New York City in 1875, and subsequently president of the Police Board. Baldy Smith died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1903 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. References - Eicher, John H., & Eicher, David J.: Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3
Smith, William F. Smith, William F. Smith, William F. Smith, William F. Smith, William F.
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