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Colonel Smith was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General
after the battle; and, having graduated at West Point among the
leading men in his class in the Corps of Engineers, and on account of
his recognized professional ability, he was, after the fall of Corinth,
detailed to reconstruct for military purposes, the Charleston and
Memphis Railroad. I conitinued to serve on his Staff until we reached
Huntsville, Alabam, and the, by order of General Buell, reported
for duty to Brigadier General Lovell H. Rousseau, commanding the
Third Division, as Acting Assistant Adjudant General, in which I
served until after the battle o f Perryville.
I reported for duty to General Lovell H. Rousseau at Hunts-
ville, Alabama, after the fall of Corinth in 1862, and remained as one
of his Staff, serving as Acting Assistant Adjudant General of his
Division until after the battle of Perryville in October, 1862, in which
I was unfortuanately taken prisoner after nightfalll in carrying orders to
the Brigade Commanders preparatory to resuming the fight the next
day. The Confederates retreated and the battle was over and active
hostilities for the time ceased until the great battle of Stone River in
December, 1862, at Mrufressboro, Tennessee, in which our army
under General Rosecranz, was confronted by the united Confederate
Army under General Bragg, a distinguished commander in the South-
ern Army.
In the battle of Perryville our command was opposed by the
forces under General Leonidas Polk, a distinguished Confederate
General, who before the war was a Bishop of an Episcopal Diocese
in one of our Southern States.
General Rousseau was a native of Kentucky, a man of fine
presence, gallant and brave, and I believe served in the Mexican War.
He was recognized as one of the most efficient and successful generals
in our army. Her survived the war, became a member of Congress
and died in New Orleans. My relationship with him as one of his
personal Staff was intimate and pleasant.
It might not be out of place in this part of my paper to relate
my experience with General Polk, to whose headquarters I was taken
as a prisoner the night after the battle. In response to an inquiry from
him, I told him I was serving on the Staff of General Rousseau, and
6
{right-hand page}
resided in Cincinnati. That night I formed the acquaintance of Dr.
Quintard, who was Chaplain on his Staff; who subsequently became
the Episcopal Bishop of Tennessee; and I slept on the ground with
Major Williamson, on of his Staff, who after the war was appointed
by President Grant, United States Minister to Brazil and who knew
my brother at West Point in which he had been a cadet.
The next morning, while confined in the jail at Harrodsburg,
an orderly called out that General Polk wished him to bring to this
headquarters the officer living in Cincinnati with whom he had a con-
versation the night before, and upon informing him that I was the
officer, I was escorted to see the General. He immediately asked me
if I knew Bishop MIlvaine, and upon replying in the affirmative he
wished to know where the Bishop was. I told him in reply, I was
under the impression he was in England. He immediately corrected
me by saying he took the Louisville Journal, and from it he learned
Bishop McIlvaine was in this Country, having returned from abroad.
Before my enterview was ended, he wished to ascertain from
me, what in my opinion, would be ther result of the war. I told him
with some hesitance, the North would succeed because it had more
men and greater resources. He endeavored to convince me to the
contrary.
General Polk was a cadet at Wet Point when Bishop McIlvaine
was Chaplain there, and when consecrated Bishop, Bishop McIlvaine
preaced the Consecration Sermon in Christ Church, Cincinnati.
Bishop Polk was a magnificent looking man, tall and very military in
appearance, and I was much impresssed by his brilliatn and showy grey
uniform and soldierly bearing. He was one of the distinguished leaders
of the Confederate Army, and lost his life the next year in the battle
of Kennesaw Mountain, iln Georgia, being decapitated by a cannon
ball from one of our batteries. Upon parting from himn he wished me
to tell his friend, Bishop McIlvaine, he was not the brtal soldier he
was represented in the Northern Papers.
I was well asquainted with several of General Buell's Staff,
and in my frequent visits to his headquarters, I became sufficently
well acquainted with him, to learn something of his personal character-
istics. He was a thorough soldier of the old school, having been well
7 | 2{left-hand page}
Colonel Smith was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General
after the battle; and, having graduated at West Point among the
leading men in his class in the Corps of Engineers, and on account of
his recognized professional ability, he was, after the fall of Corinth,
detailed to reconstruct for military purposes, the Charleston and
Memphis Railroad. I conitinued to serve on his Staff until we reached
Huntsville, Alabam, and the, by order of General Buell, reported
for duty to Brigadier General Lovell H. Rousseau, commanding the
Third Division, as Acting Assistant Adjudant General, in which I
served until after the battle o f Perryville.
I reported for duty to General Lovell H. Rousseau at Hunts-
ville, Alabama, after the fall of Corinth in 1862, and remained as one
of his Staff, serving as Acting Assistant Adjudant General of his
Division until after the battle of Perryville in October, 1862, in which
I was unfortuanately taken prisoner after nightfalll in carrying orders to
the Brigade Commanders preparatory to resuming the fight the next
day. The Confederates retreated and the battle was over and active
hostilities for the time ceased until the great battle of Stone River in
December, 1862, at Mrufressboro, Tennessee, in which our army
under General Rosecranz, was confronted by the united Confederate
Army under General Bragg, a distinguished commander in the South-
ern Army.
In the battle of Perryville our command was opposed by the
forces under General Leonidas Polk, a distinguished Confederate
General, who before the war was a Bishop of an Episcopal Diocese
in one of our Southern States.
General Rousseau was a native of Kentucky, a man of fine
presence, gallant and brave, and I believe served in the Mexican War.
He was recognized as one of the most efficient and successful generals
in our army. Her survived the war, became a member of Congress
and died in New Orleans. My relationship with him as one of his
personal Staff was intimate and pleasant.
It might not be out of place in this part of my paper to relate
my experience with General Polk, to whose headquarters I was taken
as a prisoner the night after the battle. In response to an inquiry from
him, I told him I was serving on the Staff of General Rousseau, and
6
{right-hand page}
resided in Cincinnati. That night I formed the acquaintance of Dr.
Quintard, who was Chaplain on his Staff; who subsequently became
the Episcopal Bishop of Tennessee; and I slept on the ground with
Major Williamson, on of his Staff, who after the war was appointed
by President Grant, United States Minister to Brazil and who knew
my brother at West Point in which he had been a cadet.
The next morning, while confined in the jail at Harrodsburg,
an orderly called out that General Polk wished him to bring to this
headquarters the officer living in Cincinnati with whom he had a con-
versation the night before, and upon informing him that I was the
officer, I was escorted to see the General. He immediately asked me
if I knew Bishop MIlvaine, and upon replying in the affirmative he
wished to know where the Bishop was. I told him in reply, I was
under the impression he was in England. He immediately corrected
me by saying he took the Louisville Journal, and from it he learned
Bishop McIlvaine was in this Country, having returned from abroad. |
EN