Title: Watson B. Smith Letters

Date/Date Range :   1863 August 17- 1863 December 26

Extent: 0.1 linear feet

Abstract:

These letters, written in 1863, constitute Watson B. Smith's personal account of his service in the Civil War. All three letters are written to his father.

Call number: MS-3183

Repository: University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN

Aquisition Information:

Purchased by Special Collections on 2007 June 26.

Access Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Copyright:

The copyright interests in this collection remain with the creator. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library.

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of Item], Watson B. Smith Letters, MS-3183. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Special Collections Library.

Collection consists of a single folder.

Watson B. Smith enlisted as a Commissary Sergeant in Company C of the 8th Michigan Cavalry Regiment on August 27, 1862. He was promoted multiple times: to Lieutenant on November 6, 1862; to Acting Adjutant General on October 29, 1863; to Captain on April 15, 1864; to Major on November 14, 1864; to Brevet Lieutenant Colonel on March 13, 1865; and finally to Brevet Colonel on September 22, 1865. He was discharged in Detroit on October 6, 1865, after which he and his wife moved to Nebraska. Smith subsequently became a Clerk in the U.S. Circuit Court and was murdered on November 5, 1881 over his support for a "blue law" that would force saloons to pay a $1,000 dollar license fee and close on Sunday.

The first letter in this collection, written on 1863 August 17, discusses Smith's job as the Aide de Camp for Brigadier General White. The division, he writes, has orders to move into East Tennessee. Due to the scattered, small groups of Confederate soldiers, they expected little resistance. Smith also informs his father that the 8th Cavalry had spent the first part of their service pursuing Confederate raider John Morgan. After Morgan's surrender, the 8th went on to take part in the East Tennessee Campaign. The second letter, dated October of 1863, discusses a cavalry fight in which the 8th Michigan Cavalry lost soldiers. Smith claims that the Confederate losses were worse than those of the Federal Troops. Smith also mentions his time in the hospital checking on fellow soldiers hurt or killed in the skirmish. The final letter discusses Smith's 1863 Christmas Day. He spent time at the house of a Union supporter in New Market, Tennessee, where they had a feast of turkey, corn bread, sorghum, and coffee. Smith details his duties as the chief of staff for the General, which he feels is a position of prominence and which he enjoys very much.

For more information about Smith's service in the Civil War, interested researchers may wish to consult UTK-MS-3104: Watson B. Smith Letters, 1863 November-December.

• United States. Army. Michigan Cavalry Regiment, 8th (1862-1865).
• Soldiers -- Michigan -- Correspondence.
• Tennessee -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.