Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Smith, Thomas Kilby, 1820-1887
- Abstract:
- Personal correspondence of lawyer and American Civil War general Thomas Kilby Smith.
- Extent:
- 6 Linear Feet (4 boxes)
- Language:
- Materials are in English.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item]. Thomas Kilby Smith papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Personal correspondence of Thomas Kilby Smith, chiefly his letters to his mother Eliza Bicker Walter Smith, wife Elizabeth Budd McCullough Smith, and son George Walter Smith. The letters document Smith's life and career from the late 1840's to the 1890s, including his pre-war law practice, his work in Washington, D.C. Civil War service, tenure as the U.S. consul in Panama, and his travels, including the voyage from Panama by way of San Francisco in 1867, and a trip to London in 1881. Also included is a typescript copy of Smith's autobiographical notes dated November 30, 1864, and a draft of his letter to William Tecumseh Sherman, December 1887.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Thomas Kilby Smith (1820-1887) was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. From 1843 to 1853, he practiced law in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1853 he became special agent in the Post Office Department at Washington, and later served as U.S. marshal for the Southern District of Ohio and deputy clerk of Hamilton County. In October 1861, Smith was commissioned Colonel of the 54th Regiment of Ohio Infantry, which he commanded at Shiloh and the advance on Corinth. From 1863 to 1864 he fought under William Tecumseh Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant in Mississippi and Tennessee, commanding brigades in the Army of the Tennessee (15th Army Corps, Sherman's Yazoo Expedition, and in 17th Army Corps), and serving on a court of inquiry and on Grant's staff. Smith served as United States Consul at Panama from 1866 to 1869. In the early 1870s, he settled in Torresdale, Pennsylvania and later was a member of the business staff of the New York Star. He died suddenly in 1887. Smith was married to Elizabeth Budd McCullough and they had six children.
- Acquisition information:
- Purchased from Peter Decker, 1959.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Huntington Library staff. In 2020, Brooke M. Black created a finding aid.
- Arrangement:
-
Arranged chronologically.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
- Subjects:
- Consuls -- United States -- Correspondence
Diplomats -- United States -- Correspondence
Generals -- United States -- Archives
Red River Expedition, 1864 -- Personal narratives
Shiloh, Battle of, Tenn., 1862 -- Personal narratives
Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- Civil War, 1861-1865
Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- 19th century - Names:
- United States. Army. Department of the Tennessee -- Officers -- Correspondence
United States. Army. Ohio Infantry Regiment, 54th (1861-1865)
United States. Consulate (Panama City, Panama) -- Officials and employees -- Correspondence
United States. Post Office Department -- Officials and employees -- Correspondence
Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891
Smith, Eliza Bicker Walter
Smith, Elizabeth Budd McCullough
Smith, Walter George, 1854-1924 - Places:
- Corinth (Miss.) -- History -- Siege, 1862 -- Personal narratives
London (England) -- Description and travel
Mississippi -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives
Ohio -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Regimental histories
Panama -- Description and travel
San Francisco (Calif.) -- Description and travel
Tennessee -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Regimental histories -- Ohio -- Sources
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Veterans -- Archives
Vicksburg (Miss.) -- History -- Siege, 1863 -- Personal narratives
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.
- Terms of access:
-
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item]. Thomas Kilby Smith papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
- Location of this collection:
-
1151 Oxford RoadSan Marino, CA 91108, US
- Contact:
- (626) 405-2191