Thomas Kilby Smith Papers mssKS
Brooke M. Black
The Huntington Library
December 2020
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Thomas Kilby Smith papers
Creator:
Smith, Thomas Kilby, 1820-1887
Identifier/Call Number: mssKS
Physical Description:
6 Linear Feet
(4 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1848-1887
Date (bulk): 1861-1869
Abstract: Personal correspondence of lawyer and American Civil War general Thomas Kilby Smith.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
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[Identification of item]. Thomas Kilby Smith papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Peter Decker, 1959.
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.
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.
Processed by Huntington Library staff. In 2020, Brooke M. Black created a finding aid.
Arranged chronologically.
Individual call numbers included in the collection: mssKS 1-434.
Published in part in: Smith, George Walter. Life and letters of Thomas Kilby Smith, Brevet Major General United States volunteers
1820-1887 (New York and London, 1898).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
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
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
Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- Civil War, 1861-1865
Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- 19th century
Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891
Smith, Eliza Bicker Walter
Smith, Elizabeth Budd McCullough
Smith, Walter George, 1854-1924
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
Box 1
1848-1862 August
Box 2
1862 September-1864 February
Box 3
1864 March-1867
Box 4
1868-1887