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Title: Ralph Corbett Smith papers
Date (inclusive): 1910-1974
Collection Number: 78013
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In English and French
Physical Description:
32 manuscript boxes, 3 oversize boxes, 1 card file box, 9 oversize folders
(18.5 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, diaries, reports, writings, and printed matter relating to the American Expeditionary Forces in France during
World War I, activities of the Command and General Staff School and Army War College in the inter-war period, and American
military operations in the Pacific Theater during World War II.
Creator:
Smith, Ralph Corbett, 1893-1998
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Boxes 11, 13-15, 17-18, 24, 34, and 35 may not be used without permission of the Archivist. The remainder of the collection
is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital
media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1978.
[Identification of item], Ralph Corbett Smith papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Major General Ralph Corbett Smith was born in 1893 in South Omaha, Nebraska. After attending Colorado State College, he served
in the Colorado National Guard. Smith was an early aviator and was given flying lessons by Oroville Wright. In 1916, Smith
was commissioned into the US Army as a second lieutenant. Smith served under General John Pershing in punitive expedition
against Mexican revoluntionary Pancho Villa before the United States entered World War I. From 1916-1918, Smith served in
World War I, primarily in France, and was twice decorated for bravery. He was wounded in the Meuse-Argonne offensive in 1918.
Between the world wars, Smith taught at West Point. He also attended and subsequently taught at Command and General Staff
School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In 1942, he was promoted to Major General and took command of the 27th Infantry Division
of the US Army. Troops under Smith's command captured Makin Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, the first central Pacific island
to be recaptured by the Allies in 1943.
A year later, the 27th Division took part in the struggle for the island of Saipan in the western Pacific. Major General
Ralph C. Smith was relieved of command by Lieutenant General Holland M. Smith of the US Marine Corps, causing controversy
between the Army and the Marine Corps. Major General R. C. Smith was later exonerated by an Army board of inquiry. From 1945-1946,
Smith served as a military attaché at the US embassy in Paris and CARE's chief of mission for France.
In 1948, Smith retired from the Army and became a fellow at the Hoover Institution. His first wife, Madeleine, died in 1975.
Smith was remarried in 1980 to Hildy Jarman; she died in 1995. In 1998, Smith died at home in Palo Alto at the age of 104,
the oldest surviving general officer of the US Army.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Ralph Corbett Smith papers consists of correspondence, diaries, orders, maps, reports, lectures, books on military history,
military textbooks, photographs, and clippings related to the course of Smith's career in the Army. Smith served in the American
Expeditionary Forces in France during World War I, taught at the Command and General Staff School and Army War College in
the inter-war period, and played a vital role in American military operations in the Pacific Theater during World War II,
commanding the Army's 27th Infantry Division. Arranged in five series: Diaries, Correspondence, Army files, Photographs, and
Published Material.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- Pacific Ocean
Officers
World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- France
United States. Army. American Expeditionary Forces
United States. Army
United States. Army. Infantry Division, 27th
Army War College (U.S.)
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College