General Franklin C.
Smith by Rich Hanson
Circumstance can lead to some unusual
historical coincidences. Given the
number of men that Knox County sent to fight for the Union during the Civil
War, it was likely that some individuals who demonstrated superior leadership
skills would rise to the rank of General given the large number of troops it
took to suppress the Rebellion. Four men
who achieved that rank are buried in Knox County. You’ll find two (Philip Sidney Post and
Arthur A. Smith) buried in Galesburg’s historic Hope Cemetery. What is unusual is that the other two (David
R. Clendenin and Franklin C. Smith) share a cemetery as well, on the outskirts
of the village of Oneida, Illinois.
Franklin C. Smith is perhaps the least
known of the four Generals. It’s unjust
obscurity, since during the Civil War he led a regiment, the 102nd
Illinois Infantry, which compiled an impressive fighting record.
Smith’s life began in Portageville, New
York, on July 14th, 1824 to Cyrus and Lovina Smith, originally from
Vermont. His father was a veteran of the
War of 1812. No doubt the stories
related by his father and other veterans of the wars against Great Britain
stirred in young Franklin a desire to serve his country someday in a similar
manner. He pursued his early education
in Portageville, and then studied for a year at Madison University (now Colgate)
in Hamilton, New York. With that
training under his belt, he then taught for a number of years in the town of
his birth. Tiring of teaching, he turned
to contracting, and soon gained a creditable reputation in that line of work. He took a great interest in the construction
of the Geneseo canal, and he did extensive work on the Erie Canal besides
undertaking other large contracts, soon acquiring a reputation for possessing
much natural mechanical ingenuity and talent in civil engineering. This occupation, which also included a number
of railroad contracts, occupied roughly fifteen years of his life. During these years he also found time to study
law under a lawyer who was the former partner of President Millard
Fillmore. Although he chose not to pursue
a career in law at this time, the training he received would serve him in good
stead later in his career.
In 1856 he married Sarah M. Gilbert of
Batavia, New York, by whom he would have three children. After residing in New York for three years, during
which time he also served as Assessor of Internal Revenue from 1856-57, he took
the advice of some of his family members who had preceded him, and moved west
to seek his fortune. He settled in
Oneida, Illinois in 1859.
He’d hardly had time to get settled in his
new community when the Civil War broke out.
He recruited Company I of the 102nd Illinois Infantry, one of
6 companies (A B D F H and I) of this regiment that were raised in Knox County
and organized in Knoxville. The rest of
the regiment was filled by Mercer, Warren and Rock Island County men. On September 2nd, 1862, when the
regiment was mustered into service, William McMurtry was chosen to be Colonel
of the regiment, and Franklin Smith Lieutenant Colonel. The 102nd was then ordered to Peoria
and from there to Louisville, Kentucky. From there they were part of the Union
force that pursued CSA General Braxton Bragg and his men from October 1st
through 16th. During the time
period of October 16th through November 26th they moved
to Gallatin, Tennessee via Frankfort, Bowling Green and Scottsville. William
McMurtry didn’t remain the regiment’s commander long, being mustered out toward
the end of October. A letter from Allen
Wilson, a soldier in Company K, who did not survive the war, falling victim to
a lethal fever, wrote to his sister Louisa Jane….
“What
little time we have had for drill, we have had no one who knew how to drill
us. In the first place we had old Col.
Abe McMurtry and to say the best of him he was an old drunken ass that knowed
nothing nor cared less. We disposed of
him and elected Col. Smith Colonel of our regiment who was known to be the man
to drill us and prepare us for battle.
He knew nothing of military tactics and taken no pains to inform himself
and the natural result of it is we are not drilled.”
Wilson’s criticism of his commander was
not echoed by Stephen Fleharty, a member of the 102nd, who in one of
his letters to the Rock Island Argus, letters compiled into the volume Jottings From Dixie by Phil Reyburn and
Terry Wilson, wrote that
“Through
the changes in army life, I am again disconnected from the 102nd,
having been detailed as clerk at Gen. Paine’s headquarters. The regiment is in very good condition at
present. There is a general harmony
between men and officers. Our Colonel,
F.C. Smith takes a deep interest in the welfare of his men, and is an excellent
commanding officer. The morale of the
regiment has greatly improved since he has been placed in command.” In another letter he wrote that…
“Colonel
Smith, our commander, is using every means in his power to insure the
effectiveness of his regiment, and persons joining his command can depend upon
having an able leader.”
Colonel Smith
remained in command of the regiment until the end of the war. Stationed in Gallatin until June of 1863, the
regiment then moved to Lavergne, Tennessee, where it did railroad guard duty at
Lavergne and Stewart’s Creek until February 25th, 1864. After being assigned to scouting duty from
Lookout Valley to Deer Head grove in Georgia, Smith’s unit was part of the
Atlanta Campaign as part of The Army of the Cumberland. This campaign took until September 8th,
and added some impressive battle tags to the regimental flag. Some of the more fierce engagements included
the battles of Resaca, New Hope Church, Allatoona Hills, Big Shanty, Kennesaw
Mountain, Lost Mountain, Peachtree Creek, and the Siege of Atlanta. At Resaca, on May 15th, 1864, the
102nd took part in a daring charge across a ravine against a Rebel
fort, which they captured, Smith being one of the first men to enter the
fort. On June 16th, 1864, near
Pine Mountain, Georgia, Colonel Smith suffered a leg wound that would lay him
up for 6 weeks. Sergeant Major Fleharty
in another letter to a Rock Island newspaper writes of the wounding of his
commanding officer.
“The
skirmishers commenced their work at an early hour the next morning, and in a
short time our Colonel was wounded in the left leg. He had proceeded to the skirmish line to post
a number of sharpshooters, and as he was about to return was singled out by a
rebel sharpshooter, who evidently discovered his rank. The ball struck above the knee and passed
through the limb, barely missing the bone.
The men were intensely excited when the Colonel came in, limping and
leaning upon the arm of one of his men.
They gathered around him with anxious inquiries,-to all of which he
replied: “I am only scratched a little, boys.”
He was unwilling to admit the serious nature of the wound, and was with
difficulty persuaded that it was necessary for him to be taken to the
rear. He felt as if he were leaving his
own children in an hour of great peril, and the men realized that they were
being deprived of a commander who has ever been true to them.
Colonel Smith has been traduced by slanderous writers at home, since he
assumed command of our regiment. It was
represented that he was unpopular with his men.
If his cowardly enemies could have witnessed the scene when he bade us
goodbye, they would have been forever silenced.
As a military commander he has won for himself a fine reputation. Calm and cool in action, he handles his
regiment in all occasions with masterly skill.
Unlike many other commanders he has ever looked upon his men as citizen
soldiers; not hirelings. While enforcing
proper discipline, he has never been tyrannical. He cannot be with us again during this
campaign.”
On August 10th,
1864, as soon as he was able to walk, Colonel Smith returned to his regiment,
proving Sergeant Fleharty to be a poor prophet.
After the fall of Atlanta, General (future 23rd President)
Benjamin Harrison was granted a furlough to return home to Indiana. Colonel Smith was raised to the command of
the brigade which included his 102nd. He retained command throughout the March to
the Sea and the capture of Savannah.
After Harrison’s return he was granted a furlough to return to visit his
family in Oneida. During this time, on
March 13th, 1865, Franklin C. Smith was awarded the rank of Brevet Brigadier
General in recognition of his “gallant and meritorious services during the war.
Now “General” Smith, he rejoined his regiment on April 13th, 1865,
near Raleigh, North Carolina, missing the Battle of Bentonville, but just in
time to share in the Army’s collective grief at the assassination of their
beloved President Lincoln. After bring
present to witness the surrender of Joe Johnston’s army on April 26th,
he marched with his brigade to participate in the Grand Review of the Armies in
Washington D.C on May 24th 1865.
Benjamin Harrison, the brigade commander, gave Smith and his 102nd
the honor of marching at the front of the brigade during the review. He also had the opportunity to meet with
President Andrew Johnson, who treated him with great respect and complimented
him on the valuable service that he’d rendered to his country. The 102nd rightfully deserved the
praise. It lost 119 men during its Civil
War tenure; 51 men killed or mortally wounded by the Rebels, and 68 to a more
insidious foe; disease.
Franklin Smith returned to Oneida and
became prominently connected with the construction of the Fort Scott and
Western Railway. The collapse of this
ambitious venture embarrassed him financially, since he had dipped into his own
funds to pay his employees in order to keep the struggling line afloat. He moved his family to Galesburg in 1874, and
drew upon the legal training that he’d had earlier in his life to work in the
office of the Honorable J.C. Stewart.
During 1877-78 while Stewart was serving as mayor of the city, Smith filled
the office of City Attorney. He followed
that profession for a number of years, and his opinions on law matters were
said to be models of clearness and perspicuity.
General Smith also became involved in the building of the Central
Illinois Railroad. During President
Grover Cleveland’s administration he was appointed to work in the Revenue
Office in Peoria, and from 1883 to 1885 he served as Galesburg’s Superintendent
of Streets. It was remarked upon at the
time of his death, in Galesburg, on August 19th, 1891, that “he was
ever loyal to the public trusts reposed in him, and he was equally faithful in
the discharge of every private duty.” An
1899 History of Knox County pays him
the wonderful compliment of stating that “this command (Smith’s 102nd)
was never known to retreat.”
Sources:
Hunt and
Brown’s Brevet Brigadier Generals in Blue
History of Knox County, 1899 and 1912
Phil
Reyburn’s and Terry Wilson’s Jottings
From Dixie: Letter of Sergeant Major Stephen Fleharty
Franklin C.
Smith Find A Grave Memorial
Rootsweb.ancestry.com Allen
Wilson Letters
Wikipedia 102nd
Illinois Volunteer Infantry
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