Charles Henry Smith (Army Medal of Honor)

Charles Henry Smith was born on November 1, 1827, in Hollis, Maine. Long before he became a Medal of Honor recipient and one of the notable cavalry officers of the American Civil War, Smith lived the comparatively quiet life of a New England civilian. When the Civil War erupted in 1861, however, he entered military service and began a career that would continue well beyond the end of the conflict. Smith joined the United States Army through the volunteer forces of his home state and became associated with the 1st Maine Cavalry, one of the most active Union cavalry regiments of the war. He received a commission as a Captain in November 1861 and took command of Company D, 1st Maine Cavalry. The transition placed Smith in an arm of service whose responsibilities extended far beyond conventional battlefield charges. Civil War cavalrymen performed reconnaissance, screened army movements, protected flanks, carried messages, guarded roads, fought enemy cavalry, raided communications and supply lines, and frequently fought dismounted as infantry. The 1st Maine Cavalry would become deeply involved in the campaigns of the Army of the Potomac. Early Civil War Service During 1862, Smith and the 1st Maine Cavalry participated in the difficult campaigns conducted across Virginia and Maryland. The regiment saw service during operations associated with battles and campaigns including Winchester, Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, and Fredericksburg. For Smith, these early campaigns provided extensive experience in mounted operations and field command. His performance led to advancement. On February 16, 1863, Smith was promoted to Major. Only a short time later, on March 26, 1863, he advanced again to Lieutenant Colonel. This rapid progression reflected the increasing responsibilities he was assuming within the 1st Maine Cavalry. Stoneman’s Raid and Brandy Station In the spring of 1863, Smith participated in the large Union cavalry operation commonly known as Stoneman’s Raid. Union cavalry moved behind Confederate lines with the intention of disrupting railroads, communications, and supply routes during the Chancellorsville Campaign. Although the raid did not achieve all of its strategic objectives, it marked an important stage in the evolution of Union cavalry from a primarily reconnaissance force into a more aggressive and independent combat arm. Smith continued to gain command experience. On June 9, 1863, Union and Confederate cavalry clashed at the enormous Battle of Brandy Station, one of the largest predominantly cavalry engagements fought on the North American continent. The fighting demonstrated that Union cavalry had become increasingly capable of challenging its Confederate counterparts directly. Only days later, however, the 1st Maine Cavalry suffered the loss of its commander. Colonel Calvin S. Douty was killed during the fighting at Aldie on June 17, 1863. Smith subsequently became the regiment’s senior commander and rose to the rank of Colonel. From that point forward, Charles Henry Smith’s name became closely associated with command of the 1st Maine Cavalry. Gettysburg Campaign and Continued Cavalry Service The summer of 1863 brought the Gettysburg Campaign. Smith and the 1st Maine Cavalry served through the Union cavalry operations surrounding the campaign and continued active service afterward as the armies maneuvered again across Virginia. The regiment remained heavily involved in cavalry duties during the remainder of 1863, including reconnaissance, screening, raids, and combat during the campaigns that followed Gettysburg. By the beginning of 1864, Smith was no longer simply an officer gaining battlefield experience. He was an experienced cavalry colonel responsible for leading a regiment that had already spent years in active campaigning. The most important period of his military career was still ahead. The Overland Campaign of 1864 In May 1864, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant began his relentless campaign against General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Union cavalry under Major General Philip Sheridan played a major role. The fighting brought Smith and the 1st Maine Cavalry into a succession of difficult mounted and dismounted engagements. Operations during this period included fighting connected with Todd’s Tavern, Haw’s Shop, Old Church, Cold Harbor, and the cavalry operations surrounding Grant’s advance toward the James River. The Union cavalry was increasingly operating as a powerful independent striking force rather than simply as scouts for the infantry armies. Smith was deeply involved in that transformation. Trevilian Station In June 1864, Sheridan launched a major cavalry raid toward central Virginia. The operation resulted in the Battle of Trevilian Station on June 11–12, one of the largest cavalry battles of the Civil War. Union and Confederate mounted forces fought fiercely around the railroad and surrounding countryside. The raid failed to accomplish all of Sheridan’s intended objectives, but his cavalry then had to make a difficult withdrawal while protecting a large movement of wounded men, supply trains, and other vulnerable elements. That withdrawal led directly to the battle that would define Charles Henry Smith’s military career. Battle of St. Mary’s Church — June 24, 1864 On June 24, 1864, Union cavalry encountered Confederate forces near St. Mary’s Church, Virginia. Smith was serving as Colonel of the 1st Maine Cavalry. The Union cavalry was attempting to protect its movement toward the James River while Confederate cavalry pressed aggressively against it. The resulting engagement became intense. Smith remained directly involved in the fighting with his regiment. During the battle he was severely wounded. For many officers, such an injury would have meant immediate evacuation from the field. Smith refused to leave. Despite the seriousness of his wound, he remained in the fight until the engagement was over. That decision became the basis of his Medal of Honor. The official citation would later summarize his action in remarkably few words: He remained in the fight to the close, although severely wounded. The citation is brief, but the significance is substantial. Smith was a regimental commander. Leaving the battlefield after being wounded would have been entirely understandable and medically justified. Instead, he continued exercising his responsibilities during a difficult cavalry battle until the fighting had reached its conclusion. His presence helped maintain leadership and continuity at a moment when his regiment was under severe pressure. The action demonstrated a particular form of battlefield courage: not a single spectacular charge or capture of an enemy flag, but the determination of a wounded commander to remain with his soldiers when his leadership was still needed. Continued Command and Brevet Promotion Smith survived his wounds and continued his military career. His conduct and broader wartime record brought higher command responsibilities. Later in 1864, he received recognition through brevet promotion to Brigadier General and served in brigade-level command. A brevet rank was an honorary or merit-based advancement frequently awarded during the Civil War for gallant or distinguished service. It did not always mean that an officer permanently held the full substantive authority or pay associated with that grade. Smith nevertheless increasingly performed responsibilities beyond regimental command. During the final campaigns of the war, he commanded cavalry formations as Union forces tightened their grip around Petersburg and Richmond. Final Campaign Against Lee By the spring of 1865, Confederate resistance around Richmond and Petersburg was collapsing. Union forces launched the campaign that eventually drove Lee’s army westward from Petersburg. Cavalry became critical during the pursuit. Smith served during the Appomattox Campaign, when Sheridan’s cavalry repeatedly moved to block Confederate escape routes, seize important road junctions, and prevent Lee from reaching supplies or joining other Confederate armies. The campaign included major actions around: Dinwiddie Court House Five Forks Sailor’s Creek and the final movements toward Appomattox Court House. At Five Forks on April 1, 1865, Union victory helped make the Confederate defenses at Petersburg untenable. Lee evacuated Richmond and Petersburg the following night. The pursuit continued westward. At Sailor’s Creek on April 6, large portions of the Confederate army were overwhelmed and captured. Three days later, on April 9, 1865, Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House. Smith had therefore entered the war as a captain commanding a cavalry company and reached its decisive conclusion as a veteran senior cavalry commander. Highest Wartime Rank Smith’s wartime service brought additional honorary advancement. His verified military record ultimately recognizes Brevet Major General as his highest rank. This creates the important distinction required for the project: Rank during Medal of Honor action: Colonel Highest Verified Rank: Brevet Major General The website Rank field should therefore remain: Brevet Major General while the St. Mary’s Church action must identify him as Colonel, 1st Maine Cavalry. Regular Army Career After the Civil War Unlike many volunteer officers who returned immediately to civilian life after the Civil War, Charles Henry Smith continued serving in the United States Army. He entered the postwar Regular Army and became associated with the 19th U.S. Infantry. This began a second phase of his military career. The large volunteer armies created during the Civil War were being disbanded, and the Regular Army returned to a much smaller peacetime establishment. Officers who remained in service faced different responsibilities from those of the great wartime campaigns. Smith nevertheless remained an Army officer for decades. His continued service meant that his military career extended from the opening period of the Civil War into the final decade of the nineteenth century. He eventually retired from active Army service in 1891, closing approximately three decades of military service. His permanent Regular Army rank at retirement should not be confused with the higher brevet Major General distinction earned through his wartime service. Medal of Honor Charles Henry Smith’s most prestigious recognition did not arrive during the Civil War itself. More than thirty years passed after the Battle of St. Mary’s Church. On April 11, 1895, Smith was formally awarded the Medal of Honor for his conduct on June 24, 1864. His official award record identified him as: Colonel, 1st Maine Cavalry and recognized his refusal to leave the battle despite suffering a severe wound. The award was made during his lifetime and was therefore: Not Posthumous For your database’s historical ribbon system, his correct Medal of Honor is: Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army — No device No V device, star, clasp, or other attachment should be added to his Medal of Honor. The decoration recognized a quality that characterized Smith’s wartime career: continued leadership while exposed to danger. Later Years After retirement from the Army, Smith lived in Washington, D.C. He remained connected with the military community and with veterans of the Civil War. Like many senior Union officers of his generation, he belonged to veteran organizations that preserved the history and fellowship of officers who had served during the conflict. His life had by then encompassed an extraordinary period of American military history. He had begun the Civil War commanding a company of volunteer cavalry. He rose through: Captain Major Lieutenant Colonel Colonel and ultimately received brevet recognition through the general-officer grades to: Brevet Major General. He survived numerous campaigns, commanded cavalry at regimental and higher levels, remained in action despite a severe battlefield wound, witnessed the destruction of Lee’s army, continued into the Regular Army, and finally received the Medal of Honor more than three decades after the action for which it was awarded. Death and Burial Charles Henry Smith died on July 17, 1902, in Washington, D.C. He was seventy-four years old. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, where his grave remains among those of thousands of American military veterans. His burial at Arlington was fitting for an officer whose adult life had been so closely associated with the United States Army. Legacy Charles Henry Smith’s military legacy is particularly significant because his Medal of Honor action represents the courage of command. At St. Mary’s Church, his duty was not simply to survive. He was responsible for soldiers fighting in a confused and violent cavalry engagement while Union forces attempted to complete a difficult withdrawal. When Smith was severely wounded, he had every legitimate reason to leave the battlefield. He chose not to. Instead, he remained with the fight through its conclusion. That act eventually brought him the Medal of Honor. But St. Mary’s Church was only one episode in a much larger military career. Smith served through some of the most important cavalry campaigns of the Civil War, rose from company command to regimental and higher leadership, took part in the final pursuit to Appomattox, received brevet advancement to Major General, and then devoted decades more to the Regular Army. His life therefore connects two distinct generations of U.S. Army history: the enormous volunteer armies that preserved the Union during the Civil War, and the smaller professional Regular Army that served the nation afterward.