| Algernon Smith |
Article Index for Algernon |
Shopping Algernon |
Website Links For Algernon |
Information AboutAlgernon Smith |
|
Smith was born in the state of New York , where he attended Hamilton College. In June of 1862 during the American Civil War , he enlisted in Company K, 7th United States Regular Infantry. He became a Lieutenant in the 117th New York Infantry until October of 1863 when he assigned to Major General Alfred Terry as an Aide-de-camp . He was severely wounded at Fort Fisher in January of 1865 . He was later breveted to Major for his actions in the war. After the war, in 1867 , Smith was appointed a 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment under George Armstrong Custer . He soon became friends with Custer, and was part of the so-called "Custer Clan" or "Custer Gang" of close-knit friends and relatives of the General. Custer called him "Fresh" Smith, the opposite of "Salty" Smith. He married Nettie B. Bowen on October 10 , 1867 at her home in Newport, New York . Smith served in the 1868 Washita Campaign, seeing his first action against the Native Americans . He was promoted to First Lieutenant on December 5 , 1868 . He participated in most the 7th Cavalry's campaigns, including the 1873 Yellowstone campaign and as Assistant Quartermaster in the 1874 Black Hills expedition. He was named as commander of Company E and was killed in the Battle Of The Little Bighorn . His body was not found among his men, but instead was discovered with Custer in the small knot of dead troops on the "Final Stand Hill." Smith was given a hasty burial on the battlefield. He was reinterred in 1877 in the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas . His widow survived until 1903 . SOURCES
|
|
|