| Notes |
- Gustavas was a West Point cadet when he and Lucretia married.
The Confederate War Department
Gustavus Woodson Smith
(January 1, 1822 - June 24, 1896)
Gustavus Woodson Smith was born to Asa Smith (March 19, 1797 - June
18, 1864) and Ann Rhodes Thompson (November 18, 1799 - March 4, 1872) on
January 1, 1822 in Georgetown, Scott County, Kentucky. He graduated eighth in
his class from United States Military Academy at West Point in Orange County,
New York in 1842. Assigned to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, he beca
involved in the construction of fortifications. It was during this period that
he met Lucretia Bassett (May 19, 1822 - February 4, 1881) of New London, New
London County, Connecticut and they were married on October 3, 184
During the Mexican War (1846-1848), he was brevetted to Captain for
exemplary service and gallantry in the campaigns of Vera Cruz (March 9-29,
1847) and Cerro Gordo (April 17-18, 1847). Thereafter, he became Principal
Assistant Professor of Engineering at West Point, until he resigned from the
Army, December 18, 1854. He continued to apply his engineering skills in
civilian life, working for Cooper & Hewitt of New York, and he also served as
a street commissioner for New York City.
He was commissioned a major general in the Confederate Army on
September 17, 1861 and soon given command of Second Corps of Army of Potomac
(Confederate). From March 23, 1862 to April 18, 1862, he was responsible for
the administration of Aquia District of Department of Northern Virginia.
During the Peninsula Campaign (March 17, 1862 - August 13, 1862), he commanded
the reserves and was in charge of the rear guard of the Army's retreat towards
Richmond. When Gen. Joseph Eggleston Johnston (February 3, 1807 - March 21,
1891) was wounded in the Battle of Seven Pines (May 31 - June 1, 1862), he
temporarily assumed command of the Army, until Gen. Robert Edward Lee (January
19, 1807 - October 12, 1870) relieved him the following day. He was then
assigned as the ranking officer in defense of Richmond on August 30, 1862,
which was expanded and designated Department of Virginia and North Carolina on
September 19, 1862.
When George Wythe Randolph (March 10, 1818 - April 3, 1867) resigned,
he served as Secretary of War (Ad Interim) (November 17, 1862 - November 21,
1862), until James Alexander Seddon (July 13, 1816 - August 19, 1880)
officially took office.
On February 7, 1863 he resigned his commission, but was later
appointed Major General in the Georgia Militia and actively organized
conscription efforts in that state. He served admirably in defense of t
region between Atlanta and Savannah, providing perhaps the only "real"
resistance to Sherman's "March To The Sea." Smith and his troops were captured
at Macon, Bibb County, Georgia on April 20, 1865.
After the war, he was Superintendent of Southwestern Iron Works in
Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee from 1866 to 1870, before serving as
an insurance commissioner in Kentucky until 1876. He then moved to New York
City, and wrote books on insurance and his military experiences until he died
on June 24, 1896. Smith is buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery in New London, New
London County, Connecticut, in his wife's family section.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1822 - 1896 (74 years)
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