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 [decorative delimiter] Class of 1826

Vol. I
p385
469

(Born Ct.)

E. Kirby Smith​a

(Ap'd Fla.)

41

Ephraim Kirby Smith: Born 1807.

Military History. — Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1822, to July 1, 1826, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to

Bvt. Second Lieut., 2d Infantry, July 1, 1826.

Second Lieut., 5th Infantry, July 1, 1826.

Served: in garrison at Sackett's Harbor, N. Y., 1827; on frontier duty at Ft. Howard, Wis., 1827‑28, 1828‑29, — Ft. Mackinac, Mich., 1829‑30.

 p386  Dismissed, Oct. 6, 1830, for Inflicting Corporal Punishment on Mutinous Soldiers, and Reinstated, Apr. 26, 1832.

Served: on frontier duty at Ft. Howard, Wis., 1832‑33, — and Ft.

(First Lieut., 5th Infantry, Mar. 4, 1833)

Dearborn, Ill., 1833; on Recruiting service, 1833‑36; on frontier duty at Ft. Dearborn, Ill., 1836, — Ft. Howard, Wis., 1836‑37, — Ft. Snelling, Min., 1837‑38, — Ft. Winnebago, Wis., 1838, 1839‑41, — and Detroit,

(Captain, 5th Infantry, July 7, 1838)

Mich., 1841‑45; in Military Occupation of Texas, 1845‑46; in the War with Mexico, 1846, 1846‑47, being engaged in the Battle of Palo Alto, May 8, 1846, — Battle of Resaca-de‑la‑Palma, May 9, 1846, — Siege of Vera Cruz, Mar. 9‑29, 1847, — on Expedition to Alvarado to procure provisions and draught animals, Apr., 1847, — Capture of San Antonio, Aug. 20, 1847, — Battle of Churubusco, Aug. 20, 1847, — and Battle of Molino del Rey, Sep. 8, 1847, where he was Mortally Wounded in leading the Light Infantry Battalion under his command to the assault of a battery of the enemy.​b

Died of Wounds, Sep. 11, 1847, near the City of Mexico: Aged 40.


Thayer's Notes:

a Ephraim Kirby Smith is not to be confused with his more famous brother, Indicates a West Point graduate, Class of 1845: a link to his biographical entry in Cullum's Register.Edmund Kirby Smith, also frequently referred to as E. Kirby Smith.

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b Twenty-four of his letters to his wife from the Mexican War have been published as To Mexico with Scott: letters of Captain E. Kirby Smith to his wife (Harvard University Press, 1917); he wrote the last of them, a long one, the day before he was killed. A photocopy of the book is online at Archive.Org.


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