Class of 1834

Richard Somers Smith: Born Oct. 30, 1813, Philadelphia, PA.​a

Military History. — Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1829, to July 1, 1834, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to

Bvt. Second Lieut., 2d Infantry, July 1, 1834.

Served on Topographical duty, July 17, 1834, to Oct. 19, 1836.

Resigned, Oct. 19, 1836.

Civil History. — Asst. Engineer, Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, Pa., 1836‑37, — of Charleston, S. C., Louisville, Ky., and Cincinnati, O., projected Railroad, 1837‑38, — and of Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 1839‑40.

Military History. — Re-appointed in the U. S. Army with the rank of

Second Lieut., 7th Infantry, Dec. 31, 1840.

Served: at the Military Academy, 1840‑55, as Asst. Teacher of Drawing, Feb. 26, 1840, to Aug. 8, 1846, — Asst. Professor of Drawing, Aug. 8,

(First Lieut., 7th Infantry, Apr. 19, 1846)

 p583 1846, to July 1, 1852, — Principal Asst. Professor of Drawing, July 1,

(Transferred to 4th Artillery, Aug. 31, 1848)

1852, to Sep. 1, 1855, — Quartermaster, Dec. 1, 1846, to Jan. 31, 1851, and Apr. 1, 1851, to Sep. 1, 1855, — and Treasurer, Jan. 24, 1852, to Sep. 1, 1855.

Resigned, Jan. 13, 1856.

Civil History. — Professor of Mathematics, Engineering, and Drawing, Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute, N. Y., 1855‑59. Director of Cooper Institute, New York city, 1859‑61. Degree of A. M. conferred by Columbia College, N. Y., 1857. Author of "Manual of Topographical Drawing," 1853, — and of "Manual of Linear Perspective," 1857.

Military History. — Re-appointed in the U. S. Army with the rank of

Major, 12th Infantry, May 14, 1861.

Served during the Rebellion of the Seceding States, 1861‑63: as Mustering and Disbursing Officer in Maryland, July 24 to Dec. 30, 1861, — and at Madison, Wis., Jan. 1 to Dec. 15, 1862; in the Rappahannock Campaign (Army of the Potomac), commanding regiment, Dec., 1862, and brigade, Dec., 1862 to May, 1863, being engaged in the Battle of Chancellorsville, Va., May 2‑4, 1863.

Resigned, May 30, 1863.

Civil History. — President of Girard College, at Philadelphia, 1863‑67. Professor of Mathematics in the United States Naval Academy, at Annapolis, Md., 1870‑73; and of Drawing, 1873‑77.

Died, Jan. 23, 1877, at Annapolis, Md.: Aged 64.

Buried, United States Naval Academy Cemetery, Annapolis, MD.