Edmund Kirby Smith
He was the last Confederate general to surrender his forces, holding command over the vast, isolated Trans-Mississippi theater long after the Confederacy's collapse.
1824–1893 (age 69)·Confederate States Army general·Birthday: May 16
Biography
Edmund Kirby Smith's military career was defined by geography and a stubborn sense of duty. A West Point graduate and veteran of the Mexican-American War, he sided with his native Florida when the Civil War began, quickly rising to major general. His defining chapter came in 1863 when he took command of the Trans-Mississippi Department, a sprawling territory cut off from the eastern Confederacy after the Union seized the Mississippi River. From his headquarters in Shreveport, Louisiana, 'Kirby Smithdom' operated as a virtually independent nation, issuing its own currency and struggling to supply itself. While major battles raged in the East, his command became a backwater, yet he maintained a defiant stance. His surrender on June 2, 1865, came weeks after other Confederate armies had laid down their arms, marking the true end of organized Southern resistance. After the war, he shunned public life for a time before becoming a university professor and chancellor, a quiet postscript to a contentious command.
#1 When Edmund Was Born
The biggest hits of 1824
Edmund's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1824Born
1829Started school
1837Became a teenager
1840Could drive
1842Could vote
1845Turned 21
1854Turned 30
1864Turned 40
President: Abraham Lincoln
1874Turned 50
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1884Turned 60
President: Chester A. Arthur
1893Died at 69
World's Columbian Exposition dazzles Chicago
President: Grover Cleveland
Key Achievements
- Commanded the vast Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department from 1863 until the end of the Civil War.
- Was the last full general of the Confederacy to surrender his forces to Union authorities.
- Served as a professor of mathematics and later chancellor at the University of Nashville after the war.
Did You Know?
His command, the Trans-Mississippi Department, was so isolated it was often called 'Kirby Smithdom' by its inhabitants.
He was one of only eight men to hold the full rank of general in the Confederate States Army.
After the war, he fled to Cuba and then Mexico for a brief period before returning to the United States under an amnesty oath.
“I held the Trans-Mississippi Department by the authority vested in me.”
