Facts about Edmund Kirby Smith

1. 11

   A graduate of West Point in 1845, Edmund Kirby Smith was one of the last surviving full generals of the Confederacy when he died in 1893.

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2. 10

   Kirby Smith's 1871 appointment as chancellor of the University of the South made him responsible for rebuilding the institution after its Civil War closure and financial devastation.

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3. 09

   Kirby Smith's February 1862 victory at the Battle of Valverde in New Mexico secured Confederate control of that territory during the brief New Mexico Campaign.

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4. 08

   Kirby Smith's final Confederate surrender in Galveston, Texas on June 2, 1865, occurred nearly two months after Lee's surrender at Appomattox, making it the last general capitulation east of the Mississippi River.

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5. 07

   After his surrender in 1865, Edmund Kirby Smith was briefly imprisoned at Fort Warren in Boston before being released on parole in November of that year.

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6. 06

   During the Mexican-American War, Captain Edmund Kirby Smith served in General Zachary Taylor's army and participated in the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma in 1846.

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7. 05

   Before the Civil War, Edmund Kirby Smith taught mathematics at West Point from 1855 to 1861, instructing future officers on both sides of the conflict.

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8. 04

   At the Battle of Shiloh on April 6-7, 1862, Edmund Kirby Smith commanded a division under Albert Sidney Johnston, earning commendation for his tactical performance.

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9. 03

   Edmund Kirby Smith served as president of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee from 1870 until his death in 1893, making him a prominent educator during Reconstruction.

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10. 02

    General Edmund Kirby Smith commanded the Trans-Mississippi Department from 1863 until the Confederacy's collapse in 1865, governing territory spanning Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri.

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11. 01

    In 1861, Edmund Kirby Smith became the first full general appointed by the Confederate States, earning his rank before Robert E. Lee.

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