Persifor Frazer Smith

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For the Pennsylvania politician and lawyer, see Persifor Frazer Smith (politician).
Persifor Frazer Smith
6th Military Governor of California
In office
February 28, 1849 – April 12, 1849
Preceded byRichard Barnes Mason
Succeeded byBennet C. Riley
Personal details
Born(1798-11-16)November 16, 1798
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedMay 17, 1858(1858-05-17) (aged 59)
Leavenworth, Kansas, U.S.
Resting placeLaurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Spouses
Frances Jeanette Bureau
​
​
(m. 1822; died 1852)​
Anne Monica Millard Armstrong
​
​
(m. 1854)​
ChildrenHoward Smith (first marriage)
ProfessionSoldier
Military service
AllegianceUnited States United States of America
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1836–1838
1846–1858
Rank Brigadier General
Bvt. Major General
CommandsU.S. Regiment of Mounted Riflemen
P.F. Smith's Brigade
Pacific Division
Department of the West
Battles/wars

Persifor Frazer Smith (November 16, 1798 – May 17, 1858) was an American military officer. He served as an officer in the Louisiana State militia and as Louisiana State adjutant general. He led a regiment of Louisiana volunteers during the Second Seminole War. He served in the United States Army during the Mexican–American War and commanded the Pacific Division from 1848 to 1849 including as the 6th Military Governor of California from February to April 1849. He commanded the Department of Texas from 1850 to 1856 and the Department of the West from 1856 to 1858 during the Bleeding Kansas conflict. In 1858, he was appointed commander of the Department of Utah with orders to quell the Mormon Rebellion, but died at Fort Leavenworth before he could take command.

Early life and education[edit]

Smith was born on November 16, 1798, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Jonathan and Mary Ann (Frazer) Smith. In 1815, he graduated from the College of New Jersey (now known as Princeton University) and studied law.

Career[edit]

In 1819, he moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, built a successful law practice and served in several elected offices.[1] He was active in local militia activities and put in charge of a company and a battalion of Louisiana militia. After his political ally, Edward D. White Sr. was elected governor, Smith was appointed state adjutant general.[2] On February 2, 1836, he was elected colonel of a Louisiana volunteer regiment that served in the Seminole Wars from 1836 to 1838.[3] His service impressed Generals Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor and he remained in Florida and led a Pennsylvania volunteer regiment after the Louisiana volunteers returned home.[1] After the war, he served as a judge in Lafayette, Louisiana, and Jefferson Parish.[3]

At the onset of the Mexican–American War, he was made brigadier general of Louisiana volunteers on May 15, 1846, and accepted a commission as colonel in the United States Army on May 27, 1846. He commanded a brigade in Zachary Taylor's forces during the Battle of Monterrey. He was brevetted brigadier general on September 23, 1846, and joined Winfield Scott's army as commander of the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division. He led his brigade at the battles of Veracruz, Cerro Gordo, and Contreras. He was brevetted major general for actions at Contreras and fought in the battles for Mexico City. He served on the armistice commission and then as military governor of Mexico City.[3] After the war, he became knowns as "the hero of Contreras".[1] He was an original member of the Aztec Club of 1847 and served as president rom 1848 to 1851.[4]

After the war, Smith commanded the Pacific Division from 1848 to 1849 including as the 6th Military Governor of California from February to April 1849.[5] He sent relief parties across the Sierra Nevada in the fall of 1849 to meet the last arrivals in the emigration, saving many lives.[6]

Smith commanded the Department of Texas from 1850 to 1856,[3] wherein he selected the site for Fort Davis[7] and issued orders for the establishment of Fort Lancaster. In 1856, Smith was appointed commander of the Department of the West in St. Louis, Missouri.[3] He served during the Bleeding Kansas conflict, which included the sacking of Lawrence by proslavery forces in May 1856, the Pottawatomie massacre by John Brown and other abolitionists at month's end, Col. E.V. Sumner's forcible dispersal of the territorial legislature on July 4, 1856, the Battle of Osawatomie in August 1856, and following the installation of a new territorial governor, the Marais des Cygnes massacre in May 1858. Obeying the request of Territorial Governor Wilson Shannon, a proslavery sympathizer in the process of being removed from office, in September 1856, General Smith sent 1,300 troops to protect the Lecompton territorial capital from a threatened attack by freesoilers.

He was promoted to brigadier general on December 30, 1856 and was appointed to command the Department of Utah to suppress the Mormon uprising but never took command. He died on May 17, 1858, at Leavenworth, Kansas,[3] while trying to quell a disturbance. He was interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.[3]

Personal life[edit]

His maternal grandfather was Revolutionary War figure Persifor Frazer.[8] Smith's cousin, also named Persifor Frazer Smith, was a well-known lawyer in Philadelphia. Other notable relatives include his cousin, Joseph Smith Harris.

Smith married his first wife, Frances Jeanette Bureau, in 1822.[9] Their only child, Howard Smith, became a physician and surgeon. After his first wife died in 1852, Smith married Anne Monica Millard Armstrong, mother of Confederate Army general Frank Crawford Armstrong.[3]

His son, Dr. Howard Smith, who practiced medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana, most of his career, served on the staff of C.S.A. General Kirby Smith, and his stepson, Frank Crawford Armstrong, rose to brigadier general in the Confederate States Army.[10]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Persifor Frazer Smith". libraries.uta.edu. The University of Texas Arlington. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  2. ^ Knetsch, Joe. ""All His Wants Should be Promptly Supplied" Persifor F. Smith and the Caloosahatchee River Campaign of 1837-38". digitalcommons.usf.edu. Sunland Tribune. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Cutrer, Thomas W. "Smith, Persifor Frazer". www.tshaonline.org. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  4. ^ [1] Aztec Club of 1847 website. [2] List of Past Presidents. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  5. ^ Bandini, Helen Elliott (1908). History of California. New York: American Book Company. p. 292. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  6. ^ Josiah Royce, California, Berkeley: Heyday Books, 2002, p. 192 et seq.
  7. ^ "Fort Davis". Archived from the original on 2006-05-05. Retrieved 2005-12-01.
  8. ^ Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J. H. Beers & Co., 1914; Pp. 489–496.
  9. ^ Ball, Durwood (2001). Army regulators on the Western Frontier, 1848-1861. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 67. ISBN 0-8061-3312-0. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  10. ^ Black, Robert W., Cavalry Raids of the Civil War (2004)

External links[edit]

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