Kirby-Smith, Edmund, 1824-1893

Edmund Kirby-Smith, son of General Edmund Kirby-Smith, was a citizen of the United States and an engineer by profession.

Confederate general, university chancellor, and mathematics professor from St. Augustine (St. John's Co.), Fla.

Captain Edmund Kirby Smith (1824-1893) was born on May 16, 1824, and was an American soldier who served in the Mexican-American War and later in the Confederate Army in the Civil War. Smith developed an interest in plant collecting during the U.S.-Mexico Boundary Survey when soldiers were urged to assist field naturalists. From 1852 until 1855, Smith collected plants with the survey under botanist and naturalist George Thurber. He later became involved in the telegraph business. From 1866-1868 he was president of the Pacific and Atlantic Telegraph Company. He also became president of the Western Military Academy in Tennessee, then chancellor of the University of Nashville from 1870-1875. Finally, he was a professor of mathematics at the University of the South at Sewanee from 1875-1893. He died on March 28, 1893.

Born in St. Augustine, Fla., E. Kirby-Smith attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., graduating in 1845. He served under Generals Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor during the Mexican War. Appointed a brigadier general in the Confederate Army during the U.S. Civil War, Kirby-Smith commanded a brigade in the Army of the Shenandoah and later the Army of East Tennessee. He was subsequently transferred west to command the Trans-Mississippi Department. In the spring of 1864 he defeated General Nathaniel Banks in the Red River Campaign. After the war Kirby-Smith was active in the telegraph business and in education, serving as professor of mathematics at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., from 1875 until his death in 1893.

Confederate general.

U.S. and Confederate Army officer, president of the University of Nashville, and professor of mathematics at the University of the South.

Educator and confederate army officer.

Edmund Kirby-Smith (1824-1893) was a United States and Confederate Army officer, president of the University of Nashville, and professor of mathematics at the University of the South.