D. Howard Smith papers, 1854-1890.

ArchivalResource

Smith, D. Howard, 1821-1889. D. Howard Smith papers, 1854-1890.

D. Howard Smith papers, 1854-1890.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/41208656

This collection contains correspondence and other personal papers of D. Howard Smith, a Confederate colonel who served with John Hunt Morgan and was Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts and a state legislator. The collection primarily consists of correspondence, with some other documents present. The material dating before the war largely deals with politics, family matters, and business interests. Also included in the collection are letters exchanged between Smith and his wife, Josephine, during his confinement as a prisoner of war and letters written by Smith on his return to active duty after his release. There is also some official military correspondence. Postwar items include Smith's pardon, signed by President Andrew Johnson, and some political correspondence, much of which concerns Smith's efforts to remove his political disabilities resulting from his Confederate service. The largest and most significant portion of the postwar correspondence relates to lingering controversies from the war. Smith was apparently often attacked on the grounds of being responsible for the robbery of the Mount Sterling bank in 1864 and failing to attempt a rescue of Morgan in Greeneville. Some references to his war service are included in the postwar correspondence arranged chronologically and in the three special subject folders included in the collection. These subject folders are devoted to a letter Smith sent his former comrade in arms, General Basil Duke, on Duke's history of Morgan's cavalry; the robbery in Mount Sterling and other controversial raids; and Morgan's death. Some family correspondence dating after Smith's death is included in the collection, generally written to or by D. Howard Smith, Jr.

.5 cubic ft.

Kentucky Historical Society, Martin F. Schmidt Research Library