Name | Charles Ross Smith [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7] | |
Title | Colonel | |
Born | 06 May 1829 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA [1, 5, 6, 7] |
Gender | Male | |
Civil War | March - July 1862 | Rappahannock River, Virginia |
The Peninsula Campaign (also known as the Peninsular Campaign) of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March through July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. The operation, commanded by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, was an amphibious turning movement against the Confederate States Army in Northern Virginia, intended to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond. McClellan was initially successful against the equally cautious General Joseph E. Johnston, but the emergence of the more aggressive General Robert E. Lee turned the subsequent Seven Days Battles into a humiliating Union defeat. McClellan landed his army at Fort Monroe and moved northwest, up the Virginia Peninsula. Confederate Brig. Gen. John B. Magruder's defensive position on the Warwick Line caught McClellan by surprise. His hopes for a quick advance foiled, McClellan ordered his army to prepare for a siege of Yorktown. Just before the siege preparations were completed, the Confederates, now under the direct command of Johnston, began a withdrawal toward Richmond. The first heavy fighting of the campaign occurred in the Battle of Williamsburg, in which the Union troops managed some tactical victories, but the Confederates continued their withdrawal. An amphibious flanking movement to Eltham's Landing was ineffective in cutting off the Confederate retreat. In the Battle of Drewry's Bluff, an attempt by the U.S. Navy to reach Richmond by way of the James River was repulsed. As McClellan's army reached the outskirts of Richmond, a minor battle occurred at Hanover Court House, but it was followed by a surprise attack by Johnston at the Battle of Seven Pines or Fair Oaks. The battle was inconclusive, with heavy casualties, but it had lasting effects on the campaign. Johnston was wounded by a Union artillery shell fragment on May 31 and replaced the next day by the more aggressive Robert E. Lee, who reorganized his army and prepared for offensive action in the final battles of June 25 to July 1, which are popularly known as the Seven Days Battles. | ||
Civil War | Dec 1862 | Fredericksburg, Virginia |
The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, between General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General Ambrose Burnside, as part of the American Civil War. The Union Army's futile frontal attacks on December 13 against entrenched Confederate defenders on the heights behind the city are remembered as one of the most one-sided battles of the war, with Union casualties more than three times as heavy as those suffered by the Confederates. A visitor to the battlefield described the battle to U.S. President Abraham Lincoln as a "butchery."[14] Burnside's plan was to cross the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg in mid-November and race to the Confederate capital of Richmond before Lee's army could stop him. Bureaucratic delays prevented Burnside from receiving the necessary pontoon bridges in time and Lee moved his army to block the crossings. When the Union army was finally able to build its bridges and cross under fire, urban combat in the city resulted on December 11–12. Union troops prepared to assault Confederate defensive positions south of the city and on a strongly fortified ridge just west of the city known as Marye's Heights. On December 13, the "grand division" of Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin was able to pierce the first defensive line of Confederate Lieutenant General Stonewall Jackson to the south, but was finally repulsed. Burnside ordered the grand divisions of Maj. Gens. Edwin V. Sumner and Joseph Hooker to make multiple frontal assaults against Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's position on Marye's Heights, all of which were repulsed with heavy losses. On December 15, Burnside withdrew his army, ending another failed Union campaign in the Eastern Theater. | ||
Civil War | Apr 1863 | Falmouth, Virginia |
Stoneman's raid was a cavalry operation led by General George Stoneman that preceded the start of the Battle of Chancellorsville in the American Civil War. Strategy General George Stoneman In April 1863, Major General Joseph Hooker put his army in motion to force Lee out of his Fredericksburg positions. He sent Major General George Stoneman's 10,000-strong cavalry to move between Lee and the Confederate capital, Richmond. Hooker expected Stoneman to sever Lee's line of supply by destroying the strategically vital Orange and Alexandria Railroad at the town of Gordonsville. This would, Hooker hoped, compel Lee to withdraw from Fredericksburg while cutting him off from supplies and transportation. Hooker also saw to it that John Buford was given an active field command and rode to battle in April 1863 with the Reserve Brigade, an organization that contained the majority of the Regular Army cavalry units serving in the east. | ||
Civil War | 9 Jun 1863 | Brandy Station, Virginia |
The Battle of Brandy Station, also called the Battle of Fleetwood Hill, was the largest predominantly cavalry engagement of the American Civil War, as well as the largest ever to take place on American soil.[3] It was fought on June 9, 1863, around Brandy Station, Virginia, at the beginning of the Gettysburg Campaign by the Union cavalry under Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton against Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate cavalry. Pleasonton launched a surprise dawn attack on Stuart's cavalry at Brandy Station. After an all-day fight in which fortunes changed repeatedly, the Federals retired without discovering Gen. Robert E. Lee's infantry camped near Culpeper. This battle marked the end of the Confederate cavalry's dominance in the East. From this point in the war, the Federal cavalry gained strength and confidence. | ||
Civil War | 28 May 1864 | Hanover County, Virginia |
The Battle of Haw's Shop[4] or Enon Church was fought on May 28, 1864, in Hanover County, Virginia, as part of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign against Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War. Grant abandoned the stalemate following the Battle of North Anna (May 23–26) by once again swinging widely around Lee's right flank, using the Pamunkey River to screen his movements to the southwest. Lee's army moved directly south and took up positions on the southern bank of Totopotomoy Creek. The Confederate general sent a cavalry force under Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton to collect intelligence about Grant's next moves. On May 28, Hampton's troopers encountered Union cavalry under Brig. Gen. David McM. Gregg. Fighting predominately dismounted and utilizing earthworks for protection, neither side achieved an advantage. Gregg was reinforced by two brigades of Brig. Gen. Alfred T.A. Torbert's division, and the brigade under Brig. Gen. George A. Custer launched a spirited attack just as Hampton was ordering his men to withdraw. The seven-hour battle was inconclusive, but it was the second significant cavalry engagement of the Overland Campaign and one of the bloodiest of the war. Both sides claimed victory. Union Cavalry Corps commander Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan bragged that his men had driven Hampton from the field and demonstrated the superiority of the Union cavalry. But Hampton had held up the Union cavalry for seven hours, prevented it from achieving its reconnaissance objectives, and had provided valuable intelligence to General Lee about disposition of Grant's army. | ||
Civil War | 11 Jun 1864 | Louisa County, Virginia |
The Battle of Trevilian Station (also called Trevilians) was fought on June 11–12, 1864, in Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign against Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Union cavalry under Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan fought against Confederate cavalry under Maj. Gens. Wade Hampton and Fitzhugh Lee in the bloodiest and largest all-cavalry battle of the war. Sheridan's objectives for his raid were to destroy stretches of the Virginia Central Railroad, provide a diversion that would occupy Confederate cavalry from understanding Grant's planned crossing of the James River, and to link up with the army of Maj. Gen. David Hunter at Charlottesville. Hampton's cavalry beat Sheridan to the railroad at Trevilian Station and on June 11 they fought to a standstill. Brig. Gen. George A. Custer entered the Confederate rear area and captured Hampton's supply train, but soon became surrounded and fought desperately to avoid destruction. On June 12, the cavalry forces clashed again to the northwest of Trevilian Station, and seven assaults by Brig. Gen. Alfred T. A. Torbert's Union division were repulsed with heavy losses. Sheridan withdrew his force to rejoin Grant's army. The battle was a tactical victory for the Confederates and Sheridan failed to achieve his goal of permanently destroying the Virginia Central Railroad or of linking up with Hunter. Its distraction, however, may have contributed to Grant's successful crossing of the James River. | ||
Died | 09 Nov 1897 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA [1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8] |
|
||
Buried | 12 Nov 1897 | Woodlands Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA [1, 2, 3, 6, 8] |
|
||
Person ID | I893 | Clark-Hart |
Last Modified | 24 Mar 2020 |
Father | John Correy Smith, b. 31 Oct 1784, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA , d. 22 Jan 1845, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (Age 60 years) | |
Mother | Matilda Wyckoff, b. 31 Mar 1792, Monmouth Co., New Jersey, USA , d. 30 Sep 1848, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (Age 56 years) | |
Married | 16 Dec 1812 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA [7] |
Family ID | F330 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
Family | Josephine Burr, b. Abt 1840, Pennsylvania, USA , d. 06 Sep 1902, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (Age 62 years) | |||||||
Married | 16 Apr 1861 | |||||||
Children |
|
|||||||
Last Modified | 15 Mar 2017 | |||||||
Family ID | F328 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
Event Map |
|
Photos | C Ross Smith - Civil War Cropped from a larger 1863 photo at Falmouth, VA with General Stoneman | |
1863 - Falmouth-Virginia - General George-Stoneman and staff - C Ross Smith from 6th PA Cavalry standing second from right.jpg 1863 - Falmouth-Virginia - General George-Stoneman and staff - C Ross Smith from 6th PA Cavalry standing second from right.jpg | ||
thumb_1864 Sep 18 - Special Orders - C Ross Smith Relieved of duties as Provost Marshall and mustered out.PNG thumb_1864 Sep 18 - Special Orders - C Ross Smith Relieved of duties as Provost Marshall and mustered out.PNG | ||
Service record of C Ross Smith and picture (antietam.aotw.org).PNG Service record of C Ross Smith and picture (antietam.aotw.org).PNG | ||
6thPA Cavalry-Camp Barcly. Meridan Hill, DC 6thPA Cavalry-Camp Barcly. Meridan Hill, DC | ||
6thPennsylvania-GettysburgMonument Monument to the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry -Gettysburg Battlefield | ||
C Ross Smith - headshot C Ross Smith - image from Antietam Website | ||
General Alfred Pleasonton and Staff, Warrenton, VA 1863 C Ross Smith, Chief of Staff, seated immediately to the general's left. | ||
Sheridan and staff 1864 C Ross Smith standing immediately behind the General ... more information about this image is at https://shenandoah1864.wordpress.com/2013/03/21/the-staff-of-maj-gen-philip-h-sheridan/ | ||
Colonel C Ross Smith Philadelphia - late 1800's | ||
1897 - Col C Ross Smith returns to work Philadelphia Inquirer 17 Sep 1897 | ||
Memoirs of P H Sheridan Book cover | ||
General Phillip Sheridan Served under Sheridan | ||
civil War - Battle of Haws Shop Major cavalry battle under Sheridan | ||
1859-C-Ross-Smith Philadelphia, PA | ||
1897 - Obituary of C Ross Smith Philadelphia, PA | ||
1897 - Obituary of C Ross Smith Indianapolis News 10 Nov 1897 page 1 - died of cancer | ||
1885 - Became Secretary of Commercial Exchange | ||
1897 - Board sympathies for death of Colonel C Ross Smith Philadelphia Inquirer Thursday, Nov 11, 1897 Philadelphia, PA Vol: 137 Issue: 134 Page: 2 | ||
1897 - Obituary of C Ross Smith Philadelphia Inquirer 10 Nov 1897 page 10 - died at 4PM | ||
1897 - C Ross Smith commercial exchange report Phila Inquirer 26 May 1897 page 6 | ||
1896 - Summer Cottage in Cape May, NJ Phila Inquirer 24 May 1896 | ||
1893 - C Ross Smith on Stockton Avenue, Cape May, NJ Inquirer 18 Jun 1893 - page 10 | ||
1897 - Trip to Lakewood for Easter Inquirer 18 April 1897 pg 32 | ||
1894 - Comments on grain prices Inquirer 30 Sep 1894 pg 4 | ||
1895 Directory of Commercial and Maritime Associations of Philadelphia C Ross Smith - Secretary of Commercial Exchange (from The hand book of the lower Delaware River; ports, tides, pilots, quarantine stations, light-house service, life-saving and maritime reporting stations (Internet Archive) |
Headstones | Find A Grave Woodlands Cemetery Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA Plot: Section N, Lot 267 |
Notes |
|
Sources |
|