Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 3.djvu/1250

1172 Fredericksburg. In the latter desperate struggle, on December 13, 1862, he was badly wounded, losing his left arm, and receiving a severe wound in the left leg from a piece of shell. He was incapacitated for further service with his battery, but when he was able to render less exacting duty he received a commission from the secretary of war as lieutenant, and was assigned to the staff of Gen. Arnold Elzey, then in command of the department of Richmond. Finding little to do in this position he entered the chief quartermaster's department of Richmond, Va., and in the spring of 1864 reported to General Winder, provost marshal, with whom he served four or five months. Subsequently he was assigned to duty as second lieutenant of the President's Guard, and in this capacity he served at the home of President Davis until Richmond was evacuated. He then accompanied the presidential party southward, having military charge of the railroad train from Richmond to Danville, and continued with the party until the guard was disbanded at Washington, Ga., May 3, 1865. On that date he received the following letter by order of the president, which expresses better than anything which can be written now, the character of the service which he had rendered:

Washington, Ga., May 3, 1865. Lieutenant Smith, President's Guard. My Dear Sir: The president, owing to his heavy duties now preventing him acknowledging your valuable services under his hand, requests me to express to you his earnest and heartfelt thanks to you and to the men now under your command. For the sufferings undergone in behalf of your country at this trying moment he will entertain a grateful memory. You have been zealous, steadfast, and brave, in times of trial. He now bids you an affectionate adieu. Very truly and respectfully. Your obedient servant, Wm. Preston Johnston, Col. and A. D. C.

Lieutenant Smith was paroled at Augusta, Ga., May 7th, by Major-General Upton, and he then returned to Richmond, where he resumed a business career. In these pursuits he has prospered and is now engaged in dealing in railroad supplies. He is a member of R. E. Lee camp, Confederate Veterans, and of the Howitzer association, of which he has held the office of president.

Herbert L. Smith, since the war an influential citizen of Norfolk, was born in that county March 4, 1842. His grandfather, Arthur Smith, was a native of Nansemond county, and his father, Dr. Arthur R. Smith, was born at Suffolk in December, 1803. The latter, a well-known physician, acted as a surgeon in the service of the Confederate States from 1863 to 1865 at the Stewart hospital, Richmond, and died in 1866 at Catonsville, Md. Dr. Smith was wedded to Jane E. Herbert, daughter of James Edward Herbert, of Norfolk county. She survived until December, 1895. Their son, Herbert L., was reared in Norfolk county until 1856 when the family removed to Portsmouth, where he was educated at Webster's military institute. In April, 1861, he entered the Confederate service as a private in the Old Dominion Guards, commanded by Capt. Edward Kerns, and did duty at Pinner's Point until the evacuation of Norfolk and Portsmouth. On May 9, 1862, he secured a transfer to the cavalry, and became a private in Burroughs' battalion, afterward known as the Fifteenth Virginia cavalry regiment and still later as the Fifth cavalry. In Company