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 accept and wear the crosses of the royal orders of Carlos III and San Fernando of Spain, given to him by the king for his services in the Peninsula, particularly at the defence of Tarifa. On 28 April 1815 he was appointed commanding royal engineer of the Sussex military district. On 4 June he was made a companion of the order of the Bath, military division. He received the gold medal with clasp for Vittoria and San Sebastian. The previous pension of 100l. for his wounds at Martinique was increased to 300l. a year on 18 June 1815, as he had partially lost the sight of an eye in the Peninsula.

On 19 June 1815 Smith joined the British army in Belgium as commanding royal engineer of the second corps, marched with it to Paris, and took part in the entry into that city on 7 July. He was one of the officers selected by the Duke of Wellington to take over the French fortresses to be occupied by the British. He remained with the army of occupation and commanded the engineers at Vincennes. He was one of the officers who introduced stage-coaches-and-four into Paris. The coaches used to meet opposite Demidoff's house, afterwards the Café de Paris. He was also a great supporter of the turf, and was the first to import English thoroughbred horses for racing. His trainer was Tom Hurst, afterwards of Chantilly. He organised races at Vincennes, and the racing there was considerably superior to that under royal patronage in the Champ de Mars. Smith was a noted duellist, and was equally at home with rapier, sabre, and pistol. Although never seeking a quarrel, he never permitted an insult, and he killed three Frenchmen in duels during his stay in Paris. He was also an expert boxer. He returned to England on 8 Nov. 1818.

Smith was employed in the south of England as commanding royal engineer until 1 Jan. 1823, when he was appointed commanding royal engineer in the West Indies, with headquarters at Barbados. With eleven different island colonies occupied by troops, he had only five officers of royal engineers under him, and was obliged to supplement his staff by making eleven officers of the line assistant engineers. A commission sent from England in 1823 to report on requirements in the West Indies recommended the addition of fourteen military engineers to the establishment to enable the work to be properly carried out. Smith was promoted to be lieutenant-colonel in the royal engineers on 29 July 1825, and to be colonel in the army on 22 July 1830. During the fourteen consecutive years which he passed in the West Indies he was acting governor of Trinidad in 1828, in 1830, and during the whole of 1831. In 1833 he was acting governor of Demerara and Berbice, and in 1834 of St. Lucia. He commanded the forces in the West Indies from June 1836 to February 1837. He was promoted to be colonel in the royal engineers on 10 Jan. 1837. He received the thanks of Lord Hill, the general commanding-in-chief, for his exercise of military command in the West Indies.

On 8 May 1837 Smith was appointed commanding royal engineer at Gibraltar, where in 1838 he was acting governor and commanded the forces. He returned to England in the summer of 1840 to go on particular service to Syria, for which duty he had been specially selected. He embarked in the Pique frigate on 9 Aug. 1840, arriving at Beyrout on 1 Sept. A landing was effected on the 10th, but Smith was too ill to take active command. He was invested, by imperial firman dated 30 Sept. 1840, with the command of the Sultan's army in Syria, and on 9 Oct. following was given by the British government the local rank of major-general in Syria in command of the allied land forces. After a bombardment Beyrout surrendered on 11 Oct. On 3 Nov. Smith took part in the attack on, and capture of, St. Jean d'Acre, where he was severely wounded. Upon him devolved the duty of repairing the injuries done to the fortifications by the British fire and of putting the place in a state of defence again, in addition to the adoption of measures for the temporary administration of the pashalic of Acre.

Smith returned to his command at Gibraltar in March 1841. For his services in Syria he received the thanks of both houses of parliament and also of the government, through Lord Palmerston; the sultan presented him with the Nishan Ichtatha and diamond medal and sword. He was granted one year's pay for his wound at St. Jean d'Acre. He was promoted to be major-general in the army on 23 Nov. 1841, returned home from Gibraltar on 15 May 1842, and was made a knight commander of the Bath (military division) on 27 Sept. 1843.

On 1 June 1847 Smith was granted the silver medal, then bestowed upon surviving officers of the wars from 1806 to 1814 for their services. He had also a clasp for Martinique, and received the naval medal for Syria. He was employed on special service as a major-general on the staff in Ireland during the disturbances of 1848. He was promoted to be lieutenant-general on 11 Nov. 1851, and colonel-commandant of the corps of royal engineers on 6 March 1856. He died at Worthing, Sussex, on 11 Aug. 1858.