Smith, Edmund Kirby (1824-1893), was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. He led troops in the first Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) as a brigadier general in 1861 and in the Kentucky campaign as a major general in 1862. In 1863, he took command of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department. He became a full general in 1864. Smith was the last Southern general to surrender a major force after the war ended in 1865.
Smith was born on May 16, 1824, in St. Augustine, Florida. He received his mother’s maiden name, Kirby, as his middle name. The family name later became Kirby-Smith. Smith graduated from the United States Military Academy and fought in the Mexican War (1846-1848). He died on March 28, 1893. A statue of Smith represented Florida in the U.S. Capitol from 1922 to 2021.
