The son of an Army surgeon, he was born at Philadelphia. He entered West Point on July 1, 1820 and graduated 19th in his class on July 1, 1825, receiving a brevet to 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd Artillery, and commission as 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd Artillery, July 1, 1825. He served in garrison at Ft. Delaware, DE, 1825-1827 and at Augusta Arsenal, GA, 1827-1829 before returning to the Military Academy, 1829-1842, as Assistant Instructor of Infantry Tactics, June 25, 1829-September 1, 1831, as Adjutant, September 1, 1832-April 1, 1838. He was promoted to 1st Lieutenant, 2nd Artillery, May 30, 1832.

He was in the Florida War, against the Seminole Indians, 1840-1841, being engaged in the Expedition into the Everglades, December 3-24, 1840; as Adjutant, 2nd Dragoons, at Regimental Headquarters, June 1, 1841-April 16, 1842; on Recruiting Service, 1842; as Adjutant, 2nd Dragoons, at Regimental Headquarters, September 17, 1842-April 1, 1846; at Ft. Jesup, LA, 1842-1843; Ft. Washita, Indian Territory, 1843- 1844; Ft. Jesup, LA, 1844-1845; in the Military Occupation of Texas, 1845-1846; and on Recruiting Service, 1846. He was promoted to Captain, 2nd Dragoons, February 16, 1847.

Smith continued at West Point as Commandant of Cadets and Instructor of Infantry Tactics, April 1, 1838-September 1, 1842. He received a promotion to Captain, 2nd Artillery, July 7, 1838.

He served in garrison at Ft. Columbus, NY, 1843-1844 and at Frankford Arsenal, PA, 1844-1845 before being transferred in the Military Occupation of Texas, 1845-1846. He was in the War with Mexico, being engaged in the Battle of Palo Alto, May 8, 1846 and Battle of Resaca- de-la-Palma, May 9, 1846. Smith received a brevet to Major, May 9, 1846, for gallant and distinguished conduct in the Battles of Palo Alto and Resaca-de-la-Palma, TX.

He was next engaged in the Battle of Monterey, September 21-23, 1846, and was breveted to Lieutenant Colonel, September 23, 1846, for gallant conduct in the several conflicts at Monterey, Mexico.

Smith was in command of the storming party which carried Federation Hill; at the Siege of Vera Cruz, March 9-29, 1847; Battle of Cerro Gordo, April 17-18, 1847; Skirmish of Amazoque, May 14, 1847; Capture of San Antonio, August 20, 1847 and Battle of Churubusco, August 20, 1847. He was breveted to Colonel, August 20, 1847, for gallant and meritorious conduct in the Battles of Contreras and Churubusco.

Charles Ferguson Smith
Taken During the Mexican War
Courtesy of the Schultz Collection

He was next engaged in the Storming of Chapultepec, September 13, 1847 and the Assault and Capture of the City of Mexico, September 13- 14, 1847. Smith was in command of Light Infantry Battalion, May 1- November 3, 1847, and of the Police Guard of the City of Mexico, September, 1847-June 4, 1848.

He was on garrison duty at Ft. Marion, FL, 1849; as a Member of a Board of Officers, 1849-1851, to devise "A Complete System of Instruction for Siege, Garrison, Seacoast and Mountain Artillery", which was adopted May 10, 1851, for the service of the United States. He served as President of a Board of Claims for supplies, etc., furnished by Colonel Fremont, in 1846, to California Volunteers, September 7, 1852-April 3, 1855. Smith was promoted to Major, 1st Artillery, November 25, 1854 and Lieutenant Colonel, 10th Infantry, March 3, 1855.

After duty in garrison at Carlisle Barracks, PA, 1855, Smith was assigned Frontier Duty at: Ft. Snelling, MN, 1855; Ft. Crawford, WI, 1855-1856; Ft. Snelling, WI, 1856; in command of Expedition to the Red River of the North, 1856; Ft. Snelling, WI, 1856-1857; and the Utah Expedition, 1857-1861, being in command of the Department of Utah, February 29, 1860-February 28, 1861.

Smith served during the Rebellion in command of the Department of Washington, April 10-28, 1861 and as Superintendent of the General Recruiting Service at Ft. Columbus, NY, April 28-August 19, 1861. He was promoted to Brigadier-General, U. S. Volunteers, August 31, 1861, and placed in command of the Department of Western Kentucky, headquartered at Paducah, KY, September 8, 1861-January 31, 1862. He was promoted to Colonel, 3rd Infantry, September 9, 1861.

In the Tennessee Campaign of 1862, he was engaged in the operations about Ft. Henry, February 4-6, 1862 and the Assault and Capture of Ft. Donelson, February 13-16, 1862, under two of his former pupils, Grant and Sherman, both of whom are reported to have felt considerable diffidence in giving him an order. During the engagement of Fort Donelson, Smith had command of a division of Grant's forces and personally led a charge which was largely responsible for the subsequent surrender of the place an exploit which earned for Grant the nickname of "Unconditional Surrender". Grant later credited Smith with his success, stating: "I owe my success at Donelson emphatically to him."

General Halleck, Commander of the Department, telegraphed McClellan:

"Brigadier-General Charles F. Smith, by his coolness and bravery at Fort Donelson when the battle was against us, turned the tide and carried the enemy's outworks; make him a Major-General. You can't get a better one."

Charles Ferguson Smith
During the Civil War

Smith was promoted to Major-General, U. S. Volunteers, March 21, 1862; and in command of the advance upon Shiloh, March, 1862. He wrote:

"This whole force is utterly demoralized by victory. There seems to be neither head nor tail. The utter want of discipline seems to me to be something marvelous, and yet I must have to go far into the bowels of the earth with these men. . .You shall hear a good account of me or of my death."

When the expedition had arrived at Savannah, TN, Smith, in jumping from his steamer into a yawl, missed his foothold and badly injured the bone in his lower right leg. He could not ride a horse or even walk and was carried to the battlefield in an ambulance. Notwithstanding his painful agony he made a reconnaissance of the river up to Chickasaw Bluff. An infection and dysentery exacerbated his illness. Before the end of March he was bedridden and underwent an operation. "This, with his debility caused by a cold taken at Donelson, continued harassing his exertion, bad climate, supervening erysipelas, and poisonous drugs, completely sapped his vital energy." He died April 25, 1862 at Grant's Headquarters, Savannah, Tennessee. He was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia.

There has been much conjecture of what might have been had Smith commanded at Shiloh rather than his former pupil. William Tecumseh Sherman later wrote:

"Had C. F. Smith lived, Grant would have disappeared to history after Donelson."

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