W. Robert Beckman - Carrying the Colors: The Life and Legacy of Medal of Honor Recipient Andrew Jackson Smith

CARUTH SMITH WASHINGTON had a simple request, or so it seemed: she wanted someone to write about the life of her father, Andrew Andy Jackson Smith. He had bequeathed documents containing the basics of a fascinating story of his service in a black Civil War regiment and the denial of a Medal of Honor. In 1984, Caruth organized these papers into an album with commentary to produce her own, short account of Andy Smiths life. She then presented the album to historians in search of finding an author, but therein she encountered a problem.

Few written sources existed to document individual lives among a people emerging from slavery. As an escaped slave and illiterate soldier, Smith did not leave behind a diary, journal, or letters to his family back home, and few records reinforced his familys memory of his postwar life in Kentucky. This paucity of information discouraged the historians whom Caruth approached, and Andy Smiths life seemed relegated to obscurity.

Caruth remained hopeful that research into her fathers military career would yield more documents, but for more than two years she made little progress until her nephew, Andrew S. Bowman, took up the cause to begin his own journey in search of Andy Smiths history. Surely, Bowman believed, a way could be found to preserve the story of his grandfathers life and the perils he faced. Of particular interest to Bowman was the governments claim it did not possess records to substantiate Smiths recommendation for the Medal of Honor. Perhaps, Bowman thought, these and additional documents could be found, not only to reveal the actions meriting the Medal of Honor recommendation but also to document other aspects of an interesting life.

About thirty years before Caruth organized her album, Civil War historians found a way to preserve the history of black soldiers. Abundant information did survive, if not in depth about individual soldiers then about

If Smiths story were to be told, it would be necessary to adopt the methodology of those who first began to write collectively about the lives of black soldiers, but with the focus on one individual. The survival of letters and diaries by officers and enlisted men in the 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, as well as the regimental books, helped to make such a process possible. In particular, the papers of Dr. Burt G. Wilder, a surgeon of the 55th Massachusetts, yielded letters dictated by Smith, including a few short accounts of his life in the army. All of these sources combined not only to provide information about Smiths military service but to reveal his character, his steadfast determination, and his courage.

Smith also led an interesting postwar life in Kentucky that merits a place in the social history of all Americans, but its recovery entailed special challenges. The devastating flood of 1937 destroyed much of the Lyon Countys historical record, including public documents, newspapers, letters, diaries, and wills. Still, information about the activities of Andy Smith and others in the local black and white communities may be teased from the pages of those public records that survived the flood, the result of herculean efforts by county officials to move their documents to safety. The deed books, many of the tax assessment books, and other public records in the Lyon County Clerks Office were preserved, as were records of the Lyon County Circuit Court and the deed books in adjacent Livingston County.

Working closely with his mother, Geneva Shelton, and with Caruth, Andrew Bowman proved to be a careful custodian of his grandfathers history, preserving both remembrance and documentation while gathering new information wherever possible. In particular, he sought out and secured interviews with individuals possessing remarkable memories who had known and interacted with Andy Smith during the last decade of his life. Together these sources and the surviving public records allowed the history of Smiths postwar life and achievements to be recovered. Thus, Andy Bowman had been correct: it took years of research and unwavering dedication, but there was a way to tell his grandfathers story.

This work is the first to reconstruct the life of an individual, illiterate black soldier, whom the authors believe to have been a significant American figure. Andrew Jackson Smith was one of nearly two hundred thousand like individuals who formed a vital resource for the Union during the CivilWar. He was also among those black servicemen who built interesting and successful postwar lives in often difficult environmentslives that, where possible, historians should try to recover.

ABOUT THE TEXT

Corrections of capitalization, spelling, or grammar conflicting with modern usage have not been made in quotations. Use of the apostrophe as well as its absence in place names can be idiosyncratic. We have chosen to follow the established usage of the Civil War era, which often remains the spelling used today, for example, Rivers Causeway, James Island, Johns Island, Coles Island, Bulls Bay, Sisters Ferry, St. Johns River, and St. Marys River.

Andrew Jackson Smith was so insistent on being called Andy that not only family and friends but also officers and men of the 55th Massachusetts used only his nickname. The authors have chosen to respect Smiths choice when referring to him in the text. Similarly, the authors often refer to Smiths daughters, Geneva and Caruth, and to his grandson, Andrew Andy Bowman, by their given names. This is not intended to be in any way disrespectful but is in accord with family preference.