SMITH, William Sooy

Affiliation:  Union

Born: July 22, 1830, Tarlton OH

Died: March 4, 1916, Medford OR

Pre-War Profession: He graduated from Ohio University in 1849 with an engineering degree. Graduated West Point in 1853. Smith resigned from the Army on June 19, 1854 to accept a position with the Illinois Central Railroad. Smith established the engineering company Parkinson & Smith in 1857.

War Service: In 1861 at the outbreak of the Civil War, Smith joined the 13th Ohio Infantry, and by June he was commissioned as its colonel. After serving in western Virginia, he was appointed brigadier general (volunteers) on April 16, 1862 to rank from April 15, 1862. Smith participated in the Vicksburg campaign, commanding the XVI Corps' first division.

Post War:  After leaving the army Smith returned to civil engineering. In 1867, he sank the first pneumatic caisson of the Waugoshanee lighthouse in the Straits of Mackinaw. At Glasgow, Missouri, from 1878 to 1879, Smith worked on the Glasgow Railroad Bridge. This was the first all-steel bridge, which crossed the Missouri River.