Black Civil War soldier
earns Congressional
Medal of Honor
Photograph courtesy of Illinois State
University / The State Journal-Register
Thanks, in part, to the efforts of
Illinois historians and legislators, Andrew
Jackson Smith, an ex-slave, will receive the
Congressional Medal of Honor 137 years
after his Civil War heroics.
On November 30, 1863, at the battle
of Honey Hill, South Carolina, Smith saved
his regimental and the American flag from
falling. On June 20 of this year,
President Bill Clinton signed a bill granting
Smith the medal, after his gallantry was brought to the president’s attention by
Smith’s family and U.S. Sen Richard Durbin and U.S. Rep. Tom Ewing. In a ceremony
slated for this fall, the White House will formally honor the soldier.
Before his military exploits, Smith was a slave in Kentucky. He escaped across
the Cumberland River into the protection of the 41st Illinois Volunteers, becoming
the servant of Major John Warner, whose family home was in Clinton. Smith
distinguished himself at the Battle of Shiloh by supplying Warner with three horses,
two of which were shot from under him. The third was a Confederate mount Smith
caught in the midst of the fight. Shortly afterward, a minié ball struck Smith in the
temple, but it did not go through his skull and was removed after the battle.
Smith returned with Warner to Clinton in November 1862, but left to join the
54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry when he learned President Abraham Lincoln
would permit black troops to fight. Bumped to the 55th Infantry due to a large
number of volunteers, Smith was officially placed in the color guard of Company B
on May 16, 1863.
That year at Honey Hill, Smith’s sergeant was killed by an artillery shell. Smith’s
grandson, Andrew Bowman, writes, “Andy caught the falling Color Sergeant Robert
King with one hand and snatched the flag with the other.” By the battle’s close, and
the Union’s defeat, Smith was carrying the federal and regimental flags.
Sen. Durbin and Rep. Ewing learned about Smith from Bowman and his aunt,
Caruth Smith-Washington, Andrew Jackson Smith’s 92-year-old daughter.
After researching his grandfather’s exploits, Bowman contacted Sharon
MacDonald of Illinois State University’s history department and Rob Beckman, one
of her students, in 1997 to help gather legal proof and evidence supporting a Medal
of Honor for Smith.
The scholars met at Bowman’s home in Indianapolis. “On the way home, Rob
was looking through the papers Andrew had gathered,” MacDonald says, “and Rob
said, ‘Everything’s here to get Smith the medal right now.’”
MacDonald then studied the 1916 and 1917 laws on granting the Medal of Honor
and applied them to Smith’s actions at Honey Hill. “He met every requirement,”
she says, “which rarely ever happens.”
Ryan Reeves
QUOTABLE
"
Never has so much money done so little good
for so many.
"
Chicago Democratic State Rep. John Fritchey to the Chicago Tribune in response to that
newspaper's report that Illinoisans who receive the pre-election property tax rebates agreed to by state
politicians will have to turn around and pay income taxes on the windfall. Those rebate checks to
individual property taxpayers will total anywhere from $25 to $300. But as a result, according to state
Department of Revenue calculations published by the Tribune, an estimated $36 million of Illinois'
share in the settlement with major tobacco companies now will have to be forked over to the federal
government. Meanwhile, only $29 million was designated this fiscal year for anti-smoking programs.
|
Clements re-opens
Statehouse bureau
for Champaign paper
Kate Clements is the new
Statehouse bureau chief for The News-Gazette
of Champaign. A graduate of
the Public Affairs Reporting program
at the University of Illinois at
Springfield, she covered local government
and politics for the Elgin bureau
of the Daily Herald, based in
Arlington Heights. The last full-time
reporter at the Capitol for The News-Gazette
was Michael Hawthorne,who
left in 1996.
State comptroller honors
a predecessor with
a fellowship program
A committee appointed by
Comptroller Dan Hynes will begin
reviewing applications this month
for the newly established Roland W.
Burris Fellowship Program.
Hynes created the program to
offer governmental public service
experience to college students and
recent graduates and prepare them
for careers in government. The
fellowship is also a way to honor
Roland Burris, a three-term comptroller
and one-term attorney general
who was the first black in Illinois
history to be elected to statewide
office.
Gail Lobin, communications
director for the comptroller’s office,
says the program is an effort to
“foster a mentoring relationship
between students and state government.”
Lobin also says the number
of positions offered could vary from
two to four, depending on budget
constraints. The positions can be in
either Springfield or Chicago,
depending on what experiences the
fellows wish to gain. “We’re trying to
be as flexible as we can,” she says.
The fellowship’s one requirement is
that applicants either have a bachelor’s
degree or be enrolled in a bachelor’s
program. The committee, which
includes Burris, will consider applications
from candidates in all fields of
study. The deadline for applications is
October 15, and interviews will run
through November 30.
|
