xt7np55dc77d https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7np55dc77d/data/mets.xml Smith, Sydney Kerr, 1850- 1890  books b92e56465ths65018902009 English Bradley & Gilbert : Louisville, Ky. Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Smith, Dabney Howard, 1821-1889. Morgan, John Hunt, 1825-1864. Confederate States of America. Army. Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, 5th --History. Morgan s Ohio Raid, 1863. United States --History --Civil War, 1861-1865 --Regimental histories--Kentucky Cavalry - 5th (C.S.A.). Life, army record, and public services of D. Howard Smith text Life, army record, and public services of D. Howard Smith 1890 2009 true xt7np55dc77d section xt7np55dc77d 
    
    
    
    
    
    
   LIFE, ARMY RECORD,

PUBLIC SERVICES

OF

D. Howard Smith.

BY

SYDNEY K. SMITH

' What shall I do lest life in silence pass ?   And if it do, And never prompt the bray of noisy brass, what nccd'st thou rue ? Remember, aye, the ocean deeps are mute ; the shallows roar; Worth is the ocean   fame is but the bruit along the shore."

' What shall I do to be forever known ?   Thy duty ever Thus did full many who yet slept unknown.   Oh, never, never ! Think'st thou perchance that they remain unknown whom thou know'st not By angel trumps in heaven their praise is blown   Divine their lot."

   [Schiller.

LOUISVILLE, KY.

THE BRADLEY & GILBERT COMPANY.

189O. 
   Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1890, by Mrs. JOSEPHINE L. SMITH, In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.

 
   TO

his most faithful friend    the noble woman he loved so well, and

the survivors of the brave men who shared with him the hardships of the march and the perils of the battle field, this work is gratefully inscribed. 
    
   preface.

In offering this little volume to the public, I have no apology to make. It is simply the faithful, impartial, and truthful record of an unselfish, noble life of devotion to duty   the best heritage any man can leave to those he loves   by one very near to the deceased, who knew him and his life-work best.

Its only object has been to do full justice to his memory and that of the brave men who served under him in the late war between the States, which others who had written somewhat of his life and career had not done.

That portion of it which relates to his war record has been prepared from notes of his own   taken at the time of the occurrences narrated   of facts which came within his own personal observation, and from other well-authenticated sources, both Federal and Confederate, which bear the stamp of truth and lend it additional value.

The one regret of the author is that he has not been able to make this portion of the work more complete, so as to embrace every instance reported of personal daring and heroism, on the part of officers and men, deserving of special mention. To mention all would be an almost endless task and require a volume by itself, so common were such instances among Morgan's men, who knew no fear and were ever ready to follow wherever their daring and brilliant chieftain and his able lieutenants led.

SYDNEY K. SMITH. 
    
   table  of contents.

CHAPTER I.

Page.

His Parentage and Character.................................. 9-19

CHAPTER II.

His Education   Marriage   Entry into the Law and Politics...... 20-33

CHAPTER III.

His Views at the Beginning of the War   Raises a Regiment and Joins the Confederate Army   Assigned to Buford's Brigade    Transferred to General John H. Morgan's Command   Fights

at Milton and Snow's Hill   Battle of Greasy Creek.......... 34-55

CHAPTER IV.

Indiana and Ohio Raid   Battles of Green River Bridge and Lebanon   March Through Indiana and Ohio   Defeat and Capture at Buffirtgton Island   Surrender of General Morgan.......... 56 80

CHAPTER V.

His Confinement at Johnson's Island and in the Ohio State Prison    Barbarous Treatment of the Prisoners   His Removal to Camp Chase on " Limited Parole"   His Special Exchange and Return to the Confederacy .................................. 81-92

CHAPTER VI.

Escape and Return of General Morgan to the Confederacy   Assigned to Command of Department of Southwestern Virginia and East Tennessee   Reorganization of His Command   Defeat of Av-erill   Battle of Cloyd's Farm   Last Raid into Kentucky...... 93-123

CHAPTER VII.

Death of General Morgan   Colonel Smith Goes to Kentucky Under

a Flag of Truce   End of His Military Career................124-154 
   TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VIII.

Page.

The Surrender and His Return Home   He Resumes the Practice of Law   His Candidacy for the Clerkship of the Court of Appeals    Elected State Auditor for Three Terms   Opinion in Cochran vs. Jones   Appointed Railroad Commissioner   His Retirement and Death....................................................lS5-'65

APPENDIX.

Captain George W. Hunt's Reply to Ferris.......................167   iSi

Colonel D. Howard Smith's Reply to Ferris......................1S2-1S5

Colonel John IS. Urownlow's Letter to Colonel Smith. '.............1S5-190

Incomplete Roll of Fifth Kentucky Cavalry, C. S. A...............191--19S

Dissenting Opinion in Cochran vs. Jones..........................199-208

Memorial Resolutions Adopted by the " Kentucky Society of the Sons

of the American Revolution"...............................208-210

Memorial Resolutions Adopted by the General Assembly of Kentucky, Session 1889-90..................................... 211 
   Life of D. Howard Smith.

CHAPTER I.

HIS  PARENTAGE AND CHARACTER.

Nature's greatest poet has well and truly said, "to be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand," and another, not less known to fame, has said, with equal truth, "An honest man's the noblest work of God."

In this day of official dishonesty and successful mediocrity   in the mad whirl of this modern life, when men are spending all the energies of body, of mind, and of soul in the pursuit of pelf and power, and too often without regard to the means of attainment, it is, indeed, refreshing, and makes one think better of his race and more hopeful of the future, to find here and there a grand character, which, uninfluenced by the evil genius of the times, can rise above this moral miasma and pass unpolluted and unscathed through the consuming fires of avarice and unholy ambition raging all around and about us, eating, like a great moral cancer, at the consciences and souls of men and sapping the strength and destroying the life of society, on which, more than on the mere achievements of intellect, rests its well-being, stability, and permanency.

Such a man and such a character was him of whose life and deeds it is our privilege, as well as pleasing duty, to write, that all who read may learn and say, "This was a man." 
   IO

D.   HOWARD SMITH.

With some men "honesty is the best policy;" with others it is largely, if not entirely, the result of education; but with him it was as natural to be honest as it was to eat or to sleep. His conceptions of right were too clear to so far misapprehend the meaning of the great philosopher as to confound honesty with policy. He was honest because it is right to be hottest and because it met the approval of his own conscience.

Dabney Howard Smith was born near Georgetown, Scott County, Kentucky, November 24, 1821, and died at Louisville, Kentucky, July 15, 1889. He was, therefore, at the time of his death, in his sixty-eighth year, at a time of life when most men have passed the sphere of usefulness. But not so with him. He died as he had lived   with the harness on, fighting bravely to the last the battle of life, in the humbler, but not less important and honorable sphere of private life, for family, the mother of the State, for those nearest to him both by blood and affection, and to whom, before God, he had pledged and consecrated his life.

"Nothing in his life so became him as the leaving of it." His last act was to grasp in affectionate farewell the hand of the noble woman at his side, who, through all the years of that eventful life, had been his constant companion and most faithful friend, and to whom, above all others, he was most indebted for his success in life.

He was ever the same true man in all the varied relations of life. That largeness of heart, generosity and magnanimity of nature, and true nobility of soul which, together with his high sense of right and duty, made him a kind, affectionate, and faithful husband and father and true friend, and attracted to him all who came in contact with him, followed him into official life and made him an honest, faithful, and efficient public servant, as well as one of the most popular men in the State. 
   LIFE,   ARMY RECORD,   AND PUBLIC SERVICES.

An ardent admirer and follower of Mr. Clay, he early caught and imbibed the spirit of that sublime and immortal declaration of the great Commoner, " I would rather be right than President," which left its impress upon his whole life and doubtless did much toward moulding into shape his well-rounded character.

Whilst not especially gifted, as were some of his contemporaries, with superior oratorical powers, he had a clear, strong, logical, well-disciplined mind and superior judgment, was a ready and able debater and well informed on all public questions, which made him an interesting speaker and valuable man in the councils of his party.

His greatest faults, if, indeed, they may be called such, were his instinctive modesty and supreme unselfishness   the almost invariable attendants of great virtues and real merit, which too often caused him to make sacrifices of self on the altars of friendship, of party, and of country. Had he been less so, and more ambitious, there was no place, it is believed, within the gift of his people, to which he might not have attained and filled with credit and honor.

It has been said, "the boy is father to the man." In no case has the truth of this maxim been more happily illustrated than in his. Descended from a sturdy, noble stock of people on both sides of the house, he inherited and early exhibited those sterling qualities of heart and head which characterized him throughout life and drew around him a host of friends and admirers.

He was the youngest of seven brothers, all of whom are dead except Sidney Rodes Smith, of Lexington, now in his eighty-fifth year, a man of excellent sense and fine character, who, in his younger days, was one of the most successful and prominent merchants of Louisville.

From his boyhood he was called by his middle name    
   12

D.   HOWARD SMITH.

"Howard"   and for this reason always signed his name "D. Howard." Thus, as well as owing to his great personal popularity, he became known all over the State by the familiar name of " Howard Smith."

The given names, Dabney and Howard, are the names of two representative Virginia families, the former belonging to his mother's and the latter to his father's side of the house.

His father was Nelson Smith, a native of Louisa County, Virginia, who emigrated to Kentucky with his father, William Smith, in the year 1783, and settled at Bryant's Station, near Lexington, in Fayette County. They were both sturdy men, of great purity of character, and lived and died enjoying the confidence and esteem of all who knew them.

His mother's name was Sarah Kerr, sometimes spelled and pronounced Catr, a model Christian woman of superior intelligence and great strength of character, who, after rearing a large family   seven sons and three daughters   lived to a ripe old age.

She was the daughter of Captain David Kerr, a native of Albemarle County, Virginia, who served honorably in the war of the Revolution, and after its close, between 1785 and 1790, emigrated to Kentucky and settled in Scott County. He was the son of James Kerr, a Scotch Presbyterian of strong character.

His grandmother, on his mother's side, was Dorothy Rodes, sometimes spelled Rhodes, a daughter of Clifton Rodes, one of the earliest and most prominent settlers of Fayette County.

From these families and their parent stems have sprung some of the most distinguished families of Virginia and Kentucky: the Rodes (Rhodes), Dabneys, Maurys, Howards, and Kerrs (Carrs), of Virginia; and the Estills, Dudleys, Bullocks, Hunts, Thomsons, Vileys, and others, of 
   LIFE,   ARMY RECORD,  AND PUBLIC SERVICES. 13

Kentucky. Some of the latter intermarried with the Breck-inridges, Johnstons, and Johnsons, thus forming one of the largest, if not the largest, most influential, and powerful family connections in the State. Among this number some have acquired great distinction in their time.

Of those dead, related to him by blood, maybe mentioned William H. Crawford, of Georgia, one of the most distinguished statesmen of his day, who came within a few votes of being President of the United States; Matthew F. Maury, of Virginia, the author of the '' Physical Geography of the Sea" and other scientific works, and among the first scientific men of modern times ; Dr. Nathan L. Rice, the eminent Presbyterian divine; General Rhodes, "Stonewall" Jackson's ablest lieutenant, who, after the death of that great soldier at Chancellorsville, succeeded to his command, and, with a single division, defeated the right wing of Hooker's army and was afterward killed at the battle of Winchester, Virginia, in 1864, while gallantly leading his men to victory.*

Of those living, related by blood, the most distinguished, perhaps, is General Gustavus W. Smith, now of New York, a graduate of West Point, who served in the Mexican War with Lee, Grant, and Albert Sidney Johnston, and in the late war between the States, but who, owing to a rupture with Mr. Davis, was never able to attain that position to which his military training and talents entitled him. As an evidence of this, and of the high esteem in which he was held by those competent to judge, when General Joseph E. Johnston, the commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, was severely wounded at the battle of Seven Pines and forced to quit the field, General Smith, who commanded the left wing of his army, succeeded to the command over

*Dabney's Life of Jackson, 699. 
   D.   HOWARD SMITH.

such men as Longstreet and the two Hills, and remained in command until displaced by General Robert E. Lee, by order of President Davis.*

Had not Mr. Davis appointed as successor to General Smith such a man as General Lee, it might have proven disastrous to the Confederate arms, for General Smith had displayed his abilities as a commander, and McClellan, stung by defeat, though too proud to admit it, was massing a great army for a second onslaught.

Notwithstanding he had shown his eminent fitness as a commander, General Smith received no substantial recognition of his services, and was afterwards transferred, by the order of Mr. Davis, to an unimportant command in North Carolina, and subsequently to Georgia, where he had no opportunity afterwards to display his powers.

Others of his relatives living might be mentioned, of scarcely less note, but we are not writing a biography of distinguished relatives.

Whilst no man understood better than he did the value of good blood in the make-up of men, and none could boast of better, he was a firm believer in merit, and never relied for success in what he undertook on any other powers than faith in God and his oivn strong right arm.

No worthy young man, however humble, seeking to improve his condition in life, who went to him for counsel or advice, was ever turned away without some word of cheer and comfort.

No social or other barrier ever interposed between him and the call of duty. That, to him, was an inexorable law whose summons he always obeyed, whether that call was to the service of neighbor, of friends, of family, of country, or

^Johnston's Narrative,

-140. 
   LIFE,   ARMY RECORD,   AND PUBLIC SERVICES.

15

of God   to the humble cottage of the poor and lowly or to the palace of the rich and great.

Everywhere and under all circumstances, whether among rich or poor, princes or peasants, he was the same kind, genial, courtly gentleman and true man, knowing no distinctions, in his treatment of men, save those which God Almighty himself had made.

Few men in the State, if any, enjoyed so large a circle of acquaintances as he did, and his friends were numbered among some of the first men of the nation of all political parties. Among others were General John A. Logan and the Hon. James G. Blaine.

His acquaintance with Mr. Blaine began when that gentleman was a young man teaching school at Georgetown, and soon ripened into a warm friendship, lasting through life.

When the late civil war ended and he returned home from the Confederate Army, disfranchised and having lost every thing but his honor, Mr. Blaine was among the first to come forward and lend him a helping hand by exerting his influence with his party, which was great at that time, in securing a removal of his political disabilities, which act of kindness on Mr. Blaine's part he ever gratefully remembered. The day only before his death, referring to his meeting with Mr. Blaine after the war, he is reported as saying, in the presence of several friends gathered in social intercourse: "I had been elected Auditor of Kentucky, but my political disabilities had not been removed, and this had to be done before I could take charge of my office. I went to Washington for that purpose, and the next day visited the House of Representatives. Mr. Blaine then wielded a commanding influence in Congress, and I meditated asking him to assist me in the removal of my disabilities. I was in doubt about the matter, though, as he had, perhaps, forgotten me.    Finally I 
   i6

D.   HOWARD SMITH.

decided to call upon him. I went on the floor of the House, where I had some friends, and after I had taken my seat Mr. Blaine came along. He caught sight of me when a few feet away and recognized me in a moment, although he had not seen me in a great many years. Instantly disengaging himself from his friends he ran up to me, and, with tears in his eyes, put one arm around my neck and warmly clasped my hand in his. Calling me his dear old friend, with a voice full of feeling, he asked how I was, what I was doing there, and if he could be of any service to me. I was very much affected by this hearty greeting, as I had no claim in the world on Mr. Blaine and no reason to expect that he would hold me in such warm recollection. I told him what I wanted. He said he would attend to the matter and he was as good as his word, for in a very short time my disabilities were removed. I am a thorough Democrat, but a sincere admirer of Mr. Blaine, for he was a true friend to me."*

But whilst Mr. Blaine did more, perhaps, than any one else in securing the removal of his disabilities, because of his position and great influence with his party at that time, there were others of his political opponents who rendered him great assistance, notably, Colonel A. G. Hodges, of Frankfort, the venerable editor of the old "Commonwealth" paper, and General John W. Finnell, of Covington, since deceased, both staunch Republicans, excellent men, and at that time leaders of their party in the State. These gentlemen, in addition to other services rendered him, wrote the following letters in his behalf:

   The writer can not vouch for the absolute accuracy of the above as reported, but has no doubt it is substantially correct. For he well remembers to have heard his father speak of meeting Mr. Blaine; with what cordiality he greeted him; the services he rendered him in securing the removal of his disabilities; how unexpected it was to him, and how grateful he felt to Mr. Blaine for his great kindness. 
   LIFE,   ARMY RECORD,  AND PUBLIC SERVICES.

17

COLONEL HODGES' LETTER. *' Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee :

* * * * "in Kentucky I am recognized as a Republican of the strictest, straightest sect. I have never feared to declare my principles, either in private or through the columns of my paper, and yet no person in the State has ever molested me for so doing.

"I have felt it due to this committee to say what I have of my antecedents that they may know who I am and give such weight as they may deem proper to the recommendation I have signed to relieve a worthy and estimable man from the disabilities under which he labors for having committed one of the greatest errors of his life   that of taking up arms against his country.

"I signed the petition of D. Howard Smith, along with other known Republicans of Kentucky, with great pleasure, to the Congress of the United States, to have his disabilities removed, for the following reasons: 1st. I have known him from his earliest manhood, and such has been his character that there has been no taint upon it except that which he acknowledges in his petition. 2d. For long years he and myself labored side by side in the old Whig cause in Kentucky. 3d. At the close of the rebellion, and after his surrender to the Federal authorities, he has been a peaceable and quiet citizen, recommending, by.precept and example, to all with whom he was associated in the service of the Southern Confederacy, a cheerful acquiescence to the laws of the United States. 4th. To the servants whom he formerly owned before the adoption of the Thirteenth Constitutional Amendment he was exceedingly kind, often aiding them with both clothing and money as far as his limited means enabled him to do so. 5th. He was elected to the office of Auditor of Public Accounts in August, 1867, and has been discharging the duties of that important position with great acceptance, showing no partiality as between Republicans and Democrats. 6th. If this committee and the Congress of the United States refuse to relieve him from his disabilities, 
   i8

d.   howard smith.

and he be compelled to give up the office he now holds, then the appointment of his successor would devolve upon the Governor of Kentucky to fill his vacancy. In my humble judgment His Excellency can make no selection from his party that will be as acceptable to the great mass of the Republican party as Colonel Smith is. These, with many other reasons I might enumerate, induce me to recommend the removal of the disabilities of Colonel D. Howard Smith.*

"A. G. Hodges."

GENERAL JOHN W. FINNELL'S LETTER.

"Covington, Ky., January 22, 1869.

" Dear Sir:

"I have just learned that D. Howard Smith, Esq., the present Auditor of Kentucky, has gone to Washington, intending to apply to be relieved from disabilities under the Fourteenth Amendment. I write now, unsolicited, to ask your kind offices in Colonel Smith's behalf.

"I have known him from childhood. I never knew a more just, upright, and conscientious man.. It is true he was a Confederate officer, and in this we all think he was misguided; but he was a soldier and played a soldier's part.

"At Lebanon, in this State, on the occasion of the defeat and surrender of Colonel Hanson, Smith, at the peril of his own life, and like a true man as he was and is, threw himself between our captured soldiers and the infuriated enemy and saved them from massacre. After the war ended he returned to Kentucky and quietly resumed his profession, counseling all and always submission, to authority and obedience to the laws.

"As an officer of the State he has won golden opinions from men of all parties. His conduct has conquered all resentment in the hearts of even the most violent. If you can, consistently with your sense of duty, do anything to promote

* In Washington Globe, 1869.

 
   life,   army record,   and public services.

'9

his wishes, I pray you do so. I know you will never have cause to regret it.

"I am, very sincerely, your obedient servant,*

"Jno. W. Finnell.

"Hon. Schuyler Colfax,

" Speaker House of Representatives, Washington, D. C."

The above incident in connection with Mr. Blaine and the foregoing letters are referred to, not only as showing the esteem in which he was held by those who differed with him politically   at a time when sectional and party feeling ran high   but as a testimony to the character of those gentlemen whose kind offices in his behalf were fully appreciated by him and deserve to be mentioned.

It is also proper to state he was much indebted to his political friends, the Hon. James B. Beck and Thomas C. McCreary, who then represented Kentucky in the Congress of the United States   the former in the House and the latter in the Senate, and others, for assistance rendered him in that behalf.

  In Washington Globe, 1869. 
   20 D.   HOWARD SMITH.

CHAPTER II.

HIS EDUCATION-MARRIAGE-ENTRY INTO  LAW AND POLITICS.

The best part of every man's education is that which he receives from a good mother, whose highest ambition is to bring up her children in the way they should go, that when they have reached man's and woman's estate they may be good and useful men and women, an ornament to society and an honor to the State.

The brighest example of this, perhaps, which history has furnished us, was that of Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, who imparted to her sons, Caius and Tiberius Gracchus   two of the most illustrious names in Roman history   those splendid virtues for which she was so eminent.

The history of our own country has also furnished many illustrious examples of men who have acknowledged their indebtedness for the possession of those virtues, which at once formed the basis and was the cause of their greatness, to the early training they had received at their mother's knee.

But it is not necessary to go to history to find such examples ; they are all around us. There are many mothers, who, if not as highly gifted as was Cornelia, are as bright examples of what a good mother can do in the rearing of her children. Such a mother was Sarah Smith, the mother of D. Howard Smith, whose rare virtues were only excelled by her great love and concern for her children, who were her pearls of great price. ! Often have I heard him speak, and never without emotion,

of the lessons of her grand character and beautiful life; how they had impressed his youthful mind and served as the guiding star of his life. 
   LIFE,   ARMY RECORD,  AND  PUBLIC SERVICES.

2 I

But this is part only of every education, though a very important part, which may be termed character-building. There is another part, of which this is the foundation, and without which the structure would not be complete   that is mind-building. This part of his education was not overlooked. When quite a young man he was placed by his father under the guidance of J. J. R. Flournoy, a noted teacher of that day, to whose competency and care he was mainly indebted for his early training in habits of thought and for a substantial basis of education.

In 1838 he entered Georgetown College, where he remained until he had qualified himself for a higher collegiate course. He then entered the Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio, at that time the leading institution of learning in the West, from whose walls had passed some of the ripest scholars and first men of the nation. He remained at that institution till 1841, taking a thorough course, when, in June of that year, it was terminated by his father's death, which event called him home, thus preventing his graduation.

In the fall of 1841 he began the study of law with J. H. Davis, Esq., then an eminent lawyer of Scott County, with whom he remained for some time, learning the rudiments of law, and enjoying the advantages of that gentleman's advice and experience.

He then entered the Law Department of Transylvania University, at Lexington, and in March, 1843, took his diploma from that institution at the hands of an able faculty, composed of such men as the Hon. George Robertson, afterward Chief Justice of Kentucky, and one of the most eminent jurists of this or any other country, Thomas A. Marshall, Aaron K. Woolley, and others scarcely less distinguished.

Among his classmates and fellow-graduates were the Hon. Frank P. Blair, Jr., afterward a distinguished Federal General 
   22

D.   HOWARD SMITH.

and candidate for Vice President on the Democratic ticket with Horatio Seymour, and the Hon. James B. Clay, a son of Henry Clay, himself a man of great ability.

After leaving the University he returned to Georgetown, began the practice of the law, and soon earned for himself, though yet a young man, an enviable reputation at the bar as a safe counselor and able lawyer.

On the 17th day of February, 1842, he married Josephine Lemon, a daughter of Captain Joseph I. Lemon, of Scott County, a soldier of the War of 1812, and at that time the wealthiest and one of the most influential citizens of the county. His wife is still living, a remarkable woman, alike in good sense, strength and beauty of character, and the domestic virtues   a good mother and exemplary Christian.

In 1849, after full establishment in his profession, he was called upon, became a candidate, and was elected to the lower House of the Legislature on the Whig ticket, by a majority of 510 votes, over one of the most popular and strongest Democrats in the county. By his race the county, which had before been largely Democratic, was redeemed to his party. His course in the Legislature was so highly satisfactory to his constituents that he could easily have been returned had he not declined a re-election. He was succeeded by the distinguished Colonel Richard M. Johnson, of Tecumseh fame, who publicly declared he "would not be a candidate if Howard Smith desired to return."

It is worthy of note, in this connection, as showing the character of men who then represented the State in the Legislature, with whom he was brought in contact, that he served in that body with John C. Breckinridge, Presley Ewing, James P. Metcalf, and others since highly distinguished in the law, legislation, and politics of the State and Nation.

 
   life,  army record,   and public services.

23

In 1853 he accepted the nomination and was elected Senator from the counties of Scott and Fayette without opposition. This was a marked compliment from a district where, at that time, there were so many talented, capable, and ambitious men, and where political preferment was so much coveted.

He was at once taken up as a candidate for Speaker, and came within a few votes of being nominated on the first ballot, and would in all probability have been chosen, but for his magnanimity in withdrawing, after several days' balloting, for the sake of harmony.*

He was then only thirty-two years of age and was opposed by such men as Bibb, Bullock, Hogan, and others, his seniors in years and among the most distinguished men in the State, which shows how he stood in that body.

In 1852 Mr. Clay died, and on the occasion of the meeting of the two houses of the Legislature in joint session to take action in respect to his memory, he introduced the following resolutions, which were adopted:

"Whereas, It has pleased the Almighty to remove by    death from our midst our most eminent citizen, Henry Clay, we feel that Kentucky owes it to herself to place upon her    own records some enduring evidence of the estimation in which she holds the purity of his public life, the soundness    of his principles and patriotism, and of the profound sorrow with which the Commonwealth has been impressed by this sad bereavement; be it therefore

'' Resolved by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth    of Kentucky:

"1. That the melancholy intelligence of the death of our illustrious citizen, Henry Clay, was received by the people of Kentucky with the deepest and most painful sensibility. His

Senate Journal, 1853-54. 
   24

D.   HOWARD SMITH.

long, brilliant, and patriotic services in the councils of the State and nation; his devoted and successful labors in behalf of the Union and the cause of liberty; his matchless oratory and unrivaled statesmanship, have created an affection for his name and memory in the hearts of his countrymen that will be cherished to the latest generation.

'' 2. That as a token of our respect for the memory of the deceased the Sergeants-at-Arms of the two Houses of this Assembly are instructed to have their respective halls clad in mourning for the residue of the session.

"3. That as a further token of our respect for the memory of the deceased we will wear the usual badge of mourning on the left arm for the space of thirty days."*

On the adoption of these resolutions he, among others, addressed the Senate, as follows:

"Mr. Speaker: I arise to perform a most melancholy task.