When the drums roll each Memorial Day, rallying the veterans of America’s wars, Henry Stephen Smith, 91, finds himself a man without a flag to follow. Smith, from Omaha, suffered a stroke on May 26, 1934 and his hospitalization and story made it to the local newspapers on May 30th, Memorial Day.
Smith, a veteran of both union and the confederate armies, had been listed for 69 years as an army deserter. Thus his rights as a civil war veteran has barred him forever from joining the Grand Army of the Republic or receiving a pension.
Three times he as sought the government’s recognition and failed. And a fourth attempt was being made as well.
Henry S. Smith and his wife, Addie. 1933.
A native Virginian, Smith enlisted in Co. D, 9th West Virginia Infantry of the Union army on December 1, 1861 when he was 19 years old. He re-enlisted when his first term expired and soon afterwards was captured by the Confederates in 1864. He was imprisoned at Andersonville for six months when captors gave him a chance to escape the dull prison monotony which was breaking his health, by joining their colors. He accepted their offer and donned the gray.
After a few skirmishes with the southern forces, Smith permitted himself to be captured by Union troops. After he explained his situation about his initial capture and imprisonment he was permitted to rejoin his old Union outfit, and finished the war fighting in a blue uniform.
At the close of the Civil war, Smith’s regiment was transferred to Fort Niobrara in Nebraska to continue with the Indian campaign in the west. It was here at Niobrara that he tired of the grumbling of fellow soldiers who thought they should be sent home rather than continue fighting. Smith deserted to get away from the upset men and left the Union army without the formality of a discharge.
“Deserting the army,” Smith said at the county hospital, “was my only shame. Each Memorial Day I have shamefully watched and listened. I am broken hearted.”
“Memorial day has been a nightmare to me,” he said. “When the boys parade and the orators tell of the glories of the good old days all I can do is hang my head, watch and listen. I would give anything for the privilege of marching with my comrades to the tunes of the fife and drums. I would give anything for the privilege of wearing a G.A.R. button.”
Hospital staff said Smith never would march again. They were hopeful, however, that the government would recognize his pleas and give him an honorable discharge before he answers the final roll call.
Henry Stephen Smith died just days later on June 1 in the county hospital, a soldier without a flag. The Saturday mail on June 2 brought to his attorney a long sought document – his discharge from the army. The discharge, ironically, was dated May 29 and although he did not know it, he died an acknowledged veteran of the blue. Smith received in death the honors that were denied him while alive. He was buried with full military honors, with a firing squad and bugler from Fort Crook, and a G.A.R. button on his lapel. Smith is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park with a federal headstone and flanked by a G.A.R. marker.
Sources:
Lincoln Evening Journal, (Lincoln, Nebraska), Wednesday, May 30, 1934
Kingsport Times (Kingsport, Tennessee), May 30, 1934
The Lincoln Star, (Lincoln, Nebraska), Saturday, June 2, 1934
Globe-Gazette (Mason City, Iowa), June 4, 1934
Omaha World Herald, (Omaha, Nebraska), June 29, 1933
Find A Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/23972160
The Union Army, Vol. 2, p. 303
U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963
HDS, Inc., Civilwardata.com
Note: The 9th WV Infantry fought at Cloyd’s Mountain and in May, 1864 joined Gen. Crook with whom it took part in the Shanandoah Valley campaign until Nov. 9, 1864, when it was consolidated with the 5th regiment to form the 1st. Veteran Infantry. Smith’s headstone reads Co. D, 5th US Vol. Inf.