Andrew Jackson Smith Andrew Jackson Smith ( April 28 , 1815 – January 30 , 1897 ) was a United States Army general during the American Civil War , rising to the command of a corps . He was most noted for his victory over Confederate General Stephen D . Lee at the Battle of Tupelo , Mississippi , on July 14 , 1864 . Early life . Smith was born in rural Bucks County , Pennsylvania . He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1838 ranking 36th in a class of 45 graduates . A . J . Smith entered West Point with his kin Langdon C . Easton of St . Louis . Smith married Easton ' s first cousin , the daughter of Dr . Robert Simpson ( 2nd postmaster of St . Louis ) . Langdon Easton would become Chief Quartermaster of General William T . Sherman ' s 100 , 000 army . Life and Papers of Rufus Easton , pub . 1988 by Bruce Campbell Adamson Smith was engaged on active service on the frontier in the Southwest and in the Mexican - American War , in the latter briefly commanding the Mormon Battalion . He later fought against Native Americans in the Washington and Oregon territories . He was successively promoted to first lieutenant in 1845 , captain in 1847 , and major in early 1861 . Civil War . At the outbreak of the Civil War , Smith became a colonel of the 2nd California Volunteer Cavalry in the Union Army , rising early in 1862 to the rank of brigadier general in the United States Volunteers and to the chief command of the cavalry in the Department of the Missouri . From March through July , he served in the same capacity in the Department of the Mississippi . Assigned afterwards to the Army of the Tennessee , he took part in the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou and the capture of Arkansas Post . He commanded a division of the XIII Corps in the Vicksburg Campaign . Later , he led a division of the XVI Corps in the Red River Campaign of Maj . Gen . Nathaniel Banks , and received the brevet rank of colonel in the regular army for his services at the action of Pleasant Hill . In July 1864 , Smith became a lieutenant colonel in the regular army and a major general in the volunteers , leading Union troops against Confederate Maj . Gen . Sterling Price during Price ' s Raid into Missouri . He was brevetted brigadier general in the regular army for his services at the Battle of Tupelo , where he defeated Stephen D . Lee , after General Nathan Bedford Forrest refused to take charge on the Confederate forces on the field . Smith was then summoned to join forces with Maj . Gen . George Henry Thomas at Nashville , Tennessee , then threatened by the advance of Confederate Lt . Gen . John Bell Hood . He bore a conspicuous share in the crowning victory at the Battle of Nashville , being brevetted major general for his success in leading his troops past the Confederates ' south flank . He commanded the XVI corps in the final campaign against Mobile , Alabama , in 1865 . Postbellum life . Smith resigned his volunteer commission in 1866 and became colonel of the U . S . 7th Cavalry Regiment , serving in the American West . He retired from the military service in April 1869 to become postmaster of St . Louis , Missouri , where he died on January 30 , 1897 . He was buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery .