Gustavus Woodson Smith Gustavus Woodson Smith ( November 30 , 1821 – June 24 , 1896 ) , more commonly known as G . W . Smith , was a career United States Army officer who fought in the Mexican - American War , a civil engineer , and a major general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War . Early life and Mexico . Smith was born in Georgetown , Kentucky , and was a brother - in - law of Horace Randal and a distant relative of John Bell Hood . He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point as a brevet second lieutenant in 1842 . Smith finished eighth out of 56 cadets while at West Point . He entered the Army Corps of Engineers afterward , and was promoted to second lieutenant on January 1 , 1845 . Smith fought in the Mexican - American War , winning two brevet promotions for his actions there . On April 18 , 1847 , he was appointed brevet first lieutenant for the Battle of Cerro Gordo , and on August 20 , 1847 , brevet captain for the Battle of Contreras . On March 3 , 1853 , Smith was promoted to first lieutenant . After serving in the Mexican War , he resigned his commission on December 18 , 1854 , to become a civilian engineer in New York City , and was Streets Commissioner there from 1858 to 1861 . Civil War service . Smith ' s home state of Kentucky became a border state when the Civil War broke out in 1861 . Some months afterward , he presented himself at Richmond to serve the Confederate States of America . Commissioned as a major general on September 19 , he served in Northern Virginia as a divisional and " wing " commander , and fought in the Battle of Seven Pines near Richmond during the Peninsula Campaign . On May 31 , 1862 , Smith briefly took command of what would become the Army of Northern Virginia after Gen . Joseph E . Johnston was wounded , due to his being the senior major general in Johnston ' s army . However , Jefferson Davis replaced him with Robert E . Lee the following day , June 1 . On June 2 , Smith became ill and took a leave of absence to recuperate . In late August , Smith returned and took command of the defenses around Richmond , which was expanded to become the Department of North Carolina & Southern Virginia in September . In addition , he acted as interim Confederate States Secretary of War from November 17 through November 21 , 1862 . He resigned his commission as a major general on February 17 , 1863 , and became a volunteer aide to General P . G . T . Beauregard for the rest of that year . Smith was also the superintendent of the Etowah Iron Works in 1863 until June 1 , 1864 , when he was commissioned a major general in the Georgia state militia and commanded its first division until the end of the war . Postbellum life . Smith was paroled in Macon , Georgia , on April 20 , 1865 , and moved to Tennessee to become an iron manufacturer from 1866 to 1870 . He moved back to his native Kentucky to become Insurance Commissioner until 1876 , and then moved to New York City and began writing . Smith authored " Noted on Insurance " in 1870 , " Confederate War Papers " in 1884 , " The Battle of Seven Pines " in 1891 , and " Generals J . E . Johnston and G . T . Beauregard at the Battle of Manassas , July 1861 " in 1892 . His final work , " Company " A , " Corps of Engineers , U . S . A . , 1846 – 48 , in the Mexican War " , was published in 1896 after his death . Smith died in New York City and is buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery in New London , Connecticut .