- Joined
- Mar 11, 2009
- Location
- York, Pennsylvania
One of the little known, but to me fascinating, side stories of the beginning of the Civil War was the "play both sides of the coin" activities of five-term United States congressman, William Smith. Nicknamed "Extra Billy" by political enemies decades before the war for persistent extra cost overruns when he was a postal contractor, Smith had served as Virginia's governor during the Mexican War and had been a leading politician out in California after the Gold Rush. He had returned to Virginia and repeatedly won re-election to Congress. After the initial seven states seceded to form the Confederate States of America, Virginia was still in the Union. Smith, uncertain whether the state would join the Confederacy, decided to run for a sixth term. Hedging his bet, he simultaneously campaigned for a seat in the Provisional Confederate Congress should Virginia eventually secede.
The National Republican newspaper, long a vocal critic of Smith, declared that Smith meant to run for every seat available. The editor ridiculed, "Extra Billy Smith is up for Congress, to serve either at Washington or Montgomery, as Virginia may stay in or go out of the Union. Smith means to be in office anyhow, and to take all his chances. His providence in that particular never fails him… He is for Congress, wherever he finds a Congress, at Montgomery if he can, but at Washington if he must. If a Congress can be found anywhere in the wide world, Extra Billy means to be in it."
After Virginia seceded, the 63-year-old Smith halted his campaign for re-election to the U.S. Congress and intensified his efforts to secure a seat in the Confederate congress. The New York Times trumpeted "IS HE A SPY?" and noted, "Extra Billy Smith, of Virginia, has been several days in town. He does not profess to be a Secessionist nor a Union man, but is a candidate for either Congress to which his constituents may elect him. He is evidently in sympathy with the Secessionists, and I think a spy, as a person was heard to report to him in Sweeney's Bank, that he had succeeded in sending a box of Minie rifles to Virginia." He indeed had smuggled three Maynard rifles out of D.C. hidden in a lady's petticoat. Newspaperman Horace Greeley labeled him as a "notorious traitor" and spy who was freely allowed as an outgoing congressman to enter and leave Washington at will.
Smith would win the election to the Confederate Congress, volunteer as a colonel in the army, fight at First Manassas, be wounded multiple times including at Sharpsburg/Antietam, and be the oldest general at Gettysburg, after which he learned he had been re-elected as governor of Virginia. He was still in that post when Richmond fell in April 1865 and he and his son hastily fled town, carrying $21,000 in gold with them. It was the treasury of the state, which he was "safeguarding." Smith fled to Lynchburg and then south to Danville before circling up through the Shenandoah Valley and finally surrendering himself to Federal authorities in Washington. He later returned to Virginia state politics, winning a seat in his 80s in the state assembly.
Fascinating man. The Confederate Dan Sickles in some ways. Extra Billy was the subject of my first (and to date) only biography.
The National Republican newspaper, long a vocal critic of Smith, declared that Smith meant to run for every seat available. The editor ridiculed, "Extra Billy Smith is up for Congress, to serve either at Washington or Montgomery, as Virginia may stay in or go out of the Union. Smith means to be in office anyhow, and to take all his chances. His providence in that particular never fails him… He is for Congress, wherever he finds a Congress, at Montgomery if he can, but at Washington if he must. If a Congress can be found anywhere in the wide world, Extra Billy means to be in it."
After Virginia seceded, the 63-year-old Smith halted his campaign for re-election to the U.S. Congress and intensified his efforts to secure a seat in the Confederate congress. The New York Times trumpeted "IS HE A SPY?" and noted, "Extra Billy Smith, of Virginia, has been several days in town. He does not profess to be a Secessionist nor a Union man, but is a candidate for either Congress to which his constituents may elect him. He is evidently in sympathy with the Secessionists, and I think a spy, as a person was heard to report to him in Sweeney's Bank, that he had succeeded in sending a box of Minie rifles to Virginia." He indeed had smuggled three Maynard rifles out of D.C. hidden in a lady's petticoat. Newspaperman Horace Greeley labeled him as a "notorious traitor" and spy who was freely allowed as an outgoing congressman to enter and leave Washington at will.
Smith would win the election to the Confederate Congress, volunteer as a colonel in the army, fight at First Manassas, be wounded multiple times including at Sharpsburg/Antietam, and be the oldest general at Gettysburg, after which he learned he had been re-elected as governor of Virginia. He was still in that post when Richmond fell in April 1865 and he and his son hastily fled town, carrying $21,000 in gold with them. It was the treasury of the state, which he was "safeguarding." Smith fled to Lynchburg and then south to Danville before circling up through the Shenandoah Valley and finally surrendering himself to Federal authorities in Washington. He later returned to Virginia state politics, winning a seat in his 80s in the state assembly.
Fascinating man. The Confederate Dan Sickles in some ways. Extra Billy was the subject of my first (and to date) only biography.
Bringing the