Smith, H. A. 1866-1929

Harry Alexander Smith (18 June 1866 – 29 May 1929) was a career officer in the United States Army. A veteran of the Spanish–American War, Military Government of Cuba, Philippine–American War, Veracruz Expedition, Mexican Border War, and World War I, he attained the rank of major general. Smith was a recipient of the Army Distinguished Service Medal and several foreign awards, and his commands included the 16th Infantry Brigade, the United States Army Command and General Staff College, and the Seventh Corps Area. A native of Atchison, Kansas, Smith was raised and educated in Atchison. He then attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, from which he graduated in 1891. Commissioned as a second lieutenant of Infantry, his initial assignments wee with the 1st Infantry Regiment at posts in California. During the Spanish–American War, he served with the 21st Kansas Volunteer Infantry Regiment at posts in the United States, after which he served at several overseas posts during the Military Government of Cuba. From 1900 to 1902, he served with the 15th Infantry Regiment during the Philippine–American War. Smith's subsequent assignments included a long posting to Fort Leavenworth as a member of the faculty of the Army Service Schools, now the United States Army Command and General Staff College. In 1914, he took part in the Veracruz Expedition, where he was in charge of the occupation government's legal department and police department. In 1915 and 1916, he commanded 3rd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment in Texas during the Mexican Border War. From May 1916 to August 1917, he served with in Tientsin, China as a member of the 15th Infantry. During World War I, he was assigned as assistant commandant, then commandant, of the US Army Schools at Langres. During the Occupation of the Rhineland, he was assigned as the American Forces in Germany's chief of Civil Affairs, responsible for post-war rebuilding in Luxembourg and US-occupied German territory. After his wartime service, Smith was assistant commandant of the United States Army War College and commandant of the United States Army Command and General Staff College. He commanded the Seventh Corps Area in Omaha, Nebraska from 1927 to 1929. Smith was still on active duty when he died in Omaha on 29 May 1929. He was buried at Mount Vernon Cemetery in Atchison, Kansas.