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<em>William Ruthven Smith</em> was born in Nashville, Tennessee, April 2, 1868. He was the second of eight sons of Robert McPhail Smith and Letitia Trimble Smith. After attending grammar and high school in Nashville, he entered Vanderbilt University in 1885 and continued his studies there until the spring of 1888 when he was appointed to West Point from the 6th Congressional District of Tennessee. He entered the Academy June 16, 1888.</p>
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My friendship with Smith began at the first moment of his military career. We met outside the old Adjutant’s Office where we were to leave our credentials. As we departed, we had a glimpse into an adjoining room where Major General John G. Parke was seated at the Superintendent’s desk. If “Smythe” had any intuition that the desk would one day be his, he did not confide it to me. Though a man of unusual foresight, he never revealed his plans or expectations too far in advance.</p>
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When Smith entered the Military Academy it was still the Spartan West Point of Sylvanus Thayer. Cadets led a narrow, monastic life, and there were few outlets for excess animal spirits that did not lead to the ‘‘skin list.” There was no Reception Room for entertaining our friends, and little was done for our amusement. There were no organized sports and no broadening contacts with the young men of other colleges.</p>
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Such was the Military Academy until 1890. Returning from furlough, we found that, in a weak moment, the Superintendent had authorized the formation of a football team to play Annapolis. Ordinarily, that Ark of Conservatism, the Academic Board, would have stood firm on sacred tradition. However, the son of the Dean, “Old Pete” Michie, was the prospective team captain. The Alumni were outraged until the Navy won, 24 to 0. Of course one more game had to be played. Army won, 32 to 16; Aladdin Michie’s Jinnee refused to go back in the box; and the new football songs and yells sounded the requiem of the old West Point with its narrow, cloistered life.</p>
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Smith was not a member of the football team, yet his being a cadet at that time was an essential part of his education as a great Superintendent of the modern Military Academy. Coming earlier he might have lacked some of his zest and sympathy for the broader life. Coming later he might have had less understanding for the Academy's austere soldierly traditions. In him the best qualities of the conservative and the progressive were closely blended.</p>
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Smith graduated tenth in his class and should have stood higher but for his Archilles’ heel—no talent or aptitude for modern languages—though he stood high in everything else. To graduate tenth in a class of sixty-two, though a "goat” in French and Spanish. was a notable achievement. This was essential to his training as a great educator. Later, as an instructor, both the Levites in the top section, and the Publicans and Sinners in the last, hailed him as a great teacher. Smith never forgot that he had fought for his commission.</p>
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Smith graduated June 11, 1892, and was appointed a second lieutenant in the 1st Artillery. Each regiment comprised ten coast defense batteries and two light batteries. He was assigned to Capron’s light battery at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. This was significant. He was to become a distinguished expert in the coast artillery; but, before settling down in his own branch, his service at Fort Sheridan brought him in contact with a regiment of infantry, two troops of cavalry, and units of our citizen soldiery—a rare broadening experience in those days. This was a factor in the education of a young officer who would one day lead a National Guard Division in a victorious operation against the German Army.</p>
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In November, 1895, Lieutenant Smith reported to the Military Academy and was assigned to the Department of Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Geology under Professor Samuel E. Tillman. In 1898, he was transferred to the Department of Ordnance and Gunnery, where his success was so conspicuous that he was offered an appointment as a first lieutenant of Ordnance—which he declined. He also served for a time as a tactical officer. He was appointed a first lieutenant of Artillery in 1899, and a captain of Coast Artillery in in 1901.</p>
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Captain Smith left West Point in 1901 and took command of the 8th Coast Artillery Company at Fort Morgan, Mobile Bay. In December, Captain Smith married Mary Prince Davis, the daughter of General George B. Davis, the Judge Advocate General of the Army, who had been Professor of Law at the Military Academy when Smith was an instructor. A son, George Davis, was born to Captain and Mrs. Smith in September, 1902.</p>
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In 1903, Smith returned to West Point as an instructor. After serving in the Department of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, he was transferred to the Department of Mathematics as an instructor and then as assistant professor. As a fellow instructor, I recall that he was often shifted to other departments, often with almost no warning. His knowledge of the course was so universal that he was put in wherever a “pinch-hitter” was needed. He also served as Treasurer of the Army Athletic Association and as Secretary of the Association of Graduates.</p>
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During their residence at West Point, great sorrow and a great joy came to Captain and Mrs. Smith. In January, 1904, they lost a baby son; and in July, 1905, their little boy, George Davis, died suddenly. On March 28, 1905, their daughter, Katherine Alexander Smith, was born.</p>
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Captain Smith became a student officer in the School of Submarine Defense at Fort Totten, New York, in June, 1907. From September, 1908, ntil he became a major in March, 1909, he commanded the 168th Company of Coast Artillery at Fort Monroe, Virginia. He remained there as a field officer until the spring of 1911. His son William R. Smith, Jr., was born there on December 14, 1908.</p>
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From 1911 until 1914 Major Smith served as Assistant to the Chief of Coast Artillery in Washington. He then returned to Fort Monroe as Mine Commander and Director of the Department of Engineering and Mine Defense in the Coast Artillery School. In July, 1916, he became a lieutenant colonel. Early in 1917 he installed the first submarine net ever put down in this country, a 2,000 yard net closing the entrance to Hampton Roads. In May, he became a colonel and returned to Washington as Assistant to the Chief of Coast Artillery.</p>
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Colonel Smith's service in Washington was brief. In August he became a brigadier general in the National Army and took command of the 62nd Field Artillery Brigade, a part of the 37th Division. Ohio National Guard at Camp Sheridan, Alabama. In June, 1918, he conducted his brigade to New York and embarked it for overseas duty, but did not accompany it. In June, he became a major general and. in July took command of the 36th Division. Texas and Oklahoma National Guard, embarking with it for France.</p>
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After two months of intensive training, he led his division to the front as part of the 4th French Army under General Gouraud. It thus took part in the Champagne offensive for the relief of Rheims, driving the Germans from the vicinity of Somme-Py to the banks of the Aisne near Attigny. There can be no better summary of General Smith’s war service than that given in the citation accompanying his Distinguished Service Medal:</p>
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<em>For exceptionally meritorious and conspicuous service as commanding general, 36th Division. By his thorough and ceaseless efforts, coupled with a keen insight into the principles of military training, he brought his division to such a high standard of discipline and proficiency as to achirve conspicuous results in a major offensive without previous service under fire. The excellent conduct of his division subsequent to the signing of the armistice reflects great credit on him. His services have been of great value to the American Expeditionary Forces.</em></p>
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After the war General Smith reverted to his Regular Army rank of colonel. In August, 1919, he was detailed to the General Staff Corps, becoming Chief of Staff of the Philippine Department in November. In July, 1920, he became a brigadier general and took command of Fort William McKinley. He left the Islands in December, 1921, and took command of Fort Sam Houston, Texas. In December, 1922, he became Commandant of the Coast Artillery School and the 3rd Coast Artillery District. Becoming a major general in July, 1924, he also commanded the 3rd Corps Area. In February, 1925, he took command of the Hawaiian Division. In August, 1927, he assumed command of the Hawaiian Department. He left Hawaii in January, 1928, and became Superintendent of the Military Academy in February, 1928.</p>
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No Superintendent ever took up his task with a broader or more thorough preparation for his duties or a more brilliant record as a practical soldier. Added to his professional qualifications were moral qualifications of the highest order. He had a knowledge of business and was a natural leader. He was a man of prompt decision and firm will, impelled by a high but disinterested ambition. These gifts were tempered by a high sense of justice, a sympathetic spirit, and a never failing sense of humor.</p>
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There is no room in this space for a detailed account of his administration. He soon saw the necessity for expanding the limits of the reservation in order to secure an adequate water supply and to provide room for suitable maneuver and target areas. Through his able presentation of the problem to Congress he was able to secure authority for the purchase of 15,000 acres of land to the west and south of the reservation. There was an extensive construction program, including the New Cadet Mess, the South Barracks with its magnificent Reception Room, twenty-eight sets of officers' quarters, and officers' apartment building, fifty-four sets of non-commissioned officers' quarters, a hockey rink, and a polo field.</p>
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In addition to these material achievements he did much to modernize the curriculum and to improve the standards for admission. While maintaining the ancient standards of scholarship and discipline, he did everything in his power to encourage athletics and to broaden the extracurricular activities in every way. No Superintendent ever performed his duties with greater vigor or a better understanding of the mission of the Academy.</p>
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General Smith remained in command at West Point until he was retired by operation of law in April, 1932, but he never retired from active and useful public service until the end of his life. Soon after leaving West Point he became Superintendent of the Sewanee Military Academy which forms a part of the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee. This took him back to the beautiful Cumberland Plateau where he had spent many summers as a boy. There he spent the closing years of his life in close association with a classmate, General James P. Jervey, Professor of Mathematics of the University.</p>
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When he took charge at Sewanee he found a moribund and almost bankrupt school with only sixty students. During his administration he raised its attendance to more than two hundred and made it a solvent and highly vital unit in the University Corporation. His new career, like his military career, was marked by uninterrupted success. He and his family filled a high place in the social life of Sewanee and made their home a Mecca for their friends and for the students of the college and the academy.</p>
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General Smith died suddenly on July 15, 1941, while on a visit to his son at West Point. His wife, Mary Davis Smith, survived him only three weeks. They are survived by their daughter, Katherine Alexander Smith, their son William R. Smith, Jr., and their grandson William R. Smith, III.</p>
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—J. McA.P.</p>
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