Memorial Day Tribute: Venture Smith's Descendants In The Civil War

The remarkable story of Venture Smith has been available to the public for over 200 years. With the assistance of teacher Elisha Niles, Smith first produced a narrative of his life in 1798, a book that was re-published in the 1830’s. Later, the 1885 Beers History of Middlesex County—a much more widely circulated publication—contained a lengthy section on Venture Smith’s life. Nevertheless, public awareness of and widespread interest in Smith’s life story is a fairly recent development. Like the story of the Amistad, his story lay dormant for many years. That has all changed. His autobiography has been reprinted many times in recent years; books and poems about him have been written; the BBC has done a documentary about him; NPR has done a piece about him. Public awareness of Venture Smith’s life has increased dramatically, but there are still aspects of his life and family that need further exploration. One aspect of Venture Smith’s family legacy that is under-publicized is the Civil War military service of his great-grandson Nelson Smith and Nelson’s two sons, George and Daniel. Memorial Day weekend provides an appropriate opportunity to recall and to honor their service.

Public records show that Nelson A. Smith enlisted in the Union Army on Dec. 10, 1863, at the age of 45 — rather old for an enlistee. Three days prior to Nelson’s enlistment, two of his sons, George and Daniel, had also enlisted in the army. Could it be that Nelson’s decision to join was influenced by the enlistment of his two sons? That seems probable, given the dates of enlistment and his age. It could not have been easy for Nelson to leave behind his wife and six other children at age 45 to go to war. Regardless of his motivation to join, all three descendants of Venture Smith joined Connecticut’s 29^th Regiment.

The 29^th “Colored” Connecticut Volunteer Regiment came about after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, thus paving the way for blacks to join the military. Connecticut was slow to organize a black regiment at first; eventually, Gov. William Buckingham formally approved its creation. Although recruitment began on Aug. 11, 1863, the vast majority of the regiment joined about the same time as the members of the Smith family—in the winter of 1863-64. Finally, the unit found an officer to command it, Colonel William B. Wooster, formerly of the 20^th Connecticut Regiment. Mustered into service in New Haven on March 8, 1864, the 29^th soon left for the South.

The unit first arrived in Annapolis, Md., and then soon arrived in South Carolina in April. Four months of drilling and training followed. The 29^th then was shipped to Virginia, arriving there on Aug. 14^th. Within five days, Nelson Smith of Company D was admitted to the hospital at Fort Monroe, Va., suffering from typhoid fever. He died five days later in the hospital on Aug. 24,1864, having served for less than a year and having never been engaged in battle. Nelson was buried in Hampton, Va..

Just over three weeks later, George Smith, great-great-grandson of Venture Smith and son of Nelson, was killed in action during the bitter siege at Petersburg, Va., on Sept. 16, 1864. George and his brother, Daniel, both belonged to Company C. Daniel, who spent much of his time guarding prisoners while he was in the service, survived the war and returned to Haddam in November of 1865. Like his great-great-grandfather, Venture, before him, Daniel apparently took to the sea and ended up in North Carolina, where he lived out the remainder of his life. He died in North Carolina on Feb. 5, 1899, at about age 55. Daniel is buried in a military cemetery in New Berne, N.C.

This year marks the sesquicentennial commemoration of the Civil War. As part of the kickoff for the commemoration, hundreds of Civil War enthusiasts gathered at Central Connecticut State University early last month. About 20 people (including me) attended an afternoon seminar on the Connecticut 29^th. I asked the seminar leader — himself a descendant of a soldier from the 29^th — if he knew that three direct descendants of Venture Smith had served in that regiment. He didn’t. Just as the story of Venture Smith’s remarkable perseverance lay dormant for many years, so too has the story of the service and sacrifice in the Civil War of Nelson Smith and his two sons, George and Daniel. Memorial Day weekend is a good time to resurrect that story.

Notes, Sources, and Links:

 1.      Descendants of the 29^th maintain a very informative website at www.conn29th.org.

2.      Karl Stofko, municipal historian of East Haddam.

3.      “Venture Smith’s Family” by Barbara Barnes.

4.      Beer’s 1885 History of Middlesex County.