annual Gen. Smyth wreath laying ceremony

    General Thomas Alfred Smyth was born on December 25th, 1832 in Ballyhooly, County of 

Cork, Ireland. His parents were Thomas and Margaret Smyth.

     He came to this country in August 1854, and first settled in Philadelphia, where he followed the 

business of carving and Coach making. He remained there until early 1858 when he came to 

Wilmington. On 7 July of 1858 he married to Miss Amanda M. Pounder.

     In April 1861, feeling a duty to his adopted country, he raised a company for three months 

service. He took his company to Philadelphia, where it became Co. H., 24th  Pa., Volunteers

under the command of Brig. Gen. Joshua T. Owen. The company mustered out after three months of service. The Regiment then returned to Wilmington, where Gen. Smyth  joined with the First Delaware Volunteers, who were reorganizing for three years of service, He was chosen as a Major.  

     He distinguished himself as being a great leader in many battles and after the battles of 

Antietam and Fredericksburg, the officers of the Regiment held a meeting and elected him Lieut. Col. On 7 February 1862, he was commissioned as Colonel.

    He participated in the Battle of Gettysburg as a Division Commander. While in command of a division, he was commissioned a Brigadier General on 1 Oct 1864.

      Not long after the battle of Hatchers Run, VA in February 1865, the General applied for a short leave to return to Wilmington to allow him to join the Masonic membership of Washington Lodge #1 of the Grand Lodge of Delaware. He received the three degrees on the 26 of March 1865. He decided to join Freemasonry because of the good impression he had of  the men in the army that he knew were Masons, including General Winfield Scott Hancock. 

     On 7 April 1865 the Army reached the town of Farmville, VA., While surveying the 

battlefield, the General was shot by a sniper. Falling from his horse, he was caught by his aides, 

Lieutenants Albert Smith Nones and Charles B Tanner. 

     On 9 April 1865, while in the care of his friend Dr. David W. Maull, MD, he passed away, His death was concurrent with the surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee, making Gen. Smyth the 

last Union General killed in the Civil War.

    After his death, General Smyth’s body was returned to Wilmington and he was given a full and impressive public funeral led by the members of the Masonic Order. His Masonic career only lasted a month but the brothers of the Grand Lodge honored him with appropriate ceremonies.  

      Smyth’s appointment to Brevet Major General was confirmed on 26 Mar 1867  by President Andrew Johnson .