Jacob H. Smith
| Jacob Hurd Smith | |
|---|---|
Smith in Tacloban, Philippines, 1901
|
|
| Nickname(s) | "Howling Jake" |
| Born |
January 29, 1840 Ohio |
| Died | January 3, 1918 (aged 77) San Diego, California |
| Allegiance |
 United StatesUnion |
| Service/branch |
 United States ArmyUnion Army |
| Years of service | 1861–1902 |
| Rank |
 Brigadier General
|
| Battles/wars |
Indian Wars Spanish–American War Philippine–American War |
General Jacob Hurd Smith (January 29, 1840 – March 1, 1918) was a United States Army officer notorious for ordering an indiscriminate retaliatory attack on a group of Filipinos during the Philippine–American War, in which American soldiers killed between 2,500 and 50,000 civilians. His orders included, "kill everyone over the age of ten" and make the island "a howling wilderness." Court-martialed for the incident, he was dubbed "Hell Roaring Jake" Smith, "The Monster", and "Howling Jake" by the press as a result.
Smith enlisted early in the Civil War, but was disabled in the Battle of Shiloh. He tried to return to duty that summer, but the wound would not heal properly, so he became a member of the Invalid Corps, serving out the remainder of the Civil War as a mustering officer/recruiter in Louisville for three years. His service record states that he was good at recruiting "colored" troops.
While working in Louisville, he met and later married Emma L. Havrety in November 1864. After the war, he became a Veteran Companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.
In 1869, Smith's father-in-law, Daniel Havrety claimed bankruptcy. The lawyers for the bankruptcy court noticed a tremendous enlargement of Jacob Smith's assets while in Louisville, from $4,000 in 1862 to $40,000 in 1865. Smith admitted that he was involved in a brokerage scheme using bounty money for army recruits to finance a side business and speculations in whisky, gold, and diamonds. Smith said he receipted for a package sent via Express from New Orleans to Cleveland. The package came from his father-in-law and was addressed to Smith's mother-in-law. Smith later learned the package contained $13,000.
In 1869, Smith tried to get a temporary army judge advocate position converted into a permanent position. One of the parties in the bankruptcy case, John McClain, informed the Senate Committee on Military Affairs about Smith's bounty brokerage scheme.
Smith wrapped himself in the flag and argued to the committee that he had been in seven engagements and had been wounded in the Battle of Shiloh, and referring to himself said: "one who took upon himself all the odium that the rebels and conservatives of Louisville, Kentucky, heaped upon him, by being the first officer, to my knowledge, who commenced mustering into service the colored man in Kentucky during the year 1863." Smith said that he had scoured Kentucky's prison pens, jails, and workhouses to find these men and that his only aim was to serve his God and his country properly. Smith admitted to speculating, but justified it by saying that others had made three times as much money as he had in Louisville during the war, and he had not defrauded anyone.
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