William Ruthven Smith
| William Ruthven Smith | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
April 2, 1868 Nashville, Tennessee |
| Died | July 15, 1941 (aged 73) Sewanee, Tennessee |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Army
|
| Years of service | 1892 - 1932 |
| Rank |
 Major General
|
| Commands held | Superintendent of the United States Military Academy |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Medal |
William Ruthven Smith (April 2, 1868 – July 15, 1941) was a career United States Army officer who commanded the 36th Infantry Division during its deployment in France during World War I and later became Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.
William Ruthven Smith was born April 2, 1868, in Nashville, Tennessee, son of Robert McPhail and Lititia (Trimble) Smith. The younger Smith attended Vanderbilt University and was appointed to the United States Military Academy from his native state, graduating 10th out of 62 cadets in his class of 1892.
Smith's early postings alternated between garrison service in field artillery and teaching at West Point as instructor of the separate subjects of chemistry, mathematics, ordnance, and gunnery. Made captain of the new Coast Artillery Corps in 1901, he was a student of the school of submarine defense and commanded Fort Monroe in 1908. In the years preceding World War I, Smith commanded anti-submarine technology schools and departments, in early 1917 stretching "the first submarine net put down in America, 2000 yards long, 84 feet at deepest point, extending from Fort Monroe to Fort Wool and closing entrance to Hampton Roads"
Promoted to colonel of the Coast Artillery Corps in May, 1917, Smith was made a brigadier general of the National Army and assigned to train the 62nd Field Artillery Brigade, 37th Division (Ohio National Guard). After training that command for nine months at Camp Sheridan, Alabama, Smith traveled with the Guard unit to its embarkation for Europe, but was left on the docks when their ships departed on June 10, 1918, by order of the War Department.
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