Robert Hardy Smith

Robert Hardy Smith (March 21, 1813 – March 13, 1878) was an American politician who served as a senior officer of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He served in the Alabama House of Representatives and the Alabama Senate. He served in the Confederate Congress, was a Confederate officer, and advocated for slavery.

Early life and career Smith was born in Camden County, North Carolina on March 21, 1813, and later moved to Alabama. In Alabama, Smith served in the state's House of Representatives in 1849 and the Alabama Senate in 1851. At the onset of the American Civil War, Smith was elected to represent the State of Alabama in the Provisional Confederate Congress from 1861 to 1862. He later served as a Colonel of the 36th Alabama Infantry Regiment. In an 1861 speech, Smith stated that Alabama declared its secession from the Union over the issue of slavery, which he referred to as "the negro quarrel". In the speech, he praised the Confederate Constitution for its un-euphemistic protections of the right to own slaves:

Death Smith died in Mobile, Alabama on March 13, 1878, and was buried at the Magnolia Cemetery.