Charles H. Smith - Cartersville, GA
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 34° 09.938 W 084° 47.744
16S E 703182 N 3782716
"Smith was a devoted Confederate. In 1860, he served on a committee of Rome citizens that passed a resolution of non-intercourse with the North. This, Smith said, was "the surest plan to bring the Northern fanatics to their senses." ~ History of NGA
Waymark Code: WMPQDM
Location: Georgia, United States
Date Posted: 10/07/2015
Views: 2
County of plaque: Bartow County
Location of plaque: Friendship Plaza fence, behind train depot, Cartersville
Plaque erected: 2001
Plaque erected by: Cartersville-Bartow Convention & Visitors Bureau
Plaque Text:
CHARLES H. SMITH
"BILL ARP"
Lawyer, journalist, humorist. Born Lawrenceville, Georgia, June 15, 1826; died Cartersville, Georgia.
Major in Confederte Army, former Mayor of Rome, Georgia. Writing career started in 1861 under pen name "Bill Arp". A humorist in the Will Rogers vein, he wrote several books, and wrote articles for The Atlanta Journal taht wee syndicated in hundreds of newspapers nationally. "Bill Arp" became a household word. At his funeral, Evangelist Sam P. Jones preached: "No man of all my knowledge had more friends than he, and none had fever enemies."
His Find-A-Grave listing has little information but some nice pictures.
"Smith was a devoted Confederate. In 1860, he served on a committee of Rome citizens that passed a resolution of non-intercourse with the North. This, Smith said, was "the surest plan to bring the Northern fanatics to their senses." In 1861, he was appointed to General Francis Barrow's brigade. After Barrow was killed, Smith was transferred to General George Thomas "Tige" Anderson's brigade.
"Upon entering General Robert E. Lee's tent one day, he found an exhausted General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson asleep under a table. "Reverently," he said, "I gazed upon him for a minute, for I felt almost like I was in the presence of some divinity. What a scene for a painter was that--the two greatest generals of the army, yes, of the age, together; one asleep on the straw, worn out with fatigue and excitement, the camp tables set above him; while the other, with his staff, dined in silence over him and watched his needed rest."
"Sent home in 1863 on a medical discharge, he was a member of the home guard until the end of the war. When General Nathan Bedford Forrest saved Rome from federal troops by tricking them into surrendering (more), Smith and others organized a celebration in his honor. During the war Smith served briefly as an editor for an Atlanta newspaper, the Southern Confederacy." History of Northern Georgia