HARDY SMITH
(1839 - April 3, 1863)
Corporal, Company D., 8th Florida Infantry Regiment

Hardy Smith joined William Baya’s Independent Company on November 18, 1861 alongside his older brother, Richard Calhoun Smith. Baya’s Company would become Company D of the 8th Florida Infantry Regiment before joining the Army of Northern Virginia.

Hardy was promoted to Corporal on December 1st, 1862. On December 11th, at the battle of Fredericksburg, the Smith brothers and most of their company were detached to assist the Mississippi brigade of General William Barksdale in harrassing Union engineers tasked with constructing a bridge across the Rappahannock.

The brothers, and most of their company, were captured after two days of preventing a Union beachhead and were sent to Fort Monroe, Virginia. They were then transferred to City Point, Virginia for prisoner exchange. This exchange took place on January 6, 1863.

A couple of months after Richard Calhoun and Hardy rejoined Company D of the 8th Florida, Hardy fell ill with dysentery. He was sent to Hospital #1 at Lynchburg, Virginia. He died on April 3, 1863 - he was 24 years old.