Smith's Company, Utah Cavalry (3 months, 1862) (Union)

Brief History
Smith's Company, Utah Cavalry was organized April 30, 1862 in response to a telegram sent to Brigham Young by Adjutant-General L. Thomas two days earlier on April 28, 1862. Their purpose was to defend the telegraph lines and mail routes. Captain Lot Smith's Company was made up of Companies A and B of the First Cavalry, Utah Militia. Smith's Company had 106 men with 23 officers, 72 privates, and 11 teamsters who also did the same work as the privates. The company was discharged August 14, 1862.

"Compendium of the War of the Rebellion" by Frederick H. Dyer contains no history for this unit.

Counties of the Men in this Company
The men were from many parts of the Utah Territory, especially from Davis County, Salt Lake County, and Utah County.

To find the county where the men lived, check the 1860 United States Federal Census (free).

For a roster of this company, go to the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System Regiments and choose Utah Territory. Click Submit Query, then click Smith's Company. On the next page, click Click here for a listing of all soldiers in this unit. The compiled service records from the National Archives have been published on FamilySearch. See link below to the published collection.

FamilySearch Historical Records

 * Utah, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865
 * Utah, Territorial Militia Records, 1849-1877
 * Utah, Grand Army of the Republic Membership Records, 1879-1934

Other Sources

 * Fisher, Margaret M., Utah and the Civil War: Being the Story of the Part Played by the People of Utah in that Great Conflict, with Special Reference to the Lot Smith Expedition and the Robert T. Burton Expedition, (Salt Lake City, Utah : Deseret Book, c1929). Has a roster of Lot Smith's company on pp. 28-30 . Other libraries with book (WorldCat)


 * E.B. Long. The saints and the Union : Utah Territory during the Civil War. Urbana, Illinois : University of Illinois Press, c1981 FHL 979.2 H2Le


 * Alford, Kenneth L., ed. Civil War Saints. Provo, Utah : Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2012. FHL 973 M2cws See chapter 8 Joseph R. Stuart and Kenneth L. Alford. The Lot Smith Cavalry Company: Utah Goes to War. pp.127-142.


 * Beginning United States Civil War Research gives steps for finding information about a Civil War soldier. It covers the major records that should be used. Additional records are described in ‘Utah in the Civil War’ and ‘United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865’ (see below).


 * National Park Service, The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, is searchable by soldier's name and state. It contains basic facts about soldiers on both sides of the Civil War, a list of regiments, descriptions of significant battles, sources of the information, and suggestions for where to find additional information.


 * Utah in the Civil War describes many Union sources, specifically for Utah, and how to find them. These include compiled service records, pension records, rosters, cemetery records, Internet databases, published books, etc.


 * United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865 describes and explains United States and Confederate States records, rather than state records, and how to find them. These include veterans’ censuses, compiled service records, pension records, rosters, cemetery records, Internet databases, published books, etc.