The nickname "Whiskey" is often attached to Union Major General A. J. Smith. I am trying to find out the origins of this nickname. It appears to me to be a post war nick name which did not gain in popularity until well past the turn of the century. The ONLY time I have seen the name connected to him by a Civil War veteran is in the History of the Second Iowa Cavalry by Sergeant Lyman B. Pierce, published in 1865. He states that the name "Whiskey" was used by "the rebels" when describing Smith. I have gone through Confederate Veteran and the Southern Historical Society Papers with a fine toothed comb. He is mentioned in 64 articles but never once called "Whiskey".

Most of the times I find the name "Whiskey" being used it is in describing the burning of Oxford, Miss., in August of 1864. You can google the name and find it on websites, books, articles, etc., but NEVER in a piece written by a veteran (except Pierce's lone mention).

Was this an actual war-time moniker or simply an attempt to smear a man unpopular in Mississippi for his burning of Oxford and victory at Tupelo?

Tom