Methodist Church

Methodist Church. . , The Smithland Methodist Church was used as a warehouse and hospital by Union forces during the War. While its location was strategically important, Smithland was a small community at the outbreak of the War. Initially, existing buildings were taken for use by the Army. Churches were frequently pressed into service because their large open areas were well suited to use as either warehouses or hospitals. Early in 1863 the Army built a number of buildings in Smithland to supplement the existing buildings., The number of troops in Smithland fluctuated during the War. There were about 500 men in the fall of 1861, increasing to 700 in January 1862 and peaking at nearly 1,000 in September of that year. By March of 1864 the number was back to 500 and rose slightly when the recruitment of the 13th United States Heavy Artillery Colored began. At the end of the War there were fewer than 200 troops in Smithland, nearly all from the 13th. The number of troops is not a good indicator of the importance of Smithland since it served as supply center for a large area., The Quartermaster Corps had responsibility for all the needs of the Army and its operation in Smithland was extensive. "An officer" who served in the Quartermaster Corps during the Civil War described it in these words:, "The services of those employed in the great depots in which the clothing, transportation, horses, forage, and other supplies are provided, are no less essential to success and involve no less labor and responsibility than those of the officers who accompany the troops on their marches and are charged with the care and transportation of all the material essential to their health and efficiency. The quartermaster's department is charged with the duty of providing the means of transportation by land and water for all the troops and all the material of war. It furnishes the horses for artillery and cavalry, and for the trains; supplies tents, camp and garrison equipage, forage, lumber, and all materials for camps; builds barracks, hospitals, wagons, ambulances; provides harness, except for artillery horses; builds or charters ships and steamers, docks and wharves; constructs or repairs roads, bridges and railroads; clothes the army; and is charged generally with the payment of all expenses attending military operations which are not expressly assigned by law or regulation to some other department.", Captions , The Civil War occupation of Smithland may have looked very similar to the Civil War encampment in the above photograph., An engraving of a typical makeshift Civil War hospital like the one setup in the Smithland Methodist Church and hundreds of other churches, courthouses, hotels, steamships, and private residences.