RICHARD

See also:

• BAIRD, HENRY MARTYN (1832—1906)
• BAIRD, JAMES (1802—1876)
• BAIRD, SIR DAVID (1757—1829)
• BAIRD, SPENCER FULLERTON (1823--1887)

BAIRD

See also:

• SMITH
• SMITH, ADAM (1723–1790)
• SMITH, ALEXANDER (183o-1867)
• SMITH, ANDREW JACKSON (1815-1897)
• SMITH, CHARLES EMORY (1842–1908)
• SMITH, CHARLES FERGUSON (1807–1862)
• SMITH, CHARLOTTE (1749-1806)
• SMITH, COLVIN (1795—1875)
• SMITH, EDMUND KIRBY (1824-1893)
• SMITH, G
• SMITH, GEORGE (1789-1846)
• SMITH, GEORGE (184o-1876)
• SMITH, GEORGE ADAM (1856- )
• SMITH, GERRIT (1797–1874)
• SMITH, GOLDWIN (1823-191o)
• SMITH, HENRY BOYNTON (1815-1877)
• SMITH, HENRY JOHN STEPHEN (1826-1883)
• SMITH, HENRY PRESERVED (1847– )
• SMITH, JAMES (1775–1839)
• SMITH, JOHN (1579-1631)
• SMITH, JOHN RAPHAEL (1752–1812)
• SMITH, JOSEPH, JR
• SMITH, MORGAN LEWIS (1822–1874)
• RICHARD BAIRD SMITH (1818-1861)
• SMITH, ROBERT (1689-1768)
• SMITH, SIR HENRY GEORGE WAKELYN
• SMITH, SIR THOMAS (1513-1577)
• SMITH, SIR WILLIAM (1813-1893)
• SMITH, SIR WILLIAM SIDNEY (1764-1840)
• SMITH, SYDNEY (1771-1845)
• SMITH, THOMAS SOUTHWOOD (1788-1861)
• SMITH, WILLIAM (1769-1839)
• SMITH, WILLIAM (c. 1730-1819)
• SMITH, WILLIAM (fl. 1596)
• SMITH, WILLIAM FARRAR (1824—1903)
• SMITH, WILLIAM HENRY (1808—1872)
• SMITH, WILLIAM HENRY (1825—1891)
• SMITH, WILLIAM ROBERTSON (1846-'894)

SMITH (1818-1861)  , British engineer officer, son of a surgeon in the royal navy, was born on the 31st of December 1818 . He was educated at Lasswade and Addiscombe, and joined the Madras Engineers in 1838 . Being transferred to the Bengal Engineers, he served through the second Sikh .war, and was present at the battles of llatiiwal, Aliwal and Sobraon . He was then for some years employed on canal work, and when the Mutiny broke out was in charge of Roorkee . He promptly concentrated the Europeans in the workshops, and though the native sappers deserted, his forethought pre-vented any loss of life . When Delhi was invested he was appointed chief engineer in charge of the siege works . He reached Delhi on the end of July, and immediately advised General Barnard to assault the city . Barnard died while the advice was still under consideration, and his successor, General Reed, could not be induced to follow it; and when Reed in turn was succeeded by Archdale Wilson, the besiegers were so weakened by losses that the moment for a successful attack had passed . Baird Smith, however, prevented Wilson from relaxing his hold on Delhi until the arrival of John Nicholson with reinforcements from the Punjab, and of the siege train from Phillour . Nicholson then joined Baird Smith in compelling Wilson to make the assault, which proved successful, on the 14th of September . Baird Smith was ably assisted by Captain Alexander Taylor, but Nicholson was unjust to Baird Smith in assigning to Taylor the chief credit for the siege operations . After the capture of Delhi he returned to Roorkee and to civil employment, and for a time the value of his military services was insufficiently recognized .

After the Mutiny he was made A.D.C. to

Queen Victoria, became secretary to the government of India in the public works department, and gained well-deserved credit in the famine of 1861 . But the onerous character of this work, following a wound and illness at Delhi, broke down his constitution, and he died at sea on the 13th of December 1861 . He married a daughter of De Quincey, who long survived him . See Colonel H . M . Vibart, Richard Baird Smith (1897) .