Charles Ferguson Smith was an American military officer who served in United States Army during the Mexican–American War and the Utah War and as a Union Army major general in the American Civil War. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1825 and served as an instructor at the academy beginning in 1829 and as Commandant of Cadets from 1838 to 1843. During the American Civil War, he served under Ulysses S. Grant who was a student of his at the military academy. Smith was instrumental in Grant's victory at the Battle of Fort Donelson but died in 1862 due to infection of a non-combat leg injury and subsequent dysentery.

The Utah War (1857–1858), also known as the Utah Expedition, the Utah Campaign, Buchanan's Blunder, the Mormon War, or the Mormon Rebellion, was an armed confrontation between Mormon settlers in the Utah Territory and the armed forces of the US government. The confrontation lasted from May 1857 to July 1858. The conflict primarily involved Mormon settlers and federal troops, escalating from tensions over governance and autonomy within the territory. There were several casualties, predominantly non-Mormon civilians. Although the war featured no significant military battles, it included the tragic Mountain Meadows Massacre, where Mormon militia members killed about 120 unarmed settlers traveling to California.