During the Civil War, the Smithland Methodist Church was used by Union forces as a warehouse and hospital. Although Smithland was a small community at the outbreak of the war, its location was strategically important, and existing buildings were initially taken for Army use. Churches were frequently pressed into service because their large open interiors were well suited for warehouses or hospitals. Early in 1863, the Army built additional structures in Smithland to supplement the town’s buildings. The number of troops there changed over the course of the war, with about 500 men in the fall of 1861, 700 in January 1862, and nearly 1,000 in September of that year; by March 1864 the number had returned to 500, then rose slightly with the recruitment of the 13th United States Heavy Artillery Colored, and by the end of the war fewer than 200 troops remained in Smithland, nearly all from the 13th. Yet troop numbers alone did not measure Smithland’s importance, because it served as a supply center for a large area. The Quartermaster Corps maintained an extensive operation there, providing transportation by land and water, horses, forage, tents, camp and garrison equipment, lumber, barracks, hospitals, wagons, ambulances, harness, ships, steamers, docks, wharves, roads, bridges, railroads, clothing, and payment for military expenses not assigned elsewhere.