While Smith has often been attacked for his decisions, he has also been praised for bringing his column through repeated ambushes during the retreat from Concord to the safety of Percy's reinforcements without entirely disintegrating. John Galvin who wrote a history of the Lexington and Concord fighting, observed that "Smith, unfortunately, could match this steadiness with an equal slowness and lack of imagination, a fact that has received more than enough attention over the years, perhaps obscuring his coolness and courage".