Existing comment:
Hagerstonians In The Civil War
Brevet Brigadier General George Bell, USA
1828 - 1907
George Bell was the son of William Duffield Bell, developer of South Prospect Street and editor of the Hagerstown Torchlight newspaper. He grew up in this neighborhood. An 1853 graduate of West Point, Bell served at several posts in Texas and the east coast, including Fort McHenry. His accomplishments include:
1861 - Courier for General-Chief Winfield Scott, carrying secret dispatches to Texas. He was then assigned to the field artillery, but soon was transferred to the Commissary Department.
1861 - As a lieutenant and commissary officer, he arranged to provide food for General McDowell's army during the First Manassas Campaign.
1861 - 1865 - Stationed at the Annapolis, Alexandria and Washington DC depots as the regional commissary officer. Arranged for the purchase, preparation and distribution of the food necessary to daily feed tens of thousands of soldiers and prisoners of war held in the region. Promoted several times. [Picture included]
1865 - Breveted (honorary) promotion to brigadier general for meritorious service.
1892 - Retired with rank of colonel. When he died his remains were returned to Hagerstown and interred in Rose Hill Cemetery.
Fascinating Fact:
As an example of how the Civil War was a war of "brother against brother", George's brother Henry C. Bell served as a private in the 1st Maryland Cavalry Battalion in the Confederate Army. |