Col. Louis Bell, (USA)

Louis Bell

Find A Grave Memorial ID # 8288845

Louis Bell was born in Chester, New Hampshire on March 8, 1837, the son of Governor Samuel Bell and his second wife, Lucy. His siblings included Dr. Luther Vose Bell, New Hampshire Senator James Bell, and New Hampshire Chief Justice Samuel Dana Bell. Louis Bell attended school at the Derry and Gilford Academies and graduated from Brown University at the age of eighteen. In 1857, after being admitted to the New Hampshire bar, Bell opened his own law practice in Farmington, New Hampshire. On June 8, 1859, Bell married his childhood friend Mary Anne 'Mollie' Persis Bouton, third daughter of Rev. National Raymond Bouton, D.D. of Concord. Together, the couple had two children: a daughter, Marian, born September 5, 1860 and a son, Louis, born December 5, 1864. A third child, born in the Spring of 1862, only lived for three weeks.

In 1861, after the Civil War broke out, Louis Bell enlisted in the First New Hampshire Volunteer Regiment. He initially served as Captain of Company A. When the First, a 90-day regiment disbanded, Bell joined the newly-formed Fourth New Hampshire Volunteer Regiment. On August 5, 1861 he was appointed its lieutenant colonel. After a brief assignment with the Army of the Potomac, the new regiment was sent to occupy the South Carolina lowlands south of Charleston. Bell received the recognition of Brigadier General Thomas W. Sherman, who appointed Bell as his Inspector General and Chief of his Staff.

In January 1862, a force led by Bell undertook a Florida campaign during which it captured Fernandina, Jacksonville, and St. Augustine. On March 18, 1862, Bell was promoted to full colonel and became commander of the regiment. While commanding the regiment’s occupation of St. Augustine, General David Hunter had Bell arrested and relieved of his command for allegedly returning a fugitive slave to her owners. Following a half-hearted investigation, Bell was reinstated to his command in September 1862 without trial.

The regiment returned to South Carolina in late 1862 and by the following spring, Bell commanded a brigade which included the Third and Fourth New Hampshire Regiments and the Ninth and Eleventh Maine Regiments. The brigade took part in several siege operations against works outside of Charleston. These included the capture of both Fort Wagner and Fort Gregg, located on Morris Island, and the shelling of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.

Following a brief furlough, Bell’s brigade was reassigned to Virginia where it took part in the battle of Drewry’s Bluff (May 15, 1864) before settling into the siege lines surrounding Petersburg, Virginia. Bell’s forces also took part in the Battle of the Crater (July 30, 1864), a bloody affair which did little to move the siege lines. In December 1864, Bell and his command were part of a failed expedition against Fort Fisher, located at the mouth of the Cape Fear Rivers outside of Wilmington, North Carolina. A second expedition attacked Fort Fisher on January 15, 1865. Though successful, Colonel Bell was mortally wounded, dying a few hours later. He was buried in Chester, New Hampshire. Mollie Bell, wracked with grief, survived her husband by only four months.

Name: Mary Ann Persis Bouton
Gender: Female
Record Type: Marriage
Birth Place: Concord, New Hampshire
Marriage Date: 8 Jun 1859
Marriage Place: Concord, New Hampshire, USA
Spouse: Lewis Bell

New Hampshire, U.S., Marriage and Divorce Records, 1659-1947

Name: Louis Bell
Enlistment Age: 24
Birth Date: 1836
Birth Place: Chester, New Hampshire
Enlistment Date: 29 Apr 1861
Enlistment Place: Farmington, New Hampshire
Enlistment Rank: Captain
Muster Date: 1 May 1861
Muster Place: New Hampshire
Muster Company: A
Muster Regiment: 1st Infantry
Muster Regiment Type: Infantry
Muster Information: Commission
Rank Change Date: 3 Sep 1861
Rank Change Rank: Lt Colonel
Rank Change Information: As of 4th New Hampshire Infantry
Casualty Date: 22 Oct 1862
Casualty Place: Pocotaligo, South Carolina
Type of Casualty: Wounded
Muster Out Date: 9 Aug 1861
Muster Out Place: Concord, New Hampshire
Muster Out Information: Mustered Out
Side of War: Union
Survived War?: No
Was Officer?: Yes
Injured in Line of Duty?: Yes
Residence Place: Farmington, New Hampshire
Occupation: Lawyer
Additional Notes: Graduated from Brown University in 1853
Additional Notes 2: Muster 2 Date: 18 Sep 1861; Muster 2 Place: New Hampshire; Muster 2 Unit: 1206; Muster 2 Company: S; Muster 2 Regiment: 4th Infantry; Muster 2 Regiment Type: Infantry; Muster 2 Information: Commission; Rank Change 2 Date: 16 May 1862; Rank Change 2 Rank: Colonel; Casualty 2 Date: 15 Jan 1865; Casualty 2 Place: Fort Fisher, North Carolina; Casualty 2 Casualty Type: Wounded; MusterOut 2 Date: 16 Jan 1865; MusterOut 2 Place: Fort Fisher, North Carolina; MusterOut 2 Information: died wounds;

Title: Register of Soldiers and Sailors of New Hampshire 1861-65; The American Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events; Photo courtesy of Massachusetts Commandery of MOLLUS

Name: Louis Bell
State Served: New Hampshire
Birth Date: 1836
Death Date: 1865
Birth Place: Chester, New Hampshire
Army: Union
Promotions: Promoted to Full Captain (1st NH Inf) Promoted to Full Lt Colonel (4th NH Inf) Promoted to Full Colonel

American Civil War General Officers
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Civil War Union Army Officer. Mortally wounded by a Confederate sharpshooter during the Union attack on the Confederate Fort Fisher, North Carolina, January 15, 1865. He died of his wound the day after the battle.

During the attack, he commanded the Third Brigade, Second Division, XXIV Army Corps. An account was written in September 1865, by John Bell Bouton, claiming Colonel Louis Bell was awarded a Brevet Brigadier General of Volunteers rank by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton per order of President Abraham Lincoln. Based on this, the family placed the rank of general on his grave stone and several publications identified him with the general rank. A controversy occurred when it appears from “official” records published after the war, he was not awarded the honorary rank.

Despite the controversy, the largest city in New Hampshire, Manchester, named their Grand of the Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) Post #3 after Louis Bell. A veterans plot in Manchester’s largest cemetery, Pine Grove, was named after and dedicated by the Louis Bell Post #3. Over 130 veterans are buried in the Louis Bell Post #3 Plot. A large group of veterans from around the state, led by G.A.R. Post #3 members had a ceremony on Memorial Day every year from 1868 to 1932 at Louis Bell’s grave site.

At the start of the war, he was a practicing attorney in Farmington, New Hampshire. He joined the 1st New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry Regiment as Captain of Company A, in 1861. The regiment was disbanded after six months upon which Louis Bell was appointed by the governor as Lieutenant Colonel of the Fourth New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He was later promoted to command of the Fourth Regiment and then to command of a brigade, though he was not promoted to the brigade commander’s rank of brigadier general before he died. (bio by: Bruce)

General Louis Bell Papers, 1828-1900