J. Franklin Bell

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Major General J. Franklin Bell (painting by Adrian Lamb, 1973)

James Franklin Bell (born January 9, 1856 in Shelbyville , Shelby County , Kentucky , † January 8, 1919 in Manhattan , New York City ) was an American major general in the US Army , who, among other things, was chief of the general staff between 1906 and 1910 Heeres ( Chief of Staff of the Army ) was. For his military service in the Philippine-American War he was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1899 , the highest military distinction of the American government .

Life

Filipino-American War and Medal of Honor

Bell, son of John Wilson Bell and his wife Sarah Margaret Allen Bell, began military training at the US Military Academy at West Point , which he completed in 1878. He then became an officer in the cavalry and was first as a lieutenant (Second Lieutenant) to the Fort Abraham Lincoln stationed 7th Cavalry Regiment ( 7th Cavalry Regiment ) were added. After eight years of service during the Indian Wars , he was an instructor in military science and tactics at Southern Illinois Normal University between 1886 and 1889 and then returned to the 7th Cavalry Regiment, which carried out the Wounded Knee massacre on December 29, 1890 while on leave from him . 300 defenseless members of various Sioux Indian tribes were murdered by members of the 7th US Cavalry Regiment. On the day of the massacre, he was appointed lieutenant (First Lieutenant) promoted and participated in 1891 in various operations in the Pine Ridge Reservation in part. The following year, in 1892, he became an instructor at the Cavalry and Light Artillery School at Fort Riley , where he shortly thereafter became an adjutant and finally secretary of the school.

1894 Bell was in the staff of General James W. Forsyth added, the commander of the Military District of California (Department of California) . This was followed by a transfer to the Fort Apache Reservation in July 1897 and to the Vancouver Barracks in February 1898 , before shortly afterwards he was seconded to the Judge Advocate General's Corps and on May 17, 1898 made major of the volunteer troops. At the beginning of the Philippine-American War , he was on 2 March 1899. Hauptmann (Captain) of the regular US Army promoted and to that of General Wesley Merritt commanded VIII. Corps (VIII Corps) was added. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed Chief of Scouts on the staff of General Arthur MacArthur and then on July 5, 1899, appointed Colonel of the Volunteer Force. As such, he was the commander of the 36th Volunteer Regiment (36th US Volunteer Infantry Regiment) and led his unit on September 9, 1899 in a mission near Porac on Luzon against Filipino units. He succeeded in arresting seven enemies with his pistol and freeing a captain and two private corporations from his regiment in a bamboo thicket. For his bravery, he was awarded the Medal of Honor on December 11, 1899 , the highest military honor of the American government . At the same time he was appointed brigadier general of the volunteer force.

Chief of Staff of the Army and promotion to major general

Major General J. Franklin Bell (1915)

Following Bell was military governor of various provinces in Luzon and temporary head of the military police (Provost Marshal) of Manila and was on 19 February 1901 to Brigadier (Brigadier General) promoted the regular US Army. In July 1903 he returned to the United States and replaced Colonel Charles W. Miner as commandant of the US Infantry and Cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth . He remained in this post until April 1906, when he was replaced by Brigadier General Charles Badger Hall.

Bell himself took on 15 April 1906 by Major General John C. Bates the post of Chief of the General Staff of the Army ( Chief of Staff of the Army ) . As such, he was promoted to major general in the regular US Army on January 3, 1907 . On April 22, 1910, Major General Leonard Wood assumed the post of Chief of Staff of the Army , while Bell returned to the Philippines and was in command of the Philippine Department between 1911 and 1914 . He was then commander of the 2nd Division stationed in Texas City from 1914 to 1915 and then commander of the Western Department between 1915 and 1917 . This command he ended prematurely in 1917 after the war the US entry into the First World War for the implementation of training courses in the newly formed 77th Infantry Division ( 77th Infantry Division ) . He then took part in an observer mission in France from 1917 to 1918 .

After his death on January 8, 1919, Bell, who was married to Sarah Buford Bell, was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He was posthumously awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal (1919) and the Distinguished Service Cross (1925).

Awards

Selection of awards, sorted based on the Order of Precedence of Military Awards :

Web links

Commons : J. Franklin Bell  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entry on the homepage of the Medal of Honor
  2. ↑ US Army Chief of Staff
personal data
SURNAME Bell, J. Franklin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bell, James Franklin (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American officer, major general in the US Army
DATE OF BIRTH January 9, 1856
PLACE OF BIRTH Shelbyville , Shelby County , Kentucky
DATE OF DEATH January 8, 1919
Place of death Manhattan , New York City , New York