Class of 1858

William Hemphill Bell

Military History. — Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1853, to July 1, 1858, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to

Bvt. Second Lieut. of Infantry, July 1, 1858.

Served: on frontier duty en route to and escorting Lieut. Beale's  p710 working party, making wagon road, on the 35th parallel of latitude in New Mexico, 1858‑59, — conducting Recruits to Cantonment Burgwin,

(Second Lieut., 3d Infantry, Dec. 6, 1858)

N. M., 1859, — at Santa Fé, N. M., 1859, — Albuquerque, N. M., 1859, — Escorting Captain Macomb's Topographical Party to make a survey of Ft. Craig Reservation, N. M., 1859, — Cantonment Burgwin, 1859, — making exploration of Navajo Country, 1859, — Cantonment Burgwin, N. M., 1859‑60, — Ft. Union, N. M., 1860, — Ft. Marcy, N. M., 1860, — and Ft. Clark, Tex., 1860‑61; and in garrison at Ft. Hamilton, N. Y., 1861.

First Lieut., 3d Infantry, May 14, 1861, to Mar. 12, 1862.

Served during the Rebellion of the Seceding States, 1861‑66: in Operations on the Upper Potomac, May‑June, 1861; in the Manassas Campaign of July, 1861, being engaged in the Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861; on Provost duty at Washington, D. C., July‑Aug., 1861; at the Military Academy, as Principal Asst. Professor of Drawing, Sep. 25, 1861, to June 12, 1862; on Commissary duty, establishing Depot at Point Lookout, Md., June‑July, 1862, — in charge of Acquia Creek and Falmouth

(Captain, Staff — Commissary of Subsistence, June 11, 1862)

Depots, Va., Aug. 13 to Sep. 5, 1862, being engaged in mining the railroad bridge, and making all preparations for burning the boat bridge at Fredericksburg, Aug. 27, 1862, — in establishing Hagerstown Depot, Md., Sep. 19 to Oct. 8, 1862, — Inspecting Manassas Junction Depot, Nov. 10‑20, 1862, — and in charge of Belle Plain Depot, Va., Nov. 22 to Dec. 10, 1862; as Disbursing Officer at Harrisburg, Pa., Jan. 1 to June, 1863; on Commissary duty at Santa Fé, N. M., June, 1863, to June 24, 1864; and as Chief of Commissariat of the Department of New Mexico, June 24, 1864, to July 27, 1865.

Bvt. Major, Mar. 13, 1865, for Faithful and Meritorious Services in New Mexico.

Served: as Chief of Commissariat of District of New Mexico, July 27, 1865, to Apr., 1867; as Depot and Post Commissary at Ft. Harker, Kan., July 8, 1867, to May 8, 1868; in Commissary General's Office, Washington, D. C., May to Sep., 1868; under orders to Nov., 1868; in Office of the Chief of Commissariat, Department of California, Nov. 3, 1868, to Feb., 1869; as Chief of Commissariat, Department of Alaska, Feb. 6, 1869, to July 13, 1870 (awaiting orders to Oct., 1870), — of the Department of Columbia, Nov. 14, 1870, to June 31,º 1874, (settling accounts and awaiting orders to Nov., 1874), and Nov. 11, 1874, to Dec. 10, 1878; on temporary duty in the Office of the Commissary General, at Washington, D. C., Dec., 1878, to Feb. 9, 1879: as Purchasing and Depot Commissary at New Orleans, La., Feb. 11 to June 6, 1879, and at Washington, D. C. (temporarily at Baltimore, Md., Nov. 16 to Dec. 31, 1879) to Dec. 10, 1880; as Chief Commissary of the Department of the South to Nov. 1, 1883, and Purchasing and Depot Commissary, Cincinnati, O., Dec. 12, 1881, to Dec. 14, 1884; as Purchasing and Depot Commissary

(Major, Staff — Commissary of Subsistence, Aug. 14, 1883)

at Cheyenne, Wyo., Dec. 15, 1884, (Flood Relief service, Ohio river, Feb. 13, to June 4, 1884) to Mar. 23, 1886, and Purchasing Commissary, Denver, Col., Oct. 8, 1885, to Sep. 20, 1889; as Chief Commissary, Department of the Platte, and Purchasing and Depot Commissary, Omaha, Neb., since Sep. 20, 1889.

Civil History. — Author of "The Quiddities of an Alaskan Trip," 1873.