Don
Carlos Buell was born in Marietta,
Ohio, on 23rd March, 1818. He graduated from West
Point in 1841, and saw action in the Seminole
War (1838-42) and the Mexican War
(1846-48). For the next twelve years he served in the United
States Army and eventually reached the rank of assistant adjutant
general.
On the outbreak of the American Civil War
Buell helped organize Union Army troops
around Washington. In August, 1861
he was given command of a division of the Army of Potomac and in November
succeeded William Sherman as head of
the Department of the Ohio. He also took part in the battle at Shiloh
but as a result of the campaign led by Braxton
Bragg, was forced to retreat from central Tennessee. After the
battle of Perryville (October, 1862),
Buell was replaced by William Rosecrans.
Complaints were made against Buell's unwillingness to follow orders
from Washington and in November, 1862,
Lewis Wallace was asked to led and
investigation into the case. The report was never published but was
thought to be highly critical of Buell's decision at Perryville
not to pursue the retreating enemy. Despite the efforts by Ulysses
S. Grant, Buell was never offered another command and he resigned
from the army in June, 1864.
After the war Buell moved to Kentucky and became president of the
Green River Iron Company. Don Carlos Buell died in Rockport, Kentucky,
on 19th November, 1898.
(1)
Ulysses Grant, Personal Memoirs of
U. S. Grant (1885)
General
Buell was a brave, intelligent officer, with as much professional
pride and ambition of a commendable sort as I ever knew. I had been
two years at West Point with him, and had served with him afterwards,
in garrison and in the Mexican War, several years more. He was not
given in early life or in mature years to forming intimate acquaintances.
He was studious by habit, and commanded the confidence and respect
of all who knew him. He was a strict disciplinarian, and perhaps did
not distinguish sufficiently between the volunteer who "enlisted
for the war" and the soldier who serves in time of peace.
General Buell became an object of harsh criticism later, some going
so far as to challenge his loyalty. No one who knew him ever believed
him capable of an dishonorable act, and nothing could be more dishonorable
than to accept high rank and command in war and then betray the trust.
When I came into command of the army in 1864, I requested the Secretary
of War to restore General Buell to duty.
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