Capt. Walter Raleigh Bell



This information is contributed by Wayne Jordan




Walter Raleigh Bell was born on May 17, 1829, but it was not until November 08, 1855, that he was Baptized into Christ Church at Johnson's Meeting House. He is believed to of been born in Taylor's Bridge, N.C. which is in Sampson County. His mother was Martha Bell who gave birth to Walter out of wedlock when she was only 16 years old. His father is unknown and his mother Martha gave as his last name her last name Bell. She resided with her mother, Penelope (Jane) Bell in the County Poor House for some time according to the 1850 Duplin Census, page 313, dwelling # 675, family 675. Its lists residing in dwelling # 675: Penelope age 66; Martha age 37 (noted that she cannot read nor write); Walter age 21 (cannot read nor write) and Walter's sister, Martha age 16 ( noted: school within last year). Walter Raleigh Bell is listed in the Family Bible which is held by R. Wayne Jordan as "Sir Walter Raleigh Bell" obviously his mother took the full name of Sir Walter Raleigh.

Walter Raleigh Bell resided in Warsaw, Duplin County, N.C. and was listed as a farmer and a merchant prior to enlisting in the Confederate Army. He enlisted in the N.C. 51st North Carolina Infantry, Company B at age 32. This Company was known as the "Warsaw Sampsons". The 51st. North Carolina Infantry Regiment was a very famous regiment among N.C. troops. It was generally stationed either in Wilmington, N.C. or Charleston, S.C. for coastal defense. The 51st N.C. is credited with almost single-handedly turning back the Union attack on Battery Wagner on Morris Island in the defense of Charleston as shown in the movie "Glory". The 51st was organized with Caleb Hobson of Duplin County as captain and Walter Raleigh Bell was appointed as 1st lieutenant on February 15, 1862. When Captain Hobson was promoted to Lt. Colonel of the regiment, Walter Raleigh Bell was promoted to captain on April 09, 1863. ( This has been verified by a certified copy from the North Carolina Archives of the roster of the 51st Regiment of North Carolina Troops). Listed under W.R. Beel's name is a Capt. Thomas James Herring who is W.R. Bells's brother-in-law and was a farmer and resided in Duplin County. He enlisted at the age of 20. Thomas Herring could of been living with Walter Raleigh and Sarah at the family house in Warsaw at the time both men enlisted. The "Warsaw Sampsons" were mustered into state service at Wilmington, N.C. on April 02, 1862 and assigned to the 51st Regiment N.C. Troops as Company B.

Capt. Walter Raleigh Bell was mentioned in a report written by the Commander of the Regiment, Col. Hector McKethan, for operations around Morris Island. This was the Battery Wagner, ( the same Battery Wagner depicted in the movie"Glory"). This was the engagement that saw Col. Shaw's Colored Troops the 54th from Massachusetts attack Battery Wagner. The report written by Col. McKethan goes as follows:
" Where so many did well, it is impossible to mention all who deserve to be; but I cannot refrain from mentioning the names of Capt. E. Southerland and Lieut. W. H. Littlejohn, of Company A, both of whom were killed while nobly discharging his duty at the head of his company. Lieut. John D. Malloy, Company D, acted with conspicuous coolness and bravery, and was severely wounded in the neck near the close of action. Lieut. W. F. Murphy, Company K, acted well during the engagement. Capt. Walter Raleigh Bell, Company B, was among the first to get his men in position when the order was given. He and his entire company fought well. The conduct of many of the non-commissioned officers and men attracted my attention".
Fort Wagner, also known as Battery Wagner was an earth works battery erected on the north end of Morris Island to defend the approach of the Union Forces on Fort Sumter, South Carolina. The Union Forces plans were to descend upon and obtain possession of the south end of Morris Island, then to lay siege on Battery Wagner. Union forces landed on Morris Island on July 10, 1863. Two unsuccessful attempts were made to capture Battery Wagner by assault. The first took place at daybreak on the morning of July 11, 1863. At dawn, on July 18, in an effort to weaken the resistance of defenders, the Union Army and Navy began a ten hour artillery bombardment. Forty-two guns and mortars opened on Battery Wagner in the morning hours and were joined by the guns of the fleet. They Union forces concentrated bombardment into the fortification until nightfall. The shelling had little effect. The shells simply threw sand into the air to fall back about the same spot and leave the major facilities undamaged. The garrison remained hidden in the bastion's bombproof. Only a few men stayed outside occasionally firing a gun to show that the fort was still in action. As night approached, the intensity of the shelling increased until about 7:45 PM, when the bombardment slackened and the lines of the Union Troops were seen advancing. The Union Army, about 6,000 strong, had been assembled in three brigades. The first brigade was composed of the five regiments of the 54th Massachusetts lead by Col. Shaw. The movie "Glory" is very true to history, the Massachusetts 54th broke through the defenses and were able to attack across a broad top of the fort wall itself and gained the south-east bastion of Wagner, then held it for more than two hours. This broad area was actually the roof of the "bombproof" shelter. When the Union Troops had penetrated this far, they were pretty much inside the fort and were in a very good position to capture it, but at that time, the 51st. (which was held in reserve by the South Carolina commanders) was ordered forward. This action along with a confusion in orders by the Union forces delayed the advance of the Second Brigade resulted in disastrous ending. The 51st turned back the Union Army and forced them back out of the fort. At this time, the Union reinforcements arrived but seeing troops streaming down the roof of the "bombproof", they opened fore thinking they were Confederate defenders but were actually catching their own troops in a crossfire. This halted the Union Advance and strong Confederate resistance quickly forced the Union forces to retreat.

Union troops eventually dug an entrenchment parallel to the face of Wagner with the intent of storming the fort. When the trenches were almost to the fort, the Confederate leaders decided that further resistance would accomplish little. Orders were given to abandon Fort Wagner at 9 P.M. on the 6th of September 1863. They boarded boats and headed to Cummings Point, there with a similar group from Battery Greg, they again boarded small boats to Fort Sumter. By 11:30 P.M. only 35 men remained at Wagner and they were busing laying fuses to the magazine and spiking the cannons.
" I Have Heard the Preachers Talk About Hell....But Gentlemen, Hell Can't Be Worse Than Battery Wagner" (John Harleston)
In May of 1864, the 51st. was ordered to Virginia to assist in the defense of Richmond. After General Burnside's attacks across the Bermuda Hundreds and Drewy's Bluff at Petersburg, General Grant was able to assemble a large army and move on Richmond. The 51st. N.C. was ordered to rush to the little village of Cold Harbor ( known in history as "The Battle of Cold Harbor") and deflect Grant's army for long enough for General Lee to reinforce the area. Despite being a part of a Confederate force on only 3,000 to 4,000 against Grant's 50,000, they did just that, effectively saving Richmond. In the battle of May 31, 1864, Capt. Walter Raleigh Bell was wounded in the left arm and the arm was amputated below the elbow ( see documents of April 19, 1866 and March 14, 1867). He was never able to rejoin the regiment and was officially "retired to the Invalid Corp" on November 04, 1864. He was replaced by 1st Lt. Thomas James Herring ( his brother-in-law) as captain of the company. The opposing forces at Cold Harbor saw the Union forces under General U.S. Grant against the Confederate forces under General Robert E. Lee. Notable Union Generals who were also in this engagement were: Gen. Philip Sheriden; Brig. Gen. George Custer; Gen. George Meade and Gen. Ambrose Burnside. The battle of Cold Harbor was know as one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War.

Capt. Bell is recorded as being paroled at Goldsboro, N.C. May 09, 1865. This was about six weeks after Sherman's army took Goldsboro, N.C., therefore, he had returned to Warsaw, N.C. and then had to go to Goldsboro for parole following Gen. Johnston's surrender at Durham. Receiving a formal parole from the Union troops officially recorded a Confederate soldier as surrendered and pardoned at the end of the war. The whereabouts of his mother Martha remain unknown after this period. However, the 1870 Duplin Census on page 538, dwelling 97 (family home in Warsaw) has Walter Raleigh Bell listed a age 41, was a farmer and the value of his real estate was $ 2,500.00, his personal estate was valued at $ 400.00. It also has a Sallie Bell age 30 as keeping the house ( this must be a mistake in the records because it must have been Sarah his wife. Sallie is also the nickname for Sarah and they also must have inserted the wrong age). Also listed was Adolphus age 11 (cannot write); Olivia age 6; William age 3; Sallie age 20 (cook and she cannot read or write); his grandmother Penelope age 90 (cannot write); James age 19, a black farm laborer (cannot read or write); Harry age 19, black farm laborer (cannot read or write). In 1880 Duplin County Census had W.R. Bell age 51. His occupation was listed as Farming & Merchandise. He was maimed, crippled, bedridden or otherwise disabled. Sarah his wife was 45. Along with the following children: Adolphus, Olivia, Willie, Daisie, a Walter W.M. Pollock age 16, a nephew who was working on the farm (cannot read or write). Walter Raleigh Bell died on May 18, 1885 at the age of 56 years and 1 day. He left his home to his son Adolphus who never married. Later on when Daisie married Joseph Lucifer Jordan they moved into the house. When Adolphus died, the home then became the property of Joseph and Daisie Jordan. When Daisie died in 1962 her son Wayne became the owner of the property and sold it.


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