George P. Buell

George Pearson Buell (October 4, 1833 – May 31, 1883) was an American civil engineer and a Union Army general during the American Civil War.

Early life and career

Buell was born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, in 1833, a first cousin of future Union general Don Carlos Buell. He attended Norwich University in 1856, and later became City Engineer of Leavenworth, Kansas. He then mined for gold and later was a civil engineer in Colorado.

Civil War service

Buell chose to defend the Union cause and entered the volunteer ranks of his birth state in 1861. On December 17 he was appointed to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the 58th Indiana Infantry. He was promoted to colonel on June 24, 1862. By the end of 1862 Buell was given brigade command and led several different brigades in the Army of the Cumberland throughout 1863 and 1864.

On January 12, 1865 he was brevetted to the rank of brigadier general for his management of disassembled Federal pontoon trains used to construct pontoon bridges over waterways. Buell commanded various brigades (and for two brief periods a division) of the Army of Georgia for the remainder of the war, and was mustered out of the volunteer service on July 25.

Postbellum

Buell elected to continue in the U.S. Army after the Civil War. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Regular army on July 28, 1866 in the 29th U.S. Infantry. Buell was brevetted to the rank of colonel on March 2, 1867 for his performance in November 1863 at Missionary Ridge during the war, and also brevetted to brigadier general (both in the Regular Army) on that same date.

Buell was transferred to the 11th U.S. Infantry on March 15, 1869, and was promoted to colonel on March 20, 1879 in command of the 15th U.S. Infantry. He died in 1883 while in Nashville, Tennessee, and is buried there at Mount Oliver Cemetery.

Brigade and divisional commands

George Buell commanded several infantry brigades as well as a division in the Union Army throughout the American Civil War. Here are the units and dates:

• 2st Brigade, 1st Division, Left Wing, XIV Corps, Army of the Cumberland (December 31, 1862 – January 9, 1863)
• 1st Brigade, 1st Division, XXI Corps, Army of the Cumberland (June 10 – July 25, 1863, and again from August 3 – October 9, 1863)
• Pioneer Brigade, Army of the Cumberland (October 9, 1863 – June 17, 1864)
• 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, XIV Corps, Army of Georgia (January 17 – March 28, 1865, and again from April 4 – June 17, 1865)
• 1st Division, XIV Corps, Army of Georgia (March 28 – April 4, 1865, and again from June 17 – June 27, 1865)

References

• Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.

Notes