Lewis A. Bell, believed to be the Union Army's first Black combatant, was honored with a plaque at the Loudoun County battlefield where he made history.
The battle was going poorly for the Union soldiers. Just a few hours after they had crossed the Potomac River into Virginia in October 1861, the Confederates pushed back, forcing them to scurry back down steep, 300-foot bluffs.Lewis A. Bell had traveled alongside the Union troops as a camp worker — not an uncommon role for African Americans at this early point in the Civil War.
Researchers have been able to uncover few other details about Bell, who likely enlisted with a regiment from south of Boston. Under a cloudless sky, Thomas and other local leaders unveiled a plaque honoring him that featured photos of other African American camp workers. Free Black men like Bell, as well as formerly enslaved men who fled to Union lines, often served as camp workers at this early stage in the Civil War, McCray said.
It was then that Bell made history. Standing next to Union lieutenant J. Evarts Greene and Company F of the 15th Massachusetts Regiment Company as they defended retreating soldiers, he grabbed a gun and fired. Although five men named Lewis Bell enlisted in the Union Army following the Emancipation Proclamation, some are still working to match one of them to the Bell who fired a gun at Ball’s Bluff.
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