Dennis Bell

Dennis Bell

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Quick Facts

Significance:

Buffalo Soldier and Medal of Honor recipient

Place of Birth:

Washington, D.C.

Date of Birth:

December 28, 1866

Place of Death:

Washington, D.C.

Date of Death:

September 28, 1953

Place of Burial:

Arlington, Virginia

Cemetery Name:

Arlington National Cemetery

Dennis Bell was born in Washington, D.C., on December 28, 1866. He enlisted in the Ninth U.S. Cavalry in 1892. In 1898, as the army was mobilizing for war with Spain, Bell was serving as a private in H Troop, Tenth U.S. Cavalry Regiment. As the Tenth Cavalry was boarding its transport ships bound for Cuba, Bell, along with 50 other troopers, was chosen by Lieutenant Carter P. Johnson for a special assignment. Johnson and his group of men were headed behind enemy lines to reenforce and resupply Cuban fighters seeking liberation from Spanish rule.

On June 30, 1898, Cuban freedom fighters and some American volunteers aboard the U.S.S. Florida attempted an amphibious landing at Tayabacoa, Cuba. The landing party immediately engaged with Spanish soldiers from a nearby blockhouse. The Cubans and Americans retreated, leaving behind a group of wounded comrades. A call for volunteers to rescue the wounded soldiers on the U.S.S. Florida began to make the rounds. After several unsuccessful rescue attempts volunteers, Private Bell, Corporal George H. Wanton, Private Fritz Lee, Sergeant William H. Thompkins, along with Lieutenant George P. Ahern, stepped forward and offered to rescue their wounded comrades. 

The group of five soldiers went ashore and surprised the Spanish holding their comrades. The rescuers were able to free all the wounded soldiers, and everyone returned safely to the U.S.S. Florida. Bell, Wanton, Lee, and Thompkins were awarded the Medal of Honor in the summer of 1899 for their actions at Tayabacoa. Bell received his Medal of Honor while still serving in Cuba on occupation duty at Manzanillo. He later received a promotion to corporal and served with the Tenth Cavalry in Texas and the Philippines.

Corporal Bell retired from the Army in December 1903 and returned to Washington, D.C. He died on September 28, 1953. His obituary in the Evening Star newspaper read: 

“Dennis Bell, Medal of Honor Holder, 87 – Dennis Bell, 87, who won the Congressional Medal of Honor during the Spanish-American War, died Friday at Mount Alto Hospital. A retired Government employee, Mr. Bell was born here. He was a trooper in the 10th Cavalry during the Spanish-American War. He was awarded the country’s highest military award for voluntarily going ashore under heavy fire to help rescue 14 wounded comrades in Cuba in 1898. He was a Mason.....Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Fort Meyer Chapel with burial in Arlington Cemetery. His body is at the Jarvis Funeral Home, 1432 U Street N.W.”

Corporal Dennis Bell is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Section 31, Site 349.