J . Franklin Bell James Franklin Bell ( January 9 , 1856 – January 8 , 1919 ) was Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1906 to 1910 . Bell was a major - general in the Regular United States Army , commanding the Department of the East , with headquarters at Governors Island , New York at the time of his death in 1919 . He entered West Point in 1874 , and graduated 38th in a class of 43 in 1878 , with a commission as second lieutenant of 9th Cavalry Regiment , a black unit . Early life . Bell was born to John Wilson and Sarah Margaret Venable ( Allen ) Bell in Shelby County , Kentucky . His mother died when he was young . Thereafter , two most important women in his life were the black woman who looked after him as a child and the white woman who became his step mother . During the Civil War , Shelby County was split between Union and Confederate factions . The extended Bell family was strongly in favor of the secession . After the firing on Fort Sumter , John Wilson Bell and his brothers drew lots to determine who would remain at home to look after their parents and who would join the Southern armies . John lost and remained at home . Young James Franklin , " Frank " as he was known to family and friends , thus grew up in a milieu in which slavery was not only accepted and practiced but strongly defended . He attended the public schools in Shelbyville . Until he was sixteen , he also worked on his father ' s farm six days a week with breaks only for school and the Sabbath . In the process , he developed a strong physical constitution that stood him in good stead for the remainder of his life . In 1872 he began working as a clerk in a general store owned by one of his uncles . His chief recreations were baseball and horse racing . One neighbor later remembered Frank and a friend tearing down country lanes on horseback " as if the Devil " was after them . Working in a general store did not appeal to such a high spirited young person , and in 1874 he secured appointment to West Point . During his four years at the Military Academy , he excelled in art , horsemanship , demerits , and making friends . He graduated 38th in a class of 43 . The War Department assigned him to the 9th Cavalry , one of the black units formed after the Civil War . Then in Kentucky on home leave , Bell attempted to resign his commission . This , in fact , was illegal , but someone at the War Department understood the attitudes that were behind this action and assigned him to the all - white 7th Cavalry . He joined the unit at Fort Abraham Lincoln , Dakota Territory , on October 1 , 1878 . Indian Wars . He became an instructor of military science and tactics and taught mathematics at Southern Illinois University , a position held from 1886 until 1889 . While in Illinois , he read law and passed the Illinois bar . In 1889 , he returned to the 7th Cavalry . Although the regiment participated in the battle of Wounded Knee , South Dakota , Bell was on personal leave and did not participate . He was promoted to first lieutenant December 29 , 1890 , and participated in the Pine Ridge , South Dakota campaign in 1891 . Later that year , the 7th Cavalry was posted to Fort Riley , Kansas and Bell joined the staff of the Cavalry and Light Artillery School . He soon became adjutant , then secretary of the school . In November 1894 , Bell became aide - de - camp to General James W . Forsyth and posted to the Department of California . He was transferred to Fort Apache , Arizona Territory in July 1897 and then to Vancouver Barracks , Washington in February 1898 . Spanish - American War . At the outbreak of the Spanish - American War , Bell was acting as adjutant to General Forsyth , then commanding the Department of the West , with headquarters at San Francisco . He was immediately commissioned Colonel of Volunteers , and authorized to organize a regiment . This regiment was ordered to the Philippines and , under his command , saw service in the Philippine - American War . After a few months in the Philippines , Bell was promoted from his commission of captain in the Regular Army to brigadier - general in the Regular Army , outranking many officers previously his senior . Bell was awarded a Medal of Honor for his actions of September 9 , 1899 near Porac on Luzon Island in the Philippines . According to the official citation , " while in advance of his regiment [ Bell ] charged 7 insurgents with his pistol and compelled the surrender of the captain and 2 privates under a close fire from the remaining insurgents concealed in a bamboo thicket . " Alleged War crimes . During the Philippine - American War , Brigadier General J . Franklin Bell told the New York Times on May 1 , 1901 that A few months after the Balangiga Massacre of September 1901 , President Theodore Roosevelt ordered Bell ' s commander General Adna Chaffee to adopt , " in no unmistakable terms , " " the most stern measures to pacify Samar . " On December 7 , 1901 , Bell wrote a letter beginning with this introduction : " the United States Government , disregarding many provocations to do otherwise , has for three years exercised an extraordinary forbearance and patiently adhered to a magnanimous and benevolent policy toward the inhabitants of the territory occupied by this brigade " Bell followed this disclaimer with a long list of Filipino breaches against the laws of civilized warfare . The Filipinos had broken General Order No . 100 . The Filipinos had broken Article 63 by wearing civilian clothes with no special markings and returning home between battles and " divesting themselves of the character and appearance of soldiers . . . concealing their arms . . . posing as peaceful citizens . . . They have improvised and secreted in the vicinity of roads and trails rudely constructed infernal machines propelling poisoned arrows or darts . " Even the destruction of telegraph wires and bridges violated , in Bell ' s opinion , some section of Lincoln ' s General Orders . The time had come to fight fire with fire Bell declared . America should " severely punish , in the same or lesser degree , the commission of acts denounced in the aforementioned articles . " In other words , Bell went on record as planning to violate General Order No . 100 and the accepted tactics of civilized warfare . Bell elaborated on these orders in a series of circulars , which specifically bestowed on his station commanders the right to retaliate . One circular by Bell explained , when an American was " murdered " , soldiers were instructed to " by lot select a P . O . W . - - preferably one from the village in which the assassination took place - - and execute him . " Another circular rationalized that " it is an inevitable consequence of war that the innocent must generally suffer with the guilty " and that " a short and severe war creates in the aggregate less loss and suffering than a benevolent war indefinitely prolonged . " Bell warned his commanders that young officers should not be restrained or discouraged without excellent reason . " It is not necessary to seek or wait for authority from headquarters to do anything or take any action which will contribute to the end in view . " Bell reasoned that since all natives were treacherous , it was impossible to recognize " the actively bad from only the passively so . " Chaffee received copies of Bell ' s directive and was aware of Bell ' s plan to launch a what the anti - imperialists labeled a " war of extermination " . Most notable of Bell ' s numerous engagements with the Filipinos was that near Porac in the island of Luzon , in which he was wounded while leading a charge . Despite his alleged war crimes , the U . S . awarded Bell the Medal of Honor , for " gallantry in action " . Service in America . In July 1903 , Bell was transferred to Fort Leavenworth , Kansas where he headed the Command and General Staff School until April 14 , 1906 ; Bell was commissioned major - general , and in the spring of 1907 , was appointed Chief of the Army General Staff . He served for four years , under Presidents Roosevelt and Taft . When the United States military forces of the Western Pacific concentrated in the Philippines , he returned to Manila in 1911 , as military commander , until war with Mexico seemed imminent . He was then ordered home to take command of the 4th Division . The 4th Division remained in Texas City as reserve , and although at several times , he seemed about to cross the Rio Grande , he was never a part of the Mexican expeditionary force . After the Mexican situation quieted , Bell was relieved of the 4th Division , and placed in command of the Department of the West . He remained in command at San Francisco , where he had once been acting adjutant , until America entered World War I . In the early spring of 1917 , Bell was transferred to the Department of the East at Fort Jay , Governors Island in New York City , and as commander of that department , assuming responsibility for Officers ' Training Camps created by his predecessor , Leonard Wood , at Plattsburgh , Madison Barracks , and Fort Niagara . Bell ' s aide , Captain George C . Marshall was most directly involved in the logistical support for these camps , battling a lethargic army supply supply system to properly equip the volunteer citizen soldiers . These camps , in August , 1917 , graduated the large quota of new officers needed for the new National Army and , to a large extent , to officer the new divisions of the east and northeast . In the same month , Bell was offered and promptly accepted the command of the National Army Division to be organized at Camp Upton . Bell ' s venerable figure , as he addressed the officers , and the men of the newly formed 77th Division at Camp Upton , in September and the ensuing months of training , will be remembered among the first impressions of a life , strange and full of new conditions . Bell commanded the Division when the first newly appointed officers climbed the hill and reported to their first assignment , through that formative stage when barracks were thrown together at a miraculous speed , and being filled at the same rate . Then , in December , he sailed for France to make a tour of the front , and observe , first hand , actual fighting conditions . He did not return until the latter part of March , 1918 . On his return , Bell failed the physical examination required for active service overseas . When the doctors decreed that he would not take his division to France , Bell was again given command of the Department of the East , and returned to his old headquarters , Governors Island , which command he held until his death , January , 1919 . Medal of Honor citation . Rank and organization : Colonel , 36th Infantry , U . S . Volunteers . Place and date : Near Porac , Luzon , Philippine Islands , September 9 , 1899 . Entered service at : Shelbyville , Ky . Born : January 9 , 1856 , Shelbyville , Ky . Date of issue : December 11 , 1899 . Citation : While in advance of his regiment charged 7 insurgents with his pistol and compelled the surrender of the captain and 2 privates under a close fire from the remaining insurgents concealed in a bamboo thicket . Dates of rank . United States Military Academy Cadet – class of 1878