George H . Crosman George Hampden Crosman ( November 2 , 1799 – May 28 , 1882 ) was a career officer in the Regular Army of the United States who served primarily with the Quartermaster Corps . After graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1823 , Crosman served at various army posts in the Midwestern United States during the 1820s and 1830s . He was among the first army officers to propose the establishment of a U . S . Camel Corps to better transport supplies . As an officer in the Quartermaster Corps , he played a notable role in the Second Seminole War , the Mexican - American War and the American Civil War . During the Civil War , he rose to the rank of brevet major general and held a number of important posts in the Quartermaster Corps , most notably as quartermaster of the Schuylkill Arsenal in Philadelphia , the army ' s largest supply depot of that era . Early career . Born in Taunton , Massachusetts in 1799 to George Crosman and Amelia Keith Crosman , George H . Crosman enrolled in the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1819 . After his graduation , he was commissioned second lieutenant in the 6th United States Infantry . During the 1820s , he served at various posts on the frontier with the 6th Infantry including Fort Mackinac in Michigan , Fort Atkinson in Iowa , and Jefferson Barracks in Missouri . Crosman served in the Black Hawk War of 1832 and the Second Seminole War in 1838 with the Quartermaster ' s Corps . Crosman was among the first officers in the U . S . army to advocate the military use of camels for transportation of supplies . In 1836 , he submitted an extensive study on the subject to his superiors , proposing a U . S . Camel Corps . Subsequently , camels were successfully used in several minor army expeditions in the desert regions of the Southwestern United States in the 1840s and 1850s . By the time of the Civil War , however , the concept of a Camel Corps had been abandoned . During the Mexican - American War , Captain Crosman served as an assistant quartermaster . Although his duties did not typically require him to be in the line of fire , he was nonetheless awarded the brevet rank of major during the Battle of Palo Alto " for gallant and meritorious service " when the supply train of which he was in charge came under attack . Civil War service . During the 1850s , Crosman remained in the Quartermaster Corps . In the months leading up to the Civil War , he was stationed in Utah and held the rank of lieutenant colonel . With the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861 , Crosman was appointed Chief Quartermaster of the Department of Pennsylvania . During the summer of 1861 , this military department encompassed all army installations and military personnel stationed in Pennsylvania , Delaware and Maryland . In this capacity , Crosman was in charge of distributing food and supplies across three states . After the Department of Pennsylvania was merged with the Department of the Potomac in August 1861 , Crosman served as quartermaster for units in the field , most notably as quartermaster for the V Corps and later the II Corps in the spring and summer of 1862 . Crosman coordinated supplies to these units , consisting of thousands of soldiers , during their involvement in the Peninsular Campaign and the Northern Virginia Campaign . In September 1862 , Crosman was transferred to Philadelphia and served as quartermaster of the Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot , also known as the Schuylkill Arsenal , which was the chief supply depot for the U . S . Department of War . Crosman served at this post for almost two years until August 1864 . He was promoted to colonel in the Regular Army in February 1863 . On June 30 , 1866 , President Andrew Johnson nominated Crosman for the award of the honorary grade of brevet brigadier general , U . S . A . , ( Regular Army ) , to rank from March 13 , 1865 , for faithful and meritorious services during the war , and the U . S . Senate confirmed the award on July 25 , 1866 . On April 11 , 1866 , after Crosman ' s retirement , President Andrew Johnson nominated Crosman for the award of the honorary grade of brevet major general , U . S . A . , ( Regular Army ) , to rank from March 13 , 1865 , for faithful and meritorious services during the war , and the U . S . Senate confirmed the award on April 16 , 1867 . Post - war life and legacy . On the day following the confirmation of his award of the grade of brevet brigadier general , July 26 , 1865 , Crosman resigned from the army after approximately 41 years of service . Following his resignation , he went into retirement and lived with his wife , Hannah Blair Foster Crosman , in Philadelphia . He died on May 28 , 1882 in Philadelphia . The George H . Crosman United States Army Reserve Center in Taunton , Massachusetts was named for him .