Charles Badger Hall

Charles Badger Hall (29 September 1844 – 11 May 1914) was a career officer in the United States Army. A Union Army veteran of the American Civil War, his military service spanned 1862 to 1908, and he attained the rank of major general. He served in the American Indian Wars, Spanish–American War, and Philippine–American War and carried out several command assignments in the Philippines during the later years of his career. His career culminated with his 1906 assignment as commandant of the Army School of the Line (now the United States Army Command and General Staff College), and he served in this post until retiring in 1908.

Hall was a native of Portland, Maine, and he was raised and educated in Portland. He attended Portland High School, where he participated in the corps of cadets program and advanced through the ranks to command one of the corps' companies. After his 1862 graduation, Hall enlisted for the American Civil War and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in Company A, 25th Maine Infantry Regiment. He served for the regiment's entire nine months of mobilization, during which it took part in the Defenses of Washington. Many of the regiment's members, including Hall, then joined the 30th Maine Infantry Regiment, which took part in the Red River campaign before moving to Virginia, where it participated in the Valley campaigns. At the end of the war, he performed Reconstruction era duty in South Carolina before being mustered out in September 1865.

After working as a clerk in Portland's United States Custom House, in 1867 he was commissioned in the 28th Infantry Regiment. He advanced through the ranks in command and staff assignments during the decades after the Civil War, primarily on American Indian Wars frontier duty in the western United States. During the Spanish–American War of 1898, he served in Puerto Rico. In 1899, he was posted to the Philippines for Philippine–American War duty. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in October 1901 and colonel in August 1903. In addition to commanding the 30th Infantry Regiment, he commanded several posts in the Philippines, and he later commanded the 18th Infantry Regiment.

Hall was assigned as commandant of the Army School of the Line in August 1906. He was promoted to brigadier general in April 1907, and major general in March 1908. He retired at his own request in April 1908, a few months before he would have reached the mandatory retirement age of 64. In retirement, Hall resided in Washington, D.C. He died in Washington on 11 May 1914. Hall was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Portland, Maine.

Early life Charles Badger Hall was born in Portland, Maine on 29 September 1844, a son of Charles H. Hall and Caroline (Page) Hall. He was raised and educated in Portland, and was an 1862 graduate of Portland High School. In September, he received his commission as a second lieutenant of United States Volunteers in the regiment's Company A. They were married until her death in 1902. The Halls were the parents of two daughters who lived to adulthood, Marion Clark Hall and Gertrude Plummer Hall, and Annie Conley Hall, who died young. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; Fort Brown, Texas; Fort Clark, Texas; and Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He was promoted to captain in March 1888. In October 1888, Hall was assigned to detached duty as commander of the General Recruiting Service Sub Depot in Saint Paul, Minnesota. In June 1892, he was assigned to duty as instructor and inspector for the Maine National Guard. In September 1892, he was assigned the additional duty as aide-de-camp to Governor Edwin C. Burleigh during Burleigh's review of the militia at its annual summer training period. In December 1892, he rejoined the 19th Infantry at Fort Wayne, Michigan. In the summer of 1894, Hall again served as inspector and instructor for the Maine National Guard.

In 1895, Hall was selected for duty assisting Major General Thomas H. Ruger, commander of the Department of the East, to re-write the army's Infantry Drill Regulations, the service's main manual of arms. He died in Washington on 11 May 1914. Hall was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Portland, Maine.

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