John McIntosh Kell

Background

John McIntosh was born on January 26, 1823, in Darien, Georgia, United States. He was the son of John and Margery Baillie Kell.

Education

In 1841, when John was only seventeen years old, he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy.

Career

Upon his graduation from the academy, Kell spent seventeen years in active service with the navy.

During the Mexican War, he was engaged along the California coast. He was on the expedition sent to Paraguay against Lopez and also on Perry’s expedition to Japan. In 1860, he was a junior lieutenant stationed in Pensacola.

Early in 1861, Kell resigned his commission and accepted duty in the Confederate Navy. Until June 1864, Kell was an executive officer serving under Admiral Raphael Semmes. He was a first lieutenant and executive officer on the Sumter, which captured seventeen merchant vessels for the Confederacy.

In August 1862, John was transferred to the Alabama, which sunk over sixty merchantmen, including the Hatteras, before it was sunk by the federal ironclad Kearsarge in late 1862. Kell escaped capture and was promoted to full captain in 1863. Late in the war, he commanded the ironclad Richmond, which was stationed on the James River.

There is no record of his having surrendered. After the war, finding himself broke and the coast country devastated, he moved to Sunnyside, Georgia. John Kell engaged in agricultural pursuits and took no part in his state’s political life.

From 1886 to 1900, he was adjutant general for Georgia. He also published his "Recollections of a Naval Life" in 1900.

Achievements

• John McIntosh Kell became the first naval officer to volunteer his services to the South after Georgia seceded from the United States. He proceeded to hold the position of Executive Officer on two Confederate vessels, the CSS Sumter and the CSS Alabama. After the Civil War, Kell was the Adjunct General of Georgia.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Recollections of a Naval Life: Including the Cruises of the Confederate States Steamers Sumpter and Alabama 1900
  • Beneath the Stainless Banner: With Selections from His Recollections of a Naval Life

Connections

John had nine children by his October 1856 marriage to Julia Blanche Munroe.

Father:

John Kell

Mother:

Margery Baillie Kell

Wife:

Julia Blanche Munroe Kell

1836-1917

Son:

Nathan Munroe Kell

1857-1863

Son:

John Kell

1859-1881

Daughter:

Blanche Kell

1860-1863

Son:

Raphael Semmes Kell

1865-1931

Daughter:

Margery Baillie Kell

1866-1873

Son:

Hendley Varner Kell

1869-1930

Daughter:

Sarah Tabitha Kell Nisbet

1871-1959

Daughter:

Hester Kell Davis

1873-1955

Daughter:

Evelyn Kell d'Antignac

1875-1963

References

• Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy
  1977