Tyree H. Bell was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, September 6, 1815, moved with his father to Tennessee in 1817 and settled on the headwaters of Station Camp, in Sumner County, where he was reared and educated. His education was received in an old log school house, under the tutorship of Seth Thomas, a noted teacher in his day. He followed the occupation of farmer, stock raiser, and trader and became a man of prominence in his county. He married, in October 1841, Mary A. Walton, of the same neighborhood, a daughter of Josiah Walton. In 1857 he removed to Dyer County and settled near Newbern, where he resided until November 1875, when he moved to California. He died in New Orleans, La., August 30, 1902, and was buried at his home in Fresno County, California, on the anniversary of his birth, September 6, 1902.

General Bell entered the Confederate service as Captain in the Twelfth Tennessee Infantry, June 4, 1861. He commanded the regiment at the battles of Belmont and Shiloh, and had two horses shot under him. In July, 1862, he was made Colonel of the regiment, and led it in the Kentucky campaign. In 1864 he was placed in command of a brigade in General Forrest's division. In the latter part of that year he was commissioned Brigadier General. He was in many engagements, and everywhere conducted himself gallantly and won the praise of his superior officers, including the peerless Forrest.