Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. Entered the Civil War almost immediately after the bombardment on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, enlisting in the 1st Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in April 1861. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the unit in May 1861, he served with it until July 1862, when he was promoted to Colonel and commander of the 34th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. In the interim, he took part on the First Battle of Bull Run and the Spring 1862 Peninsular Campaign. After taking over the 34th Massachusetts, he was station with his command amongst the defenses of Washington, DC from August 1862 to July 1863, then the defenses of Harper’s Ferry, Virginia from July 1863, to May 1864. Elevated to brigade command (1st Brigade, 1st Division, VIII Army Corps), he fought in the final campaigns in the Shenandoah Valley, where he took part in the Battles of Piedmont, 3rd Winchester, Fishers Hill and Cedar Creek (the 34th Massachusetts was led at this time by Lieutenant Colonel William S. Lincoln). In a skimish that preceded the October 19, 1864 Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia, he was wounded and captured by the Confederates. His wound proved mortal, and he died in the hands of the Rebels. His remains were then forwarded to the Union Lines under a flag of truce, and brought back to his hometown of Greenfield, Massachusetts for burial. He was posthumously brevetted Brigadier General, US Volunteers (backdated to October 12, 1864, the date of his wounding) for “gallant and distinguished services at the battle of Cedar Creek, Va.”. The monument to the 34th Massachusetts Infantry, erected in the Westchester National Cemetery in Westchester, Virginia, is topped with a bust of Colonel Wells. A 1848 graduate of the Harvard Law school, he is also honored on Plaque 21 on the South Wall of the Lowell Hall Complex on the Harvard Campus.