During this action, Fort Preble was commanded by Major George Lippitt Andrews. (Not to be confused with Brevet Major General George Leonard Andrews.) Andrews was a native of Rhode Island who was appointed lieutenant colonel of the 1st Missouri Infantry at the start of the war. He was mustered out of volunteer service in September 1861 and was commissioned in the Regular Army as the major of the 17th Infantry. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1864. In January 1871 he was promoted to colonel and assigned as commander of the 25th Infantry, one of the Regular Army's four African-American regiments at the time. He commanded the 25th Infantry for 21 years until he retired from the Army in 1892.