Frank Wheaton

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For other people named Frank Wheaton, see Frank Wheaton (disambiguation).

Frank Wheaton
Born(1833-05-08)May 8, 1833
Providence, Rhode Island
DiedJune 18, 1903(1903-06-18) (aged 70)
Washington, D.C.
Place of burial
Arlington National Cemetery
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service/branchUnited States Army
Years of service1855–1897
Rank
2nd Rhode Island Infantry
2nd U.S. Infantry Regiment
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War
Modoc War
Garza Revolution
Yaqui Uprising

Frank Wheaton (May 8, 1833 – June 18, 1903) was a career military officer in the

Indian Wars. He also was military commander over south Texas during the Garza Revolution
.

Early life and career

Wheaton was born in Providence, Rhode Island, to Dr. Francis Levison and Amelia S. Wheaton née Burrill. Dr. Francis Levison Wheaton graduated from Brown University in 1828 and served as a surgeon in the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War and as surgeon general of Rhode Island.[1]

Frank Wheaton attended

Cheyenne Indians and also in the Utah War and was promoted to captain on March 1, 1861.[1]

On February 5, 1857, he married Sarah Maria Cooper (August 4, 1836 – December 15, 1858). They had one child, Sarah Maria Cooper Wheaton, in 1858. His wife died shortly thereafter.

Harper's Ferry, West Virginia.[3]

Civil War

When the

Peninsula Campaign, where he was commended for his actions at the Battle of Williamsburg. At the Battle of Antietam, the regiment was kept in the rear and out of the battle.[4]

On November 29, 1862, Wheaton was promoted to

I Corps, in place of John F. Reynolds.[4]

Wheaton remained in command of the brigade during Lt. Gen.

Shenandoah Valley, under Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, Wheaton was promoted to command of the first division after Brig. Gen. David Allen Russell was killed at the Third Battle of Winchester. His division fought well in subsequent battles. In the Battle of Sailors Creek Virginia, on April 6, 1865, his division captured Confederate Major General George Washington Custis Lee, son of Robert E. Lee. After the return of VI Corps to the Petersburg front, Wheaton earned the brevet rank of major general in the volunteer army and was brevetted colonel in the regular services.[1]

After the war, Wheaton joined the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States - a military society of officers who had served the Union.

Postbellum career and life

Wheaton, labeled at center, with officers and members of their families, Fort Walla Walla, 1874.

For his service in the Civil War, in 1865 he was awarded an honorary A.M. Degree from Brown University[5][6] and Rhode Island presented him with a sword of honor in July 1866.[1]

Shortly after the end of the Civil war, Wheaton was placed to command the district of Nebraska in Omaha.[7] On April 30, 1866, he was mustered out of the volunteers and was subsequently promoted as lieutenant colonel of the 39th Infantry on July 28.[1][8] He was breveted to the rank of major general in the Regular Army, to date from March 13, 1865, for meritorious service during the Civil War.

He, along with others, recommended that Confederate General George H. Steuart of Maryland be pardoned for his crimes during the American Civil War. This led to Steuart's pardon in November 1866.[9]

On January 14, 1867, Wheaton was married for the third and last time to Maria Bleeker Miller (August 4, 1846 – August 21, 1924), born in Utica, New York. She eventually would become a Vice-President General in the Daughters of the American Revolution.[10][11]

In the lead up to the

Edward R. S. Canby
on April 11 at a meeting of the Peace Commission on the battlefield.

Wheaton was appointed colonel of the

24th Infantry to pursue the rebels but they escaped.[15] His district also included troops involved in monitoring and fighting against the Garza Revolution
,

In 1896 Wheaton was elected as an Honorary Companion in the Pennsylvania Commandery of the Military Order of Foreign Wars.

After the retirement of Major General Thomas H. Ruger, Wheaton was promoted to major general in the Regular Army on April 3, 1897 and was mandatorily retired one month later on his 64th birthday on May 8.[16][17]

Post-military life

After his retirement, Wheaton left to spend two years in Europe.

U.S. Congress to support a stronger military which reflected the greatness of the United States.[18]

Wheaton died in Washington, D.C., of a brain hemorrhage,

Denver, Colorado.[10][19]

Legacy

The parking lot to the south of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery is named for Wheaton. The Wheaton, Maryland, section of the Wheaton/Glenmont division of the unincorporated township of Silver Spring, Maryland, just northwest of Washington, D.C., is named for him, as is the Wheaton High School, a school in the Down County Consortium of the Montgomery County Public School system of Montgomery County, Maryland.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Johnson, Rossiter, Brown, John Howard. The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans. Volume X, STEB-ZUEB. Boston: The Biographical Society. 1904.
  2. ^ a b c Descendents of George Mason 1629-1686 - Person Page 6 Archived January 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Gunston Hall Plantation Website. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
  3. ^ Descendants of George Mason, 1629-1686 - Person Page 2 Archived January 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Gunston Hall Plantation Website. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
  4. ^ a b c Tagg, pp. 115-116.
  5. ^ "Honorary Degrees: 1800s". The Corporation of Brown University. Brown University. Archived from the original on October 4, 2022. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  6. ^ Brown University. Historical Catalogue of Brown University 1764-1894. Providence, R.I.: Press of P. S. Remington. 1895. Page 385.
  7. ^ THE UNITED STATES ARMY. New York Times; Jan 22, 1866; pg. 8.
  8. ^ FOR MINISTER TO JAPAN. New York Times; Apr 6, 1897; pg. 2
  9. ^ WASHINGTON. Special Dispatches to the New York Times. New York Times; Nov 25, 1866; pg. 4
  10. ^ a b Descendants of George Mason, 1629-1686 - Person Page 51 Archived January 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Gunston Hall Plantation Website. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
  11. ^ Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, 1903
  12. ^ First Battle for the Stronghold, Associated Press, January 20, 1873; California Military Museum.
  13. ^ RECENT ARMY CHANGES. New York Times; Apr 3, 1875; pg. 2
  14. ^ WHEATON MADE A GENERAL. New York Times; Apr 20, 1892; pg. 2.
  15. ^ Johnson, pp. 664-65.
  16. ^ CHANGES IN COMMANDS. New York Times; Apr 3, 1897; pg. 12
  17. ^ a b Gen. Frank Wheaton Retires. The Washington Post; May 9, 1897; pg. 1
  18. ^ AMERICANS DINE IN BERLIN. New York Times; Nov 25, 1898; pg. 1
  19. ^ Arlington National Cemetery site

References

External links

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