Joseph Wheeler
Joseph Wheeler | |
---|---|
In office March 4, 1885 – April 20, 1900 | |
Preceded by | Luke Pryor |
Succeeded by | William Richardson |
In office January 15, 1883 – March 3, 1883 | |
Preceded by | William M. Lowe |
Succeeded by | Luke Pryor |
In office March 4, 1881 – June 3, 1882 | |
Preceded by | William M. Lowe |
Succeeded by | William M. Lowe |
Personal details | |
Born | Indian Wars
| September 10, 1836
Joseph "Fighting Joe" Wheeler (September 10, 1836 – January 25, 1906) was a military commander and politician of the
Between the Civil War and the Spanish–American War, Wheeler served multiple terms as a U.S. Representative from the state of Alabama as a Democrat.
Early life
Although of old New England ancestry (descended from the English Puritans who came to New England during the Puritan migration to New England), Joseph Wheeler was born near Augusta, Georgia, and spent some of his early childhood growing up with relatives in Derby, Connecticut while also spending about half of each year in Georgia.[2] Joseph Wheeler and Julia Knox Hull Wheeler were his parents. He was the grandson of Brigadier General William Hull, a veteran of the American Revolution.[3][4]
Despite his being partially brought up in the northern United States, and being appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point from the state of New York,[5] Wheeler always considered himself a Georgian and Southerner.[citation needed]
Wheeler entered West Point in July 1854, barely meeting the height requirement at the time for entry. He graduated on July 1, 1859, placing 19th out of 22 cadets, and was commissioned a
It was while stationed in New Mexico and fighting in a skirmish with
Civil War
Early service
At the start of the Civil War, Wheeler entered the
Wheeler and the 19th Alabama fought well under Bragg at the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862.[9] During the Siege of Corinth in April and May, Wheeler's men on picket duty repeatedly clashed with U.S. patrols. Serving as acting brigade commander, Wheeler burned the bridges over the Tuscumbia River to cover the Confederate retreat to Tupelo, Mississippi.[10]
Middle Tennessee
From September to October, Wheeler transferred to the cavalry branch and commanded the 2nd Cavalry Brigade of the Left Wing in the
In December 1862, the U.S.
Wheeler led the army's Cavalry Corps from January to November 24, then from December to November 15, 1864.
In February 1863, Wheeler and Forrest
Chickamauga and Chattanooga
Wheeler and his troopers guarded the army's left flank at the
Georgia and the Carolinas
During U.S. Maj. Gen.
In late 1864, Wheeler's cavalry did not accompany Hood on his
Wheeler and his men continued to attempt to stop Sherman in the 1865
During his career in the Confederate States Army, Wheeler was wounded three times, lost 36 staff officers to combat, and a total of 16 horses were shot from under him. Military historian Ezra J. Warner believed that Wheeler's actions leading cavalry in the conflict "were second only to those of Bedford Forrest".[20]
U.S. House of Representatives
After the war, Wheeler became a planter and a lawyer near Courtland, Alabama, where he married and raised a family. His home, Pond Spring, in an area now known as Wheeler, Alabama, is a historical site owned by the Alabama Historical Commission.
In 1880, Wheeler was elected from Alabama as a
Wheeler supported the election of Luke Pryor in 1882 and did not run for reelection, but was elected again in 1884 and re-elected to seven subsequent terms before resigning in 1900. While in Congress, Wheeler strove to heal the breach between the slave states and the United States and championed policies to help rebuild the southern U.S. economy. At the 1884 Democratic National Convention, Wheeler supported Grover Cleveland to be the Democratic Party's nominee for President of the United States.[22]
In foreign policy, Wheeler was outspokenly Anglophile; he sought a closer relationship between the United States and the
In January 1890, when House Speaker
Spanish–American War
In 1898, Wheeler, now aged 61, volunteered for the Spanish–American War, receiving an appointment to major general of volunteers from President William McKinley. He assumed command of the cavalry division, which included Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders, and was nominally second-in-command of the Fifth Army Corps. He sailed for Cuba and was charged with scouting for the U.S. advance by General William Rufus Shafter, overall commander of V Corps. He was ordered not to engage the enemy on his own until the American troop disembarkation had been completed.
Approaching Las Guasimas de Sevilla on June 24, American reports suggested the Spaniards were digging in with a field gun; however, Cuban scouts contradicted these, revealing the Spaniards were preparing to abandon their position. In fact, the Spanish troops at the position had received orders to fall back on Santiago. Wheeler requested the assistance of the attached Cuban forces in an immediate attack, but their commander, Col. Gonzales Clavel, refused. Wheeler attacked anyway, rushing his men forward with two guns to the front. Colonel Young's brigade led the advance against the Spanish columns in what came to be called the Battle of Las Guasimas, the first major engagement of the war.
During the excitement of the battle, Wheeler is said to have called out, "Let's go, boys! We've got the damn Yankees on the run again!"[25] Wheeler's forces moved to encircle the Spaniards' first battle line, assaulting its front and right flank, but were repelled. During a pause in the fighting, both sides reinforced their positions. The Spaniards sent forward two companies of the San Fernando Battalion, along with the artillery. After midday, the U.S. attack was renewed, but Spanish Comandante Andrés Alcañiz, leading the Provisional de Puerto Rico Battalion, once again checked the American assault.
After halting the American advance, the Spanish resumed their ongoing withdrawal toward Santiago's outer defenses according to their original plans. The battle had cost U.S. forces 17 dead and 52 wounded, while Spanish forces suffered seven dead and seven wounded.
Wheeler fell seriously ill during the campaign and turned over command of the division to Brig. Gen.
Wheeler's youngest son died shortly after his return from serving in Cuba; he drowned while swimming in the ocean. When back in the United States, Wheeler commanded the convalescent camp of the army at Montauk Point, now a state park in New York.[25]
Philippine–American War
Wheeler sailed for the
Later life
Wheeler wrote several books on military history and strategy and civil subjects. His first was A Revised System of Cavalry Tactics, for the Use of the Cavalry and Mounted Infantry, C.S.A. in 1863, a manual that saw use by the Confederacy. His other works include: Fitz-John Porter in 1883, The Santiago Campaign in 1898, Confederate Military History: Alabama in 1899, and Report on the Island of Guam in 1900. Wheeler also co-wrote several more books throughout the rest of his life, the last of which, The New America and the Far East: A Picturesque and Historic Description of These Lands and Peoples, was published in 1907, after his death.[6]
Wheeler also appeared in an early film called Surrender of General Toral (1898) with William Rufus Shafter.
While attending the hundredth-anniversary celebration of the U.S. Military Academy (West Point, New York) in 1902, Wheeler approached the old West Point hotel, where his Confederate comrades James Longstreet and Edward Porter Alexander were seated on the porch. At the festivities, Wheeler wore the dress uniform of his most recent rank, that of a general in the U.S. Army. Longstreet recognized him coming near and reportedly said, "Joe, I hope that Almighty God takes me before he does you, for I want to be within the gates of hell to hear Jubal Early cuss you in the blue uniform." (Longstreet did predecease Wheeler, dying in January 1904.)[26]
General Wheeler was a member of the District of Columbia Society of the
After a prolonged illness, Wheeler died in Brooklyn on January 25, 1906, at the age of 69. He is one of the few former Confederate officers buried within Arlington National Cemetery.
Legacy
In 1925, the state of
The City of Derby, Connecticut, where Wheeler grew up, named him as one of the first members of its Hall of Fame in 2007.[29]
See also
- List of American Civil War generals (Confederate)
- Slavery and State's Rights(speech by Wheeler in 1894)
Footnote
- This article incorporates public domain material from Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System. National Park Service.
Notes
- ^ Sources differ on Wheeler's highest C.S. rank. Evans, vol. 1, p. 706, lists a promotion to lieutenant general on February 28, 1865. This promotion has been accepted by Dupuy, p. 794, and the U.S. Congressional biography website, but there is no record that the Confederate Congress confirmed this rank. References Eicher/Eicher, Bearss, Warner, and Foote make no mention of this promotion occurring.
- ^ a b c d Dupuy, pp. 793–94.
- ^ "30 Years Ago Today". Newspapers.com. Windsor, Ontario: The Windsor Star. 13 May 1929. p. 11. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
(From Newspaper Files of May 13, 1899) General Joe Wheeler, grandson of William Hull...
- ^ "Gen. Wheeler Is Dead". Newspapers.com. The Baltimore Sun. 26 Jan 1906. p. 2. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
His mother was Julia Knox Hull, a daughter of Gen. William Hull, a friend of Washington.
- ^ "The Daily Delta 11 Jul 1857, page 2". Newspapers.com. New Orleans: The Daily Delta. 11 Jul 1857. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
General Merit Roll of the Third Class, June, 1857... 21. Joseph Wheeler, Jr., New York.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Eicher, p. 563.
- ^ Dupuy, pp. 793–94; Bearss, p. 125.
- ^ "Alabama State Archives link". Archived from the original on 2019-06-13. Retrieved 2007-12-29.
- ^ Dupuy, p. 793. "serving under Gen. Braxton Bragg, Wheeler distinguished himself at Shiloh (April 6–7, 1862) and soon rose to command a brigade ..."
- ^ a b Bearss, p. 125.
- ^ Dupuy, p. 793. "... fought at Perryville (October 8); after this battle, he commanded the cavalry rearguard and allowed the Confederates forces to escape without loss of a single wagon or gun ..."
- ^ a b c Bearss, p. 126.
- ^ Eicher, p. 563. "... for his daring and successful attacks on the enemy's gunboats and transports on the Cumberland River ..."
- ^ Bearss, pp. 126–27.
- ^ Dupuy, p. 794. "... during Sherman's March to the Sea was the only organized Confederate force to offer resistance, and so confined the destruction to a relatively narrow swath ..."
- ^ a b Bearss, p. 127.
- ^ Cook, Jonathan. "William Tecumseh Sherman: Beyond the March to the Sea". imdb.com. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
- ^ Foote, p. 1012.
- ^ Bears, p. 127; Dupuy, pp. 793–94; Eicher, p. 563.
- ^ Warner, p. 333.
- ^ Lawley, Jim, ""Gen. Joe Wheeler was entangled in recount."". Archived from the original on July 14, 2001. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Fightin' Joe" Wheeler by John Percy Dyer Louisiana State University Press, 1941 pg. 280
- ^ Joseph Wheeler: "Fightin' Joe" Wheeler by John P. Dyer - Louisiana State University Press, 1941 - pg. 111, 119
- ^ Thomas, Evan (2010). The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898. Back Bay Books. p. 114.
- ^ a b c d Dupuy, p. 794.
- ^ Wert, pp. 425–26.
- ^ Darby, A. J. (1 March 1962). "The Historical Highways and Byways of Lauderdale County". TimesDaily. pp. Page 6, Section 3. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
- ^ National Park Service link about Joseph Wheeler Retrieved July 12, 2012.
- ^ Derby, CT Hall of Fame. Archived 2013-04-20 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved April 16, 2013.
References
- ISBN 0-918678-68-4.
- Dupuy, Trevor N., Curt Johnson, and David L. Bongard. ISBN 978-0-06-270015-5.
- Eicher, John H., and ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1.
- OCLC 833588.
- ISBN 0-394-74913-8.
- Lawley, Jim. "Gen. Joe Wheeler was entangled in recount." at archive.today (archived July 14, 2001) The Decatur Daily, December 10, 2000, online edition (retrieved July 14, 2001).
- Longacre, Edward G. A Soldier to the Last: Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler in Blue and Gray. Washington, DC: Potomac Books, 2006. ISBN 1-57466-591-X.
- Sifakis, Stewart. Who Was Who in the Civil War. New York: Facts On File, 1988. ISBN 978-0-8160-1055-4.
- ISBN 978-0-8071-0823-9.
- ISBN 0-671-70921-6.
- Wheeler, Joseph Lt. Gen., and Col. Charles E. Hooker. Vol. XII of Confederate Military History. 12 vols. Ed. Brig. Gen. Clement A. Evans. Atlanta: Confederate Publishing, 1899.
External links
- Biographical sketch
- Joe Wheeler Letter, W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama
- United States Congress. "Joseph Wheeler (id: W000338)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2008-10-18
- Arlington National Cemetery
- Men of Mark in America Biographical Sketch
- National Park Service page about Joseph Wheeler. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
- Pond Spring, Home of General Joe Wheeler
- Wheeler Drive historical marker