The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1898-07-15
"F1GHT1NG JOE" AND HIS FAMILY.
0'ooo--one in the Army, Another n the Navv
n Daughter Wearing the Red Cross.

Fighting families seem to constitute
one of the unusual features of o,1r wa
with Spain. Patriotism is as catchine
as the measles. Whole households are
stricken with it. Fathers and sons,
mothers n daughters. all come I'M
DER the spell: Take the family of Gen
eral Joseph Wheeler. The martial snir-
it of the old veteran IS strikinglv an
parent in his children. The General
was a freeater in his day, and the
taste OF the embers still fingers in his
mouth. His two sons and his daugh-
ter have inherited that taste.
"Fighting joe Wheeler. was a mere
boy when he civil wal broke out, but
he soon demonstrated that he had in
him the stuff that great soldiers are
made OF. He was one of the bravest,
keehest n most daring officers in
the confederate army, n withal one
of the most successful. 1t seems to be
in the Wheeler blood.
General Wheeler's appointment as
major general in command of the cav
airy division received the plaudits of
both the north n south. And now
the gallant general has been joined by
his son, Joseph Wheeler, jr., who is
serving on his fathers staff. Another
son, Tom Wheeler, who is just seven
teen years old, is a midshipman on the
Columbia.
Another interesting member of the
patriotic family is Miss Annie Wheeler,
the ~20-year-old daughter of General
Wheeler. When she her
determination to go to Cuba as a nurse
the general vas too much of a soldier
to oppose her wishes. She has always
been the idol of his eye, and the pet of
his old friends, but, like a Spartan
father, he only said: If it is your wish
you shall 60"
Miss Wheeler was very much in ear
nest. She had accompanied her father
to Tampa, and upon securing his per-
mission, she lost no time in applying
E. c. ElWell, who is in charge of the
You a be married on shipboard,
with the pale moonbeams shedding
their effulgent m~ellowness on the scene
or if mal-de-mer threatens the fair
Red Cross arrangements for the cam
paign, to be off for Cuba, and no one
chafes at the delay more than this
pretty and accomplished young girl,
who is abandoning a bright social ca
reer for the battlefields of a fever la
den climate.
Joseph Wheeler, jr., the generals ell
der son, is instructor of mathematics
at West Point. He had been granted
a furlough until September, and pre-
vious to h declaration of war he had
made all his arrangements for a tour
of Europe, even going so far as to Sc
cure his passage.
But the patriotism so characteristic
Of the Wheeler family caused him to
alter his plans. "a fellow can go to
Europe any time" he argued. 1T isn't
often that he has a chance of fighting
for his country"
And now he is spending his furlough
in the service of the government, hav-
ing received an appointment on his
fathers staff. Like his father, young
Wheeler is small of stature, but he has
all the characteristic traits of his fight
ing sire, and he may be counted upon
to make an equally illustrious name
for himself if the opportunity is given.
Tom Wheeler is only seventeen, but
his youthful blood is just as hot as it
would be were he twice that age. He
is still a student at Annapolis, too
young for graduation, but the fever Of
war coursing through his veins had to
have some outlet. He wouldn't be a
true son of his father otherwise. He