The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1906-01-31
GALLANT OLD
SOLDIER DEAD
General joe Wheeler SuccOmbs to Pneu.
mOnia in New York.
WAS A HERO OF TWO VAR .
His Brilliant Career as q Cavalry Commander
10 the Confederate Army and His Valuable
Services as One Of the Principal commsn.
ders Of the American Army 10 the Spanish
American Campaign.

New York Especially - Gen. Joseph
Wheeler, the famous Confederate caval-
ry leader and a brigadier general of the
| United States Army since the war with
Spain, died at 5.35 o'clock Thursday
afternoon at the home OF his sister,
Mrs. Sterling Smith, in Brooklyn. The
veteran OF two wars was 90 years old
but in spite of his age, there was hope
until Thursday, Of his recovery from
the attact OF pneumonia which caused
his death.
General Wheeler was taken III six
days ago at his sisters home, where he
has been living recently. He contracted
severe cold, which developed into
pleursy and pneumonia. From the first
his age told against him, but the fami
ly did not give tip hope until Wednesday
night, when the disease was found TO
have affected both lungs. General
Wheeler's immediate relatives were all
with him. His daughters, Mrs. w. J.
Harris and the Misses Anne, Lucille
and Carrie Wheeler, had been sum
moned from the South and arrived ear
ly in the week His son, Major Joseph
Wheeler Jr., now stationed at West
Point, was also present, as well as Gen
eral Whc eler's sister, Mrs. Sterling
Smith, and her son.
The family was summoned to the bed
side OF the patient at midnight, when
the doctors in consultation concluded
that the end was but a matter of hours,
The General was then awake and con-
scious, and his mind was apparently
IIa
was approaching, and, though too weak
to speak, he succeeded in giving signs
OF recognition and encouragement to his
children.
Later the General sank into a peace
full slumber, and, at the request of the
doctors, the falnily quietly withdrew
from the sick mans bedside. Gener-
al Wheeler was never again more than
semiconscious. He fingered until even
ing, and passed away quietly.
Gen. Joseph Wheeler ranked high
among the brilliant cavalry leaders de-
veloped by the Civil War When he
surrendered as a lieutenant general in
the service of the Confederacy he was
only 20 years old, yet he was senior
cavalry officer in the Confederate Army
lrirty three years later, as major
general of Volunteers, u. s. A., he was
leading American cavalry against the
Spaniards in Cuba. For accepting a
commission from President Mckinley he
was severely criticised by Southerners of
the "unreconstructed" type. In the Ala
bama Constitutional Convention of0 1901
an effort was made to deny him the cour-
tesies Of the floor. He was snubbed by
the presiding officer Of a convention of
Confederate veterans at Charleston, S.
c., in 1900. The same thing happened
at Confederate reunion at New Orleans
in 1903. Southern newspapers comment
ed unfavorably on his accepting comrade-
ship with men who had fought against
the South. 1t is very probable, however,
that General Wheeler's reputation was
enhanced among ,oouthernern people gen
orally, just as his popularity was increas-
ed among Northerncrs, by his patriotic
action at the outset of the Spanish-Amer-
ican War. In his last service he showed
the same dash, the same capacity for
sudden, brilliant movement that worried
federal generals in the Civil War.