Joseph Wheeler Joseph Wheeler ( September 10 , 1836 – January 25 , 1906 ) was an American military commander and politician . He has the rare distinction of serving as a general during war time for two opposing forces : first as a noted cavalry general in the Confederate States Army in the 1860s during the American Civil War , and later as a general in the United States Army during both the Spanish - American War and Philippine - American War near the turn - of - the - twentieth - century . For much of the Civil War he served as the senior cavalry general in the Army of Tennessee and fought in most of its battles in the Western Theater . Between the Civil War and the Spanish - American War , Wheeler served multiple terms as a United States Representative from the state of Alabama . Early life . Although of New England ancestry , Joseph Wheeler was born near Augusta , Georgia and spent most of his early life growing up with relatives in Connecticut . However , he was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point from the state of Georgia and always considered himself a Georgian and Southerner . 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 brevet second lieutenant in the 1st U . S . Dragoons . He attended the U . S . Army Cavalry School located in Carlisle , Pennsylvania , and upon completion was transferred on June 26 , 1860 , to the Regiment of Mounted Rifles stationed in the New Mexico Territory . It was while stationed in New Mexico and fighting in a skirmish with Indians that Joseph Wheeler picked up the nickname " Fighting Joe . " On September 1 , 1860 , he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant . Civil War . Early service . At the start of the Civil War , Wheeler entered the Confederate Army on March 16 as a first lieutenant serving in the Georgia state militia artillery , and then was assigned to Fort Barrancas off of Pensacola , Florida , reporting to Maj . Gen . Braxton Bragg . His resignation from the U . S . Army was accepted on April 22 , 1861 . He was ordered to Huntsville , Alabama , to take command of the newly formed 19th Alabama Infantry Regiment and was promoted to colonel on September 4 . Wheeler and the 19th Alabama fought well under Bragg at the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862 . During the Siege of Corinth in April and May , Wheeler ' s men on picket duty clashed repeatedly with Union patrols . Serving as acting brigade commander , Wheeler burned the bridges over the Tuscumbia River to cover the Confederate withdrawal to Tupelo , Mississippi . Middle Tennessee . Wheeler transferred to the cavalry branch and commanded the 2nd Cavalry Brigade of the Left Wing in the Army of Mississippi from September to October . During the Kentucky Campaign , Wheeler aggressively maintained contact with the enemy . He began to suffer from poor relations with the Confederacy ' s arguably greatest cavalryman , Nathan Bedford Forrest , when Bragg reassigned most of Forrest ' s men to Wheeler , sending Forrest to Murfreesboro to recruit a new brigade . Wheeler fought at the Battle of Perryville in October and after the fight performed an excellent rearguard action protecting the army ' s withdrawal . He was promoted to brigadier general on October 30 and led the cavalry belonging to the Second Corps of the Army of Tennessee from November to December . During action at La Vergne , Tennessee , on November 27 , Wheeler was wounded by an artillery shell that exploded near him . In December 1862 , the Union Army of the Cumberland began to advance from Nashville against Bragg ' s army and Wheeler , now commanding all of the Army of Tennessee ' s cavalry , skirmished aggressively to delay their advance . He drove into the rear of the Union army , destroying hundreds of wagons and capturing more than 700 prisoners . After the Battle of Stones River , as Bragg ' s army withdrew to the Duck River line , Wheeler struck the Union supply lines at Harpeth Shoals on January 12 – 13 , burning three steamboats and capturing more than 400 prisoners . Bragg recommended that Wheeler be promoted as a " just reward " and he became a major general on January 20 , 1863 . Wheeler led the army ' s Cavalry Corps from January to November 24 , then again from December to November 15 , 1864 . For his actions on January 12 – 13 , 1863 , Wheeler and his troopers received the Thanks of the Confederate Congress on May 1 , 1863 . In February , Wheeler and Forrest attacked Fort Donelson at Dover , Tennessee , but they were repulsed by the small Union garrison . Forrest angrily told Wheeler " Tell [ General Bragg ] that I will be in my coffin before I will fight again under your command . " Bragg dealt with this rivalry in the Tullahoma Campaign by assigning Wheeler to guard the army ' s right flank while Forrest guarded the left . A Union cavalry advance on Shelbyville on June 27 trapped Wheeler and 50 of his men on the north side of the Duck River , forcing Wheeler to plunge his horse over a 15 foot embankment and escape through the rain - swollen river . Chickamauga and Chattanooga . Wheeler and his troopers guarded the army ' s left flank at Chickamauga in September 1863 , and after the routed Union Army collected in Chattanooga , Gen . Bragg sent Wheeler ' s men into central Tennessee to destroy railroads and Federal supply lines in a major raid . On October 2 his raid at Anderson ' s Cross Roads ( also known as Powell ' s Crossroads ) destroyed more than 700 Union supply wagons , tightening the Confederates siege on Chattanooga . Pursued by his Union counterparts , Wheeler advanced to McMinnville and captured its 600 - man garrison . There were more actions at Murfreesboro and Farmington , but by October 9 Wheeler had safely crossed the Tennessee River at Muscle Shoals , Alabama . The extensive raid caused the mounted arm of the army to miss the battles for Chattanooga ( November 23 – 25 ) . Wheeler covered Bragg ' s retreat from Chattanooga following the Union breakthrough at Missionary Ridge on November 25 and received a wound in his foot as his cavalry and Maj . Gen . Patrick Cleburne ' s infantry fought at the Battle of Ringgold Gap on November 27 . Wheeler and his men also supported Lt . Gen . James Longstreet ' s ultimately unsuccessful efforts during the Knoxville Campaign from November 4 to December 23 , 1863 . Georgia and the Carolinas . During Union Maj . Gen . William T . Sherman ' s Atlanta Campaign Wheeler ' s cavalry corps screened the flanks of the Army of Tennessee as Gen . Joseph E . Johnston drew back from several positions toward Atlanta . In July , Sherman sent two large cavalry columns to destroy the railroads supplying the defenders of Atlanta . With fewer than 5 , 000 cavalrymen , Wheeler defeated the enemy raids , resulting in the capture of one of the two commanding generals , Maj . Gen . George Stoneman . In August , Wheeler ' s corps crossed the Chattahoochee River in an attempt to destroy the railroad Sherman was using to supply his force from Chattanooga . Wheeler ' s men captured the town of Dalton , but he was unable to defeat the Union garrison protected in a nearby fort . Wheeler then took his men into East Tennessee , crossing the Tennessee River above Knoxville . His raid continued to the west , causing minor interruptions in the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad and then continued south through Franklin until he recrossed the Tennessee at Tuscumbia . Wheeler ' s raid was described by historian Ed Bearss as a " Confederate disaster " because it caused minimum damage to the Union while denying Gen . John Bell Hood , now in command of the Army of Tennessee , the direct support of his cavalry arm . Without accurate intelligence of Sherman ' s dispositions , Hood was beaten at Jonesborough and forced to evacuate Atlanta . Wheeler rendezvoused with Hood ' s army in early October after destroying the railroad bridge at Resaca . In late 1864 , Wheeler ' s cavalry did not accompany Hood on his Franklin - Nashville Campaign back into Tennessee and was virtually the only effective Confederate force to oppose Sherman ' s March to the Sea to Savannah . However , his resistance to Sherman did little to comfort Georgia civilians and lax discipline within his command caused great dissatisfaction . Robert Toombs was quoted as saying , " I hope to God he will never get back to Georgia . " Maj . Gen . D . H . Hill wrote that " the whole of Georgia is full of bitter complaints of Wheeler ' s cavalry . " Wheeler and his men continued to attempt to stop Sherman in the 1865 Carolinas Campaign . He defeated a Union cavalry force under Brig . Gen . Judson Kilpatrick at Aiken , South Carolina , February 11 . He was replaced as cavalry chief by Lt . Gen . Wade Hampton and fought under him at the Battle of Bentonville on March 19 – 20 , 1865 . While attempting to cover Confederate President Jefferson Davis ' s flight south and west in May , Wheeler was captured at Conyer ' s Station just east of Atlanta . He had intended to reach the Trans - Mississippi and Gen . Edmund Kirby Smith , still resisting out west , and had with him three officers from his staff and 11 privates when he was taken . Wheeler was imprisoned for two months , first at Fort Monroe and then in solitary confinement at Fort Delaware , where he was paroled on June 8 . 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 " . U . S . Congress . 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 historic site owned by the Alabama Historical Commission . In 1880 , Wheeler was elected from Alabama as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives . Wheeler ' s opponent , Greenback incumbent William M . Lowe , contested the election , and after a contentious legal battle which lasted over a year , Lowe was declared the winner and assumed the seat on June 3 , 1882 . Lowe , however , served only four months before dying of tuberculosis . Wheeler won a special election to return and serve out the remaining weeks of the term . 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 North and the South and championed economic policies that would help rebuild the southern states . Spanish - American War . In 1898 , Wheeler volunteered for the Spanish - American war , receiving an appointment to major general of volunteers by U . S . 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 V 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 decided to attack anyway , rushing his men forward with 2 guns to the front , with Colonel Young ' s brigade leading 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 supposedly called out " Let ' s go , boys ! We ' ve got the damn Yankees on the run again ! " with the old general confusing his wars . Wheeler ' s forces moved to encircle the Spaniards ' first battle line , assaulting its front and right flank , but were repulsed . During a pause in the fighting , both sides reinforced their positions . The Spaniards sent forward 2 companies of the " San Fernando Battalion " , along with the artillery . After midday the U . S . attack was renewed , but Spanish Comandante Andres Alcamiz , leading the " Provisional de Puerto Rico Battalion " , once again checked the American assault . After halting the American advance , the Spanish resumed their ongoing withdrawal towards 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 7 dead and 7 wounded . Wheeler fell seriously ill during the campaign and turned over command of the division to Brig . Gen . Samuel S . Sumner . Wheeler was still incapacitated in July when the Battle of San Juan Hill began but once he heard the sound of guns , the " War Child " returned to the front despite his illness . Being the senior officer present at the front he first issued orders to the 1st Division , under Jacob F . Kent , before returning to his own command . Upon taking the heights , Wheeler assured General William R . Shafter that the position could be held against a possible counterattack . He led the division through the Siege of Santiago and was a senior member of the peace commission . 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 . Philippine - American War . Wheeler sailed for the Philippines to fight in the Philippine - American War , arriving in August 1899 . He commanded the First Brigade in Arthur MacArthur ' s Second Division during the Philippine - American War until January 1900 . During this period , Wheeler was mustered out of the volunteer service and commissioned a brigadier general in the regular army , both on June 16 , 1900 . After hostilities he commanded the Department of the Lakes until his retirement on September 10 , 1900 , and moved to New York . Supposedly while serving in the Philippines , Wheeler encountered an infantryman who was complaining about the heat and being tired . Wheeler promptly dismounted , took the man ' s rifle and pack , told him to mount his horse , and marched the rest of the way with the infantry . Later life . Wheeler was the author of several books on military history and strategy , as well as about 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 Pictureque and Historic Description of These Land and Peoples " , was published in 1907 , after his death . 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 his 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 . " General Wheeler was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Society of Colonial Wars . After long illness , Wheeler died in Brooklyn , New York City and is one of the few former Confederate officers to be buried within Arlington National Cemetery . Wheeler Family and Pond Spring . Pond Spring - The General Joe Wheeler Home , is located in Northwest Alabama . Currently owned by the Alabama Historical Commission , the house is undergoing major restoration and preservation to take it back to the 1920s condition . Joseph Wheeler married into the property which was owned by his wife Daniella ( b . 20 August 1841 m . 8 February 1866 d . 1895 ) . Daniella had inherited the property when her previous husband , Benjamin Sherrod died . The Sherrod ' s had bought the property from the Hickman family and expanded and added several buildings , including the two story dogtrot log cabin that came to be known as the Sherrod House . The Wheelers built their own house right next to the Sherrod house and occupied both houses while Daniella and Joe were alive . The Men lived in the older Sherrod House , while the Women lived in the newer 3 story Wheeler House . The Second floor of the Wheeler House has four bedrooms , one for each daughter , while their governess lived in the 3rd story attic . Daniella occupied a room downstairs , which was equipped with its own door knocker . The two houses were , and still are , connected outside through a covered walkway . Later on , the upstairs of the Wheeler home was shared by Joe Jr . and his older sister Annie until their deaths . Eldest of the Siblings . Unmarried . Died 1924 . Born 31 July 1868 , Annie Wheeler was the second child of the General . She would grow up to volunteer for the American Red Cross and would follow her Father into many different skirmishes and battles . She was known as the ' Angel of Santiago ' for her work in the Spanish - American War . She also served during World War I in England and France . Annie was a well known in many places and held correspondences with many people . She was even presented to the Queen of England . Annie outlived all of her siblings , dying in 1955 after suffering an injury after a fall . The first son , Joe Jr . was born in 1872 . He attended West Point and graduated in 1895 . He joined the Army and was stationed at the Washington Barracks D . C . . After training at the Artillery School at Fort Monroe in Virginia , Joe Jr . then was a Mathematics instructor at West Point before the Spanish - American War broke out . At the start of the War , Joe Jr . was made an aide on his father ' s staff and sailed for Cuba on June 1898 . The following year he was made a Major of the 34th Infantry , US Volunteers and left in September 1899 for the Philippines . He served in many different areas after this , finally retiring in February 1927 . He died 6 August 1938 . Died young , little known about her . Married William J . Harris , US Senator from North Carolina Married Gordon Buck Born 7 March 1881 , Thomas was the youngest of the children . Influenced by both his father and brother , at the age of 16 Thomas chose to enroll at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis . One year into his training the Spanish American War began . Thomas was adamant about participating in the war . Though his father , older brother , and oldest sister were all going themselves , the General refused to help Thomas find a position aboard a warship . Thomas did not give up , and instead posted a letter to the Secretary of the Navy , John D . Long . Long helped him find a position aboard the USS Columbia ( C - 12 ) , Which would turn out to be Thomas ' s first and last assignment . Although the Columbia did participate in the invasion of Puerto Rico , it was a very short and easy victory due to the Spanish not showing up . On the 7th of September 1898 , Thomas and some friends were surf bathing at Montauk Point . One of his midshipman friends was pulled under the water and was struggling . In an effort to save his friend , Thomas dove in after him , but despite his efforts both boys drowned . Thomas ' s body was retrieved and brought to his Alabama home to be buried . In memoriam . In 1925 , the state of Alabama donated a bronze statue of Joseph Wheeler to the National Statuary Hall Collection at the United States Capitol . Additionally , several locations in Alabama are named after Wheeler including Joe Wheeler State Park , Wheeler Lake and Dam , and the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge . Also , Joseph Wheeler High School in Marietta , Georgia , and Wheeler County , Georgia are named after him . During World War II , the United States Navy named a Liberty Ship in honor of Wheeler . Wheeler Road , a main thoroughfare through west Augusta is named after him as well . Furthermore , Joe Wheeler Electric Cooperative in northwest Alabama also honors him . Also Camp Wheeler , near Macon , Georgia ( which served as an army base during both World Wars ) was named for Wheeler . Wheeler Mountain , just south of Tuscumbia , in northwest Alabama , is named for him and is a foothill of the Appalacchians . Fort Jackson has a street named after him . While preaching a revival meeting in Alabama , Dr . Dolphus Price met Gen . Wheeler ' s daughter , Annie , and was given a tour of their famous Flower Garden . Later Dr . Price preached a sermon called " God ' s Flower Garden " , inspired by that tour . It became one of his most famous sermons . General Wheeler was a childhood hero of Dr . Price . The City of Derby , CT , where Wheeler grew up as a young lad , named him as one of the first members of its Hall of Fame in 2007 . In popular media . Wheeler was portrayed in the television film " Rough Riders " by actor Gary Busey , although Busey is much taller than Wheeler was , and had only a mustache instead of a full beard . The film portrays him as an " unreconstructed " Confederate , and oddly has him cite Bedford Forrest ( who hated Wheeler ) as his " old friend " . The young character of Dill in the Harper Lee novel To Kill a Mockingbird attempts to impress his new friends by claiming that Wheeler is his grandfather and left him his cavalry saber .