Chatham Roberdeau Wheat Chatham Roberdeau Wheat ( April 9 , 1826 – June 27 , 1862 ) was a Captain in the United States Army Volunteers during the Mexican War , Louisiana State Representative , lawyer , mercenary in Cuba , Mexico , and Italy , adventurer , and major in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War . Born in Alexandria , Virginia , the son of a preacher , Wheat moved with his family to Louisiana as a young boy . Growing in size to 6 foot , 4 inches tall and weighing 240 pounds , Wheat ' s physical stature was impressive . He was elected a Lieutenant then later as a Captain in the First Tennessee Mounted Regiment under General Winfield Scott in the Mexican - American War . He left the military due to illness and returned to Louisiana where he was elected a representative of New Orleans to the Louisiana State Legislature in 1848 . He was admitted to the bar in 1849 . Subsequently , his wanderlust inspired him to undertake a series of international mercenary and filibuster adventures . He was commissioned a Colonel by Narciso Lopez in his Cuban filibustering expedition . In 1855 he joined the Juan Álvarez campaign against Santa Anna where he was commissioned a Brigadier General in charge of artillery by the State of Guerrero . He travelled to Italy to serve under Garibaldi but soon left when his state seceded from the Union . Early life and career . Chatham Roberdeau Wheat was born on April 9 , 1826 , in Alexandria , Virginia , to the Reverend John Thomas and Selina Blair Patten Wheat . As a boy , Roberdeau followed his father ’ s Episcopal parsonages to Anne Arundel County , Maryland , Wheeling , ( later West ) Virginia , Marietta , Ohio , New Orleans , Louisiana , and Nashville , Tennessee . When he was fifteen , Wheat was sent back to Alexandria to study under the Reverend William Nelson Pendleton , a West Point graduate , former U . S . Army officer , and future artillery chief of Robert E . Lee ’ s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia . In 1842 Wheat returned to Tennessee to live with his family and entered the University of Nashville where he received his B . A . in 1846 . ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . Soon after his graduation , in May 1846 , the U . S . declared war on Mexico and nineteen - year - old Wheat enlisted into Captain William Porter ’ s Company G , 1st Tennessee Mounted Rifles , an infantry outfit . Because of his education , Wheat was quickly elected the junior lieutenant of his troop and acted as its adjutant . Once mustered into federal service , the Mounted Rifles were sent south to reinforce Maj . Gen . Zachary Taylor ’ s army at Matamoros , Mexico . There , in the hot and bug - infested camps , Wheat became afflicted with the mysterious and sometimes deadly “ camp fever . ” Consigned to the hospital , the young lieutenant quickly attracted the attention of the commanding general ’ s son and volunteer aide , Richard Taylor , who remembered : “ [ Wheat ] was a bright - eyed youth … wan with disease , but with cheery withal . ” Subsequently transferred to army headquarters to help him better convalesce and to enliven General Taylor , Wheat became a “ pet ” of sorts of the headquarters section . ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . Mexican - American War service . In January 1847 , Wheat ’ s regiment was transferred to Brig . Gen . Gideon Pillow ’ s 1st Brigade , Maj . Gen . Robert Patterson ’ s 3rd Division , that was , along with Maj . Gen . William J . Worth ’ s 1st Division and Brig . Gen . David Twiggs ’ s 2nd Division , ordered to march 400 miles south along the Mexican coast to Tampico where it was to await the arrival of Maj . Gen . Winfield Scott . Scott was tasked by President James K . Polk to build up his forces and transport them further down the coast by boat to the fortified town of Vera Cruz , take it by siege , and then march 250 miles inland to Mexico City , if need be , to force the Mexican government to come to terms . According to Lt . George B . McClellan , a trusted regular army engineer from Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , the Volunteers of Scott ’ s army were called “ Mohawks ” by the regulars for their wild , Indian - like ways . They were dirty , unkept fellows , McClellan averred , who were “ outcasts [ who ] think nothing of robbing and killing the Mexicans . ” ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . In early March , Scott loaded some 13 , 000 men , including those of the 1st Tennessee Mounted Rifles , aboard transports and landed them just south of Vera Cruz where they began to lay siege to the town . After a few weeks of bombardment , on March 26 , the coastal bastion fell to the Americans and Scott marched his army westward — following Hernando Cortez ’ s famous invasion route — and engaged the main Mexican force under Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna at Cerro Gordo on April 18 , 1847 . During the fight , in which the 3rd Division attacked the entrenched Mexicans frontally while the 1st and 2nd divisions turned their left , Wheat ’ s regiment suffered horribly , mostly due to the antics of their brigade commander , Pillow , who was later censured ( and also promoted ) . ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . Once the Americans won the hard - fought battle , Scott continued his march toward Mexico City until May 1847 , when he stopped at Puebla to not only resume negotiations with the Mexican government , but to also reorganize his army as many of the Volunteers ’ enlistments , including the 1st Tennessee ’ s , had expired . With most of the Volunteers gone , and reinforced by two new brigades of regular army infantry , Scott reorganized his 3rd Division by placing newly promoted Maj . Gen . Gideon Pillow in charge and attaching Brig . Gen . Franklin Pierce ’ s and Brig . Gen . George Cadwalader ’ s brigades of regulars to it . Scott then formed the 4th Division , commanded by Maj . Gen . John A . Quitman , a proud Volunteer officer from Mississippi , with what was left of the Volunteers and a battalion of Marines under Lt . Col . Samuel E . Watson . General Patterson , with some 2 , 500 men ( many of them still wounded ) , would remain behind at Puebla . ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . While most of the men of the 1st Tennessee Mounted Rifles chose to return home , Wheat and a hundred others decided to stay in Mexico and continue the fight . Wheat was subsequently elected their captain and Quitman assigned his independent troop to be part of his headquarters guard . At times , however , Wheat ’ s mounted company was ordered to run down guerrillas who were interdicting Scott ’ s column from Puebla to Churubusco . In this style of fighting , that of insurgency or counter - insurgency , warfare that Wheat would later come to master , General Quitman later remarked that Roberdeau was “ the best natural soldier I ever knew . ” ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . After fighting several more desperate battles at Contreras , Churubusco , Molino del Rey , and Chapultepec - — conflicts which Wheat ’ s company did not directly participate as it was still part of Quitman ’ s headquarters guard — Scott ’ s “ Gallant Little Army ” captured Mexico City on September 14 , 1847 . Soon after , the men of Wheat ’ s company , “ being well mounted , handsomely uniformed , splendidly equipped , and perfect in drill , ” were assigned as provost troops in Mexico City with the District of Columbia Regiment . There they “ ’ did the ornamental ’ on great occasions for general officers . ” ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . In December 1847 , “ his command having suffered severely in killed and wounded , ” Wheat was sent home to fill up his ranks with new recruits . These he soon obtained in Nashville , where a flag was presented to his company by “ the young ladies of Christ church school ; on which occasion the color - bearer had on a complete suit of armor — helmet , breast - plate , & c . of polished brass — taken from one of Santa Anna ’ s body - guards . ” When Wheat returned to Mexico with his replacements , however , Santa Anna had already surrendered to the United States with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo . In the settlement , the Mexican general agreed to cede the northern tier of his country ( which included all or parts of the modern - day states of Texas , California , New Mexico , Arizona , and Colorado - — the Mexican Cession ) to the U . S . in exchange for $ 18 million and the evacuation of all U . S . troops . ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . Role as a Filibusterer . With victory in hand , the state volunteers were mustered out of federal service and Captain Wheat , now a decorated veteran , settled in New Orleans , the third largest city of the United States . There he opened a law practice and became actively involved in politics , stumping for Whig presidential candidate Zachary Taylor , his former commanding general . Soon after the hotly contested election , which Taylor won , the nation became embroiled over what to do with the Mexican Cession . According to the Missouri Compromise of 1820 , all new states below the Thirty - six - Thirty Line ( that is , south of Missouri ) were to be “ slave - choice , ” and all above would be “ no - slave - choice . ” And because most Southerners felt that the North got the lion ’ s share of the Louisiana Purchase land in 1820 , their representatives protected Southern interests by putting a proviso in the compromise that each “ no - slave - choice - state ” which entered the Union would have to be matched by a “ slave - choice - state . ” This would keep , and had kept , a balance in the Senate between the two regions until Taylor became president . In 1849 , the Republic of California , part of the Mexican Cession , applied to join the Union as a no - slave - choice state without a slave - choice partner to complement it . President Taylor desired that California enter the Union on any terms . In the political wrangling that followed , which almost led to the secession of South Carolina and the eventual destruction of Wheat ’ s beloved Whig Party , California was ultimately admitted as a no - slave - choice - state , tipping the balance of power in the Senate , at least in the short term , toward Northern interests . As such , Wheat and other Southern partisans saw the writing on the wall : both sections were fighting for control of the national government , and through it were trying to impose themselves on the other . Wheat wanted to make sure that his region was the one that came out on top . In Wheat ’ s mind , the best way to accomplish this was for the South to expand its particular or “ peculiar ” culture and institutions — which included the dichotomy of black slavery and white republican society — southward into Old Mexico , Central America , and the Caribbean , lands well - south of the Thirty - six - Thirty Line . This would not only ensure a balance in the Senate , but would also , if need be , give the South enough strength to secede from the United States and form its own nation . To facilitate this lofty goal , as well as that of the reopening of the African slave trade , Wheat and other enterprising Southern gentlemen , men such as Doctor George Bickley and sociologist George Fitzhugh of Virginia , Senator John Cabell Breckinridge of Kentucky , Senator Robert Toombs of Georgia , Governor ( former general ) John Quitman of Mississippi , and Louisiana Senator and Ambassador to Spain Pierre Soulé , formed a clandestine , fraternal organization known as the Knights of the Golden Circle ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . The term “ Golden Circle ” denoted the hope that this new Southern nation would encompass the entire Caribbean region and then some : all of the slave - choice states of the United States , Old Mexico , Central America , the northern portion of South America , and the rich sugar islands of the Caribbean , including Spanish Cuba . In this new tropical empire , the South ’ s institutions would not only be perpetuated , but also strengthened . Mississippi Senator Albert Gallatin Brown , for example proclaimed : “ I want Cuba , and I know that sooner or later we must have it … . I want Tamaulipas , Potosi , and one or two other Mexican states ; and I want them all for the same reason — for the planting and spreading of slavery . And a foothold in Central America will powerfully aid us in acquiring those other States … . Yes , I want these Countries for the spread of slavery . ” ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . According to the Knights of the period , Southerners not only possessed the ability to expand their “ superior race and culture , ” but also bore the God - given duty to do so . In a world where it was conquer or be conquered , the “ lesser races and cultures , ” including misdirected Yankees , should not only be dominated and exploited , but also guided , assimilated , and enlightened by benevolent white Southerners or face inevitable natural extinction . This nascent form of Social Darwinism was elucidated by future Golden Knight William Walker , who wrote in 1860 : " If we look at Africa in the light of universal history , we see her for more than 5 , 000 years a mere waif on the waters of the world , fulfilling no part in its destinies , and aiding in no manner the progress of general civilization . Sunk in the depravities of fetishism , and reeking with the blood of human sacrifices , she seemed a satire on man , fit only to provoke the sneer of devils at the wisdom , and justice , and benevolence of the Creator . But America was discovered , and the European found the African a useful auxiliary in subduing the continent for the uses and purposes of civilization . The white man took the Negro from his native wastes , and teaching him the arts of life , bestowed on him the infallible blessings of a true religion … . The labor of inferior races cannot compete with that of the white race unless you give it a white master to direct its energies ; and without such protection as slavery affords , the colored races must inevitably succumb in the struggle with white labor … . In [ the tropical climes of America ] the Negro seems to be in his natural climate . The blacks who have gone thither from Jamaica are healthy , strong and capable of severe labor . … In fact , Negro blood seems to assert its superiority over the indigenous Indians of [ the area ] . … Time presses . If the South wishes to get her institutions into tropical America she must do so before treaties are made by [ treacherous Yankees ] to embarrass her action and hamper her energy . . . in the effort to reestablish slavery in [ the Caribbean Region ] . . . The hearts of Southern youth answer to the call of honor , and strong arms and steady eyes are waiting to carry forward the policy which is now the dictate of duty as well as interest . . . The true field for the exertion of slavery is in tropical America . " " ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . Many Southerners , men like Roberdeau Wheat , apparently agreed with William Walker . Bound by a collective identity , they were seemingly on a mission from God to dominate , “ regenerate , ” “ Americanize , ” or “ Southernize ” the Western Hemisphere . Modeling this kindred spirit , Wheat progressed to the next logical step when he helped organize and participate in four so - called “ filibuster expeditions ” during the 1850s . A filibuster was an American soldier of fortune who conducted illicit military operations against Central American countries with which the U . S . was at peace . Although most filibusters , true soldiers of fortune like Charles Frederick Henningsen , apparently fought for personal gain , at least some men , especially from the Southland , men like Roberdeau Wheat , fought to spread Southern culture . Noted Southern partisan and Golden Knight George Fitzhugh best articulated the ideological base for what has become known as “ filibustering ” or “ filibusterism ” when he wrote the following diatribe in " De Bow ’ s Review " in December 1858 : " " For nearly forty years Mexico has been in a state of continually recurring revolution , of misrule , and almost anarchy . She has shown that , left to herself , she is wholly incapable of organizing and sustaining any permanent form of government . Her highways are infested with robbers , whose known crimes , so far from being punished by public authority , do not affect their social grade , nor exclude them from what is called good society , in their capital . The Indians on her northern frontier are making continual predatory incursions into her territory , and she is powerless to repel them . Her mixed population has all the vices of civilization , with none of its virtues ; all the ignorance of barbarism , with none of its hardihood , enterprise , and self - reliance . It is enervate , effeminate , treacherous , false , and fickle . Like the savage and beasts of the forest , its love of liberty is but impatience of control , and hatred of law and government . … Should America , regardless of her interest , her safety , her glory , fail to intervene , France or England will step to avert the sad catastrophe that would celebrate its carnival of blood in the streets of Montezuma … . Yes , should America under the lead or paralysis . . . of Northern abolitionism , socialism , and black republicanism , fail in her duty . . . forgetful of the Monroe Doctrine … . England will see to it that no war - whoop disturbs the slumbers of the imperial city … . Mexico cannot stand alone . She must become a dependent tributary of some distant European nation , who would not govern her well , because it could not govern her understandingly , or be annexed to our Union , and become a group of free and independent [ i . e . , slave - choice ] states , with all the rights , liberties , and privileges of the now existing states . Looking to the mighty benefits resulting to the human race from the annexations of ours , made at comparatively little expense of blood or treasure , can we doubt that there is a “ manifest destiny , ” the finger of Providence in this ( so called ) filibustering movement of America ? After effecting so much good , shall we cease from our labors while so much remains to be done ? Shall we be deterred by the epithet of filibustering , or the cant , fanaticism , and mistaken or pretended philanthropy of a part of the North ? … . Unless we can command all the convenient transit across the Isthmus to California and Oregon , [ Mexico and Central America ] will annex themselves [ to Britain or France . … Filibustering , whether by nations or individuals , is not like avarice — selfish , sordid , and narrow — but has always public good for its object . It proceeds from ambition ; and ambition , rightly directed , is the noblest of human passions . It sacrifices , very often , all the endearments of home and country , encounters privation and suffering , and perils health and life , to benefit country or mankind , as asks only reputation and fame as its pay and recompense . It warms the missionary ’ s zeal , impels him to deeds of greater daring than a soldier ever undertook , carries him into midst of cannibal savages , where the foot of the white man has never before trodden … The learned , accomplished , and pious bishop of the Virginia diocese , maintains that the Negro slave - trade , and slavery in America , were means and agencies intended and provided by Deity to civilize and Christianize the blacks . This surely was filibustering ; but the most needful of filibustering ; for modern experience has demonstrated it to be the only means sufficiently coercive to civilize and Christianize the Negro . . . It is time to define what we mean by the term “ filibustering . ” [ viz . : ] “ Wars of conquest waged by the strong against the weak , with little or no provocation , ” fulfills our idea of filibustering . Alexander the Great was a filibuster , for , without provocation or pretext of injury or offence , he conquered a large part of Asia , and part of Africa and Europe . Yet he was a benefactor of mankind , for he diffused Greek civilization — the highest form of civilization — throughout many countries , whose civilization , always very low grade , was then rapidly decaying . Julius Caesar was also a filibuster , for , for he conquered Gaul pretty much on his own hook , alleging the flimsiest pretexts for his conduct . But he civilized and Latinized Gaul , and the civilization which he planted and engrafted remains to this day … . Mohammed was a filibuster … All savage races which cannot be domesticated and enslaved , will be gradually exterminated . Many will fall by the sword , but more by their inability to compete in the field of industry with the more laborious , provident , and skillful whites . While we lament the fate that that awaits them , we would not avert it by inflicting far greater evils on the whites . " ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . William Walker , another implacable filibuster of the period , echoed Mr . Fitzhugh ’ s sentiments but was much more succinct : " " That which you ignorantly call “ filibusterism ” is not the offspring of hasty passion or ill - regulated desire ; it is the fruit of the sure , unerring instincts which act in accordance with laws as old as creation . They are but drivellers [ i . e . , fools ] who speak of fixed relations between the pure white American race , as it exists in the United States , and the mixed Hispano - Indian race , as it exists in Mexico and Central America , without employment of force . The history of the world presents no such utopian vision as that of an inferior race yielding meekly and peacefully to the controlling influence of a superior people . " " ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . The first filibuster expedition in which Wheat participated was commanded by the rebel Spanish General Narciso Lopez . Born in Venezuela to well - born parents , Lopéz was commissioned in the Spanish army and had fought against Simon Bolivar during the 1820s . By 1840 Lopéz had become a trusted minister to the Governor of Cuba . In 1848 , on the heels of the U . S . ’ s conquest of Mexico and the revolutions that were sweeping Europe , Lopéz , fearing a liberalization of the empire , joined a group of ultra - conservative planters who were working to make the island an independent country with the institution of Negro slavery intact . When Spanish authorities exposed the conspirators , however , Lopéz fled to the U . S . to escape execution as a traitor to the crown . Undeterred , Lopéz set forth to recruit various Cuban exiles and American veterans of the Mexican War to launch an invasion of the island , foment a rebellion , build an army of like - minded Cubans , conduct a coup d ’ etat , and install himself as president of a sovereign Cuba . To garner further support , he insinuated the possibility of having the island annexed to the U . S . as a slave - choice - state as Texas had been in 1846 . ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . Once Lopéz declared this , he immediately obtained support from the Knights of the Golden Circle . Mississippi Governor John Quitman led the charge to aid Lopéz as much as possible by supplying money , equipment , expertise , and over 500 volunteers , mostly young men from Mississippi and Louisiana . Wheat himself was commissioned a colonel in Lopéz ’ s filibuster army and was put in charge of the Louisiana Battalion , which consisted primarily of “ worthless characters and rowdies ” from the levees and boweries of New Orleans . ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . On the night of May 2 , 1850 , Lopéz ’ s filibusters , which included Callender Fayssoux , Achilles and Albert Kewan , Theodore O ’ Hara , Louis Schlessinger , John Pickett , J . R . Hayden , Thomas Theodore Hawkins , W . H . Bell , M . J . Bunch , Peter Smith , Ambrosio Gonzales , and Roberdeau Wheat , quietly slipped out of New Orleans aboard the packed steamer Creole . Two weeks later , on May 19 , the dilettante filibusters landed near the Cuban town of Cardenas and forced their way into the square . After a bloody daylong fight , Lopéz ’ s men defeated some 700 Spanish Regulars and a hundred or so machete - wielding Cuban peasants . ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . With Cardenas secured , Lopéz loaded his victorious army back aboard the Creole to move down the coast to continue his destabilization program . On its way out of the harbor , however , the Creole ran aground and damaged its hull . To avoid sinking , the filibusters were forced to dump their arms , equipment , and ammunition overboard and consequently decided to return to the U . S . to refit and reorganize . Two days later , on May 21 , about forty miles from Key West , the limping filibuster vessel was sighted by the Spanish warship Pizarro , seeking retribution for the sacking of Cardenas . In the race that followed , the Creole barely made it to Key West ahead of the Spanish frigate . To add insult to injury , once the defeated mercenaries came ashore , they were forced to scatter to evade capture by federal authorities . After this humbling first experience in filibustering , Wheat made his way to his family ’ s new home in Chapel Hill , North Carolina where his father was a faculty member of the University of North Carolina . Wheat hid out there until he was arrested by federal marshals for breaking the Neutrality Law of 1818 and shipped off to face trial in New Orleans . Other men who were indicted included Mississippi Governor John Quitman , John L . O ’ Sullivan , editor of the New York " Democratic Review " who had originally coined the phrase Manifest Destiny , and Laurent J . Sigur , editor of the militant New Orleans " Daily Delta " . ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . By March 1851 , after a spirited exercise in American jurisprudence , all charges against Quitman , Wheat , and the others were dropped when a New Orleans grand jury refused to even bring the case to trial . “ If the evidence against [ the conspirators ] were a thousand fold stronger , ” proclaimed the New Orleans Orleanian , “ no jury could be impaneled to convict him because public opinion makes law . ” ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . Emboldened by the findings of the court , Wheat joined Colonel José Carvajal ’ s band of Mexican insurgents who were out to finish the job started by the U . S . in the last war by stripping the northern Mexican provinces of Tamaulipas , Nuévo León , and Coahuila from the Mexican Union and declaring them an independent federation called the “ Republic of Sierra Madre , ” with slave - choice reintroduced to spur American immigration . Because the South , Mexico , and the “ world at large ” would benefit from such a transaction , Wheat readily offered his services . Ever since the close of the last war , Wheat was convinced that that although Mexico was the “ finest country in the world … the present occupants [ of Mexico ] were as incompetent to develop its resources as the Indians whom the Spaniards had supplanted . ” He therefore thought that it would “ be a charitable proceeding , as in the interest of civilization and reformed Christianity ” to smash the “ corrupt church in Mexico … the curse of the country ” and replace it with Anglo - American institutions . Becoming Carvajal ’ s artillery chief ( commanding but one tiny six - pounder smoothbore ) , Wheat and his 500 fellow insurrectionists , including Captain John “ Rip ” Ford ’ s troop of Colt Revolver - wielding Texas Rangers , continually harassed Santa Anna ’ s forces in true guerrilla fashion . In October , the enterprising filibusters went so far as to attack the key Mexican Army post at Matamoros , only to be driven back . After a few more months of conducting illicit operations , “ Carvajal ’ s Rebellion ” ran out of steam and Wheat , frustrated , snuck back across the border into Texas and returned to New Orleans . ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . In 1852 , with his fame as a Southern partisan firmly secured , the local Whig Party bosses asked Wheat to run for the Louisiana State House . Having party backing , he easily won the election and served in Baton Rouge for one term . In 1854 , apparently bored with the banality of state politics , Wheat joined insurgent General Juan Alvarez of Mexico who intended , unlike Colonel Carvajal , to completely overthrow the Mexican government , establish himself as its new president , and give Mexico a more American - like constitution , thus opening the way for better relations with the United States . Wheat was commissioned a brigadier general in Alvarez ’ s army and was assigned to command its artillery forces . For the next several months , General Wheat campaigned with the rebels in the central mountains of Mexico , slowly but surely wearing down the paltry forces which were still loyal to Santa Anna . Finally on November 14 , 1855 , the insurgents took Mexico City and installed Alvarez as the new president . ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . This crowning achievement could have been the pinnacle of Wheat ’ s life . He was a general officer , the owner of a magnificent sub - tropical estate in “ the finest country in the world , ” and a close confidant to the president of Mexico . But for Wheat , this was not enough . In July 1856 he gave it all up and returned to New Orleans to organize a relief expedition to help save fellow filibuster William Walker who had overthrown the government of Nicaragua and installed himself as president the year before , making him , like Roberdeau Wheat , one of the greatest filibusters of the period . And for many of the men of the soon - to - be organized 1st Louisiana Special Battalion , especially those from Company A , the Walker Guards , William Walker would serve as the Tigers ’ knight exemplar of how and why to expand Southern culture . ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . Samuel Lockridge , Frank Anderson , and Charles Doubleday , three of William Walker ’ s original “ Fifty - seven ” who had filibustered Nicaragua , Roberdeau Wheat , the renowned soldier of fortune from Mexico , and Henry Titus , a Missouri Border Ruffian who had been fighting Yankee “ Jay Hawkers ” in Kansas , answered Walker ’ s clarion call for relief ( Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt and his Central America allies had Walker surrounded ) and led a relief expedition of 300 adventurous souls from New York and another 800 from New Orleans . Embarking on the steam ships " Orizaba " , " James Adger " , and " Texas " , Lockridge ’ s and Wheat ’ s filibusters took Greytown on January 9 , 1857 , and proceeded to fight their way up the San Juan River toward San Carlos and Virgin Bay , taking out a few Costa Rican strong points , such as Fort Serapaqui , along the way . During these operations , which Walker described as being “ haphazard and ineffectual , ” Wheat acted as Lockridge ’ s artillery chief , commanding two captured light guns . By February , the filibusters were working on Castillo Viejo , “ Old Fort , ” when two U . S . Navy steam frigates under Commodore Hiram Paulding , sent by newly elected Democratic President James Buchanan to rescue Walker from the clutches of Vanderbilt ’ s allies , sailed up the river to extinguish Lockridge ’ s and Wheat ’ s relief efforts . ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . To facilitate the removal of these American free booters , Buchanan wisely offered free passage and freedom from prosecution to the filibusters if they agreed to leave Nicaragua post haste . The outgunned crusaders , including Wheat , reluctantly took up the president ’ s offer and embarked on the American steamer Illinois , arriving in New York City on April 29 , 1857 . ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . With Lockridge and Wheat out of his hair , Paulding was able to forge a tenuous agreement between the allies and Walker ’ s besieged army . The allies would be allowed to establish a new government in Nicaragua , and , in return , Walker ’ s men were to surrender directly to Commodore Paulding , and not to the Central Americans . Once all agreed to the terms , what was left of Walker ’ s army , about four hundred half - starved and disease - stricken men , were loaded aboard several American steamers for transit to New Orleans or New York City . ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . Arriving in New Orleans on May 27 , 1857 , Walker was welcomed as a conquering hero , a man who had been betrayed by his own government . In a speech given at the upscale Saint Charles Hotel in front of a crowd that reportedly numbered almost 10 , 000 , Walker extolled the well - wishers to keep the faith and pledged to outfit another expedition . He proclaimed : " " I call upon you , therefore , to execute this mission . . . to regenerate the amalgamated race … to Americanize Central America … . I feel that my duty calls upon me to return to [ Nicaragua ] . All who are nearest and dearest to me are there . . . those who lie dead beneath the jungle foliage , in the mango groves , in the sugar cane , or in the rubble of Rivas . … There sleep the men , soldiers , and officers whose rights I cannot fail to have respected … . I call upon you then , fellow - citizens , male and female , whose friends and relatives have perished , to lend your aid ; upon the men to assist . . . in carrying out and perfecting the Americanization of Central America . " " ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . While Walker traveled throughout the rest of the South to further his goals , Wheat , still up in New York City and most probably embarrassed by the fiasco , abandoned the filibusters ’ cause . He instead accepted a job to market inventor James Haskell ’ s breech - loading “ Accelerating Cannon ” to the U . S . Army and Navy and to governments that were friendly to the United States . Wheat was even able to sell a few of these intricate weapons to his old friend in Mexico , President Alvarez . ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . While Wheat was dealing in arms , in November 1857 , Walker had raised enough filibusters , just under 300 , including Hornsby , Anderson , Natzmer , and Fayssoux , and embarked from Mobile , Alabama , aboard the steamer Fashion for his second expedition to Nicaragua . One militant Southerner , hopeful of Walker ’ s success , proclaimed : “ Thousands of hearts are throbbing with anxiety for [ Walker ’ s ] success as it is believed that the establishment of Anglo - Saxon rule in Nicaragua will add to the commercial prosperity of the South and the extension and safety of our peculiar institutions . ” ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . Taking Greytown and the Old Fort , Walker continued up the San Juan River toward San Carlos and Lake Nicaragua when his former “ savior , ” Commodore Paulding , captured him and his army . Walker was subsequently shipped back to New Orleans where he , like Wheat a few years before , was tried in federal court for breaking the 1818 Neutrality Law . This time Walker was defended by New Orleans attorney Pierre Soulé , a fellow Golden Knight and the one - time ambassador to Spain . In the short trial that followed , a jury acquitted Walker of all charges . In 1860 Walker embarked on his third and final filibuster expedition to Nicaragua . Sailing past the Mosquito Coast of British Honduras , Walker was snagged by the Royal Navy and surprisingly handed over to Honduran authorities . On September 12 , 1860 , the “ Grey - Eyed Man of Destiny ” was unceremoniously executed by a native firing squad in Truxillo . ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . Fighting with Garibaldi . In the wake of Walker ’ s death , Roberdeau Wheat once again left the country to sell his services . This time he took a steamer bound for Europe to join General Giuseppe Garibaldi who was in the process of helping his king , Victor - Emmanuel II of Piedmont - Sardinia , unify the Italian Peninsula . At this stage of the War of Italian Unification , Victor - Emmanuel and Garibaldi , with French help , had driven the hated Austrians out of the northern Italian principality of Lombardy and had annexed it to Piedmont - Sardinia . They were now going after the rest of the city - states on the Italian peninsula : Naples and Sicily , Tuscany , Parma , Modena , Romagna , Marches , Umbria , Venetia , and Rome . ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . This was not to be a war of conquest , the king promised , but one of freedom and unity . The new and larger kingdom would be a constitutional monarchy , one with a parliament , elected by the citizenry , which would restrict the king ’ s powers . There had been a growing Italian Republican movement for years , and these men , discreetly spread throughout Italy , pledged to help Victor - Emmanuel in his unification efforts . In the spring of 1860 , southern Italian Picciotti , spurred by King Emmanuel ’ s successes in the north , rebelled against the Spanish - supported king of Naples and Sicily . In order to support these insurgents , Victor Emmanuel sent Giuseppe Garibaldi and his now - famous “ Gallant One Thousand ” to the island where they landed at Marsala on May 11 , 1860 . There the red - shirted Garibaldinis pushed inland , gathering nearly 800 native Picciotti , and defeated forces loyal to the Neapolitan king at the battles of Calatafimi and Milazzo , securing the island for the Republican cause . In August , with the help of the British Navy , Garibaldi crossed the Straits of Messina and marched on Naples . Gathering even more volunteers , creating an army of over 20 , 000 , Garibaldi took the city on September 7 . He then drove north , defeating the enemy at the Volturno River on October 2 , 1860 . After these important victories , Roberdeau Wheat and some 600 British , Irish , or American volunteers , including Robert Going Atkins , an Irish adventurer and soon - to - be member of Wheat ’ s 1st Louisiana Special Battalion , landed in Naples to reinforce the Republican army . Although the war by this time was basically over , the English - speaking volunteers were enthusiastically accepted into Garibaldi ’ s fold . Wheat himself was commissioned a brigadier general in the Italian army and was present at Victor - Emmanuel ’ s coronation ceremony that formally declared him king of Italy in November 1860 . ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . As Victor - Emmanuel was crowned king of a unified Italy , the United States was being ripped apart in the wake of Abraham Lincoln ’ s election as president . Incensed that a man who was against the spread of slavery into the western territories had legitimately won nearly sixty percent of the votes in the Electoral College seven Southern states , South Carolina , Mississippi , Georgia , Alabama , Florida , Louisiana , and Texas , brazenly declared their independence from the Union and began forming their own nation , the Confederate States of America . This would no doubt start a war and offer employment for the errant soldiers of fortune who were serving in Italy — men like Philip Kearny , Gustav Paul Cluserét , Felix Agnus , Valery Sulakowski , Percy Wyndham , and Roberdeau Wheat — and they boarded various packets to America to sell their services to the constituent sides . For Wheat , the ardent Southern patriot that he was , there was no question as to which side he ’ d fight for as he undoubtedly relished the chance to filibuster the U . S . government out of his native South . Sailing to New York , Wheat made his way down to New Orleans and reopened his old recruiting station . This new conflict , the American Civil War , would be the climax of Roberdeau Wheat ’ s life and career : the ultimate filibuster . ( As cited in Schreckengost ) . Civil War and Death . At the outbreak of the Civil War , Wheat returned to New Orleans . Financed by backers of his previous Nicaragua adventures , he scoured the wharves of New Orleans to organize what became known as " Wheat ' s Special Battalion " , or the " Louisiana Tigers " , a hard fighting , hard living unit that performed well on the battlefield but was notorious for its lack of discipline . The battalion , which numbered 500 men , consisted of immigrants from Ireland and Germany , as well as natives of New Orleans . Most of the men were " street toughs " . They were generally considered to be at the " bottom of the barrel " socially . They were very loyal to Wheat , who was a charismatic and remarkably humble leader of men . Arriving in Virginia just in time to participate in the First Battle of Bull Run , Wheat and his Tigers performed well in combat . When his unit was placed under the command of then Brig . Gen . Richard Taylor in November 1861 , conflict arose between the Tigers and Taylor . The conflict was resolved when Taylor commanded the execution of two enlisted Tigers who had been found guilty of drunkenness and insubordination . Shelby Foote , in " The Civil War , A Narrative , " vol . 1 , p . 83 , says Wheat was shot through both lungs at First Bull Run . A surgeon told him he must die . " I don ' t feel like dying yet , " Wheat said . The doctor insisted , " There is no instance on record of recovery from such a wound . " " Well , then , " the lawyer - soldier replied , " I will put my case on record . " Wheat survived and recovered . Wheat and his battalion served in Jackson ' s Valley Campaign and the Peninsula Campaign . He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Gaines ' Mill in June 1862 . He is buried at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond , Virginia . Later in the war , the fabled " Hays ' brigade , " commanded by Harry Thompson Hays renamed themselves " The Louisiana Tigers " in honor of Wheat and his intrepid little battalion .