Wheeler, Joseph, 1836-1906

Confederate and U.S. Army general, and U.S. congressman from Ala.

Confederate general.

Army officer.

American army officer and congressman.

Epithet: Lieutenant; 83rd Foot

Joseph Wheeler (1836-1906), Confederate Major General, in July of 1863 he commanded all cavalry for the Army of the Mississippi.

Graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point; U.S. and Confederate army officer; member of the U.S. Congress; from Wheeler (Lawrence Co.), Ala.

Joseph Wheeler (1836-1906), Confederate Major General, in July of 1863 commanded all cavalry for the Army of the Mississippi.

General Joseph Wheeler was born in Augusta (Ga.) in 1836. During the Civil War, he served as a major general of cavalry in the Confederate army. After the war, he settled in Lawrence County (Ala.), became a planter and began an involvement in politics. He was elected to eight terms in Congress, beginning in 1881. In 1898 he was commissioned a major general of volunteers in the Spanish American War. After service in Cuba and the Philippines, he retired as brigadier general in the regular army. He died in Brooklyn (N.Y.) in 1906 and was buried in Arlington (Va.).

Joseph Wheeler, representative from Alabama was born in Augusta, Ga., September 10, 1836. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1859 and attended the Cavalry School at Carlisle, Pa. 1859-1860. Wheeler resigned from the United States Army in February 1861 and was appointed lieutenant of Artillery in the Confederate Army on April 3, 1861. He was successively promoted to the grade of colonel, brigadier general, and major general, and was commissioned lieutenant general in February 1865. Wheeler served as a Democratic member of the forty-seventh Congress and served from March 4, 1881 to June 3, 1882, when he was succeeded by William M. Lowe, who contested his election. He died in Brooklyn, N. Y. on January 25, 1906 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress http://bioguide.congress.gov (Retrieved May 5, 2009)

During the battle of Chickamauga the Clisby-Austin house, which still stands, was used as a hospital. Confederate General John B. Hood was sent here after the amputation of his leg which accompanied him on his journey (if he died of infection they could be buried together). The leg is buried in the family cemetery near the house. In December, 1863, after the Confederate defeat at Chattanooga, Patrick Cleburne wrote his proposal to draft slaves into the army in return for their emancipation at Tunnel Hill. Gen. George Thomas approached the area in May of 1864 and ran into Confederate skirmishers defending the hill on May 6. After testing the line, Thomas sent a division to battle the rebels. Outnumbered and overwhelmed, the Confederates did not have time to damage the tunnel as ordered. Although relatively minor, the skirmish marked the beginning of the Atlanta Campaign.General William Sherman used the Clisby-Austin house as his headquarters during the battle of Dalton. It was here that Sherman was having a early supper on May 9, 1864 when General James McPherson sent word that he was within sight of Resaca and moving towards the town. Tunnel Hill, Georgia - Roadside Georgia http://roadsidegeorgia.com/city/tunnelhill.html (Retrieved July 13, 2009)