As published by the Daily News Journal, Greg Tucker, Sunday, September 23, 2012
General Joseph Wheeler, Spanish-American War
This Confederate raider swept twice through Rutherford County intercepting Union supplies, delaying Union advances and destroying bridges. Thirty-five years later he was a brigadier general in the U. S. Army, commanding a division in the Spanish-American War. Teddy Roosevelt served under his command.
Joseph Wheeler (1836-1906) was born in Augusta, Ga., but at a tender age moved with his widowed father to New England. Reared and educated in Connecticut and New York, he was admitted to the U. S. Military Academy at West Point age 17 and graduated near the bottom of his class in 1859. After several months of cavalry training, he was sent west and got his first combat experience defending wagon trains in skirmishes with Indian raiders.
When Georgia seceded from the Union, Wheeler resigned his U.S. Army commission and became a lieutenant in the Georgia militia. Despite his small stature and “sometimes eccentric behavior,” Wheeler’s unassuming manner and professional military skills attracted the attention of Gen. Braxton Bragg, his commander during construction of coastal defenses and recruit training in Georgia. When Bragg took command of the Army of Tennessee, Wheeler was promoted to colonel and given command of an infantry regiment.
At Shiloh, Wheeler’s regiment played a supporting role until the tide of battle turned against the Confederates. At this point Wheeler was given command of the rear guard that covered the retreat. In this role, and later during Bragg’s invasion of Kentucky, Wheeler excelled. In October 1862 he was made chief of cavalry for the Army of Tennessee and promoted to brigadier general.
Unlike his peer Nathan Bedford Forrest, Wheeler was not particularly effective as a raider. He was most effective when cooperating with and supporting the main army.
He earned the rank of major general for his success in screening infantry movements, giving cavalry support to the infantry in battle, covering retreats and delaying enemy advances. Unlike the most celebrated raiders, Wheeler’s command was more like a mounted infantry combining the speed and scouting of the cavalry with infantry firepower.
General Joseph Wheeler
Perhaps Wheeler’s most celebrated episode was his December 1862 “Raid Around Rosecrans.” (This “raid” is memorialized on four state markers in Rutherford County and on two in Williamson County.)
At midnight on Dec. 29, Wheeler left his bivouac on the East Fork just south of the Walter Hill community and began his advance along the Jefferson turnpike. The objective was to get behind the advancing Union army led by Gen. William Rosecrans and to disrupt the northern army’s movement by intercepting supply lines and causing other distractions.
About 10 a.m. Dec. 30, Wheeler’s Brigade intercepted 20 Union supply wagons on the turnpike west of Jefferson (approximately the Gilsville Shopping Center in northeast Smyrna today). Twenty wagons were destroyed. Fifty prisoners and a number of horses and mules were captured. The Union brigade in this area was immobilized.
In the early afternoon, near what is now the La Vergne City Park, Wheeler intercepted and destroyed the “reverse wagon train” heading to Nashville for additional Union supplies. More prisoners, horses and mules were taken. In an attempt to deal with Wheeler, one Yankee brigade was deflected from its march to Murfreesboro, but the raiders evaded the Union force by heading south toward Rock Springs.
After destroying another Union wagon train at Rock Springs, Wheeler headed west into Williamson County in the late afternoon and intercepted a fourth Union wagon train in Nolensville, capturing 200 Yankees and several ambulances. Then moving southwestward, he camped for the night near the Arrington community.
Early morning Dec. 31, Wheeler’s brigade joined the Army of Tennessee and defended the Confederates’ left flank during the Battle of Murfreesboro. When Bragg withdrew after three days of fighting, Wheeler again provided cover for a Confederate retreat.
Wheeler was more than a very capable field commander. He also authored several military manuals. In 1863 he wrote a cavalry tactics manual that became the standard for Confederate cavalry operations and remained the American model for decades thereafter.
On Oct. 1, 1863, Wheeler again crossed Rutherford, burning the railroad bridge over the Middle Fork south of Murfreesboro, a critical Union supply link, and destroying track for some distance. Three days later rumors abounded that Wheeler was again targeting Murfreesboro with superior forces. Union commanders threatened that every building in town would be shelled and burned in retaliation if Wheeler attacked. In time it was confirmed that Wheeler was heading south from Shelbyville.
Eleven months later the town was again thrown into turmoil by reports of Wheeler’s brigade in the area. The Yankee occupiers again made threats to destroy the town in retaliation for any attack.
The original wooden bridge over the Middle Fork of the Stones River that was subject of one of Gen. Joseph Wheeler’s raids was destroyed by fire in 1863. One of the earlier bridge supports remains today to the right of the new bridge.
“They would blow up every house with shells, hospitals excepted. This was said to scare the citizens,” wrote John Spence in his “Diary of the Civil War” entry for Sept. 1, 1864. “The tale had been told so often people had become indifferent as to blowing up.” According to Spence, the town citizens were forced into service as a front line against a possible attack. “A squad of soldiers were ordered to go in haste to all houses in town and summon every man, without respect to age, to report to the courthouse immediately.”
After three days of feverish preparations while Wheeler was reportedly “in the neighborhood,” word came that Wheeler was actually headed south to challenge Sherman.
Wheeler did harass and distract Sherman’s army late in the war, winning several skirmishes, but failed to stop the inevitable. Wheeler also volunteered to cover the retreat of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in the waning days of the war. He was captured with Davis and was in solitary confinement until his release in summer 1865.
After the war, Wheeler married and settled in Lawrence County, Ala. In 1880 he was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives. He eventually chaired the House Committee on Expenditures and promoted measures to rebuild the southern economy. In 1897 he led the congressional call for war with Spain and intervention in Cuba, which he characterized as a “struggle for liberty.”
When the war was joined, he re-entered the U.S. Army (at the age of 63) and became the only Confederate general to receive a commission as a U.S. Army brigadier general. At the Battle for San Juan Hill in Cuba, Wheeler commanded the division that included Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. Several historians credit Wheeler’s orders for the dramatic operations that resulted in the taking of the hill.
With an unquenchable lust for combat, Wheeler volunteered for duty in the Philippines where he served with Gen. Arthur MacArthur (father of Douglas MacArthur) to liberate the Philippines from the Spanish in 1900.
Wheeler died in 1906 and was buried in Arlington Cemetery, a rare honor for a Confederate general.
Greg Tucker can be reached at [email protected]