General “Fighting Joe” Wheeler: From Gray to Blue

 

Joseph "Fighting Joe" Wheeler served with distinction in both the Confederate and United States armies, bridging the divide of the Civil War through his later service.

Born in Augusta, Georgia, to New England parents, Wheeler graduated from West Point near the bottom of his class in 1859. He served briefly in the U.S. Army's Mounted Rifles in the New Mexico Territory, where he earned his nickname "Fighting Joe" in skirmishes against Native American forces.

When the Civil War came, Wheeler resigned his U.S. commission and joined the Confederacy. By late 1862, he became chief of cavalry for the Army of Tennessee under General Braxton Bragg.

Wheeler participated in nearly every major campaign in the Western Theater.  Known for aggressive raids, screening advances, and covering retreats, he was promoted to major general at age 26 and later lieutenant general.

After the war, Wheeler settled in Alabama, studied law, became a planter, and served multiple terms as a Democratic U.S. Congressman from 1881 to 1900.

In 1898, at age 61, President William McKinley appointed him a major general of U.S. Volunteers to help reunite the nation. Wheeler commanded a cavalry division in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Famously, at the Battle of San Juan Hill, the Wheeler excitedly shouted, “We’ve got the Yankees on the run!”—momentarily forgetting he was now fighting for the United States.

He later served in the Philippine-American War before retiring as a brigadier general in the Regular Army in 1900.

Wheeler died in 1906 and was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. His unique career symbolized both the scars of the Civil War and the reconciliation of a reunited nation.

Treasure Legends of the Civil War

Civil War Graves of Northern Virginia