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

Civil War Eccentrics: “Stonewall” Jackson

 

Many  Civil War generals were deeply eccentric, had wild personal lives, or engaged in bizarre behaviors that would seem unthinkable for modern military leaders.

Confederate Lt. Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was a brilliant tactician but famously eccentric. He believed one side of his body was heavier than the other, so he frequently rode or walked with one arm raised high to "balance the blood flow." He was a hypochondriac who sucked on lemons (or peaches, depending on the account), stood for long periods to keep his organs in place, and had intense religious habits.

Alexandria, 1861-1865

Civil War Graves of Northern Virginia

Civil War Eccentrics: General Richard Ewell

 

Many  Civil War generals were deeply eccentric, had wild personal lives, or engaged in bizarre behaviors that would seem unthinkable for modern military leaders.

Confederate Lt. Gen. Richard Ewell was often called the "oddest, most eccentric genius in the Confederate Army." He had a bald head, a long nose, and bright eyes, and he frequently tilted his head sideways like a bird when listening or giving orders. His mannerisms were so peculiar that subordinates found him almost comical.

Ewell was a hypochondriac who carried around a variety of medicines and was known for explosive verbal orders that no one could fully understand when he was excited.

Civil War Graves of Northern Virginia

War and Reconstruction in Mississippi 1861-1875: A Portrait

Nathan Bedford Forrest after the Civil War

 

Nathan Bedford Forrest, the daring Confederate cavalry general, surrendered his forces in May 1865 near Gainesville, Alabama. Returning to Memphis penniless, he engaged in various business ventures, including lumber merchandising and planting, but faced financial ruin from failed investments. From 1866 to 1869, Forrest served as president of the Selma, Marion and Memphis Railroad, attempting to rebuild the South's infrastructure. In his later years, he leased land on President's Island, managing an 800-acre farm using convict labor, which critics likened to slavery due to harsh conditions like bloodhounds and corporal punishment.

Forrest was instrumental in founding the Ku Klux Klan, becoming its first Grand Wizard by 1867.  The Klan led violent campaigns against Black voters and Republicans. Forrest publicly ordered the KKK's dissolution in 1869, citing its excesses.  His declaration had little effect, and few Klansmen destroyed their robes and hoods.

On July 5, 1875, Forrest addressed a Black civic organization in Memphis, praising Black advancement, calling for racial harmony, and even accepting a bouquet from a young Black woman and kissing her on the cheek. Contemporary newspapers described the speech as “friendly,” and Forrest explicitly encouraged peace between Black and white Southerners.

This moment is often cited as a dramatic departure from his earlier life as a slave trader, Confederate general responsible for the Fort Pillow massacre, and first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.  Forrest appears to have undergone a personal softening in his final years, including a strong turn toward religion.  The depth of this transformation is uncertain, and historians disagree on whether it reflected genuine repentance, political calculation, or a mix of both.

Forrest died on October 29, 1877, at age 56 in Memphis from diabetes complications.

The Civil War Wedding

 

Love, Sex, and Marriage in the Civil War

General Joseph E. Johnston After the Civil War

 

General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered his forces to William T. Sherman on April 26, 1865, at Bennett Place, North Carolina—the largest Confederate capitulation of the war, involving nearly 90,000 troops. After the war, Johnston opened an insurance agency in Savannah, Georgia, before relocating to Richmond, Virginia, in 1877. There, he engaged in railroad ventures and authored his memoir, Narrative of Military Operations (1874), which sharply criticized Jefferson Davis and defended his own strategies.

Politically active, Johnston was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives for Virginia's 3rd District, serving from 1879 to 1881 without seeking reelection. Under President Grover Cleveland, he was appointed U.S. Commissioner of Railroads (1885–1889), overseeing national infrastructure.

In a poignant display of reconciliation, Johnston served as a pallbearer at Sherman's funeral in February 1891, refusing to wear a hat in the cold rain out of respect. He contracted pneumonia and died on March 21, 1891, at age 84 in Washington, D.C.

Love, Sex, and Marriage in the Civil War

War and Reconstruction in Mississippi 1861-1875: A Portrait