Confederate Military History of Alabama

Joseph Wheeler was born on September 10, 1836, in Augusta, Georgia. After attending the United States Military Academy at West Point, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and assigned to the Regiment of Mounted Riflemen stationed in New Mexico.

Wheeler resigned his position in the U. S. Army on February 27, 1861, to join the Confederate Army. In April 1861, he was named a first lieutenant of artillery. In September 1861, Wheeler was promoted to the rank of colonel of the Nineteenth Alabama Infantry. After leading a successful campaign at Shiloh, he was appointed cavalry commander of the Army of Mississippi. In January 1863, Wheeler was again promoted, becoming the cavalry commander of the Army of Tennessee, leading a successful raid at Chickamauga and covering retreats at Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge.

As the war drew to a close, Wheeler continued to conduct raids on General William Sherman's approaching army until he was captured in May 1865. Wheeler was released in June 1865.

After the war, he married Daniella Sherrod Jones in 1866 and had seven children. In 1868, the family moved to Wheeler Station, Alabama, and established a plantation. In 1898, President William McKinley appointed Wheeler major general of volunteers at the beginning of the Spanish-American War. Wheeler fought in the Battle of San Juan Hill. Wheeler died in Brooklyn, New York on January 25, 1906, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Source: Fredriksen, John C. "Joseph Wheeler." American National Biography Online