Lawrence County AlArchives Biographies.....Wheeler, Joseph 1836 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 September 4, 2011, 9:56 am

Source: See below
Author: Smith & De Land, publishers

    JOSEPH WHEELER of Lawrence County, present member of Congress from the
Eighth Alabama district, and distinguished in the history of the country as the
greatest cavalry commander of the Southern Confederacy, was born at Augusta,
Ga., Sept. 10, 1836, and graduated from West Point as brevet second lieutenant
of dragoons, class of 1859. His first assignment to duty was at the Cavalry
School for Practice at Carlisle, Pa. From here he was transferred to New Mexico,
where he was commissioned second lieutenant. About this time he began to study
in earnest the science of war. His greatest ambition was to become a gallant
cavalry commander, and his success in the prosecution and accomplishment of this
desire must be read in the authenticated annals of the bloodiest war of which
history gives an account. For four long years his brilliant achievements crowded
upon the heels of each other like the revolving views of a panorama, and while
many a chieftain whose heroic valor canonized him in the hearts of a glorious
people, drank oft of the bitter cup of defeat, when the penant of Wheeler was
lowered and the hilt of his sabre was turned, it was when resistance was no
longer war; it was when the notes of the bugle summoned the cavalier no more to
the charge, but in tones, saddened indeed, though sounding a paean to peace,
signaled him from the field of carnage and of strife; it was when the curtain
had fallen upon the last act of the terrible tragedy: it was when the Civil War
was ended!

    As has been seen, Wheeler was in New Mexico at the outbreak of the war
between the States, and the following letter written by him to his brother,
Capt. William H. Wheeler, of Georgia, early in 1861, gives something of an
insight of the spirit that actuated many a brave man, and contradicts the
oft-repeated charges of disloyalty and treason at heart, to the Union: "Much as
I love the Union, much as I am attached to my profession, all will be given up
when my State, by its action, shows that such a course is necessary and proper.
If Georgia withdraws and becomes a separate State, I can not, with propriety,
and justice to my people, hesitate in resigning my commission."

    Lieutenant Wheeler's resignation was dated at Fort Fillmore, February 21,
1861, and he reached Augusta in person early in the following March. He was at
once commissioned first lieutenant of artillery in the regular army and
stationed at Pensacola, Fla., where he busied himself erecting batteries and
fortifications, drilling regiments, instructing companies in artillery practice
and various other duties. While there he attracted the attention of the Hon.
James L. Pugh and other gentlemen, who, without his knowledge, indited the
following to Mr. Davis: "We feel it our duty to call your attention to a young
officer at this place, Lieutenant Wheeler of the regular army. Our observation
of him convinces us that he would be of great value as the commander of
volunteer soldiers. His qualifications are unquestioned." Similar
recommendations were forwarded by Gen. Bragg and others, and early in the summer
of 1861, Wheeler was promoted to the rank of colonel and assigned to the command
of the Nineteenth Alabama Infantry. At the head of this regiment he won his
first distinction at Shiloh. Division Commander Withers, in his report of that
engagement, says: " * * * Colonel Wheeler, throughout the fight, proved himself
worthy of all trust and confidence—a gallant commander and an accomplished
soldier." Col. Wheeler was immediately promoted to brigadier-general, and from
that hour, his star, which had never waned, was, to the close of the conflict,
particularly in the ascendency.

    How he fought the enemy at Farmington and checked his advance upon Corinth:
covered the retreat of Beauregard from the latter place, and deceived federal
General Pope; took charge of the idle, neglected and almost decimated cavalry of
the Army of the Mississippi; organized it, thrust it inside of the
well-established lines of the enemy, destroyed his communications, whipped his
cavalry, captured his trains, burned his cotton, and sped back to cover of
safety without the loss of a man, are all given in detail by the historians of
the war, and commented upon as opening the eyes of army commanders to the
hitherto unthought of possibilities in cavalry service. There is no doubt but
what Wheeler's tactics, as practiced by himself, revolutionized cavalry warfare
and developed it into the important branch of service it soon became and will
forever remain.

    On the march of the Southern army into Kentucky. Wheeler's cavalry struck
many a well-aimed blow at the flanks of the retreating enemy; at Mumfordsville
he won the admiration and compliments of the Northern army "for gallantry and
brilliancy in action," and at Perryville he was the cynosure of both armies, as
he held the enemy in check, or charged him again and again at the head of his
brigade, finally putting him to rout. Upon retiring from Kentucky, General Bragg
appointed Wheeler chief of cavalry, and as such he covered that retreat into
Tennessee. We next see him harrassing the enemy about Nashville, making life a
burden to Rosecrans' foragers, and fighting, in quick succession, twenty-eight
distinct battles and as many skirmishes—historic events that flashed with the
rapidity and changes of the kaleidoscope before the eyes of the world.

    Pages upon pages have been written and might be repeated by us to tell only
a partial history of Wheeler's command. In our mind's eye we follow his
phantom-like movements about Stone River; where for five days he slept not to
exceed so many hours: where, at the head of his gallant followers, he dashed
into the enemy's rear, his right, his left, his center—here, there, everywhere,
borne with the speed of the wind from point to point during the memorable
conflict, encircling Rosencrans' entire army, charging him in detachments,
plunging into his battle lines, stampeding his wagon trains, destroying his
stores, terrifying his guards, capturing his prisoners, firing depots—round and
round he glides with the charm of a wizard, till summoned again to cover the
retreat of the army.

    And of such was the life of Wheeler, from the beginning of the war to its
close: never idle, always on the alert, he was by far the most distinguished
cavalry commander developed by the American conflict. In the spring of 1865 he
was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general of cavalry, and as such retired
from the profession of war to that of peace.

    Less than twenty-nine years of age, he had, by acknowledged merit, risen
from the rank of a sub-ordinate to that of eminent command. Though small in
stature, it was with giant strides he rose to exalted position. Under him, from
time to time, fought many men whose distinguished achievements added bright
luster to the renown of American soldiery. Nor did he ever forget them. Their
names, many now recorded upon marble and ashlar that mark the sodded mound
'neath which they finally rest, are engraven upon the entablature of his heart,
and. as in retrospect, he calls up in long review the heroes of Shiloh, Corinth,
Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Knoxville, Ringgold, Rocky Face, Dalton,
Resaca, Cassville, New Hope, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Decatur,
Atlanta, Savannah, Ayersboro, Bentonville, and literally the thousand and one
other conflicts of arms through which they followed him, it is with the emotion
of a generous acknowledgment of deeds performed that redounded so much to his
own glory.

    With his sad farewell to his soldiers, we close this brief sketch of General
Wheeler's military career, leaving to others the pleasant duty of adorning the
literature of war by giving it in full:

                             "HEADQUARTERS, CAVALRY CORPS,
                             "April 29, 1865.
    "GALLANT COMRADES:—You have fought your fight: your task is done. During a
four years' struggle for liberty, you have exhibited courage, fortitude, and
devotion; you are the sole victors of more than two hundred severely contested
fields; yon have participated in more than a thousand conflicts of arms; yon are
heroes, veterans, patriots; the bones of your comrades mark battlefields upon
the soil of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi: you have done all that human exertion could
accomplish. In bidding you adieu, I desire to tender my thanks for your
gallantry in battle, your fortitude under suffering, and your devotion at all
times to the holy cause you have done so much to maintain. I desire also to
express my gratitude for the kind feeling you have seen fit to extend toward
myself, and to invoke upon you the blessings of our Heavenly Father, to whom we
must always look for support in the hour of distress.

    "Brethren in the cause of freedom, comrades in arms, I bid you farewell !
                             "J. WHEELER."

    Leaving the army, General Wheeler spent three years in New Orleans in the
commission business, and in 1869 located upon his plantation at what is now
known as Wheeler's Station, and turned his attention to agriculture and the
practice of law. In 1880, he was elected to Congress from the Eighth District,
was re-elected in 1884, and again in 1886.

    His election in 1880 was contested by Mr. Lowe, and Wheeler was unseated in
June, 1882. In Congress, as in the army he has exhibited the same active,
energetic, intrepid and fearless character, and it is safe to say that no member
of that body has performed more labor and with better results than he.

    Gcneral Wheeler was married at Wheeler's Station, February 8, 1866, to Miss
Ella Jones, the accomplished daughter of the late Richard Jones, one of the
pioneers of Lawrence County, a native Virginian and an extensive planter, and
has had born to him two sons and four daughters.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

Northern Alabama: Historical and Biographical
Birmingham, Ala.: Smith and De Land
1888

PART III.
HISTORICAL RESUME OF THE VARIOUS COUNTIES IN THE STATE.
CEREAL BELT.


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