John Wheeler | |
---|---|
Born | Connecticut, US | February 6, 1825
Died | July 2, 1863 38) Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, US | (aged
Buried | |
Allegiance | United States Union |
Service | US Army |
Years of service | 1861–1863 |
Rank | Colonel, U.S.V. |
Commands | 20th Regiment Indiana Infantry |
Battles / wars | American Civil War |
Other work | farmer, teacher |
John Wheeler was a Union colonel during the American Civil War. Wheeler's regiment suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Gettysburg where he was killed in action at Rose Woods, near Devil's Den.
John Wheeler was born in Connecticut but moved to Indiana in 1847. He settled in Lake County, Indiana where he worked as a farmer and teacher. He and his father worked at draining swamplands in the region. He was elected County Surveyor in 1853 and later established a newspaper called the Crown Point Register. [1]
Wheeler used his own money and influence to raise a company of local volunteers for service in the Civil War. This company elected him captain and joined the 20th Indiana Volunteer Regiment in 1861 where it was being organized at Lafayette, Indiana. [2] He was transferred to eastern Virginia and posted at Fortress Monroe during the battle of Hampton Roads. Wheeler and his regiment joined the III Corps and participated in the Peninsula Campaign and the second Battle of Bull Run. At Bull Run, Wheeler, (now a major) temporarily assumed command of the regiment after Colonel William L. Brown was killed. Due to heavy losses the entire III Corps was taken out of active duty during the Maryland Campaign to regain lost numbers. [3] Wheeler and the rest of the III Corps returned to the Army of the Potomac during the battle of Fredericksburg. In 1863 Wheeler was now promoted to colonel and assumed command of the regiment. He led it into action at the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. At Gettysburg Wheeler was part of J. H. Hobart Ward's Brigade of David B. Birney's Division in the vicinity of Devil's Den and Rose Woods. During James Longstreet's attack, on the second day, the 20th Indiana was hit hard. While riding on horseback with his men Colonel Wheeler was hit in the temple and killed instantly. His body was returned to Indiana and buried in Maplewood Cemetery in Crown Point.
Colonel Wheeler's name is inscribed on the 20th Indiana's regimental monument located near the site where he fell. The Colonel John Wheeler Middle School in Crown Point is also named in his honor.
Little Round Top is the smaller of two rocky hills south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—the companion to the adjacent, taller hill named Big Round Top. It was the site of an unsuccessful assault by Confederate troops against the Union left flank on July 2, 1863, the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, during the American Civil War.
George Sykes was a career United States Army officer and a Union general during the American Civil War.
John Henry Hobart Ward was an American soldier who fought in the Mexican–American War and in the American Civil War. Ward joined the army in 1842 and fought in multiple battles in the Mexican–American war, including the Battle of Monterrey, where he was wounded. After leaving the army, he served successively as the assistant commissary general and commissary general for the state of New York. With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, Ward rejoined the army, and became the colonel of the 38th New York Infantry Regiment. Ward and his regiment were engaged in the First Battle of Bull Run and in several battles in the Peninsula campaign. He was promoted to command a brigade after the Battle of Chantilly in September 1862.
During the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee attempted to capitalize on his first day's accomplishments. His Army of Northern Virginia launched multiple attacks on the flanks of the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade. The assaults were unsuccessful, and resulted in heavy casualties for both sides.
Thomas Casimer Devin was a United States Army officer and general. He commanded Union cavalry during the American Civil War and during the Indian Wars.
The 17th Georgia Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.
George Childs Burling was a United States Union Army officer during the American Civil War, serving mostly as colonel and commander of the 6th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry. Burling was born in Burlington County, New Jersey, raised on his father's farm and educated at a private school in Norristown, Pennsylvania. He was a coal merchant and a militia officer before the war. Burling's militia company was mustered into the volunteer service for a three-month term in July 1861, but it became company F of the 6th New Jersey with a three-year enlistment on September 9, 1861. Burling became the regiment's major on March 19, 1862, and lieutenant colonel on May 7 of that year. Burling was wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run in August 1862.
The 6th New Jersey Infantry Regiment was regiment of infantry from New Jersey that served in the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War.
The 2nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent most of the war as a member of the famous Iron Brigade of the Army of the Potomac. It suffered the largest number of casualties as a percentage of its total enlistment of any Union Army unit in the war.
The 19th Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was one of the original regiments in the Army of the Potomac's Iron Brigade.
Augustus van Horne Ellis was an American lawyer, sea captain, and soldier. He was a brevet brigadier general in the Union Army during the Civil War, and was killed in action at the Battle of Gettysburg.
The 74th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment which served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was one of many all-German regiments in the army, most notably in the XI Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Its combat record was marred by the perceived poor performance of the entire corps at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, when parts of the corps routed during Confederate attacks.
The 22nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union army during the American Civil War. The 22nd Massachusetts was organized by Senator Henry Wilson and was therefore known as "Henry Wilson's Regiment." It was formed in Boston, Massachusetts, and established on September 28, 1861, for a term of three years.
The 75th Ohio Infantry Regiment, sometimes 75th Ohio Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment from southwestern Ohio in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the Eastern Theater, most notably in the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg and then in the siege operations against Charleston, South Carolina.
The 20th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The Regiment was officially raised on July 22, 1861, by William L. Brown, the first Colonel of the Regiment, in response to President Lincoln's call for volunteers. At the time of muster, the regiment had 9 fighting companies lettered A-K along with a staff company for a total of 10 companies, roughly 1000 men. The 20th Indiana saw engagements in most of the major battles of the American Civil War, including the action between the first ironclads at Hampton Roads, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the Siege of Petersburg. The Regiment was part of the 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, III Corps for the duration of the war.
James Clay Rice was a lawyer from Massachusetts who became a brigadier general of volunteers in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was killed at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in May 1864.
Thomas Wilberforce Egan was a Union Army officer who led the Mozart Regiment during most of the American Civil War, later becoming a general.
The 1st Texas Infantry Regiment, nicknamed the "Ragged Old First," was an infantry regiment raised in Texas for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly with the Army of Northern Virginia.
The 99th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The 58th New York Infantry Regiment, also called the Polish Legion, was an infantry regiment of United States Volunteers in Union Army service during the American Civil War. The regiment was composed almost entirely of immigrant volunteers: Poles, Germans, Danes, Italians, Russians, and Frenchmen, most of whom were recruited in New York City in 1861.