Frank Wheaton
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| Frank Wheaton | |
 Major General Frank Wheaton
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| Born | 8 May 1833, Providence, Rhode Island. |
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| Died | 18 June 1903 (aged 70), Washington, D.C.. |
Frank Wheaton (May 8, 1833 – June 18, 1903) was a career military officer in the United States Army during the American Civil War and Indian Wars.
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[edit] Early life and career
Wheaton was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and was educated in the local schools. He attended Brown University, but withdrew at the age of seventeen to take a position with Mexican-American Boundary Commission, where he worked for the next five years. In 1855, he was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the 1st U.S. Cavalry and assigned to duty on the Indian frontier.
[edit] Civil War
When the Civil War started, Wheaton was commissioned as lieutenant colonel of the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry on July 10, 1861. His father-in-law, General Samuel Cooper, was the ranking general for the Confederacy, whereas Wheaton fought for the Union. Wheaton's unit fought at the First Battle of Bull Run, where its commander, Col. John Slocum, was killed. Wheaton took command of the unit, was promoted to colonel effective July 21, 1861, and led the 2nd Rhode Island during the Peninsula Campaign, where he was commended for his actions at the Battle of Williamsburg. At the Battle of Antietam, the regiment was kept in the rear and out of the battle. On November 29, 1862, Wheaton was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers and placed in command of the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, VI Corps. He led them in heavy fighting at the Battle of Chancellorsville. He was also present at the Battle of Gettysburg, commanding the 3rd Division while his commander, Maj. Gen. John Newton, temporarily commanded the I Corps, although the division saw limited action.
Wheaton remained in command of the brigade during Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign in 1864, as well as during the subsequent Siege of Petersburg. His men were hurried by train to Washington, D.C., in time to help repel Jubal Early's raid on the capital. During the ensuing operations in the Shenandoah Valley, under Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, Wheaton was promoted to command of the first division after David Allen Russell was killed at the Third Battle of Winchester. His division fought well in subsequent battles. After the return of VI Corps to the Petersburg front, Wheaton earned the brevet rank of major general in both the volunteer and regular services.
[edit] Postbellum career
Wheaton was mustered out of the volunteers in 1866, becoming Lieutenant Colonel of the 39th U.S. Infantry the same year. In 1873, he commanded the expedition against Modocs in the lava beds of northern California. This expedition resulted in the assassination of General Edward R. S. Canby, who had gone there to ] negotiate with them. Following his defeat at the First Battle of the Stronghold, he was relieved of command of the troops in the field. He was then appointed Colonel of the 2nd U.S. Infantry in 1874, he was subsequently promoted to brigadier general in 1892, and major general in 1897. He retired from the army in 1897.
He died at Washington, D.C., and was buried in Section 1 of Arlington National Cemetery.
His wife, Maria B. Wheaton, was born in Utica, New York, on August 4, 1846, and died in Denver, Colorado, on August 21, 1924. She is buried beside him.
[edit] In memoriam
The Wheaton, Maryland, section of the Wheaton/Glenmont division of the unincorporated township of Silver Spring, Maryland, just northwest of Washington, D.C., is named for him, as is the Wheaton High School, a school in the Down County Consortium of the Montgomery County Public School system of Montgomery County, Maryland.
[edit] References
- Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
- Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, 1964, ISBN 0-8071-0822-7.
- Antietam on the web biography
