Joseph Wheeler: Uniting the Blue and the Gray

Joseph Wheeler: Uniting

the Blue and the Gray

Anders M. Kinney

Writers Club Press

San Jose New York Lincoln Shanghai

Joseph Wheeler: Uniting the Blue and the Gray

All Rights Reserved © 2002 by Anders M. Kinney

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the publisher.

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To Michele and Anders Michael

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

1 America And Joseph Wheeler

2 Transition: From Warrior To Politician

3 The Soldier Returns: The Gray And The Blue Are United

4 Santiago, Capitulation, And Home

5 A Hero’s Welcome

Appendix The Spanish-American War: 1898

Chronology

About the Author

Bibliography

Book Description

End Notes

Soldier, Statesman, Gentlest, Tenderest and Most Lovable of Men

He Has Fought A Good Fight, He Has Finished His Course, He Has Kept the Faith

The Strife is o ‘er, the Battle done, the Victory of Life is Won.

—Joseph Wheeler

Preface

The War with Spain in 1898 has not received as much scholarly attention as most other American struggles. It is not difficult to understand the reasons for this lack of scholarly publications on the war. While there have been several publications over the last ten years on the war, none has thoroughly covered the participation and importance of Joseph Wheeler in the period. The Spanish-American War lasted only a few months. It has seemed to offer far less to historians than earlier American wars, such as the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, or the Civil War, or later ones, particularly the two World wars.

Most scholars that return to the conflict of 1898 usually chose to examine its causes or consequences rather than its conduct or participants. Scholars interested in the war are usually interested in debating certain intriguing questions, such as, whether the war could have been avoided and whether imperialistic motives had brought on the war. Those that investigate the war and its consequences advance various interpretations of America’s new role in the international arena and world politics following our victory. Louis A. Perez’s most recent book, The War of1898 does not address the accomplishments and participation of Wheeler. The last work that investigated Joseph Wheeler was John P. Dyer’s book, From Shiloh to San Juan: The Life of ‘Fightin Joe’ Wheeler, published in 1941.

An important figure in Southern history, that has received very little historic investigation for his participation in the Spanish-American War, is General Joseph Wheeler. Wheeler was a renowned Civil War general; however, historians have largely overlooked his continued participation in domestic and foreign affairs after the war. Joseph Wheeler remained a valued figure in Southern and American politics until the date of his death in 1906 at the age of seventy. The participation of Joseph Wheeler in Southern and American politics and history is a subject in need of investigation. Joseph Wheeler played a significant role in developing the domestic and foreign affairs of the United States from 1894 to 1906. He continually served his country in many different capacities from a member of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama to a Major General in the United States Volunteer Cavalry in the Spanish-American War and the insurrection in the Philippines.

This subject is itself of considerable importance, and those primarily interested in what occurred before and after will benefit from an improved understanding of the Spanish-American War and the involvement of Joseph Wheeler, before, during, and after the conflict. The selection of General Wheeler as an officer in the Spanish-American War went far beyond commissioning of an able soldier. His selection was seen as an attempt to bind the wounds of the nation after the Civil War. The Blue and the Gray now stood united against the national enemy in the eyes of the North and the South. The participation of General Joseph Wheeler in these significant events of American domestic and foreign affairs will greatly enhance the history of the United States, Alabama. The concept that the Spanish-American War transitioned the United States from an isolationist to expansionist form of government is important.

Acknowledgments

Numerous people have contributed to the preparation of this research. I wish to thank Dr. Louis Perez, who chaired the dissertation committee and provided invaluable encouragement throughout the project. I also wish to thank the other members of the dissertation advisory committee: Dr. Lawrence McBride and Dr. Sharon MacDonald. Their critical evaluations were especially helpful in the organization and writing of this dissertation. I also wish to thank Dr. Alan Monroe of the Political Science Department for his expertise and help during the initial period.

Numerous secondary sources were consulted for the initial background for this book. I wish to thank the librarians at Calhoun Community College for their skills and services in obtaining those sources. I would also like to thank Melissa Beasley and Mary Morris at Pond Spring for their invaluable help about Joseph Wheeler’s life and activities in Alabama.

Finally, a very special thank you to my wife, Michele, whose encouragement, devotion, endurance, push, and faith were the driving factors in the completion of this research.

A.M.K.

1

America And Joseph Wheeler

The Spanish-American War began the discourse about America as a world power. The parties involved in the war came to realize 1898 as a major turning point. As the turn of the century approached, 1898 became a year that was both defining and absolute. It was an important junction of historical circumstances that delineates one historic period from another. Unforeseen event made 1898 the end of an era and yet a new beginning. This special year transition from one historical situation to another was obvious at the time.

In his recent book, Louis A. Perez stated that most United States historiography commemorates 1898 as the moment in which the nation first projected itself as a world power, whereupon the United States established an international presence and global prominence.¹ The historical importance of the Spanish-American War and 1898 in the story of the development of the United States as a world power has grown over the last several years. The literature on 1898 includes published documents, memoirs, and anthologies. While the discussions of 1898 have taken various forms over the years, American scholars have treated the war with Spain inconsistently, seeming as if they were not quite sure where to situate it. They have traditionally categorized the war as everything from expansionism to an accident.

During the 1890s Americans looked toward the twentieth century with both foreboding of and in anticipation of the events that would form the basis of their country. To many Americans, the finest hours of the United States were behind them.² America had gained its independence and expanded its boundaries from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. Most Americans found their way of life defined by the vast openness of free land. The distinctive characteristics most people used to define the United States were democracy, self-reliance, and prosperity. However, the continent was filling up and the vast open spaces demanded by the masses that characterized their way of life were quickly disappearing.

Although domestic affairs dominated the concerns of politicians and constituents alike, neither could escape for long the involvement of the affairs of the larger world around them. On one hand American expansionists contended that the United States had a destiny and an obligation to share the idea and blessings of democracy with those who were feeling the bonds of oppression and despotism. On the other hand, anti-imperialists believed that the government needed to remain focused on domestic problems and cures. For example, Andrew Carnegie and other skeptics argued that housing the homeless, obtaining full employment, and settling the unrest around the United States could better employ America’s energies. Coxey Army’s march on Washington in March 1894 to demonstrate the peril of the working man, and the June 1894 Pullman Strike in Chicago in support of unionization, both emphasized the anti-imperialists’ concern that there were sufficient problems at home to occupy the government.

A growing interest of the United States government after the Civil War was the invocation of the Monroe Doctrine. President Ulysses S. Grant became aware of the continual unrest in the Spanish colony of Cuba in the 1860s and 1870s. However, the only action taken by the United States was a diplomatic notice sent in 1869 to the Spanish government.³ During this period, the United States was still a fledgling nation that neither demanded nor received much notice from Western European powers. Spain felt that the involvement of America in her ventures was unwarranted and ill advised. Her only action was to give President Grant and the American government a stern warning to stay out of Spanish affairs. In fact, the United States was not prepared to involve itself in military actions. Neither the government nor the military were in any condition to force an armed conflict between the United States and a European power. Consequently, the United States did not pursue the debate of Cuban independence or European involvement in the Caribbean during Grant’s administration.

As Spain’s colonial interest in Cuba waned, the question of political and economic viability of her continued presence in Cuba caused constant rebellion within its boundaries. While the Cuban rebels could not obtain their independence from within, they did hope that the United States would intervene on their behalf. The political and military policy of reconcentration fulfilled Spain’s goals of controlling the people and stopping support for the rebels, but began to alienate the United States through General Valeriano Weyler’s brutal methods. These archaic methods of concentrating people who supported the rebels in guarded cities obtained results, but at the same time caused an emotional stir within the United States. The Spanish mistreated American citizens, stopped American vessels on the high seas, and destroyed American property. American businesses with commercial and financial interests in Cuba found the endless rebellion a disaster for their enterprises.

Spain’s brutal military methods of controlling the rebels and their supporters were encapsulated in the headlines of the most prominent newspapers in the United States. However, the yellow press was more interested in selling newspapers than in gaining the independence of Cuba. Nevertheless, readers were inundated with the latest and most inhumane stories of Spanish oppression daily. Ordinary citizens began to consider the aspect of American intervention in Cuba. Congressmen began to notice the press’ influence. Every member of Congress was suddenly aware that every election district contained at least two newspapers.

Before the question of intervention in Cuba could be launched, the election of 1896 caught the public’s attention. William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan’s debates on the gold versus silver issue, which affected the average citizen’s life more than foreign policy questions. While McKinley’s election eased the tensions and fears of businessmen and financiers, they soon realized that the men in his cabinet were not well versed in foreign affairs. Members of McKinley’s cabinet were considered amateurs when compared to those in the diplomatic service of European powers. McKinley had not campaigned on foreign issues or affairs, but domestic ones. McKinley had intentionally remained silent on the issue of Cuba. In his inaugural address, he touched on foreign issues only in basic generalities, remarking merely that the country needed no foreign wars of conquest. He reassured citizens that negotiations with Spain over Cuba were the best method to handle the affair.⁴

Domestic affairs were the order of the day in the McKinley cabinet. The continual daily articles in the press on the Cuban issue; however, put pressure on the administration to act. President McKinley and Congress were motivated by the demands of the people to take action. The highly publicized behavior of the Spanish against Cubans and insurgents created a movement for American intervention. Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst’s newspapers provided the necessary impetus for a congressional response with highly controversial articles about the mistreatment of Americans and Cubans. Jingoism became the leading motivator for daily articles in most publications.

A conservative mood prevailed in the Cabinet and in Congress. The military situation being contemplated would draw the United States into conflict with a major European power. While the military capabilities of the Spanish were questionable compared to other European rivals, they were still considered far superior to those of the United States. American military resources were confined to less than fifteen thousand troops, mainly stationed in the West to prevent Indian uprisings. The military was wholly unprepared to fight on foreign soil.

Congress continued to debate the issue of the Monroe Doctrine and the Spanish presence in Cuba during the two sessions in 1897. No action was taken, other than to demand that President McKinley take diplomatic steps to alleviate the problem. One member of the House of Representatives familiar with the Cuban issue was the Honorable Joseph Wheeler, Democrat from northern Alabama. Wheeler, a powerful member of the House Committee of Ways and Means, was responsible for the oversight function of the budget and appropriations in Congress. Cuba’s struggle with imperial Spain was foremost in Wheeler’s mind.⁵

As a member of the Fifty-fifth Congress, Joseph Wheeler rallied the congressional jingoes around the issue of providing monetary support for Americans in Cuba who had been displaced or mistreated by the Spanish. A bill introduced on the House floor on January 9, 1897, provided fifty thousand dollars to support these Americans, and it called for the diplomatic recognition of the rebels. Spain had sent over two hundred thousand soldiers to Cuba to suppress the rebellion. Wheeler contended; however, that the sole purpose of these soldiers was to drive American citizens from their property, in order to impound their estates. He further stated that, "Americans were being corralled into reconcentration camps and were starving.⁶ The ex-Confederate general sensed the coming of war and demanded that the United States protect her citizens and drive the Spanish from her sphere of influence. During the next few months Wheeler became more bellicose in his demand for action. He replaced his mild and scholarly demeanor, which coincided with his diminutive frame, with that of a fiery crusader for the Cuban cause. During a heated speech on the House floor in May 1897, Wheeler stated, but I for one proclaim on this floor that war, cruel, brutal, murderous war, does exist in that gem of the ocean—that beautiful Queen of the Antilles—and I assert that it is our duty as the Representatives of the greatest people upon earth to so declare in the highest councils that exist under the canopy of Heaven."⁷

By January 1898, it was evident that the Cuban question was not liable to disappear in the near future. All diplomatic attempts to reconcile the problem with Spain were thwarted with slow and cryptic responses. Wheeler again distinguished himself among his fellow House members when he decried the ineptitude of the Republicans. He astounded them with his declaration that the Republican Party was afraid of war. Wheeler announced on the House floor that Republicans were willing to sacrifice honor and peace for the almighty dollar that could be earned through Cuban businesses. The General then liken them to a growing generation that preferred to be money changers rather than brave soldiers who were willing to make sacrifices for the cause.⁸

Neither Congressman Joseph Wheeler nor the remainder of the country had to wait much longer to see the United States propelled into war. On February 15, the U.S.S. Maine was blown up in the Havana harbor. Democrats and Republicans alike were now compelled to choose war over a diplomatic solution. Before the eruption of war; however, a short period of calm elapsed in which it appeared that a settlement might be attained and hostilities between Spain and the United States could be averted. President McKinley and the Navy were determined to ascertain the cause of the explosion that destroyed the Maine. The vague thought of peacefully settling the conflict worried Wheeler. He was determined to fight a just cause one last time. Once the report was made public; however, the American people came to their own conclusions about the explosion. Rampant jingoism and the clamor for war with Spain captured the emotions of most Americans.

President McKinley was still determined to use diplomatic efforts to alleviate the tensions between the United States and Spain, but he did move closer to war. McKinley asked Congress to approve a fifty million-dollar package for war preparation. Congress overwhelmingly passed the measure to the satisfaction of the American public. The passage of this bill flabbergasted the Spanish. They were determined to hang on to this once magnificent vestige of their American empire. Yet many within Spain recognized that Cuba was losing its attractiveness as a colony and would cost the government in Madrid more in the long run if a war of any length was instigated with the United States. The monarchy in Madrid was precariously held together by a Queen regent for her son, Alfonso XIII.⁹

Wheeler and twenty-nine other members of Congress had introduced resolutions providing for the intervention of the United States in Cuba days prior to the President’s call for action. Their resolutions helped Congress determine the United States’ position. After the exhaustion of every diplomatic resource available, President McKinley presented a message to Congress on April 19, 1898. The conclusion of that message declared that he had exhausted every effort to relieve the intolerable conditions of affairs, which is at our doors. McKinley further stated that he was prepared to execute every obligation imposed upon me by the Constitution and the law. His rhetorical ending, I await your action, placed the future of the United States directly on the shoulders of Congress.¹⁰ After more than a week of debate, the House of Representatives and the Senate passed a joint resolution directing the President of the United States to use the land and naval forces of the United States to carry out the joint resolution.¹¹ War was declared. War had occurred despite the best diplomatic efforts of the United States and Spain. The suffering of thousands of Cubans in America’s sphere of influence and big business’s desire to continue profiting from that despair ultimately pushed the United States into war.

When war began in April, 1898, one of the first men to offer his services to the President and the cause was Joseph Wheeler. As a matter of fact, Wheeler had filed his application with the War Department the same day he introduced his resolution for intervention to Congress. At the same time that he was reminding the President of his offer to serve in the military, Wheeler’s application letter was released to the newspapers. The yellow press and Southern papers picked up the headlines and announced that the grizzled, 60 year old veteran would fight again, only this time it would be for the United States’ blue and not the gray. Wheeler had managed to gain the support of a multitude of important individuals for his appointment to the American Volunteer Cavalry. His backers ranged from the Governor of Alabama to members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives.

Wheeler received a summons from President McKinley to discuss his possible appointment on April 26, 1898. The President, Secretary of War Russell Lager, and other public officials received Wheeler that evening. McKinley began the conversation by inquiring as to Wheeler’s health, capabilities, and his desire to fight for the cause. Wheeler’s reply was that he was as strong and capable as when he was forty, and desired very much to continue serving his country.¹² The audience with the President bode well. Wheeler left the White House assured of a commission as a Major General of Volunteers. Wheeler’s appointment to help lead the American forces created an impression with the American public that would do much to heal old wounds between the North and the South.

President McKinley had taken into consideration two very important factors when making his appointments to the volunteer forces. Foremost was his