Chatham Roberdeau Wheat
Chatham Roberdeau Wheat | |
|---|---|
 Major Chatham Roberdeau Wheat | |
| Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives | |
| In office 1848–1849 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 9, 1826 |
| Died | June 27, 1862 (aged 36) |
| Resting place | Hollywood Cemetery Richmond, Virginia |
| Alma mater | University of Nashville |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States López Filibuster Filibuster Nicaragua  Mexico Kingdom of Sardinia Confederate States |
| Branch/service | United States Army Mexican Army Royal Sardinian Army Confederate States Army |
| Years of service | 1846-1848 (USA) 1855 (Mexico) 1860 (Sardinia) 1861-1862 (CSA) |
| Rank | Captain (USA) Brigadier General (Mexico) Major (CSA) |
| Battles/wars | Mexican–American War Lopez Expedition Revolution of Ayutla Filibuster War Expedition of the Thousand American Civil War |
Chatham Roberdeau Wheat (April 9, 1826 – June 27, 1862) was an American politician, lawyer, adventurer and military officer serving both the United States Army and the Confederate States Army.
Wheat first saw action as a captain of the United States Volunteers during the Mexican–American War where he was promoted to a lieutenant. Upon leaving the military, he successfully sought election to Louisiana House of Representatives, serving a 1 year term from 1848–1849. Following his term in office he served as a mercenary in Cuba, Mexico, and Italy, and later as a major in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.
Wheat is remembered as a pioneer of the filibuster movement in the Antebellum United States, he led several raids into Cuba where he was commissioned a colonel and gained most of his military experience.
Early life and career
Born in Alexandria, Virginia, the son of an Episcopalian preacher, Wheat moved with his family to Nashville, Tennessee, when he was 12 years old. He studied at the Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia.[1]
Growing to 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) tall and weighing 240 pounds (110 kg), Wheat's physical stature was impressive. He was elected a lieutenant then later as a captain in the First Tennessee Mounted Regiment under General Winfield Scott in the Mexican–American War.
He left the military due to illness and returned to Louisiana, where he was elected a representative of New Orleans to the Louisiana State Legislature in 1848. He was admitted to the bar in 1849.
Subsequently, his wanderlust inspired him to undertake a series of international mercenary and filibuster adventures. He was commissioned a colonel by Narciso López in his Cuban filibustering expedition.[2]
In 1855, he joined the Juan Álvarez campaign against Santa Anna where he was commissioned a brigadier general in charge of artillery by the State of Guerrero.
He travelled to Italy to serve under Garibaldi but soon left when Virginia seceded from the Union.
Civil War and death
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Wheat returned to New Orleans. Financed by backers of his previous Nicaragua adventures, he scoured the wharves of New Orleans to organize what became known as "Wheat's Special Battalion", or the "Louisiana Tigers", a hard fighting, hard living unit that performed well on the battlefield but was renowned for its lack of discipline. The battalion, which numbered 500 men, consisted of immigrants from Ireland and Germany, as well as natives of New Orleans. Most of the men were "street toughs". They were generally considered to be at the "bottom of the barrel" socially. They were very loyal to Wheat, who was a charismatic and remarkably humble leader of men.
Arriving in Virginia just in time to participate in the First Battle of Bull Run, Wheat and his Tigers performed well in combat. Wheat took a Union bullet through both lungs in the battle; informed by a surgeon that there was no instance on record of a man surviving such a wound, Wheat replied, "Well then, I will put my case on record."[3]
When his unit was placed under the command of then Brig. Gen. Richard Taylor in November 1861, conflict arose between the Tigers and Taylor. The conflict was resolved when Taylor commanded the execution of two enlisted Tigers who had been found guilty of drunkenness and insubordination.
Wheat and his battalion served in Jackson's Valley Campaign and the Peninsula Campaign. He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Gaines's Mill in June 1862. He received a battlefield interment and was reinterred in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.[4] Later in the war, the fabled "Hays' brigade," commanded by Harry Thompson Hays renamed themselves "The Louisiana Tigers" in honor of Wheat.
See also
References
Notes
- ^ White, John (1989). Chronicles of the Episcopal High School in Virginia, 1839-1989. Dublin, New Hampshire: William L. Bauhan. p. 33–36. ISBN 978-0-87233-100-6. LCCN 89039957. OCLC 20356179. Retrieved 2024-02-24 – via Archive.org.(registration required)
- ^ p.155 Tucker, Phillip Thomas Cubans in the Confederacy 2002 McFraland
- ^ Foote, Shelby, The Civil War: A Narrative: Volume 1: Fort Sumter to Perryville, Blackstone Audio, 2004.
- ^ Smith, Ryan K. (2020). Death and Rebirth in a Southern City - Richmond's Historic Cemeteries. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 165. ISBN 9781421439273. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
Bibliography
- Dufour, Charles L., Gentle Tiger: The Gallant Life of Roberdeau Wheat, Louisiana State University Press, 1999.
- Parrish, T. Michael, Richard Taylor, Soldier Prince of Dixie, University of North Carolina Press, 1992.
External links
- Chatham Roberdeau Wheat Ancestry Archived 2012-10-09 at the Wayback Machine
- Confederate Military Records Archived 2018-01-30 at the Wayback Machine National Archives.
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