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D.D. Wheeler
(1841 - 1916)
Home State: Vermont
Branch of Service: Infantry
Before Antietam
In 1860 he was an 18 year old factory operative living with his parents and younger siblings in Cavendish, VT. He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, Company C, 4th Vermont Infantry on 21 September 1861 and was promoted to First Lieutenant of Company D on 21 April 1862. He was detailed to Brigadier General W.T.H. Brooks' staff by August 1862.
On the Campaign
He was aide-de-camp (ADC) to General Brooks on the Maryland Campaign and was later commended by the General
It gives me pleasure to call especial notice to the good conduct of ... Lieutenants Parsons and Wheeler, of my personal staff, who were active in the discharge of their respective duties.
The rest of the War
He was (administratively) transferred to Company G and was later awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Salem Heights, VA on 3 May 1863, still serving as ADC to General Brooks. He was discharged from the 4th Vermont in June 1864 to accept appointment as Captain and Assistant Adjutant General (AAG), US Volunteers on 30 June 1864. He was promoted to Major & AAG on 27 December 1864 and Lieutenant Colonel & AAG on 26 May 1865.
He was honored by brevets to Major and Colonel for his war service.
After the War
He mustered out of Volunteer service on 19 October 1866. He was appointed 2nd Lieutenant, First United States Artillery to date from 11 May 1866 and promoted to First Lieutenant on 12 February 1867. He was appointed Captain and Assistant Quartermaster on 2 July 1869 and (finally) promoted to Major and Quartermaster 6 September 1893. During the Spanish-American War he served as Lieutenant Colonel and Chief Quartermaster of Volunteers (9 May 1898-10 November 1898). He was made Lieutenant Colonel and Deputy Quartermaster General, USA on 11 November 1898 and Colonel and Quartermaster General (QMG) on 2 October 1902. He was appointed Brigadier General on 15 August 1903 and retired the next day.
References & notes
His service from the Roster 1 and Heitman.2 Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1860. His gravesite is on Findagrave. His picture here from a photograph in the John Gibson Collection, shared online on Vermont in the Civil War.
Birth
07/12/1841; Cavendish, VT
Death
07/27/1916; Fredericksburg, VA; burial in Fredericksburg Cemetery, Fredericksburg, VA
1 Peck, Theodore S., Adjutant General, and The Vermont Adjutant and Inspector General's Office, Revised Roster of Vermont Volunteers and Lists of Vermonters who Served in the Army and Navy of the United States During the War of the Rebellion 1861-66, Montpelier: Press of the Watchman Publishing Co., 1892, pp. 117, 120, 129 [AotW citation 28911]
2 Heitman, Francis Bernard, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army 1789-1903, 2 volumes, Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 1903, Vol. 1, pg. 1023 [AotW citation 28912]