General Gabriel Colvin Wharton

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Brigadier General Gabriel Colvin Wharton
(July 23,1824 - May 11, 1906)
Courtesy of the Texas Civil War Museum: Photographed by the Writer
(Click to Enlarge)

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 Brigadier General Gabriel Colvin Wharton's Display
Courtesy of the Texas Civil War Museum: Photographed by the Writer
(Click to Enlarge)

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Brigadier General Gabriel Colvin Wharton's Coat Duster
Courtesy of the Texas Civil War Museum: Photographed by the Writer
(Click to Enlarge)

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Gabriel C. Wharton, VMI Class of 1847
 
Biographical InformationGabriel C. Wharton photo
  • Early Life
    Gabriel Colvin Wharton, born July 23, 1824, Culpeper, Virginia.
  • VMI record
    Enrolled at VMI on September 1, 1845; was graduated on July 5, 1847, standing 2nd in a class of 12 (distinguished graduate).
  • Marriage
    Married Nannie Radford in 1863. One son, William.
  • Pre-Civil War
    Civil Engineer in west (Arizona and elsewhere).
  • Civil War
    Colonel, 51st Virginia Infantry Regiment; served in Floyd's western Virginia campaign; appointed Brigadier General Sept. 1863; commanded brigade guarding railroads in southwestern Virginia; fought at New Market, Cold Harbor, and in Valley Campaign.
  • Post-war
    Civil Engineer in southwestern Virginia; instrumental in building railroad in New River Valley; died May 11, 1906, at Radford, Virginia; buried Radford.

Brigadier General Gabriel Colvin Wharton* was elected major of the Forty-fifth Virginia Infantry Regiment in July 1861. This was one of the regiments organized by General Floyd in southwest Virginia. A month later he became colonel of the Fifty-first regiment, which he led through the Western Virginia campaign of General Floyd during the summer and fall of 1861. Accompanying Floyd to Kentucky early in 1862, he was assigned at Fort Donelson to the command of a brigade composed of his own and the Fifty-sixth Virginia regiment. In his report of the battle, General Pillow particularly commended the gallantry of Colonel Wharton and his brigade, who, after being under fire or fighting in the ditches four days, advanced and drove the enemy from their front on February 15th. On the next day, surrender having been decided upon, a considerable part of Floyd's command was brought away in safety, and Wharton rendered valuable service in preserving the government stores at Nashville. Subsequently, returning to southwest Virginia, he defeated a Federal regiment at Princeton, May 17, 1862, and in September participated in Loring's occupation of the Kanawha valley, as commander of the Third Brigade of the Army of Western Virginia. Subsequently, he was in command at the Narrows of New River with his own and Echols' Brigade, until February 1863, when he was stationed in the area of Abingdon, Virginia. When Gen. Sam Jones was ordered in July to send troops to Lee's army, Wharton was detached, and Jones sent word to Lee, "He is an admirable officer, has commanded a brigade for eighteen months, Let him command my troops until I come." He was stationed at Winchester, and was temporarily in charge of the Valley District. Soon afterward he was promoted brigadier-general and in August returned to his former station on the Virginia & Tennessee railroad. He was later transferred to General Longstreet's command in East Tennessee, until April 1864, when he was ordered to report to General Breckinridge. In command of his brigade of veterans he took a conspicuous part in the defeat of General Sigel at New Market, and served with honor in the Confederate lines at Cold Harbor. Returning toward the southwest for the defense of Lynchburg, he took part in the pursuit of Hunter down the valley and the expedition through Maryland to Washington. During the Shenandoah campaign he commanded a division comprising the infantry brigades of the old army of Western Virginia. After suffering severely during the valley battles of 1864, the division was badly cut up in the fight at Waynesboro, March 2, 1865. After the close of the war General Wharton lived at Radford.

* For a portion of the Valley Campaigns, General Gabriel Colvin Wharton was Thomas Legion's division commander. When Thomas' Legion received Special Order 267 ordering its return to Western North Carolina in December 1864, General Wharton stated to the Thomas Legion: "The patience and cheerful endurance of the toilsome march, brief rests and hard fighting which you and your gallant band ever exhibited has won my hearty commendation and leaves each of your patriotic command a record bright and unsullied." While serving with General Wharton in the valley, the Thomas Legion also engaged Generals Sheridan and Custer. Wharton was a Virginia Military Institute graduate-class of 1847.

Sources: Virginia Military Institute; Confederate Military History, Vol. III, pp. 684-685; Vernon H. Crow, Storm in the Mountains: Thomas' Confederate Legion of Cherokee Indians and Mountaineers, 102-58; Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies; Texas Civil War Museum

Recommended Reading: The Stonewall Brigade, by James I. Robertson (Author) (304 pages) (Louisiana State University Press). Description: Commanded by Thomas J. Jackson and comprised of the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 27th and 33rd Virginia Infantry Regiments, plus the Rockbridge Artillery Battery, the unit was officially Virginia's First Brigade. This changed forever at the Battle of First Manassas when in the face of a seemingly overwhelming Federal attack, General Bee, an adjacent Confederate brigade commander, reportedly said, "Yonder stands Jackson like a stone wall; let's go to his assistance. Rally behind the Virginians!" Continued below...

This book describes the Stonewall Brigade in combat from first mustering to bitter end, when only 210 ragged and footsore soldiers remained of the 6,000 that served through the war. Absolutely a must read for the Civil War buff!

 

Recommended Reading: Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States) (Hardcover: 952 pages). Description: Published in 1988 to universal acclaim, this single-volume treatment of the Civil War quickly became recognized as the new standard in its field. James M. McPherson, who won the Pulitzer Prize for this book, impressively combines a brisk writing style with an admirable thoroughness. James McPherson's fast-paced narrative fully integrates the political, social, and military events that crowded the two decades from the outbreak of one war in Mexico to the ending of another at Appomattox. Packed with drama and analytical insight, the book vividly recounts the momentous episodes that preceded the Civil War including the Dred Scott decision, the Lincoln-Douglas debates, and John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry. It flows into a masterful chronicle of the war itself--the battles, the strategic maneuvering by each side, the politics, and the personalities. Particularly notable are McPherson's new views on such matters as Manifest Destiny, Popular Sovereignty, Sectionalism, and slavery expansion issues in the 1850s, the origins of the Republican Party, the causes of secession, internal dissent and anti-war opposition in the North and the South, and the reasons for the Union's victory. Continued below...

The book's title refers to the sentiments that informed both the Northern and Southern views of the conflict. The South seceded in the name of that freedom of self-determination and self-government for which their fathers had fought in 1776, while the North stood fast in defense of the Union founded by those fathers as the bulwark of American liberty. Eventually, the North had to grapple with the underlying cause of the war, slavery, and adopt a policy of emancipation as a second war aim. This "new birth of freedom," as Lincoln called it, constitutes the proudest legacy of America's bloodiest conflict. This authoritative volume makes sense of that vast and confusing "second American Revolution" we call the Civil War, a war that transformed a nation and expanded our heritage of liberty. . Perhaps more than any other book, this one belongs on the bookshelf of every Civil War buff.

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Recommended Reading: Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Volume 6 (Battles & Leaders of the Civil War) (632 pages) (University of Illinois Press) (May 30, 2007). Description: Sifting carefully through reports from newspapers, magazines, personal memoirs, and letters, Peter Cozzens' Volume 6 brings readers more of the best first-person accounts of marches, encampments, skirmishes, and full-blown battles, as seen by participants on both sides of the conflict. Continued below...

Alongside the experiences of lower-ranking officers and enlisted men are accounts from key personalities including General John Gibbon, General John C. Lee, and seven prominent generals from both sides offering views on "why the Confederacy failed." This volume includes one hundred and twenty illustrations, including sixteen previously uncollected maps of battlefields, troop movements, and fortifications.

 

Recommended Reading: Rebels and Yankees: Commanders of the Civil War (Hardcover), by William C. Davis (Author), Russ A. Pritchard (Author). Description: Davis and Pritchard have created a wonderful work that is sure to become a hit with anyone who studies the Civil War. This book uses words and a generous amount of pictures and photographs to tell the story of the leaders, both talented and flawed, that held together the two struggling armies in a time of chaos and devastating loss. Continued below...

Although many of the stories have been told in one form or another....Commanders compiles this study in a single book that makes it very easy to compare and contrast the styles and techniques employed by officers of both armies. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and highly recommend it.

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