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 [decorative delimiter] Class of 1850

Vol. II
p412 1455

(Born Mas.)

Joseph H. Wheelock

(Ap'd Mas.)

6

Military History. — Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1846, to July 1, 1850, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to

Bvt. Second Lieut. of Artillery, July 1, 1850.

Served: in Florida Hostilities against the Seminole Indians, 1850; on sick leave of absence, 1850‑51; in garrison at Ft. Hamilton, N. Y., 1851,

(Second Lieut., 4th Artillery, Sep. 27, 1850)

— Ft. Johnston, N. C., 1851, — Ft. Sumter, S. C., 1851; at the Military Academy, as Asst. Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, Sep. 20, 1851, to June 8, 1855; in garrison at Ft. Brady, Mich., 1855‑56;

(First Lieut., 4th Artillery, Jan. 13, 1856)

on Recruiting service, 1856 and in Florida Hostilities against the Seminole Indians, 1856‑57.

Resigned, Mar. 31, 1857.

Civil History. — Unknown.

Military History. — Served during the Rebellion of the Seceding

(Colonel, 7thº Massachusetts Volunteers, Nov. 20, 1861)

States, 1861‑62, in the Department of Virginia, Nov., 1861, to Jan., 1862.

Resigned, Jan. 31, 1862.

Died, Apr., 1862,​a1 at Washington, D. C.: Aged 33.

Buried, U. S. Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery, Washington, DC.​a2

Thayer's Note:

a1 a2 His tombstone reads May 8th [or possibly: 3rd], 1862. For the original photograph from which I enhanced the following detail, see the Find-a‑Grave page linked above. Notice also that Col. Wheelock's unit is different from that given by Cullum; and that his age at death also differs, making him roughly 19 when he entered the Academy, rather than 17: this puts him in the more common Cadet age range and thus seems more likely.

[A hard-to‑decipher inscription on stone, in seven lines. It is the tombstone inscription over the grave of Joseph H. Wheelock, in Washington, D. C.; it is fully transcribed on this webpage.]

The inscription can be made out in full, although with some difficulty. It reads:

J. H. Wheelock

Colonel 8th Mass Inf

A Graduate of the

United States Military

Academy

Died May 8th, 1862

Aged 35 years

Photograph © "Gulfport Bob", used here by his kind permission.

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Page updated: 9 Mar 13

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