Gabriel Colvin Wharton (July 23, 1824 – May 12, 1906) was an American civil engineer and soldier who served as a

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

in the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. After the war he was a politician and later resumed his engineering work.

Early life and career

Wharton was born in

Culpeper County, Virginia Culpeper County is a county located along the borderlands of the northern and central region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 52,552. Its county seat and only incorporated community is ...

, in the summer of 1824. He entered

Virginia Military Institute The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the U.S. In k ...

in Lexington on September 1, 1845. Wharton graduated on July 5, 1847, finishing second out of 12 cadets as a "distinguished graduate." After leaving Virginia Military Institute Wharton became a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

. Later moving to the

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona, commonly known as the Arizona Territory, was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the ...

to take up work as a mining engineer.Eicher, p. 562.

Civil War service

At the start of the American Civil War in 1861, Wharton chose to follow his home state of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and the Confederate cause, and entered the Confederate Army. He was appointed a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the

45th Virginia Infantry The 45th Virginia Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in the Commonwealth of Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly in the mountainous area that today encompasses the borde ...

on July 1, and soon afterward was given command of the 51st Virginia Infantry on July 17, with the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

The 51st Virginia was part of Maj. Gen.

John B. Floyd John Buchanan Floyd (June 1, 1806 – August 26, 1863) was an American politician who served as the List of governors of Virginia, 31st Governor of Virginia. Under president James Buchanan, he also served as the U.S. Secretary of War from 1857 ...

's operations in western Virginia, and escaped with Floyd on February 14, 1862, during the

Battle of Fort Donelson The Battle of Fort Donelson was fought from February 11–16, 1862, in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. The Union capture of the Confederate fort near the Tennessee–Kentucky border opened the Cumberland River, an important ave ...

.Warner, p. 331. In September, he led a brigade in the

Kanawha Valley Campaign of 1862 The Kanawha Valley Campaign of 1862 was Confederate Major General William W. Loring's military campaign to drive the Union Army out of the Kanawha River Valley during the American Civil War. The campaign took place from September 6 through Sep ...

. Wharton was later sent to the Western Theater, and commanded several

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

s in various Confederate departments from February to September 1864. During the Civil War, Pack's Ferry was a strategic river crossing for Federal troops in the area. On the morning of August 6, 1862, 900 men and 2 artillery guns of Confederate Col. G. C. Wharton's command fired on 23rd Ohio soldiers under Maj. Comly. Although the fight threatened Union control of the crossing, the Ohioans held until reinforcements neared and Wharton's men withdrew. Wharton was promoted to brigadier general, effective July 8, 1863. In 1863, he married Nannie Radford, and they had one child together, a son named William. In the winter of 1863, Wharton served in Lt. Gen.

James Longstreet James Longstreet (January 8, 1821January 2, 1904) was a General officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War and was the principal subordinate to General Robert E. Lee, who called him his "Old War Ho ...

's operations against

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, which were ultimately unsuccessful and ended in the spring of 1864. Wharton then returned to the Eastern Theater and was given divisional command in the

Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia The Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia was a military organization within the Confederate States Army, Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during much of the American Civil War. It was officially created and named following the Battle ...

. Wharton also took part in the

Battle of New Market The Battle of New Market was fought on May 15, 1864, in Virginia during the Valley Campaigns of 1864 in the American Civil War. A makeshift Confederate army of 4,100 men defeated the larger Army of the Shenandoah under Major General Franz S ...

on May 15. His brigade was part of Maj. Gen.

John C. Breckinridge John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16, 1821 – May 17, 1875) was an American politician who served as the 14th vice president of the United States, with President James Buchanan, from 1857 to 1861. Assuming office at the age of 36, Breckinrid ...

's force, fighting on the left during the Confederate victory at New Market. Waynesboro

In 1864 Wharton participated in the

Overland Campaign The Overland Campaign, also known as Grant's Overland Campaign and the Wilderness Campaign, was a series of battles fought in Virginia during May and June 1864, towards the end of the American Civil War. Lieutenant general (United States), Lt. G ...

, fighting in Breckinridge's division during the Confederate victory at

Battle of Cold Harbor The Battle of Cold Harbor was fought during the American Civil War near Mechanicsville, Virginia, from May 31 to June 12, 1864, with the most significant fighting occurring on June 3. It was one of the final battles of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses ...

from May 31 – June 12. His brigade also participated in the

Battle of Monocacy The Battle of Monocacy (also known as Monocacy Junction) was fought on July 9, 1864, about from Frederick, Maryland, as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the American Civil War. Confederate States Army, Confederate forces under Lieut ...

on July 9. Wharton was part of Lt. Gen.

Jubal Early Jubal Anderson Early (November 3, 1816 – March 2, 1894) was an American lawyer, politician and military officer who served in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. Trained at the United States Military Academy, Early resigned his ...

's operations in his Valley Campaigns, and he participated in the Confederate defeat at the

Battle of Cedar Creek The Battle of Cedar Creek, or Battle of Belle Grove, was fought on October 19, 1864, during the American Civil War. The fighting took place in the Shenandoah Valley of Northern Virginia, near Cedar Creek, Middletown, and the Valley Pike. D ...

on October 19. He also fought in the Battle of Waynesboro, Virginia on March 2, 1865, at the end of which his command was largely dispersed and Early's army virtually destroyed. Wharton led what was left of his division until May 2. He was paroled at the end of the war from

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner and Abolitionism, abolitionist John Lynch (1740–1820), J ...

, on June 4.

Postwar

Wharton became a legislator in the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...

and then returned to his pre-war career as a mining engineer. He was also instrumental in building the railroad in

Southwest Virginia Southwest Virginia, often abbreviated as SWVA, is a mountainous region of Virginia in the westernmost part of the commonwealth. Located within the broader region of western Virginia, Southwest Virginia has been defined alternatively as all V ...

New River Valley Virginia's New River Valley region, colloquially named, is a four-county area along the New River in Southwest Virginia in the United States, including such major features as Claytor Lake, part of the Jefferson National Forest, the city of Ra ...

. Wharton married Nannie Radford, daughter of John Blair Radford, for whom the town of

Radford, Virginia Radford (formerly Lovely Mount, Central City, English Ferry and Ingle's Ferry) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of 2020, the population was 16,070 by the United States Census Bureau. For ...

, is named. Wharton was also instrumental in the building of the New River Railroad, Mining and Manufacturing Company. Wharton died in the spring of 1906 at

, at the age of 81, and was buried in the Radford family cemetery located in Radford.Davis, William C., "Gabriel and Nannie Wharton", p. 183. He resided at Glencoe in Radford, listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2000.

Notes

References

* Davis, William C. and Sue Heth Bell, eds. ''The Whartons' War: The Civil War Correspondence of General Gabriel C. Wharton & Anne Radford Wharton, 1863-1865''. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: The

University of North Carolina Press The University of North Carolina Press (or UNC Press), founded in 1922, is a not-for-profit university press associated with the University of North Carolina. It was the first university press founded in the southern United States. It is a mem ...

, 2022. * Davis, William C. "Gabriel and Nannie Wharton", in ''Final Resting Places: Reflections on the Meaning of Civil War Graves'', edited by Brian Matthew Jordan and Jonathan W. White. Athens, Georgia: The

University of Georgia Press The University of Georgia Press or UGA Press is the university press of the University of Georgia, a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia. It is the oldest and largest publishing house in Georgia and a me ...

, 2023. * Eicher, John H., and

David J. Eicher David John Eicher (born August 7, 1961) is an American editor, writer, and popularizer of astronomy and space. He has been editor-in-chief of ''Astronomy'' magazine since 2002. He is author, coauthor, or editor of 23 books on science and American ...

, ''Civil War High Commands.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. . * Sifakis, Stewart. ''Who Was Who in the Civil War.'' New York: Facts On File, 1988. . * Warner, Ezra J. ''Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders.'' Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. .
www.vmi.edu
VMI Archives biography of Wharton

U.S.

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

Monocacy Confederate order of battle.

External links