# Joseph Wheeler — The Rough Riders character guide

> Joseph Wheeler in The Rough Riders by Theodore Roosevelt.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Major-General Joseph Wheeler, General Wheeler, Joseph Wheeler, Wheeler

**First appearance:** 0004-ii-to-cuba

## Snapshot

The old Confederate cavalry commander now leading the division, a gallant relic of an earlier war whose presence lends the Cuban campaign a strange continuity.

## Who they are

Wheeler commands the cavalry division that includes the Rough Riders, and Roosevelt describes him with evident affection as a gallant old Confederate. His role is partly symbolic—a living link between the Civil War generation and the new volunteer army—and partly practical, as the officer whose decisions place the regiment in the fight. He matters to the early arc because he is the authority above Young and Wood, and because his willingness to push the division forward is what allows the Rough Riders to reach Las Guasimas at all.

## In the story

### [The Rough Riders](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rough_riders_se/chapters/the-rough-riders)

Major-General commanding the cavalry division; leads the Rough Riders in the Santiago campaign.

### [Appendix D: Recommendations for the Medal of Honor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rough_riders_se/chapters/appendix-d)

Included Roosevelt in a list of officers who distinguished themselves at Las Guasimas.

### [Appendix E](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rough_riders_se/chapters/appendix-e)

Permanent commander of the Cavalry Division, relieved due to severe illness before the battle.

### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rough_riders_se/chapters/endnotes)

Referenced in the context of troop numbers and the forces opposing the Spanish.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rough_riders_se/characters/general_wheeler
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rough_riders_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rough_riders_se/characters