Wheeler, Joseph (1836–1906), a United States army officer and politician. He was born near Augusta, Georgia, and graduated from West Point in 1859. As cavalry commander of the Confederate Army of the Mississippi, Wheeler was known as "Fighting Joe." He was serving in Congress from Alabama when the Spanish-American War broke out and President McKinley named him major general of volunteers. This appointment helped unite North and South more firmly. Wheeler was made brigadier general in the regular army in 1900, the year he retired.