Wesley Merritt

George Wesley Meritt

George Wesley Merritt (born June 16, 1834 in New York City , † December 3, 1910 in Natural Bridge , Virginia ) was an American soldier and general during the Civil War and the Spanish-American War .

Training as a cavalry officer

Merritt, whose date of birth is sometimes given as June 16, 1836 and June 10, 1837, graduated from the US military academy in 1860. He then became a lieutenant in the 2nd Dragoon Regiment, which served mainly in Utah under the command of John Buford . When the unit was renamed the 2nd U.S. Cavalry Regiment, Merritt became Buford's adjutant.

Civil War

In 1862 Merritt was promoted to captain and served as quartermaster to Brigadier General Philip St. George Cooke , who at the time commanded the Army's cavalry units on the Potomac . In late 1862 he was one of the defenders of Washington, DC. In 1863 he became an adjutant to Major General George Stoneman during the Battle of Chancellorsville . During the Battle of Gettysburg he was in command of the Reserve Brigade of the Cavalry Corps.

On June 29, 1863, he was promoted to Brigadier General (the volunteer army). Even during the Civil War, the promotion of a captain to brigadier general was not a common move. However, in addition to Merritt, Captain Elon Farnsworth and First Lieutenant George Armstrong Custer were promoted to brigadier generals. After Buford's death, he himself rose to become the commander of the 1st Cavalry Division under the command of General Ulysses S. Grant . In 1864 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the regular army. Merritt also commanded the 1st Cavalry Division during the Shenandoah campaign led by General Philip Sheridan . His service there led to his promotion to major general and deputy to Sheridan during the Battle of Appomattox . In March 1865 he was promoted to brigadier general in the regular army because of his service there.

Promotion to major general

After the end of the Civil War, Merritt was accepted as a lieutenant colonel in the regular army and initially served as commander of the 9th Cavalry Regiment at Fort Leavenworth . He was particularly responsible for protecting the borders. In 1882 he became superintendent of the Military Academy at West Point . He held this office until 1887. In the same year he was promoted (again) to Brigadier General of the regular army. In 1895 he was finally promoted to major general in the United States Army .

Spanish-American War

After George Dewey defeated the Spanish Navy in the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898 , US troops began using land troops in the Philippines . For this purpose, Major General Merritt took command of the VIII US Corps, which set out from San Francisco for the Philippines in June 1898 .

After the Battle of Manila on August 13 and the subsequent surrender of the Spanish occupying forces on August 14, 1898, Merritt became the first US (military) governor of the Philippines. However, he only held this office for 16 days until August 29, 1898, when he was replaced by Elwell Stephen Otis .

Later he was an advisor to the US delegation at the Paris Peace Conference . In 1900 Merritt was retired.

Web links

Commons : Wesley Merritt  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Biography in "Bufordsboys.com" (English)
• Wesley Merritt in the database of Find a Grave (English)