HISTORY

After Bragg’s decision to leave Kentucky following the Battle of Perryville, he despaired of saving his wagon trains and supplies, sure they would be lost to a pursuing enemy as he made his way down the desolate and nearly impassable Wilderness Trail that Daniel Boone had laid out the century before. As bad as the road was, it was his only option to withdraw to East Tennessee via the strategic Cumberland Gap.

Fortunately for Braxton Bragg, he had a cavalry commander with him that was up to the monumental task of holding back the overwhelming Federal Armies that were sure to chase him through the Cumberland Gap. To look at Joe Wheeler you may have not been impressed. He was small, even for those days, and was often called the “War Child” for his youthful appearance. It would be easy to overlook him in a crowd, but his men knew he was a fighter. A proven leader, from the bloody fields at Shiloh where he led an Infantry Regiment, to countless smaller actions since. While not as heralded in the press as much as the more flamboyant John Hunt Morgan or even Nathan Bedford Forrest, he was entrusted with the command of all of the Army of Tennessee’s cavalry in reward for his diligent work leading up to Braggs sweep into Tennessee and finally Kentucky.

As the epic struggle roared near Perryville in October of 1862, Wheeler’s cavalry command held the Springfield Pike, delaying Federal re-enforcements for days. Fighting in withdraw before overwhelming numbers, he honed the tactics he would use to save not only Bragg’s but Kirby Smith’s army as well over the course of the next few weeks.