History ETDs

Publication Date

5-7-1975

Abstract

Wesley Merritt's forty-five year career as a Regular officer in the United States Army was both significant and unusual. He graduated a year before the Civil War broke out, and he served with distinction during that conflict and during the "Indian Wars" that followed. As he neared retirement age at the end of the nineteenth century, America's interest in overseas expansion brought Merritt once again into action during the Spanish-American War.

Merritt left no body of personal papers or correspondence, and his official reports and correspondence, as well as published and unpublished accounts of officers and men who served with him, provide bases for reconstructing his life and career. Merritt's high rank meant that his reports and official correspondence were published in official documents dealing with the Civil War and Spanish-America, War. Between these two con­flicts, regimental and departmental command meant that Merritt's official papers were recorded by his own and superior commands and are preserved in the National Archives at Washington, D.C.

Merritt's Civil War career was spectacularly successful. After comman0ing a cavalry regiment, he was promoted to brigadier general before the Battle of Gettysburg. One of that war's "boy generals," Merritt successively commanded a cavalry brigade, division, and corps in all the major battles in the East. After Appomattox, Merritt accompanied General Sheridan to Texas and was prominent in reintroducing Federal power to that state.

Postwar Army reorganization brought Merritt to effective command of one of the two Negro cavalry regiments serving on the southern plains of Texas. Merritt became one of the most successful and understanding officers in training, educating, and leading the Black troopers. Promoted to command of the Fifth Cavalry, Merritt fought against Sioux, Cheyennes, and Utes on the northern plains and mountains following Custer's Little Big Horn disaster.

With conclusion of the Indian Wars, Merritt served as Superintendent of the United States Military Academy and, as a general officer once more, in departmental commands. He super­vised the opening of Oklahoma Territory and commanded troops engaged in breaking railroad strikes resulting from the indus­trial troubles of the early 1890's. Merritt wrote extensively in professional journals and was a founder of the Cavalry Association. He was an advocate of transition from frontier police to modern, professional Army. He commanded the Anny's first "war game" exercise in implementing this necessary change.

Merritt was the second-ranking general in the Army at the outbreak of the Spanish-American War. He commanded the Philippine expedition, which captured Manila, and served as Military Governor of Manila. Merritt's professional organiza­tion and command contrasted sharply with the ineptness displayed by other American generals operating in the Caribbean, and he was the most successful major general of the Spanish-American War.

Throughout his career, Merritt's modesty, responsibility, and success contrasted favorably with his many rivals. His was a record of long, successful, and progressive service that few, if any, nineteenth century officers could equal.

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Degree Name

History

Department Name

History

First Committee Member (Chair)

Richard Nathaniel Ellis

Second Committee Member

William Miner Dabney

Third Committee Member

Ferenc Morton Szasz

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

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