Wesley Merritt

Wesley Merritt (June 16, 1836 – December 3, 1910) was an American major general who served in the cavalry of the United States Army during the American Civil War, American Indian Wars, and Spanish–American War. Following the latter war, he became the first American Military Governor of the Philippines.

Early life Merritt was born in New York City. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1860 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 2nd Dragoons, serving initially in Utah under John Buford. He became the adjutant for the unit when it was renamed the 2nd Cavalry Regiment.

American Civil War Major General Wesley Merritt. Photograph taken sometime between 1864 and 1866. In 1862, Merritt was appointed captain in the 2nd Cavalry and served as an aide-de-camp to Brig. Gen. Philip St. George Cooke, who commanded the Cavalry Department of the Army of the Potomac. He served in the defenses of Washington, D.C., for the rest of 1862. In 1863, he was appointed adjutant for Maj. Gen. George Stoneman and participated in Stoneman's Raid in the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863.

He was slightly wounded in the Battle of Brandy Station; on June 29, 1863, he was appointed brigadier general of volunteers for his "gallant and meritorious service" at Brandy Station and Upperville. Being promoted directly from captain to brigadier general was an unusual step, even for the Civil War, but Merritt shared this honor on that date with Captain Elon J. Farnsworth and Captain George Armstrong Custer.

In the Gettysburg campaign, Merritt commanded the Reserve Brigade, 1st Division, Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac. In the initial cavalry actions of the Battle of Gettysburg, Merritt saw no action; his reserve brigade guarded the lines of communications of the Army of the Potomac. On July 3, 1863, however, he participated in the assault ordered by division commander Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick on the Confederate right flank, following Pickett's Charge. His fellow general, Elon J. Farnsworth, was killed during this futile assault against infantry troops. Merritt took over command of the 1st Division of the Cavalry Corps following the death by typhoid fever of its commander, John Buford, in December 1863. Brig. Gen. Alfred Torbert was the initial commander of the 1st Division but was absent ill for most of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign in 1864, so Merritt acted as commander in his place. He received a brevet promotion to lieutenant colonel in the regular army for his actions at the Battle of Yellow Tavern, the engagement in which Confederate cavalry commander Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart was killed.

During Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan's Valley Campaigns of 1864, Merritt commanded the 1st Division, Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Shenandoah. Arriving at the opportune moment, his division routed the Confederate forces at the Third Battle of Winchester, a deed for which he received a brevet promotion to major general of the volunteers.

Merritt was a companion of the Illinois Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

Spanish–American War Merritt served as commanding general of the first Philippine expedition during the Spanish-American War.

Merritt retired from the army in 1900.

Family and death Merritt was married twice. His first wife was Caroline Warren Merritt, who died on June 12, 1893, at the age of 44. She is buried at West Point Cemetery. Merritt's second wife was Laura Williams Caton, daughter of John D. Caton, whom he met in the late 1890s, when she was in her mid-twenties. General Merritt and Laura Williams were married in London on October 24, 1898.

Meritt died from complications of arteriosclerosis in Natural Bridge, Virginia, at the age of 74, on December 3, 1910. He is buried at West Point Cemetery.

Portrayal in the media Portrayed by Greg Dorris in the Filipino film, Heneral Luna (2015).