Wheeler, Richard 1922- (Richard S. Wheeler)

PERSONAL:

Born January 8, 1922, in Reading, PA; son of Clarence E. and Margaret Wheeler. Politics: "Nonpartisan."

ADDRESSES:

Agent—McIntosh Otis, Inc., 310 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10017.

CAREER:

Writer, historian, poet, and journalist. Worked on a small weekly newspaper, now defunct, for several years after World War II; full-time writer, 1949—, wrote light verse for magazines for about fifteen years before switching to prose. Military service: U.S. Marines, 1942-45; received Purple Heart for wounds received on Iwo Jima.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Christopher Award, 1973, for Voices of 1776; Fletcher Pratt Award, 1977, for Voices of the Civil War.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

The Bloody Battle for Suribachi, Crowell (New York, NY), 1965.

In Pirate Waters, Crowell (New York, NY), 1969.

Voices of 1776, Crowell (New York, NY), 1972.

Voices of the Civil War, Crowell (New York, NY), 1976.

We Knew Stonewall Jackson, Crowell (New York, NY), 1977.

We Knew William Tecumseh Sherman, Crowell (New York, NY), 1977.

The Siege of Vicksburg, Crowell (New York, NY), 1978.

Sherman's March, Crowell (New York, NY), 1978.

The Bright Image, Outposts Publications (Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England), 1978.

Iwo, Crowell (New York, NY), 1980.

A Special Valor: The U.S. Marines and the Pacific War, Harper (New York, NY), 1983, reprinted, Naval Institute Press (Annapolis, MD), 2006.

Sword over Richmond: An Eyewitness History of McClellan's Peninsula Campaign, Harper (New York, NY), 1986.

Witness to Gettysburg, Harper (New York, NY), 1987.

Witness to Appomattox, Harper (New York, NY), 1989.

On Fields of Fury: From the Wilderness to the Crater: An Eyewitness History, Harper (New York, NY), 1991.

Sherman's March, HarperPerennial (New York, NY), 1991.

Lee's Terrible Swift Sword: From Antietam to Chancellorsville, an Eyewitness to History, Harper (New York, NY), 1992.

A Rising Thunder, Harper (New York, NY), 1994.

The Bloody Battle for Suribachi, photographs by Louis R. Lowery, Naval Institute Press (Annapolis, MD), 1994.

Gettysburg 1863: Campaign of Endless Echoes, Plume (New York, NY), 1999.

SIDELIGHTS:

Author Richard Wheeler is a historian whose books focus largely on U.S. military history, with a concentration on the era of the American Civil War. Himself a veteran of World War II, Wheeler participated in the marine landing on Iwo Jima and the taking of Mount Suribachi. He recounts his experiences during the violent 1945 battle in The Bloody Battle for Suribachi, exploring not only the first-hand viewpoint of a Marine on the ground but also the fierce camaraderie and loyalty forged between the "band of brothers" who served there. Wheeler further expands on the military actions on the infamous South Pacific island of Iwo Jima in Iwo, which provides a gritty, day-by-day account of the ten-day battle, both from the perspective of the American invaders and the Japanese defenders.

Wheeler's numerous Civil War books cover a broad range of topics relative to that period of U.S. history. On Fields of Fury: From the Wilderness to the Crater: An Eyewitness History, covers the approximately three months from May 5 through July 30, 1864, when Ulysses S. Grant's Virginia campaign against Robert E. Lee was fully underway. Wheeler draws heavily upon personal correspondence and memoirs of participants in the campaign. The narrative covers a number of notable encounters, including the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg. Wheeler also recounts the story of the Crater incident, in which a tunnel was dug from the Union to the Confederate side, stuffed with explosives, and detonated. The Southern lines were ripped open, but the Union commanders did not take advantage of the breach, resulting in a further eight months of war. Wheeler "explains well the strategy and tactics" of Grant and Lee, although "his emphasis throughout is on the human side of events," noted Genevieve Stuttaford in Publishers Weekly.

Lee's Terrible Swift Sword: From Antietam to Chancellorsville, an Eyewitness to History, relates the story of several pivotal battles of the Southern armies, and how the Southern military's prowess disturbed and intimidated the Northern armies until the decisive changes wrought at Gettysburg. Wheeler again turns to primary documents such as letters from soldiers, spouses, generals, and other participants and observers to reconstruct the power and reputation of Lee's military units. He invokes the voice of the common soldier and citizen to explore the reactions to the war, the feelings towards notable participants, and the various outcomes of the Southern armies' campaigns. Wheeler, noted a Publish-ers Weekly critic, "assembles a fluid and moving story of the battles, the stakes, and the heroes" of the battles.

In Gettysburg 1863: Campaign of Endless Echoes, Wheeler delves into the visceral details of what is perhaps the most famous of all Civil War battles. Beginning with the Battle of Chancellorsville in early May 1863, Wheeler offers in-depth reports of pivotal struggles and telling personal anecdotes about participants. He notes Phil Sheridan's wiry but pugnacious personality. He relates General Robert E. Lee's serious health problems, including what was in all likelihood a mild heart attack, that affected him during the Gettysburg campaign. He provides richly described accounts of the sensations of battle, the horror of combat, and the struggles of soldiers to survive. "The narration of the great cavalry battle at Brandy Station is especially well done," remarked Herman Hattaway in Civil War Times. "You can almost smell the horses, hear the sabers swishing through the air, and feel the raging excitement of the day-long struggle." In the end, Wheeler notes, no one realized that Lee had lost at Gettysburg until the Confederate army started on its way back to Virginia. "Every reader who has any interest at all in the Battle of Gettysburg will find Gettysburg 1863 a joy to read," commented Hattaway. "The book is so captivating that it can be consumed in a single day," Hattaway continued.

"I began writing at age five in 1927," Wheeler once told CA, "and still have my very first manuscript, a little tale with a sylvan setting entitled, ‘A Day in the Woos (sic).’ All I ever wanted to do was write, and, except for time out during the war years, I have done little else. Handicapped by a lack of brilliance, I had to tackle the job wholly as a craft. It has been extremely hard work, and I am still a plodder. My best efforts net me only a page or two a day. But I have persisted and am now working on my seventeenth book. All have been concerned with presenting the human side of American military history. My rewards? The convenience of working at home; the privilege of living North in summer and South in winter; a great many letters from readers who seem to have understood what I've been trying to do; and generally happy reviews, including two cherished ones in the New Yorker. Money? Well, it's been a living—which, considering the odds against me, I suppose is saying pretty much."

During the battle for Mount Suribachi, Wheeler's platoon lost forty-two of its original forty-six men. While recuperating in the hospital from his injuries, Wheeler wrote a long account of what actually had happened and used it for his first magazine article, "The First Flag Raising on Iwo Jima," which appeared in American Heritage, June, 1964, as well as for his book The Bloody Battle for Suribachi. He says of his part in the battle: "I was a very scared Marine surrounded by heroes."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Wheeler, Richard, The Bloody Battle for Suribachi, Crowell (New York, NY), 1965.

PERIODICALS

Civil War Times, February, 2000, Herman Hattaway, "Gettysburg in a Day," review of Gettysburg 1863: Campaign of Endless Echoes, p. 12.

New Yorker, July 26, 1976, review of Voices of the Civil War, p. 84; May 12, 1980, review of Iwo, p. 164.

Publishers Weekly, February 15, 1991, Genevieve Stuttaford, review of On Fields of Fury: From the Wilderness to the Crater: An Eyewitness History, p. 80; April 27, 1992, review of Lee's Terrible Swift Sword: From Antietam to Chancellorsville, an Eyewitness to History, p. 240.