Editing Joseph Wheeler (section)

===Early service===
At the start of the Civil War, Wheeler entered the [[Confederate States Army]] on March 16 as a first lieutenant in the Georgia state militia artillery and then was assigned to [[Fort Barrancas]] off of [[Pensacola, Florida]], reporting to [[Major General (CSA)|Maj. Gen.]] [[Braxton Bragg]].<ref name="VKF13" /> His resignation from the U.S. Army was accepted on April 22, 1861.<ref name="Eicher563" /> He was ordered to [[Huntsville, Alabama]], to take command of the newly formed 19th Alabama Infantry Regiment<ref name="IIk8x" /> and was promoted to colonel on September 4.<ref name="Eicher563" />

Wheeler and the 19th Alabama fought well under Bragg at the [[Battle of Shiloh]] in April 1862.<ref name="xiMoE" /> During the [[Siege of Corinth]] in April and May, Wheeler's men on picket duty repeatedly clashed with U.S. patrols. Serving as acting brigade commander, Wheeler burned the bridges over the [[Tuscumbia River]] to cover the Confederate retreat to [[Tupelo, Mississippi]].<ref name="Bearss125" />