Wesley Merritt
1st AmericanMilitary Governor of the Philippines
In office August 14, 1898 – August 30, 1898
President	William McKinley
Preceded by	Diego de los Ríos (as Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines)
Succeeded by	Elwell Stephen Otis
Personal details
Born	(1836-06-16)June 16, 1836 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	December 3, 1910(1910-12-03) (aged 74) Natural Bridge, Virginia, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Caroline Warren Merritt (1849 – June 12, 1893); Laura Williams Merritt
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1860–1900
Rank	Major General
Battles/wars	List American Civil War Chancellorsville campaign Battle of Chancellorsville Gettysburg campaign Battle of Brandy Station Battle of Upperville Battle of Gettysburg Overland campaign Battle of Yellow Tavern Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley campaign Third Battle of Winchester Appomattox campaign Battle of Five Forks Great Sioux War of 1876 Battle of Slim Buttes Spanish–American War Pacific Theater Battle of Manila

Wesley Merritt (June 16, 1836 – December 3, 1910)^[1] was an Americanmajor general who served in thecavalry of theUnited States Army during theAmerican Civil War,American Indian Wars, andSpanish–American War. Following the latter war, he became the first AmericanMilitary Governor of the Philippines.

Merritt was born inNew York City. He graduated from theUnited States Military Academy in 1860 and was commissioned asecond lieutenant in the2nd Dragoons, serving initially inUtah underJohn Buford. He became theadjutant for the unit when it was renamed the2nd Cavalry Regiment.

In 1862, Merritt was appointedcaptain in the 2nd Cavalry and served as anaide-de-camp toBrig. Gen.Philip St. George Cooke, who commanded the Cavalry Department of theArmy of the Potomac. He served in the defenses ofWashington, D.C., for the rest of 1862.^[2] In 1863, he was appointed adjutant forMaj. Gen.George Stoneman and participated in Stoneman's Raid in theBattle of Chancellorsville in 1863.

He was slightly wounded in theBattle of Brandy Station; on June 29, 1863, he was appointed brigadier general of volunteers for his "gallant and meritorious service" at Brandy Station andUpperville. 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 CaptainElon J. Farnsworth^[3] and CaptainGeorge Armstrong Custer.

In theGettysburg campaign, Merritt commanded the Reserve Brigade, 1st Division, Cavalry Corps of theArmy of the Potomac. In the initial cavalry actions of theBattle 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 theConfederate right flank, followingPickett'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 ofLt. Gen.Ulysses S. Grant'sOverland Campaign in 1864, so Merritt acted as commander in his place. He received abrevet promotion tolieutenant colonel in theregular army for his actions at theBattle of Yellow Tavern, the engagement in which Confederate cavalry commander Maj. Gen.J.E.B. Stuart was killed.

During Maj. Gen.Philip Sheridan'sValley Campaigns of 1864, Merritt commanded the 1st Division, Cavalry Corps of theArmy of the Shenandoah. Arriving at the opportune moment, his division routed the Confederate forces at theThird Battle of Winchester, a deed for which he received a brevet promotion to major general of the volunteers.^[2] Upon his return his Cavalry was deployed across the valley, burning, destroying or taking away everything of value or likely to become of value to the enemy. October 5 his division alone destroyed from Port Republic to Toms Brook 630 barns, 47 mills, 410,742 bushels of wheat, 515 acres of corn not counting private homes. He was second-in-command to Sheridan during theAppomattox Campaign and was one of several commissioners for the surrender atAppomattox Court House. He was brevetted major general in the regular army, in April 1865, for bravery at theBattle of Five Forks and theAppomattox Campaign.

In June 1865, Merritt was appointed command of Cavalry Forces of the Military Division of the Southwest, commanded by Sheridan. He led the 1st Division of Cavalry to march fromShreveport, Louisiana, toSan Antonio, Texas, as part of the Union occupation forces on an arduous 33-day 600-mile march between July 9 and August 11, 1865. On January 28, 1866, Merritt was one of a number of brevetted generals mustered out of volunteer service and returned to their pre-war ranks in the regular army.

After the war's end, Merritt continued to serve in the cavalry along the frontier. He was appointedlieutenant colonel of the newly raisedU.S. 9th Cavalry on July 28, 1866, and in July 1867 was sent to commandFort Davis, Texas, garrisoned by six of the regiment's companies. He was made colonel of the5th Cavalry on July 1, 1876, which he commanded in theBattle of Slim Buttes during theAmerican Indian Wars.

As colonel of the 5th Cavalry, Merritt was a member of the court of inquiry which first sat on January 13, 1879, presided over by ColonelJohn H. King of the 9th Infantry, which was convened to consider the behavior of MajorMarcus A. Reno of the7th Cavalry at theBattle of the Little Bighorn (June 25 to 26, 1876); which resulted in the death of General George Armstrong Custer and over 200 men of the 7th Cavalry.

He served on the frontier until being appointedsuperintendent ofWest Point, a post he filled from 1882 to 1887. In 1887, he was appointed brigadier general in the Regular Army. He was promoted to major general in the U.S. Army in 1895.

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

AfterCommodore Dewey'sAsiatic Squadron destroyed Rear AdmiralPatricio Montojo's Spanish Pacific Squadron at theBattle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898, the United States began to organize ground forces to attack and capture the city ofManila. Merritt was placed in command of the newly createdEighth Army Corps. In June 1898, Merritt and the available troops of the corps departed fromSan Francisco for thePhilippines.

When Merritt arrived in Manila, he and Dewey made preparations for the attack on the city. The two intentionally keptEmilio Aguinaldo in the dark about the plans for the attack because the Americans did not want Aguinaldo's forces to end up in control of the city. Merritt and Dewey made arrangements withGovernor GeneralFermín Jáudenes, commander of the Spanish garrison, to surrender the city to the American forces after the latter put up atoken resistance. The city fell to the Americans on August 13, 1898, and Merritt became the first American military governor of the Philippines. Merritt was relieved by Major GeneralElwell Stephen Otis on August 30 to advise the United States delegation in the peace negotiations leading to theTreaty of Paris.

Based on his Spanish–American War service, Merritt became a member of the Pennsylvania Commandery of theMilitary Order of Foreign Wars.^[4]

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 atWest Point Cemetery. Merritt's second wife was Laura Williams Caton, daughter ofJohn D. Caton,^[1] 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.

General Merritt retired from the Army in 1900 and died from complications ofarteriosclerosis inNatural Bridge, Virginia, at the age of 74, on December 3, 1910. He is buried atWest Point Cemetery.

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

• List of American Civil War generals (Union)

• Eicher, John H., andDavid J. Eicher.Civil War High Commands. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001.ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
• Online biography at theWayback Machine (archived February 13, 2006)
• "Wesley Merritt".American Battlefield Trust. Retrieved20 March 2020.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toWesley Merritt.

• "Merritt, Wesley" .Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 173.
• "Merritt, Wesley" .Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 31 (12th ed.). 1922. p. 914.

• 1836 births
• 1910 deaths
• United States Military Academy alumni
• Military personnel from New York City
• People of New York (state) in the American Civil War
• Union army generals
• People of the Great Sioux War of 1876
• Superintendents of the United States Military Academy
• United States Army generals
• American military personnel of the Spanish–American War
• United States military governors
• Military governors of the Philippine Islands
• 19th-century American politicians
• Burials at West Point Cemetery

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