Joseph Wheeler.
General Joseph Wheeler gained “three stars” on his coat-collar, in contending for the “Lost Cause.” He now has the two stars of a United States major-general in the Cuban war. General Wheeler was, from boyhood, a careful and painstaking student of the profession which he adopted. He was born at Augusta, Georgia, September 10, 1836, and was sent to West Point at seventeen. While others were passing their leisure moments in sport, young Wheeler could be found in the library, poring, with deepest interest, over those volumes which spoke of campaigns and battles, both ancient and modern, and examining military maps and plans of battle of distinguished generals. From the cavalry school at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, he went, in the spring of 1860, to New Mexico, and, in March, 1861, returned to Georgia. He became a first lieutenant of Confederate artillery at Pensacola, and led the Nineteenth Alabama infantry regiment as colonel. At Shiloh he had two horses shot under him, and is said to have carried the regimental colors in his own hands. On the retreat from Kentucky, Colonel Wheeler, as chief of cavalry, covered the movement. During this campaign, he met the enemy in thirty fights and skirmishes. Having been made a brigadier-general, on recommendation of Bragg, Polk, Hardee and Buckner, he was sent to Middle Tennessee. The Union troops at that time reported that “not a nubbin of corn was obtained without fighting for it.” Here he received the sobriquet of “The Little Hero.” General Wheeler was sick when the American troops attacked Santiago, but he hastened on a litter to the point of danger, and by his words and example stimulated his men to victory. He was retired as brigadier-general September 10, 1900.
EXPLORERS.
Evelyn Briggs Baldwin.
Evelyn B. Baldwin, the well-known arctic explorer, was born in Springfield, Missouri, July 2, 1862. He is the son of Elias Briggs Baldwin, who served with distinction during the Civil war. The subject of this sketch was educated at the public schools in Dupage county, Illinois, and, on graduating from the Northwestern college, Naperville, Illinois, taught in district schools for some time. After an experience as professional pedestrian and bicyclist in Europe, he returned to this country and was appointed principal of high schools and superintendent of city schools in Kansas. Next we hear of him as attached to the United States weather bureau and becoming inspector-at-large of the signal corps of the United States army. In 1883 he was a member of the Peary expedition to North Greenland in the capacity of meteorologist. In 1897 he made a voyage to the Andree balloon station in Spitzbergen, hoping to join that ill-fated scientist, but arrived a few days too late. In 1898 he accompanied Wellman’s polar expedition as meteorologist, and secured valuable data in connection with same. He also organized and commanded the Baldwin-Ziegler polar expedition in 1901. He is the author of several works on arctic exploration and is the member of a number of scientific societies.
Frederick Albert Cook.
Dr. Frederick A. Cook, physician by profession and explorer by inclination, was born in Callicoon Depot, Sullivan county, New York, on June 10, 1865. He is the son of Dr. Theodore Albert Cook and was first educated in Brooklyn, graduated from the University of the City of New York in 1890, and received his medical degree from that institution in the same year. His work of exploration has been confined to the arctic regions. He was surgeon of the Peary expedition in 1891 and acted in the like capacity for the Belgium antarctic expedition in 1897. Dr. Cook has a fertile pen, and it is mainly through its efforts that he is as well known to the American people as he is. He has contributed liberally to the leading magazines, writing on the problems of the north and south poles; is the author of a monograph on the Patagonians, and has published a work entitled The First Antarctic Night. He is a member of a number of scientific societies, has been decorated by King Leopold of Belgium and has received medals from foreign geological societies as a recognition of his services in the lines indicated.
Sven Anders Hedin.
The ancient Norseman’s desire to wander and to conquer still stirs the blood of many of his modern descendants. Happily nowadays, the wandering is done for the benefit of humanity and the conquests are those of peace and not of the “Swan Path.” Sven Anders Hedin, explorer and geographer, is a case in point. He was born at Stockholm, February 19, 1865, and is the son of Ludwig Hedin, official chief architect of Stockholm. When a mere child he exhibited the traits that distinguished his later years, and there are many stories told of how his parents were kept on the alert to prevent their baby—for he was not much more—from playing truant, which he did whenever the opportunity offered. The boy was indeed father to the man, and his parents, on his finishing his education, had the wisdom not to attempt to thwart his expressed desire to become an explorer. Had they done so the world would possess much less geographical knowledge than it now does. After courses in the universities of Stockholm, Upsala, Berlin and Halle, he began his travels. The Orient attracted him, and he made journeys through Persia and Mesopotamia. In 1895 he was a member of King Oscar’s embassy to the Shah of Persia. He is best known in connection with his explorations in Asia, those of Khorasan, Turkestan and Thibet being especially notable. Hedin is the author of many works on travel and has contributed largely to those journals which are published in the interest of science of geography.