Wheeler, Joseph Known as “Fighting Joe.” 1836-1906. American military officer and politician. A Confederate commander, he later served as US representative from Alabama (1881-1882 and 1885-1900) and as a major general in the Spanish-American War (1898).American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.