Lightning Brigade

John Thomas Wilder
John Thomas Wilder
Born	(1830-01-31)January 31, 1830 Catskill Mountains in Hunter, Greene County, New York
Died	October 20, 1917(1917-10-20) (aged 87) Jacksonville, Florida
Buried	Forest Hills Cemetery, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army Union Army
Years of service	1861 – 1864
Rank	Brevet Brigadier General
Battles/wars	American Civil War

John Thomas Wilder (January 31, 1830 – October 20, 1917) was a colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War, noted principally for capturing a key mountain pass (Hoover's Gap) in the Tullahoma Campaign in Central Tennessee in June 1863. Wilder had personally ensured that his 'Lightning Brigade' of mounted infantry would be equipped with the new Spencer repeating rifle, though he initially had to appeal to the rank-and-file to pay for these weapons themselves, before the government agreed to carry the cost. Victory at Hoover's Gap was attributed largely to Wilder's persistence in procuring the new rifles, which totally disoriented the enemy.

Wilder was also an engineer who operated the first two blast furnaces in the South.

Wilder was born in the Catskill Mountains in Hunter, Greene County, New York, the son of Reuben and Mary (Merritt) Wilder. He was a descendant of a long line of soldiers. His grandfather and great-grandfather, both named Seth Wilder, fought in the American Revolutionary War. After the great-grandfather lost a leg in the Battle of Bunker Hill, Seth, Jr. took his place. Wilder's father Reuben fought in the War of 1812.

Wilder spent his younger years in Hunter, where he attended school. When he turned nineteen, his school days over, he decided to head west to make it on his own. Wilder soon arrived in Columbus, Ohio, nearly penniless, and found employment as draftsman and then an apprentice millwright at a local foundry. This training would lay the groundwork for his career.

In 1857, eight years after he arrived in Columbus, Wilder relocated to Indiana, first to Lawrenceburg and then to Greensburg, where he married Martha Jane Stewart and raised a large family. He established a small foundry of his own. It rapidly became a success. Wilder invented many hydraulic machines that he patented, and he sold equipment, building mills and hydraulic works in many of the surrounding states. He also became nationally renowned as an expert in the field of hydraulics, patenting a unique water wheel in 1859.