Frank Wheaton was born at Providence, R. I, the son of Dr. Francis Levison Wheaton and Amelia S. (Burrill) Wheaton. On his father's side he was a descendant of Robert Wheaton, who emigrated from Wales to Massachusetts between 1630 and 1636.
Young Wheaton attended the public schools, and studied engineering for one year at Brown University, leaving college in 1850 to accept a position with the United States and Mexico Boundary Commission, with which he passed five years in border surveying. He received the honorary degree of A. M. from Brown University in 1865, and was presented with a sword of honor by the state of Rhode Island.
In 1855 he accepted an appointment as a first lieutenant, 16t United States Cavalry. He was engaged in Sumner's campaign against Indians in 1857, in the Mormon expedition in 1858, and in fighting in the Indian Territory in 1859. On March 1, 1861, preceding the outbreak of the Civil War, he became a captain in the 4th Cavalry, and in July the lieutenant-colonel of the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry. This regiment suffered heavily in the battle of Bull Run; its colonel was among the killed and Wheaton was promoted to succeed him. For "admirable conduct" in the battle Wheaton was commended by General Burnside. In 1862 the 2nd Rhode Island joined McClellan's army in the Peninsula campaign, and was reported for efficiency in the battle of Williamsburg (May 5). Late that year, as of November 29, Wheaton was appointed a brigadier-general, United States Volunteers, and assigned to command a brigade in the VI Corps, which he led in December in the attack on Fredericksburg. In May following he again assisted in an attack on that town, incidental to the campaign of Chancellorsville. Wheaton's brigade arrived late at Gettysburg, but participated in the final action on July 3, 1863. Commanding the same brigade of the VI (Sedgwick's) Corps, he had a prominent part in the Wilderness Campaign in the spring of 1864. He had important missions at Spotsylvania and at Cold Harbor, and was one of the first to cross the James River and arrive in front of Petersburg on June 18. He assaulted the outer works of that city, but was unable to seize the main position. Shortly afterward, Wheaton, now commanding a division, was rushed by water to Washington, D. C. , to repel a threatened attack by the Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early. Debarking at noon, July 11, he marched to Fort Stevens, D. C. , where an extemporized force of clerks and veterans had been skirmishing with the enemy. By evening Washington was safe, and on the day following, Wheaton definitely repulsed the attackers. He was rewarded by being appointed a brevet major-general. Returning to Petersburg, he had great success in the assault on April 2, 1865, which did much to win the final campaign. On April 30, 1866, he was mustered out of the volunteer service, and on July 28, 1866, was appointed a lieutenant-colonel of infantry in the Regular Army. In 1872 he successfully commanded the expedition against the Modoc Indians. Appointed a brigadier-general in 1892, he was assigned to command the Department of Texas. In 1897 he was promoted to major-general, and in the same year, May 8, was retired for age. Thereafter, he made his home in Washington.
He had important missions at Spotsylvania and at Cold Harbor, and was one of the first to cross the James River. The Wheaton, Maryland, section of the Wheaton/Glenmont division of the unincorporated township of Silver Spring, Maryland, just northwest of Washington, D. C. , is named for him, as is the Wheaton High School, a school in the Down County Consortium of the Montgomery County Public School system of Montgomery County, Maryland.
On February 5, 1857, he married Sarah Maria Cooper and had one child, Sarah Maria Cooper Wheaton, in 1858. His wife died shortly thereafter. Wheaton remarried on November 2, 1861, to Emma Twiggs Mason, born at Fort Des Moines, Wisconsin Territory, who, like his first wife, was a descendant of George Mason. On January 14, 1867, Wheaton was married for the third and last time to Maria Bleeker Miller.
