Thomas Wheeler (soldier)

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Thomas Wheeler (circa 1620 – December 10, 1676) was an English-born soldier who settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He emigrated to New England in 1642 and lived in Fairfield, Connecticut by 1644. In the 1650s he worked as a trader, and in 1657 he bought the rights to trade with Native tribes for 25 pounds. Around 1661 he began buying land in what would become Middleborough, Massachusetts, and he rose through the militia, becoming a lieutenant in 1669 and a captain in 1671.

In 1675 Wheeler fought in King Philip’s War against the Wampanoag and Nipmuck tribes. Early in the war he served as military escort to Captain Edward Hutchinson, and together they led their men into an ambush at Brookfield that became known as Wheeler’s Surprise. Wheeler’s horse was shot, and he was seriously wounded; his son, also named Thomas Wheeler, was wounded but survived. Wheeler later wrote a memoir about the engagement, first published in 1676 as A Thankful Remembrance of God’s Mercy. To several Persons at Quabaug or Brookfield. He died in 1676 from complications of his wounds. His account reflects the Puritan view that virtue comes from piety and that God receives credit for victory.