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*WILDER, JOHN THOMAS was born at the Catskill Mountain settlement of Hunter in Greene County, New York, on January 31, 1830. In 1849, at the age of 19, John Wilder moved to Columbus, Ohio, and was hired as an apprentice in a foundry. Turning down an offer of ownership in the Columbus foundry, Wilder moved to Greensburg, Indiana, in 1857 to start his own foundry and millwright business. In four years Wilder became a nationally recognized expert and his business employed 100 people in five states. When the Civil War erupted Wilder was anxious to contribute. He immediately cast two six-pound cannons and raised a unit of men. The men became Company A of the 17th Indiana Infantry, Wilder became the regimental lieutenant colonel, and it is assumed the cannons were put to use elsewhere. In April 1862, the 17th missed out on the battle at Shiloh, Tennessee, but was involved in the siege of Corinth, Mississippi. After unsuccessfully pursuing Confederate cavalry general John Hunt Morgan, Wilder sought permission to provide horses for his infantry. The horses were to be used for purposes of transport and then the men would fight on foot. Wilder was made a commander of a mounted infantry brigade which gained notoriety as "Wilder's Lightning Brigade." The six foot, two inch Wilder also equipped his men with Spencer, seven shot, repeating carbines. To circumvent bureaucratic government policy, the $35 rifles were to be paid for with money each man was to borrow from the Geensburg, Indiana, bank. Thus was born the Confederate soldiers' often-repeated expression that "the Yankees load their guns on Sunday and fight all week." The brigade fought with distinction at Hoover's Gap, Tennessee, and Chickamauga, Georgia. Wilder received a brevet brigadier general's commission on August 7, 1864, but was compelled to resign on October 4 because of recurring typhoid fever. In 1866 Wilder moved from Greensburg to Chattanooga, Tennessee, in search of a more healthful climate. He became a successful industrialist and prominent community leader. He moved to Johnson City, Tennessee, where he capitalized on the future of coal and the railroads; later he bought water- rights along the Tennessee River. Wilder died while vacationing in Jacksonville, Florida, on October 20, 1917, and was buried in Forest Hills Cemetery in Chattanooga.