to no casualties on the Modoc side. Wheaton was subsequently relieved of command of the troops in the field. This defeat eventually led to the assassination of General Edward R. S. Canby on April 11 at a meeting of the Peace Commission on the battlefield.

Wheaton was appointed colonel of the 2nd Infantry, effective December 13, 1874. On April 19, 1892, Wheaton was selected in a long and politically heated competition for promotion to brigadier general.