Born in 1836 in Charleston, South Carolina, John Andrew Wanless arrived in Atchison, Kansas Territory, on April 15, 1856. Wanless mustered in on Decem-ber 3, 1861, as a corporal in Company C, 2d Kansas Cavalry. Wanless was promoted to captain of Company A, 15th Kansas Cavalry on April 1, 1863. Wanless was dismissed from service on April 27, 1865, per General Courts-Martial, for being found guilty of “entering private homes and taking therefrom private property for his own use.” After the war in 1866, Wanless enlisted in the 2d US Cavalry as a second lieutenant in Company M, was promoted to first lieutenant in Company G, and then honorably discharged in 1871.
Kansas Adjutant General, Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Kansas, 1861-’65, 86, 501.
US War Department, The Army and Navy Official Gazette, Vol. II, 1864-65, 739.
Wanless Web. “Captain John Andrew Wanless.” Accessed February 26, 2020. Link.