John Austin Wharton (July 3, 1828 – April 6, 1865) was a lawyer, plantation owner, and Confederate general during the American Civil War.

After graduating in 1850, Wharton returned to Texas and studied law, establishing his practice in Brazoria.

He was assigned to the Trans-Mississippi Department in Louisiana in February 1864, leading the cavalry under Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor during the Red River Campaign.

[1] Shortly before the end of the war in 1865, a fellow Confederate cavalry officer, Col. George Wythe Baylor (1832–1916) (brother of Confederate Arizona Governor Colonel John R. Baylor), killed Wharton in Houston, Texas, over a simmering dispute on military matters.

The incident began with an argument on the street outside of the Fannin Hotel, the headquarters of Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder.