Since Wheeler did not become a resident of Alabama unti his marriage to a wealthy young widow after the war, it doesn't seem likely that he would have be acquainted with William Manning Lowe. Both young men when the war ended, but Wheeler didn't have Lowe's political and social pedigree. That may have something to do with the bond he was required to post.

LOWE, WILLIAM MANNING, lawyer, representative in congress, was born January 16, 1842, in Huntsville. and died October 12, 1882, at Huntsville; son of Gen. Bartley M. and Sarah Sophia (Manning) Lowe (q. v.). He attended the public schools at Florence; the law department of the University of Tennessee, from which he was graduated in 1860; and was a student at the University of Virginia in 1861, when he volunteered as a private in the Fourth Alabama infantry, C. S. Army. He was dangerously wounded at the first battle of Manassas, and on his recovery served as lieutenant colonel on the staff of Gen. Clanton, in Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee, until captured at the battle of Franklin. He was held prisoner at Camp Chase and Fort Delaware until three months after the surrender. He was elected solicitor of the Huntsville circuit in 1865, and held the position until ousted from office by the reconstruction measures in 1868. In 1870, he represented Madison County in the State legislature; was elected a delegate to the state constitutional convention of 1875; was elected as a Greenback Democrat to the Forty-sixth congress, 1879-1881, and successfully contested the election of Joseph Wheeler to the Forty-seventh congress, 1882. in which he served until his death. Last residence: "The Grove," Huntsville.

History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography

Lowe also had a political appointment from Gov. John Gill Shorter --
http://www.archives.state.al.us/civilwar/soldier.cfm?id=122186