During Reconstruction, Wright commanded the Army of Texas from July 1865 to August 1866. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel of engineers in November, before leaving volunteer service in September 1866. He was involved in a number of engineering projects including the Brooklyn Bridge and the completion of the Washington Monument. Promoted to colonel in March 1879, Wright was later named Chief of Engineers as a brigadier general in June 1879. He retired at that rank on March 6, 1884, and lived in Washington, D.C., until his death in 1899. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia under an obelisk erected by veterans of the VI Corps, facing the Washington Monument he completed.