maj gen philip sheridan

[shenandoah]

Major Gen Philip Henry Sheridan (b. 1831, d. 1888) Although his height was only 5’5”, “Little Phil” became one of the Union’s most effective commanders. President Lincoln described him as, “A brown, chunky little chap, with a long body, short legs, not enough neck to hang him, and such long arms that if his ankles itch he can scratch them without stooping.” Sheridan was born in March of 1831 in Albany, New York, the son of Irish immigrants. The town of Somerset, Ohio is where he would spend his youth, get educated and work as a clerk. Sheridan was appointed to West Point in 1848. In 1853, he graduated ranking 34 out of 52 graduates. Sheridan was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant and assigned to the 1st Infantry Regiment in Fort Duncan, Texas. In 1855, he was sent to the Pacific Northwest where he would participate in the Rogue River and Yakima Wars. Sheridan was promoted to Captain in May 1861. He was transferred to the Army of Southwest Missouri at the end of 1861 and served as chief commissary officer and quartermaster. Sheridan became part of General Henry Wagner Halleck’s staff as an assistant topographical engineer. Sheridan was promoted to Colonel and given command of the 2nd Michigan Cavalry. On July 1, Sheridan fought in the battle of Booneville, Mississippi and defeated the rebels. Because of his success there, he was made Brig. Gen. in Sept. He was transferred to the Army of the Ohio to command the 11th Division. In Oct., Sheridan would see action at the battle of Perryville. His next fight was at Stones River. Sheridan prepared his division to receive a rebel assault. The other divisions were not prepared and were routed leaving Sheridan exposed. He shored up his defensive line and stopped the rebel advance. The division fell back only after they had run out of ammunition. His action of stalling the rebel advance would allow the Union to organize and save them during the first day of the battle. Because of this, Sheridan was promoted to major general in April 1863. The next battle was Chickamauga and then Missionary Ridge at Chattanooga, where he led his men on non-ordered charge up the ridge. Their efforts broke the rebel line and routed the enemy. Sheridan gave chase capturing many supplies and taking prisoners. In the spring 1864, Grant made Sheridan commander of the Cavalry in the Army of the Potomac for the Overland Campaign. On May 11, at Yellow Tavern, Sheridan’s cavalry defeated and fatally wounded Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart. August would bring Sheridan a new command, the Army of the Shenandoah and orders to clear out the valley. The campaign would be known as “The Burning”. After weeks of maneuvering, the first big battle would be 3rd Winchester. Three days later, victory at Fisher’s Hill sent the rebels retreating, clearing out the valley. He then continued his scorched earth policy as he returned north back down the valley. The South pursued Sheridan and caught up with his forces at Cedar Creek and attacked on Oct 19. Many of the federals were overrun and routed. Sheridan was at Winchester after returning from Washington when he heard fighting. He then began his famous ride to the battle several miles away. He rallied his army on the way and counterattacked to win the battle. Sheridan returned to Grant in the spring of 1865 to command the cavalry. During April, Sheridan was instrumental in the days leading up to Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. After the war, he was appointed military governor of Louisiana and Texas. In 1867, he was sent to the Great Plains to command the army and fight natives. It was during these brutal campaigns that Sheridan said, “The only good Indians I ever saw were dead.” After the tribal wars, he was made commander-in-chief of the US Army in 1883. During these years, Sheridan was an advocate for the preservation of Yellowstone. Sheridan died Aug 5, 1888 from heart failure and was buried in the Arlington National Cemetery.


If there are any conferderate generals left, I can do a couple.

[Gil R.]

You did a nice job with this. I did rewrite parts, mainly so I could squeeze in some additional information. The only info I took out was that at Missionary Ridge “Sheridan gave chase to the routed enemy, capturing many supplies and prisoners” and that Somerset was where he would “spend his youth, get educated and work as a clerk”. And I changed Stone River to Murfreesboro because the latter is on the FOF map. I did find one mistake, which can be blamed on Wikipedia (where I went to check on what I was reading): July 1, 1862 saw Sheridan participating in a mounted raid at Boonesboro, Miss., not the Battle of Boonville, which was fought on June 17, 1861. (You should definitely read through it to make sure I didn't introduce any mistakes.)

Maj. Gen. Philip Henry Sheridan (b. 1831, d. 1888). Just 5’5” tall, “Little Phil” became one of the Union’s most effective commanders – of both infantry and cavalry forces. Pres. Abraham Lincoln described him as, “A brown, chunky little chap, with a long body, short legs, not enough neck to hang him, and such long arms that if his ankles itch he can scratch them without stooping.” Sheridan was born on March 6, 1831 in Albany, New York, to Irish immigrants, but grew up in Somerset, Ohio. He attended West Point from 1848-1853, graduating 34th out of 52, and as a 2nd lieutenant was assigned to the 1st Infantry Regiment in Fort Duncan, Texas. In 1854 he was sent to the Oregon Territory and participated in the Rogue River and Yakima Wars. Sheridan, by then a captain, was transferred to the Army of Southwest Missouri in late 1861 and served as chief commissary officer and quartermaster before joining Gen. Henry W. Halleck’s staff as an assistant topographical engineer. He was soon made colonel and given command of the 2nd Michigan Cavalry. On July 1, 1862, he participated in a successful mounted raid at Boonesboro, Mississippi, earning promotion to brigadier general in September and a transfer to the Army of the Ohio to take command of the 11th Division. The following month, Sheridan fought at the bloody Battle of Perryville (Kentucky), and on December 31 played a vital role at Murfreesboro by preparing his division to receive a rebel assault. The other divisions, unprepared, were routed, leaving Sheridan exposed, but he shored up his defensive line and halted the rebel advance, only falling back after running out of ammunition. His stalling action would allow the Union to avoid a rout, and eventually to win the battle two days later. For this performance, Sheridan was promoted to major general that April. His next major battle was in September at Chickamauga, where he helped Gen. George Thomas to prevent a total rout. At Missionary Ridge two months later, he led his men on a non-ordered uphill charge, breaking the Confederate line. Impressed by this performance, in the spring of 1864 Gen. Ulysses S. Grant made Sheridan commander of the Cavalry Corps in the Army of the Potomac for the Overland Campaign. He got off to an auspicious start: on May 11 Sheridan’s cavalry defeated and fatally wounded Gen. J.E.B. Stuart at Yellow Tavern. August would bring Sheridan a new command – the Army of the Shenandoah – and orders to clear out the Shenandoah Valley in a campaign that would be known as “The Burning” because of his scorched-earth policy. After weeks of maneuvering, the first big battle was Third Winchester, followed three days later by another victory at Fisher’s Hill, which nearly destroyed Gen. Jubal Early’s forces. Sheridan headed north, destroying 400 square miles of farmland. Early pursued and caught up with his forces at Cedar Creek, attacking on the morning of October 19 and routing two corps. At the time, Sheridan was at Winchester several miles away, on his way back from Washington. Hearing of the fighting, he began his famous ride to the battle, rallying his retreating men along the way and successfully counterattacking that afternoon. After the final defeat of Early in March 1865, Sheridan rejoined Grant to command the cavalry again and was instrumental in forcing the Army of Northern Virginia’s surrender. After the war, he was appointed military governor of Louisiana and Texas. In 1867, he was sent to the Great Plains to command the army against native tribes. It was during these brutal campaigns that Sheridan said, “The only good Indians I ever saw were dead.” He was made commander-in-chief of the U.S. Army in 1883. During these years, Sheridan was an advocate for the preservation of Yellowstone. Sheridan died on August 5, 1888 from heart failure and was buried in the Arlington National Cemetery. (Bio by Andrew Thayer)

[Gil R.]

As for your next generals, there aren't many Confederates left, since Battleline's in the H's. Looking over the list, I noticed that Robert S. Garnett is still out there -- not the most important guy, but he has his place in history.

Otherwise, what you might do is look over a listing of Confederate generals and if any appeal to you just search this sub-forum's thread titles to see if they've already been done, and if not let us know that you want to do them.

[shenandoah]

The bio looks good except for the July 1 Booneville battle. I went back and checked again. Wikipedia does get the spelling wrong but my other references agree. Here are the links.

http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/620701b.htm

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.h ... 94679FD7CF

The second link is Sheridan's own story that he wrote to the New York Times in 1886.

I will contact Battleline and jkBluesman about Garnett and any other generals. I want to help out a little more before Spring arrives. Then most of my energy will be photographing the Shenandoah River. I am near the North Fork of the Shenandoah at Strasburg.

The ultimate goal is to photograph the river from start to finish. Then hike and canoe the entire length in one single journey. From the spring where it begins (Rockingham County) to where it meets the Potomac at Harper's Ferry.

The journey will be next year's spring. This year, I will canoe parts of the river and photograph it. Preparing and practicing this year for next year's journey. Then eventually doing a book with all my photos of the river. Talk about the journey, nature, the people and of course, the history.

The last few years, fish have been dying in the river, development, drought, pollution, etc. The river is famous and has witnessed alot of history and now it has problems and bringing awarness to it might help it.

In the mean time, I will try to get in a couple more bios.

[Gil R.]

Okay, seems like you've got the goods. Thanks for those links. I've changed that sentence to read: "On July 1, 1862, he led his unit and an Iowa cavalry regiment to victory in Boonesville, Mississippi..." This brings the bio to precisely 3900 characters, so it worked perfectly.

Your plans for photographing the Shenandoah River sound great. And I'm sure that the book will do well at that various park and historic site bookstores in central Virginia.

[Gil R.]

I just found a review of the new Phil Sheridan book over at Brett Schulte's blog: http://www.brettschulte.net/CWBlog/
The book seems quite interesting; sadly, I have no time for it these days.

The review says that Sheridan was born in Ireland, but Heidler's encyclopedia says he was "probably" born in Albany. If anyone has the book, please let us know if there's some new information that makes it clear he was indeed born in Ireland.

[jkBluesman]

If you look at the Wikipedia page on Sheridan you will find a brief summary on that discussion in the first footnote. According to this Wittenberg found some county parish records and a stone marker in Ireland.

[shenandoah]

I read about sheridan either being born in New York or Ireland. He claims he was born in Albany. But it is still debated among historians. So with limited space, I decided to go with what most historians accept instead of going over the two theories while taking up too much space. I guess another theory could be is maybe he was born on the boat ride over from Ireland. Would that make him an Atlantician?