Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1889-01-21
GENERAL SHERIDAN.
A Condensed Biographical Sketch
of the Famous Warrior.

Somerset, Perry County, o., March 8, 1881
A few years at the village school, followed
by service in the village store furnished his
education aud training until fortunate ap
plication to the Congressman of his district
made him in 1913 cadet at West Point. He
should have been graduated in 1872, but {
years suspension, the result of a quarrC
with a felloW-studcnt, transferred him tC
the class of 1858, in which he ranked thirty
fourth among its fifty-tWo members. He
was appointed brcyct Second Lieutenant
of Infantry July /, 1853; in the following
year was assigned TO the First Infantry, Ill
| Texas, and on November -, lS54 received
his commission as Second Lieutenant of the
Fourth Infantry. With the latter regiment
he served during the next six years in
Washington Territory and Oregon. In one
| of General SCOTS orders this mention OF
hun is found: 'April %, 1856, Brcvct Lieu
tenant Colonel L. j. Stcptoc, Ninth Infantry
commanding Companies A, Z, + and l.
same regiment, and dctaChmcuts Of Com
pany E First Dragons, and Company L.
Third Artillery, in all two hundred men, at
the Cascades, W. T., rcpulsed the Indana
in their attack of that place. The troops
landed under fire, routing and dispensing
the enemy at every point. i i = Second
Lieutenant Philip Fl. Sheridan Fourth In
fantry, is especially mentioned tor his gal
lantry."
Through the resignation Of Southern
officers and the creation Of new regiments
on TIC outbreak of the civil war; Sheridan
secured a First-LicutCnancy in March, 1861,
aud May IA he was made Il Captain in the
Thirteenth regiment. The day before
Christmas he was appointed Quartermastcr
on the staff of General Curtis, commanding
the army of Southwest Missouri. Being
recommended to the Governor of Michigan,
he was commissioned May %, 1852, as
Colonel of the Second Michigan cavalry,
then near Corinth, and took part with 1T III
Elliot's raid against the railroad. July he
fought brilliant battle at Bonneville, and
his appointment as Brigadier-Gcncral Of
volunteers was dated from the action.
During the autumn of 1862 he was trans
ferrcd to Kentucky, and there received
command of the Eleventh Division Of the
Army Of the OHIO, under Buell.. At the bat
tie Of PerryvlllC he Unanswered his division
with conspicuous skill and effect, and ut the
bloody battle of Murfrccsboro he held the
kcy-pOint for several hours in the first day S
fighting, displaying superb tactical skill
and the greatest gallantry. On the recon-
mendatlon of ROscCrans, who had succeeded
Buell., he was made MaJor-Gcncral Of voun-
teCrs.
Advancing from Murfrccsboro and Tulla-
homa across the Cumberland Mountains
and the Tennessee, Sheridan, September 10
and 20, distinguished himself again IN the
battln nj i'hipl-nmnOun with I1rDrU At
the storming Of Lookout Mountain Shcri-
dams division was the first to cross the
crest This battle was the eliminating
point Of his career in the West.
In the spring of GA Sheridan took com
mand of the cavalry corps of the Army OF
the Potomac, under Grant, and when the
May campaign opened he pioneered the
army on its path through the Wilderness,
and thence to Spottsylvania. May I he
fought IL battle at Todd S Tavern, and two
days later he made cavalry expedition
within the cncmy's lines, dashIng upon the
outWOrl1s of Richmond itself. when he took
hundred prisoners. He returned to the
army May q, having destroyed many miles
of railroad track and rcCapturCd 80 Union
soldiers on their way to Libby Prison.
During June and July Sheridan was en-
gagged in number of minor battles, serving
with the greatest distinction. Toward the
end of July he moved north of the James to
aid General Hancock operations at Deep
Bottom, and July % he was engaged at
DarbytoWn.
On the 18th of August Grant put Sheridan
in command Of the Middle Military Division.
and for six weeks he was kept on the de-
Gcnsivc near Harpcr'9 Ferry, his forces op-
posing those Of General Early. September
10, however, as Early's forces had been
diminished, he crossed the Aupcquon, and
after severe battle completely defeated
the ConfcdcratCs. The next day, at Grant S
recommendation, President Lincoln APP
pointed Sheridan Brdadicr-Gcncral in the
regular army. Pursuing Early up the val
ley turnpike, Sheridan again defeated him
and forced him to withdraw to Brown
Gap. He then withdrew, and, at the re-
quest of Secretary Stanton for consultation,
went to Washington October l6 On re-
turning, when at Winchester, he heard the
noise of battle dozen miles away.
| Early, aided by fog, had surprised the
left of the Union army, and, in Sheridan S
absence, had driven it back beyond Middle
town. With an escort of only twenty men
Sheridan rode to the scene Of battle. and, in
a lull of few hours, succeeded in rallying
his forces. He then ordered all advance,
| and swept the enemy from the field in one
of the most overwhelming routs of the war.
Congress, in recognition Of his services,
passed vote of thanks to him and his
troops for the brilliant series of victories
in the valley" 900
Sheridan was also appointed BY the
President Major-General in the regular
army "for the personal gallantry, military
skill and just confidence in the courage and
patriotism of your troops, displayed by you
on the 10Th day of October"
February q, 1865, General Sheridan
moved his cavalry, 10000 strong, up tho
valley to Waynesboro, where, March ,, it
overthrow the remnant Of Elrly's force.
In the final campaign, Sheridan, by IL fine
tactical movement, cntrappcd and com
pletely routed Pickett and Johnston at Five
Forks. He was far in the van in the pur-
suit of Lee, and harrasscd the army con-
stantly Aided by the Second and Sixth
Corps he captured nearly all of Ewcll's
command. April g. al Sailors Creek, and
two days later, he again fought the enemy
at Appomattox station, the day after Lee
surrendered.
Later in April sheridan conducted an cx-
petition into North Carolina, and on June 3
took command of the Military Division of
the Southwest at New Orleans. Relieved
by President johnson August g, 1867, dur
ing the reconstruction troubles in LOUISE
ana, he was assigned, September T., to tho
Department OF tho Missouri. March a. 1869,
he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant