The Irish standard., 1893-12-16
MINNEAPOLIS And SATURDAY, DECEMBER le 1898

S.ATUJRD A z DE CEN
was. one Of the great Generals Of histor,
II and any soldier to be great Genera
i must Be distinctiyely a great comman
de der and maneuVerer Of infantry, for in
I fantry are the heart, loins and limbs .
an army, while the cavalry are it's eye
land with artillery it's side-arms.
II Sheridan's service as commander o
/ cavalry was incidental, while his service
saa commander Of infantry and, indeed
Of all three arms OF the service, stood fol
nine tenths Of his military career in
the field. His first Indian service in
/ Oregon and Washington, from 1856 tc
1861, was with the Fourth Infantry. II
was as commander of division of infan-
try that he captured his lanrels at Perry
ville, and it was hia skillful use OF artil
| lery that by it's enilading fire saved Nc,
| Cooks C,rps from ruin; It was as a
commander Of a division Of infantry that
Sheridan rescued Rosecrans from rout
and ruin at Stone River; it was as com
Esander OF q division OF infantry that
I Sheridan won Winchester end Fishers
Hill; 1t was as a commander of infantry
| that he restored the battle of Cedar
Greek and broke the lines OF the victori
ouH toe; it was as commander Of in.
fantry and cavalry that Sheridan bit of
Lees right flank at Five Forks; it was as
rs commander Of infantry and cavalry
lthat Sheridan at Sailors Greek (April 6,
1885, forced the Confederate rear guard,
l7,OOC strong, under Ewell, to surrender.
L Sheridan handled all arms OF the SER
|IIvice with equal energy and skill, and was
Ia man OF military genius, just as Crom-
Ewsll was, just as Napoleon was, and to
Ioall him "dlstinctively cavalry com
Imander" is an insult to his memory as a
tgreat General, since no man eyer yet
was great General whose military abil.
it,, was i1tni.su like Df~,t of Seydlitz.
Pappenheim, and Murat to tl.- - -.
tions of cavalry.
The use Sheridan made OF artillery at
Perry vile, Stone River and Cedar Creek
10 sufficient to rebut the absurd repre-
sentation that Sheridan despised artillery
in battle. He knew that the artillery
won Malvern Hill, thatit saved the army
at Frederick cksburg, Antistan, Chancel-
Elorsvines and Gettysburg, and repre-
sent Sheridan as despising artillery as a
military factor is stupid story started
by somebody who was no soldier.
Sheridan's first victorious Sight in the
civil war was at the head of regiment
of cavalry, Napoleon's first fight was in
charge of a battery at Toulon. Cromwell's s
first fight was at the head OF regiment
of troopers. But had Sheridan's genius
been peculiarly that Of cavalry leader
he would have risen no higher than Gus
ter, had Napoleon's genius been pecu-
liarly for artillery he would have been
only Drouot, had Cromwell been only
a great trooper he would have been no
more famous than his comrade Fairfax.
Sheridan belongs fairly TO that first Or
der Of military commanders who never
lost battle; whose courage and judg-
ment were equal to every emergency.
Compare the capacity Of Sheridan for
independent comma,d OF $4,000 men
with that rendered Bonaparte by HE
Generals. Victor, Jourdan, Junot, Ney,
Joubert, Marmont, Macdonald, Grouchy
Vandamme and Dupont we're beaten
when given independent commands
Massena, soult, Davogst, suchet and
Lannes were the only great subordinatei
who displayed any capacity to conduct q
campaign away from Napoleon's personal
eye. Compared. with the subordinatee
of Bonaparte, Sheridan and Sherman
were giants in their capacity to serve
Grant in distant field. Sheridan not
only had military science at his finger
ends in every battle, but he had what
has been termed Creature pugnacity
the capacity to get thoroughly angry
when struck" He had that animal sat,
isfaction in drawing blood in battle that
was totally wanting in Mcclellan and *
an injurious degree IN Buell..
| What the writer says OF Napoleon'l
Marshals is true, but it should be addet
that st. Cyr was successful, independ
ent General, although he had not many
opportunities to exhibit his ability, Al
Napoleon did not like him for persona
reasons.
| History viii in due time write the
name of Sheridan next to Grant as tht
lgreatest American soldier. Grant wrote
|Sheridan's name far above his own, al
follows: He belongs to the very first
rank Of soldiers, not only Of our country
but Of the world. ] rank Sheridan witt
Napoleon and Frederick and the great
commanders ia history"
] A military critic Of high reputation
I ~. 81