The Irish standard., 1905-10-28
Sheridan, the First lrsh-American, To Wear
the Stars of Major-General in the
United States Army.
Had His Valor Duplicated and His Heroism
Matched by Captain Semmes, the
Hero of the Alabama.

ing out its song of martial valor can
read that blood stained and tear.dim.
med history without mist before tho
eye and strange vibration of the
heart strings.
The Catholic who marched beneath
the Stars and Stripes found his valor
duplicated and his heroism matched by
the Catholic who yielded romantic
allegiance to the bonny flag of Dixie"
| AS examples: Sheridan in the Blue:,
Semmes in the Gray.
| General Phil Sheridan is an excellent
type OF the soldier whose brilliant
bravery, abundance of resource and
mistaken fortitude win the idolatry of,
the soldiers under their command.
Carlisle described Napoleon as "a little
fellow five feet two with banged hair!"
This is exactly what Phil" Sheridan
was not. The deep lines in lis face
and the massive masonry of the jaw
indicated courage, the mastery Of men.
His firmly-set lips and clear eye
marked him as q man of unshakable
/
purpose. When Mcclellan was winning
fame by his meteorically successful
campaign in the Peninsula and the
world was beginning to realize that a
master-strategist had been revealed in
Grant before Shiloh, Sheridan was al.
most unknown and entirely unsune,
Yet for years he had been faithfully
| performing the tasks allotted to his
varying ranks. He is a master of de-,
lail' writes an officer in his diary
which was afterwards published in the
New York Tribune. He is a massive
pcrsonaity-compac Of will and quick
imaginative perceptions, and like all
these Irish soldiers can pray as well
as he can fight" The writer of these
lines has heard kindly faced old lady
|-gcntleness written on every feature
in the Shenandoah valley. say: "Ah
Sheridan" Then with darkening
brow and kindling eye: "He laid waste
our valley until he made good his boast
that If a crow wished to cross it he
would have to carry his provisions with
him! He ravaged our fields and har-
ried our lives until we grew to regard
him as the Black Specter. But he was
as forceful as bar of steel-and in his
moments of ease very much the gentle
man!' That last phrase was the high
est compliment the gracious Lady of
the Manor could bestow upon the
doughty Sheridan, who had held the
forces of the Union together in the
darkest hour of the Rebellion
Sheridan was the first Irish-Amer-
lean to wear the stars of a major
general in the United States Army.
| He was like Grant, thorough soldier
but he gloried in the splendid tumult
of war, and while efficient as an ex-
ecutive he found the placid atmosphere
lof bureaucratic Washington rather out
|of harmony with his tempestuous
| temperament. Residents of Washing
ton are familiar with the beautiful
Sheridan home-one of the show places
of the Capitol City. 1t is within a
stones throw of st. Matthew'S Church.
which General Sheridan attended DUR
ing his long official and social connec-
tion with Washington. A soldier of
brilliant achievements, in private life
la delightful companion with a heart
4of singular purity and a soul of un-
bemished integrity, "Phil Sheridan
is foremost among the soldiers of the
COS who are intrenched in the love
and admiration of the Irish American
citizen.
! st. Aloysius' Church, in Washington.S
numbers among it's parishioners some
Of the most important personages in
the official, diplomatic and residential
circles Of the District of Columbia. You
may see on almost any Sunday NOR
ning the Southern gentleman of the old :.
1 school, who carries his slouched hat
| and flowing wisp of tie as badges of
| sectionalism. rubbing elbows with the 4
attache from one of the legations or
the son of one of the old Maryland fam A
! lilies that trace their Catholic ancestry d