Philip Sheridan Philip Henry Sheridan ( March 6 , 1831 – August 5 , 1888 ) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War . His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close association with Lt . Gen . Ulysses S . Grant , who transferred Sheridan from command of an infantry division in the Western Theater to lead the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac in the East . In 1864 , he defeated Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley and his destruction of the economic infrastructure of the Valley , called " The Burning " by residents , was one of the first uses of scorched earth tactics in the war . In 1865 , his cavalry pursued Gen . Robert E . Lee and was instrumental in forcing his surrender at Appomattox . Sheridan prosecuted the later years of the Indian Wars of the Great Plains . Both as a soldier and private citizen , he was instrumental in the development and protection of Yellowstone National Park . In 1883 Sheridan was appointed general - in - chief of the U . S . Army , and in 1888 he was promoted to the rank of General of the Army during the term of President Grover Cleveland . Early life . Sheridan claimed he was born in Albany , New York , the third child of six by John and Mary Meenagh Sheridan , immigrants from the parish of Killinkere , County Cavan , Ireland . He grew up in Somerset , Ohio . Fully grown , he reached only 5 feet 5 inches ( 1 . 65 m ) tall , a stature that led to the nickname , " Little Phil . " Abraham Lincoln described his appearance in a famous anecdote : " 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 worked as a boy in town general stores , and eventually as head clerk and bookkeeper for a dry goods store . In 1848 , he obtained an appointment to the United States Military Academy from one of his customers , Congressman Thomas Ritchey ; Ritchey ' s first candidate for the appointment was disqualified by failing an examination of mathematics skill and a " poor attitude . " In his third year at West Point , Sheridan was suspended for a year for fighting with a classmate , William R . Terrill . The previous day , Sheridan had threatened to run him through with a bayonet in reaction to a perceived insult on the parade ground . He graduated in 1853 , 34th in his class of 52 cadets . Sheridan was commissioned as a brevet second lieutenant and was assigned to the 1st U . S . Infantry regiment at Fort Duncan , Texas , then to the 4th U . S . Infantry at Fort Reading , California . Most of his service with the 4th U . S . was in the Pacific Northwest , starting with a topographical survey mission to the Willamette Valley in 1855 , during which he became involved with the Yakima War and Rogue River Wars , gaining experience in leading small combat teams , being wounded ( a bullet grazed his nose on March 28 , 1857 , at Middle Cascade , Oregon Territory ) , and some of the diplomatic skills needed for negotiating with Indian tribes . He lived with a mistress during part of his tour of duty , an Indian woman named Sidnayoh ( called Frances by her white friends ) , daughter of the chief of the Klickitat Tribe . Sheridan neglected to mention this relationship in his memoirs , and a primary source recalls that Sidnayah died in 1847 at age eight , well before Sheridan arrived in Oregon . He was promoted to first lieutenant in March 1861 , just before the Civil War , and to captain in May , immediately after Fort Sumter . Civil War . Western Theater . In the fall of 1861 , Sheridan was ordered to travel to Jefferson Barracks , Missouri , for assignment to the 13th U . S . Infantry . He departed from his command of Fort Yamhill , Oregon , by way of San Francisco , across the Isthmus of Panama , and through New York City to home in Somerset for a brief leave . On the way to his new post , he made a courtesy call to Maj . Gen . Henry W . Halleck in St . Louis , who commandeered his services to audit the financial records of his immediate predecessor , Maj . Gen . John C . Frémont , whose administration of the Department of the Missouri was tainted by charges of wasteful expenditures and fraud that left the status of $ 12 million in doubt . Sheridan sorted out the mess , impressing Halleck in the process . Much to Sheridan ' s dismay , Halleck ' s vision for Sheridan consisted of a continuing role as a staff officer . Nevertheless , Sheridan performed the task assigned to him and entrenched himself as an excellent staff officer in Halleck ' s view . In December , Sheridan was appointed chief commissary officer of the Army of Southwest Missouri , but convinced the department commander , Halleck , to give him the position of quartermaster general as well . In January 1862 , he reported for duty to Maj . Gen . Samuel Curtis and served under him at the Battle of Pea Ridge . Sheridan soon discovered that officers were engaged in profiteering . They stole horses from civilians and demanded payment from Sheridan . He refused to pay for the stolen property and confiscated the horses for the use of Curtis ' s army . When Curtis ordered him to pay the officers , Sheridan brusquely retorted , " No authority can compel me to jayhawk or steal . " Curtis had Sheridan arrested for insubordination but Halleck ' s influence appears to have ended any formal proceedings . Sheridan performed aptly in his role under Curtis and , now returned to Halleck ' s headquarters , he accompanied the army on the Siege of Corinth and served as an assistant to the department ' s topographical engineer , but also made the acquaintance of Brig . Gen . William T . Sherman , who offered him the colonel cy of an Ohio infantry regiment . This appointment fell through , but Sheridan was subsequently aided by friends ( including future Secretary of War Russell A . Alger ) , who petitioned Michigan Governor Austin Blair on his behalf . Sheridan was appointed colonel of the 2nd Michigan Cavalry on May 27 , 1862 , despite having no experience in the mounted arm . A month later , Sheridan commanded his first forces in combat , leading a small brigade that included his regiment . At the Battle of Booneville , Mississippi , July 1 , 1862 , he held back several regiments of Brig . Gen . James R . Chalmers ' s Confederate cavalry , deflected a large flanking attack with a noisy diversion , and reported critical intelligence about enemy dispositions . His actions so impressed the division commanders , including Brig . Gen . William S . Rosecrans , that they recommended Sheridan ' s promotion to brigadier general . They wrote to Halleck , " Brigadiers scarce ; good ones scarce . . . . The undersigned respectfully beg that you will obtain the promotion of Sheridan . He is worth his weight in gold . " The promotion was approved in September , but dated effective July 1 as a reward for his actions at Booneville . It was just after Booneville that one of his fellow officers gave him the horse that he named Rienzi ( after the skirmish of Rienzi , Mississippi ) , which he would ride throughout the war . Sheridan was assigned to command the 11th Division , III Corps , in Maj . Gen . Don Carlos Buell ' s Army of the Ohio . On October 8 , 1862 , Sheridan led his division in the Battle of Perryville . Under orders from Buell and his corps commander , Maj . Gen . Charles Gilbert , Sheridan sent Col . Daniel McCook ' s brigade to secure a water supply for the army . McCook drove off the Confederates and secured water for the parched Union troops at Doctor ' s Creek . Gilbert ordered McCook not to advance any further and then rode to consult with Buell . Along the way , Gilbert ordered his cavalry to attack the Confederates in Dan McCook ' s front . Sheridan heard the gunfire and came to the front with another brigade . Although the cavalry failed to secure the heights in front of McCook , Sheridan ' s reinforcements drove off the Southerners . Gilbert returned and ordered Sheridan to return to McCook ' s original position . Sheridan ' s aggressiveness convinced the opposing Confederates under Maj . Gen . Leonidas Polk , that they should remain on the defensive . His troops repulsed Confederate attacks later that day , but did not participate in the heaviest fighting of the day , which occurred on the Union left . On December 31 , 1862 , the first day of the Battle of Stones River , Sheridan anticipated a Confederate assault and positioned his division in preparation for it . His division held back the Confederate onslaught on his front until their ammunition ran out and they were forced to withdraw . This action was instrumental in giving the Union army time to rally at a strong defensive position . For his actions , he was promoted to major general on April 10 , 1863 ( with date of rank December 31 , 1862 ) . In six months , he had risen from captain to major general . The Army of the Cumberland recovered from the shock of Stones River and prepared for its summer offensive against Confederate General Braxton Bragg . Sheridan ' s division participated in the advance against Bragg in Rosecrans ' s brilliant Tullahoma Campaign , and was the lead division to enter the town of Tullahoma . On the second day of the Battle of Chickamauga , September 20 , 1863 , Rosecrans was shifting Sheridan ' s division behind the Union battle line when Bragg launched an attack into a gap in the Union line . Sheridan ' s division made a gallant stand on Lytle Hill against an attack by the Confederate corps of Lt . Gen . James Longstreet , but was swamped by retreating Union soldiers . The Confederates drove Sheridan ' s division from the field in confusion . He gathered as many men as he could and withdrew toward Chattanooga , rallying troops along the way . Learning of Maj . Gen . George H . Thomas ' s XIV Corps stand on Snodgrass Hill , Sheridan ordered his division back to the fighting , but they took a circuitous route and did not participate in the fighting as some histories claim . His return to the battlefield ensured that he did not suffer the fate of Rosecrans who rode off to Chattanooga leaving the army to its fate , and was soon relieved of command . During the Battle of Chattanooga , at Missionary Ridge on November 25 , 1863 , Sheridan ' s division and others in George Thomas ' s army broke through the Confederate lines in a wild charge that exceeded the orders and expectations of Thomas and Ulysses S . Grant . Just before his men stepped off , Sheridan told them , " Remember Chickamauga , " and many shouted its name as they advanced as ordered to a line of rifle pits in their front . Faced with enemy fire from above , however , they continued up the ridge . Sheridan spotted a group of Confederate officers outlined against the crest of the ridge and shouted , " Here ' s at you ! " An exploding shell sprayed him with dirt and he responded , " That ' s damn ungenerous ! I shall take those guns for that ! " The Union charge broke through the Confederate lines on the ridge and Bragg ' s army fell into retreat . Sheridan impulsively ordered his men to pursue Bragg to the Confederate supply depot at Chickamauga Station , but called them back when he realized that his was the only command so far forward . General Grant reported after the battle , " To Sheridan ' s prompt movement , the Army of the Cumberland and the nation are indebted for the bulk of the capture of prisoners , artillery , and small arms that day . Except for his prompt pursuit , so much in this way would not have been accomplished . " Overland Campaign . Lt . Gen . Ulysses S . Grant , newly promoted to be general - in - chief of all the Union armies , summoned Sheridan to the Eastern Theater to command the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac . Unbeknownst to Sheridan , he was actually Grant ' s second choice , after Maj . Gen . William B . Franklin , but Grant agreed to a suggestion about Sheridan from Chief of Staff Henry W . Halleck . After the war , and in his memoirs , Grant claimed that Sheridan was the very man he wanted for the job . Sheridan arrived at the headquarters of the Army of the Potomac on April 5 , 1864 , less than a month before the start of Grant ' s massive Overland Campaign against Robert E . Lee . In the early battles of the campaign , Sheridan ' s cavalry was relegated by army commander Maj . Gen . George G . Meade to its traditional role — screening , reconnaissance , and guarding trains and rear areas — much to Sheridan ' s frustration . In the Battle of the Wilderness ( May 5 – 6 , 1864 ) , the dense forested terrain prevented any significant cavalry role . As the army swung around the Confederate right flank in the direction of Spotsylvania Court House , Sheridan ' s troopers failed to clear the road from the Wilderness , losing engagements along the Plank Road on May 5 and Todd ' s Tavern on May 6 through May 8 , allowing the Confederates to seize the critical crossroads before the Union infantry could arrive . When Meade quarreled with Sheridan for not performing his duties of screening and reconnaissance as ordered , Sheridan told Meade that he could " whip Stuart " if Meade let him . Meade reported the conversation to Grant , who replied , " Well , he generally knows what he is talking about . Let him start right out and do it . " Meade deferred to Grant ' s judgment and issued orders to Sheridan to " proceed against the enemy ' s cavalry " and from May 9 through May 24 , sent him on a raid toward Richmond , directly challenging the Confederate cavalry . The raid was less successful than hoped ; although his raid managed to mortally wound Confederate cavalry commander Maj . Gen . J . E . B . Stuart at Yellow Tavern on May 11 and beat Maj . Gen . Fitzhugh Lee at Meadow Bridge on May 12 , the raid never seriously threatened Richmond and it left Grant without cavalry intelligence for Spotsylvania and North Anna . Historian Gordon C . Rhea wrote , " By taking his cavalry from Spotsylvania Court House , Sheridan severely handicapped Grant in his battles against Lee . The Union Army was deprived of his eyes and ears during a critical juncture in the campaign . And Sheridan ' s decision to advance boldly to the Richmond defenses smacked of unnecessary showboating that jeopardized his command . " Rejoining the Army of the Potomac , Sheridan ' s cavalry fought inconclusively at Haw ' s Shop ( May 28 ) , a battle with heavy casualties that allowed the Confederate cavalry to obtain valuable intelligence about Union dispositions . They seized the critical crossroads that triggered the Battle of Cold Harbor ( June 1 to June 12 ) and withstood a number of assaults until reinforced . Grant then ordered Sheridan on a raid to the northwest to break the Virginia Central Railroad and to link up with the Shenandoah Valley army of Maj . Gen . David Hunter . He was intercepted by the Confederate cavalry under Maj . Gen . Wade Hampton at the Battle of Trevilian Station ( June 11 – 12 ) , where in the largest all - cavalry battle of the war , he achieved tactical success on the first day , but suffered heavy casualties during multiple assaults on the second . He withdrew without achieving his assigned objectives . On his return march , he once again encountered the Confederate cavalry at Samaria ( St . Mary ' s ) Church on June 24 , where his men suffered significant casualties , but successfully protected the Union supply wagons they were escorting . History draws decidedly mixed opinions on the success of Sheridan in the Overland Campaign , in no small part because the very clear Union victory at Yellow Tavern , highlighted by the death of Jeb Stuart , tends to overshadow other actions and battles . In Sheridan ' s report of the Cavalry Corps ' actions in the campaign , discussing the strategy of cavalry fighting cavalry , he wrote , " The result was constant success and the almost total annihilation of the rebel cavalry . We marched when and where we pleased ; we were always the attacking party , and always successful . " A contrary view has been published by historian Eric J . Wittenberg , who notes that of four major strategic raids ( Richmond , Trevilian , Wilson - Kautz , and First Deep Bottom ) and thirteen major cavalry engagements of the Overland and Richmond – Petersburg campaigns , only Yellow Tavern can be considered a Union victory , with Haw ' s Shop , Trevilian Station , Meadow Bridge , Samaria Church , and Wilson - Kautz defeats in which some of Sheridan ' s forces barely avoided destruction . Army of the Shenandoah . Throughout the war , the Confederacy sent armies out of Virginia through the Shenandoah Valley to invade Maryland and Pennsylvania and threaten Washington , D . C . Lt . Gen . Jubal A . Early , following the same pattern in the Valley Campaigns of 1864 , and hoping to distract Grant from the Siege of Petersburg , attacked Union forces near Washington and raided several towns in Pennsylvania . Grant , reacting to the political commotion caused by the invasion , organized the Middle Military Division , whose field troops were known as the Army of the Shenandoah . He considered various candidates for command , including George Meade , William B . Franklin , and David Hunter , with the latter two intended for the military division while Sheridan would command the army . All of these choices were rejected by either Grant or the War Department and , over the objection of Secretary of War Edwin M . Stanton , who believed him to be too young for such a high post , Sheridan took command in both roles at Harpers Ferry on August 7 , 1864 . His mission was not only to defeat Early ' s army and to close off the Northern invasion route , but to deny the Shenandoah Valley as a productive agricultural region to the Confederacy . Grant told Sheridan , " The people should be informed that so long as an army can subsist among them recurrences of these raids must be expected , and we are determined to stop them at all hazards . . . . Give the enemy no rest . . . Do all the damage to railroads and crops you can . Carry off stock of all descriptions , and negroes , so as to prevent further planting . If the war is to last another year , we want the Shenandoah Valley to remain a barren waste . " Sheridan got off to a slow start , needing time to organize and to react to reinforcements reaching Early ; Grant ordered him not to launch an offensive " with the advantage against you . " And yet Grant expressed frustration with Sheridan ' s lack of progress . The armies remained unengaged for over a month , causing political consternation in the North as the 1864 election drew near . The two generals conferred on September 16 at Charles Town and agreed that Sheridan would begin his attacks within four days . On September 19 , Sheridan beat Early ' s much smaller army at Third Winchester and followed up on September 22 with a victory at Fisher ' s Hill . As Early attempted to regroup , Sheridan began the punitive operations of his mission , sending his cavalry as far south as Waynesboro to seize or destroy livestock and provisions , and to burn barns , mills , factories , and railroads . Sheridan ' s men did their work relentlessly and thoroughly , rendering over 400 mi . ² uninhabitable . The destruction presaged the scorched earth tactics of Sherman ' s March to the Sea through Georgia — deny an army a base from which to operate and bring the effects of war home to the population supporting it . The residents referred to this widespread destruction as " The Burning . " The Confederates were not idle during this period and Sheridan ' s men were plagued by guerrilla raids by partisan ranger Col . John S . Mosby . Although Sheridan assumed that Jubal Early was effectively out of action and he considered withdrawing his army to rejoin Grant at Petersburg , Early received reinforcements and , on October 19 at Cedar Creek , launched a well - executed surprise attack while Sheridan was absent from his army , ten miles away at Winchester . Hearing the distant sounds of artillery , he rode aggressively to his command . He reached the battlefield about 10 : 30 a . m . and began to rally his men . Fortunately for Sheridan , Early ' s men were too occupied to take notice ; they were hungry and exhausted and fell out to pillage the Union camps . Sheridan ' s actions are generally credited with saving the day ( although Maj . Gen . Horatio G . Wright , commanding Sheridan ' s VI Corps , had already rallied his men and stopped their retreat ) . Early had been dealt his most significant defeat , rendering his army almost incapable of future offensive action . Sheridan received a personal letter of thanks from Abraham Lincoln and a promotion to major general in the regular army as of November 8 , 1864 , making him the fourth ranking general in the Army , after Grant , Sherman , and Meade . Grant wrote to Secretary of War Edwin M . Stanton after he ordered a 100 - gun salute to celebrate Sheridan ' s victory at Cedar Creek , " Turning what bid fair to be a disaster into glorious victory stamps Sheridan , what I have always thought him , one of the ablest of generals . " A famous poem , " Sheridan ' s Ride " , was written by Thomas Buchanan Read to commemorate the general ' s return to the battle . Sheridan reveled in the fame that Read ' s poem brought him , renaming his horse Rienzi to " Winchester , " based on the poem ' s refrain , " Winchester , twenty miles away . " The poem was widely used in Republican campaign efforts and some have credited Abraham Lincoln ' s margin of victory to it . Sheridan spent the next several months occupied with light skirmishing and fighting guerrillas . Although Grant continued his exhortations for Sheridan to move south and break the Virginia Central Railroad supplying Petersburg , Sheridan resisted . Wright ' s VI Corps returned to join Grant in November . Sheridan ' s remaining men , primarily cavalry and artillery , finally moved out of their winter quarters on February 27 , 1865 , and headed east . The orders from Gen . Grant were largely discretionary : they were to destroy the Virginia Central Railroad and the James River Canal , capture Lynchburg if practicable , then either join William T . Sherman in North Carolina or return to Winchester . Appomattox Campaign . Sheridan interpreted Grant ' s orders liberally and instead of heading to North Carolina in March 1865 , he moved to rejoin the Army of the Potomac at Petersburg . He wrote in his memoirs , " Feeling that the war was nearing its end , I desired my cavalry to be in at the death . " His finest service of the Civil War was demonstrated during his relentless pursuit of Robert E . Lee ' s Army , effectively managing the most crucial aspects of the Appomattox Campaign for Grant . On the way to Petersburg , at the Battle of Waynesboro , March 2 , he trapped the remainder of Early ' s army and 1 , 500 soldiers surrendered . On April 1 , he cut off Gen . Lee ' s lines of support at Five Forks , forcing Lee to evacuate Petersburg . During this battle he ruined the military career of Maj . Gen . Gouverneur K . Warren by removing him from command of the V Corps under circumstances that a court of inquiry later determined were unjustified . Sheridan ' s aggressive and well - executed performance at the Battle of Sayler ' s Creek on April 6 effectively sealed the fate of Lee ' s army , capturing over 20 % of his remaining men . President Lincoln sent Grant a telegram on April 7 : " Gen . Sheridan says ' If the thing is pressed I think that Lee will surrender . ' Let the thing be pressed . " At Appomattox Court House , April 9 , 1865 , Sheridan blocked Lee ' s escape , forcing the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia later that day . Grant summed up Little Phil ' s performance in these final days : " I believe General Sheridan has no superior as a general , either living or dead , and perhaps not an equal . " Reconstruction . After Gen . Lee ' s surrender , and that of Gen . Joseph E . Johnston in North Carolina , the only significant Confederate field force remaining was in Texas under Gen . Edmund Kirby Smith . Sheridan was supposed to lead troops in the Grand Review of the Armies in Washington , D . C . , but Grant appointed him commander of the Military District of the Southwest on May 17 , 1865 , six days before the parade , with orders to defeat Smith without delay and restore Texas and Louisiana to Union control . However , Smith surrendered before Sheridan reached New Orleans . Grant was also concerned about the situation in neighboring Mexico , where 40 , 000 French soldiers propped up the puppet regime of Austrian Archduke Maximilian . He gave Sheridan permission to gather a large Texas occupation force . Sheridan assembled 50 , 000 men in three corps , quickly occupied Texas coastal cities , spread inland , and began to patrol the U . S . - Mexico border . The Army ' s presence , U . S . political pressure , and the growing resistance of Benito Juárez induced the French to abandon their claims against Mexico . Napoleon III withdrew his troops in 1866 , and the following year Emperor Maximilian was executed for treason . Sheridan later admitted in his memoirs that he had supplied arms and ammunition to Juárez ' s forces : " . . . which we left at convenient places on our side of the river to fall into their hands . " On July 30 , 1866 , while Sheridan was in Texas , a white mob broke up the state constitutional convention in New Orleans . Thirty - four blacks were killed . Shortly after Sheridan returned , he wired Grant , " The more information I obtain of the affair of the 30th in this city the more revolting it becomes . It was no riot ; it was an absolute massacre . " In March 1867 , with Reconstruction barely started , Sheridan was appointed military governor of the Fifth Military District ( Texas and Louisiana ) . He severely limited voter registration for former Confederates and ruled that only registered voters ( including black men ) were eligible to serve on juries . Furthermore , an inquiry into the deadly New Orleans riot of 1866 implicated numerous local officials ; Sheridan dismissed the mayor of New Orleans , the Louisiana attorney general , and a district judge . He later removed Louisiana Governor James M . Wells , accusing him of being " a political trickster and a dishonest man . " He also dismissed Texas Governor James W . Throckmorton , a former Confederate , for being an " impediment to the reconstruction of the State , " replacing him with the Republican who had lost to him in the previous election . Sheridan had been feuding with President Andrew Johnson for months over interpretations of the Military Reconstruction Acts and voting rights issues , and within a month of the second firing , the president removed Sheridan , stating to an outraged Gen . Grant that , " His rule has , in fact , been one of absolute tyranny , without references to the principles of our government or the nature of our free institutions . " If Sheridan was unpopular in Texas , neither did he have much appreciation for the Lone Star State . In 1866 newspapers quoted him as saying , " If I owned Texas and Hell , I would rent Texas and live in Hell " , a statement which he repeated in later years in various forms . During the Grant administration , while Sheridan was assigned to duty in the West , he was sent to Louisiana on two additional occasions to deal with problems that lingered in Reconstruction . In January 1875 , federal troops intervened in the Louisiana Legislature following attempts by the Democrats to seize control of disputed seats . Sheridan supported Republican Governor William P . Kellogg , winner of the 1872 state election , and declared that the Democratic opponents of the Republican regime who used violence to overcome legitimate electoral results were " banditti " who should be subjected to military tribunals and loss of their habeas corpus rights . The Grant administration backed down after an enormous public outcry . A headline in the " New York World " newspaper shrieked " Tyranny ! A Sovereign State Murdered ! " In 1876 , Sheridan was also sent to New Orleans to command troops keeping the peace in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election in 1876 . Indian Wars . The Indians on the Great Plains had been generally peaceful during the Civil War until 1864 when raids and counteraids in Colorado ignited a war . The protection of the Great Plains fell under the Department of the Missouri , an administrative area of over 1 , 000 , 000 mi . ² , encompassing all land between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains . Maj . Gen . Winfield S . Hancock was assigned to the department in 1866 , but had mishandled his campaign , resulting in Sioux and Cheyenne raids that attacked mail coaches , burned the stations , and killed the employees . They also raped , killed , and kidnapped a considerable number of settlers on the frontier . Under pressure from the governors , General Grant turned to Phil Sheridan . In September 1866 , Sheridan arrived at the former Fort Martin Scott near Fredericksburg , Texas , where he spent three months subduing Indians in the Texas Hill Country . In August 1867 , Grant appointed Sheridan to head the Department of the Missouri and pacify the Plains . His troops , even supplemented with state militia , were spread too thin to have any real effect . He conceived a strategy similar to the one he used in the Shenandoah Valley . In the Winter Campaign of 1868 – 69 he attacked the Cheyenne , Kiowa , and Comanche tribes in their winter quarters , taking their supplies and livestock and killing those who resisted , driving the rest back into their reservations . Professional hunters , trespassing on Indian land , killed over 4 million bison by 1874 , and Sheridan applauded : " " Let them kill , skin and sell until the buffalo is exterminated " " . When the Texas legislature considered outlawing bison poaching on tribal lands , Sheridan personally testified against it , suggesting that the legislature should give each of the hunters a medal , engraved with a dead buffalo on one side and a discouraged - looking Indian on the other . Eventually the Indians returned to their designated reservations . Sheridan ' s department conducted the Red River War , the Ute War , and the Great Sioux War of 1876 - 77 , which resulted in the death of a trusted subordinate , Lt . Col . George Armstrong Custer . The Indian raids subsided during the 1870s and were almost over by the early 1880s , as Sheridan became the commanding general of the U . S . Army . Comanche Chief Tosawi reputedly told Sheridan in 1869 , " Me , Tosawi ; me good Injun , " to which Sheridan supposedly replied , " The only good Indians I ever saw were dead . " Sheridan denied he had ever made the statement . Biographer Roy Morris Jr . states that , nevertheless , popular history credits Sheridan with saying " The only good Indian is a dead Indian . " This variation " has been used by friends and enemies ever since to characterize and castigate his Indian - fighting career . " Other assignments . Sheridan was promoted to lieutenant general on March 4 , 1869 . In 1870 , President Grant , at Sheridan ' s request , sent him to observe and report on the Franco - Prussian War . As a guest of the King of Prussia , he was present when Napoleon III surrendered to the Germans , which was gratifying to Sheridan following his experiences with the French in Mexico . He later toured most of Europe and returned to the U . S . to report to Grant that although the Prussians were " very good brave fellows [ who ] had gone into each battle with the determination to win , . . . there is nothing to be learned here professionally . " He criticized their handling of cavalry and likened their practices to the manner in which Meade had attempted to supervise him . In 1871 , Sheridan was present in Chicago during the Great Chicago Fire and coordinated military relief efforts . The mayor , Roswell B . Mason , to calm the panic , placed the city under martial law , and issued a proclamation putting Sheridan in charge . As there were no widespread disturbances , martial law was lifted within a few days . Although Sheridan ' s personal residence was spared , all of his professional and personal papers were destroyed . When Chicago ' s Washington Park Race Track organized the American Derby in 1883 he served as its first president . Sheridan served as commander in chief of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States ( MOLLUS ) veterans ' organization from 1886 to 1888 . On November 1 , 1883 , Sheridan succeeded William T . Sherman as Commanding General , U . S . Army , and held that position until shortly before his death . He was promoted on June 1 , 1888 , shortly before his death , to the rank of general in the regular army ( the rank was titled " General of the Army of the United States " , by Act of Congress June 1 , 1888 , the same rank achieved earlier by Grant and Sherman , which is equivalent to a four - star general , O - 10 , in the modern U . S . Army ) . Yellowstone . The protection of the Yellowstone area was Sheridan ' s personal crusade . He authorized Lieutenant Gustavus Doane to escort the Washburn Expedition in 1870 and for Captain John W . Barlow to escort the Hayden Expedition in 1871 . Barlow named Mount Sheridan , a peak overlooking Heart Lake in Yellowstone , for the general in 1871 . As early as 1875 , Sheridan promoted military control of the area to prevent the destruction of natural formations and wildlife . In 1882 , the Department of the Interior granted rights to the Yellowstone Park Improvement Company to develop 4 , 000 acres ( 16 km² ) in the park . Their plan was to build a railroad into the park and sell the land to developers . Sheridan personally organized opposition to the plan and lobbied Congress for protection of the park ; including expansion , military control , reducing the development to 10 acres ( 40 , 000 m² ) , and prohibiting leases near park attractions . In addition , he arranged an expedition to the park for President Chester A . Arthur and other influential men . His lobbying soon paid off . A rider was added to the Sundry Civil Bill of 1883 , giving Sheridan and his supporters almost everything for which they had asked . In 1886 , after a string of ineffectual and sometimes criminal superintendents , Sheridan ordered the 1st U . S . Cavalry into the park . The military operated the park until the National Park Service took it over in 1916 . Sheridan is mentioned favorably in " " , Episode I , for his work saving Yellowstone National Park : Personal life . On June 3 , 1875 , Sheridan married Irene Rucker , a daughter of Army Quartermaster General Daniel H . Rucker . She was 22 , and he was 44 . They had four children : Mary , born in 1876 ; twin daughters , Irene and Louise , in 1877 ; and Philip , Jr . , in 1880 . After the wedding , Sheridan and his wife moved to Washington , D . C . They lived in a house given to them by Chicago citizens in appreciation for Sheridan ' s protection of the city after the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 . Sheridan served as the ninth president of the National Rifle Association . Philip Sheridan suffered a series of massive heart attacks two months after sending his memoirs to the publisher . At 57 years of age , hard living and hard campaigning and a lifelong love of good food and drink had taken their toll . Thin in his youth , he had reached over 200 pounds . After his first heart attack , the U . S . Congress quickly passed legislation to promote him to general and he received the news from a congressional delegation with joy , despite his pain . His family moved him from the heat of Washington and he died of heart failure in his summer cottage in the Nonquitt section of Dartmouth , Massachusetts , on August 5 , 1888 . His body was returned to Washington and he was buried on a hillside facing the capital city near Arlington House in Arlington National Cemetery . The sculpture on the marker was executed by English sculptor Samuel James Kitson . The burial helped elevate Arlington to national prominence . His wife Irene never remarried , saying , " I would rather be the widow of Phil Sheridan than the wife of any man living . " Philip Sheridan , Jr . , followed in his father ' s footsteps and graduated near the bottom of the West Point class of 1902 . He served as a cavalry officer , a military aide to President Theodore Roosevelt , and in Washington with the general staff . He was promoted to major in 1917 and was also felled by a heart attack , at age 37 , in February 1918 . In memoriam . Sheridan is the only person to be featured on a U . S . ten dollar bill who was strictly associated with the military and not politics . He is featured on both Five and Ten Dollar bills . Fort Sheridan in Illinois was named to honor General Sheridan ' s many services to Chicago . An equestrian statue of Sheridan by Gutzon Borglum ( sculptor of the figures on Mt . Rushmore ) at Belmont Avenue and Sheridan Road in Chicago depicts the general on his horse , Rienzi . Sheridan Road begins in Chicago , continues mostly along the shoreline of Lake Michigan for about 60 miles through the North Shore suburbs and leads to the Town of Fort Sheridan and ultimately Racine , Wisconsin . The landmark former U . S . Army base named for the general is now an upscale residential community . The M551 Sheridan tank is named after General Sheridan . Mount Sheridan in Yellowstone National Park was named for Sheridan by Captain John W . Barlow in 1871 . Sheridan appeared on $ 10 U . S . Treasury Notes issued in 1890 and 1891 . His bust then reappeared on the $ 5 Silver Certificate in 1896 . These rare notes are in great demand by collectors today . In 1937 the US Post Office issued a series of commemorative stamp issues honoring various Army and Navy heroes . Among them was an issue commemorating Generals Ulysses S . Grant , William T . Sherman and " Philip H . Sheridan " . Sheridan County , North Dakota , Sheridan County , Nebraska , Sheridan County , Montana , Sheridan County , Wyoming , and Sheridan County , Kansas , are named for him , as are the cities of Sheridan , Colorado , Sheridan , Montana ( in Madison County ) Sheridan , Wyoming , Sheridan , Arkansas , Sheridan , Oregon , Sheridan , Indiana , and Sheridan , Illinois ( LaSalle County ) . Sheridan Square in the West Village of New York City is named for the general and his statue is displayed nearby in Christopher Street Park . Sheridan Circle , Sheridan Street , and the neighborhood of Sheridan - Kalorama in Washington , D . C . , are also named after him . The only equestrian Civil War statue in Ohio honors Sheridan . It is in the center traffic circle on US Route 22 in Somerset , Ohio , not far from the house where Sheridan grew up . Sheridan High School is located 5 miles north of General Sheridan ' s home town of Somerset . The athletic team is nicknamed " The Generals " . Sheridan Glacier , located 15 miles outside of Cordova , Alaska was named in his honor . There is an equestrian statue of Sheridan in front of the New York State Capitol near Sheridan Avenue . In World War II , the United States liberty ship , SS Philip H . Sheridan , was named in his honor . Sheridan Road in Lawton , Oklahoma , leads to Fort Sill , where Sheridan supposedly uttered the words " The only good Indians I ever saw were dead . " Sheridan Drive in Arlington National Cemetery partially encircles the area that contains the general ' s gravesite . The Sheridan Gate , constructed in 1879 and dismantled and placed in storage in 1971 , was once the Cemetery ' s main entrance . A statue of Sheridan by Allen George Newman is sited in Scranton , Pennsylvania . The Sheridan Drive in the northern suburbs of Buffalo , New York is named for Sheridan Road in Chicago , and thus indirectly after Philip Sheridan . An equestrian statue of the general was planned to be built there in 1925 , but was cancelled and built instead at the New York State Capitol , as aforementioned . John Philip Sousa wrote a descriptive piece for band memorializing Sheridan . Describing " Sheridan ' s Ride " , published in 1891 , as a " Scenes Historical " , Sousa musically characterized Sheridan ' s famous ride back to his army in the Battle of Cedar Creek . The composition has six sections : Waiting for the Bugle , The Attack , The Death of Thoburn , The Coming of Sheridan , and The Apotheosis . The Philip H . Sheridan School in Philadelphia was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 . In popular media . Philip Sheridan has been portrayed in Hollywood movies and television over the years : In the book series " The Brotherhood of War " , the Parker family males are named after Philip Sheridan . The two most prominent were Philip Sheridan Parker III and Philip Sheridan Parker IV . The latter ' s great - great - grandfather supposedly fought with General Sheridan in the Indian Wars as a Master Sergeant in the 10th U . S . Cavalry Regiment , known as the Buffalo Soldier s . In Sherman Alexie ' s novel " Reservation Blues " , Sheridan is portrayed as a head hunter for a record label responsible for the downfall of the novel ' s protagonist ' s band Coyote Springs . The link between the real Sheridan and the character in the book is made explicit in a brutal dream experienced by one of the characters . J . Michael Straczynski has stated that the character of Captain John Sheridan in the " Babylon 5 " television series was intended to be a direct descendant of General Sheridan . Sheridan is described in the 1996 PBS documentary " The West " as " a ruthless warrior " who " played a decisive role in the army ' s long campaign against the native peoples of the plains " . And " at Petersburg he won an important victory that halted Robert E . Lee ' s retreat from Richmond and helped bring the war to an end .