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GENERAL PHILIP H. SHERIDAN.

Q
" Little Phil" and his Troopers.

THE LIFE

OF
GEN. PHILIP H. SHERIDAN.
Sfe ¦Romance and •Reaiifr;:
HOW AN HUMBLE LAD REACHED THE
HEAD OF AN ARMY.
THE CAREER AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF THIS MASTERLY LEADER
OF MEN IN BATTLE; REALISTIC DESCRIPTIONS. OF THE
MARCH, RAID, AND CHARGE OF THE HORSEMEN ; AND
GRAPHIC SKETCHES OF OTHER GREAT CAVALRY LEADERS.

By Frank A. Burr,

OF THE SECOND MICHIGAN CAVALRY, AUTHOB OF THE " LIFE AND DEEDS OF GENERAL
U. S. GRANT," "GENERAL JAMES A. BEAVEK," "BATTLES OF CHICKAMAUGA
AND FRANKLIN," ETC.

AND
RICHARD J. HlNTON,

OF THE TJ. S. COLORED TBOOPS, AUTHOR OF THE " ARMY OF THE BOEDER," " ENGLISH
EADICAL LEADEES," "HAND-BOOK TO AEIZONA," "POPULAR LIFE OF WILLIAM H.
SEWARD," " EEPORT ON IRRIGATION IN THE UNITED STATES," ETC.

ILLUSTRATED.

PROVIDENCE, R. I.: J. A. & R. A. REID, PUBLISHERS.
1888.

PRINTERS.
J. A. & R. A. REID, PROVIDENCE, R. I.

ENGRAVERS AND ARTISTS.

RUSSELL & RICHARDSON,
KILBURN & CROSS,
CHARLES S. HOYT,
J. P MURPHY & CO.,
N. BROWN,
CHARLES COPELAND,
FRANK MYRICK,
J. E. TAYLOR,

BOSTON, MASS.

NEW YORK CITY.

ELECTROTYPER.
L. W. ROGERS, BOSTON, MASS.

PHOTOGRAPHS.
MAINLY FROM THE LOYAL LEGION COLLECTION, BOSTON,
BY PERMISSION.

COPYRIGHT,
BY J. A. & R. A. REID.

PUBLISHERS' NOTE.

The story of the life of General Sheridan seemed to the publishers
of this volume a matter of public interest well worth recording. He had
had a great and romantic career. At the time the work was first con
templated there was a possibility of his being the candidate of a great
political party for President of the United States, if not in '88, perhaps
in '92. However this might be, the publishers believed that the public
would fully appreciate a Life of Sheridan, and that it would meet with
a substantial sale. They therefore entered upon the work of furnishing
it. It was the intention to have thus honored Sheridan while he was
living. There was no popular life written that the publishers knew of,
nor any intimation of one, and the General's Memoirs had not been
announced.* Under these circumstances, it appeared good judgment and a legiti
mate business enterprise to perfect and publish in a creditable and con
venient form such a "Life" as should be within the reach of the
humblest American, to whom the story of " Little Phil's " career is of
as much interest as to the highest.
With this object in view the names of a number of distinguished
writers were considered. After due deliberation, arrangements were
made with the author, who was quite familiar with the subject. He
had served in the army under Sheridan, had much of the needed
material already collected, and had such previous training as was ample
to qualify him for the work proposed.
The writing, gathering of materials, the manufacture of the paper
for the first edition, the making ofthe engravings, arranging with agents
*In justice to themselves it should be stated that the Memoirs were not publicly, or to the trade,
announced until some months after prospectus circulars regarding this work had been sent out by
the publishers.

4 PUBLISHERS' NOTE.
in different parts of the country, etc., were pushed with all possible
energy, that the book might be available for sale during the campaign,
should "Little Phil" be one of the nominees for the presidency. It
was also considered wise to associate with Colonel Burr, Colonel
Richard J. Hinton, an author of repute and a soldier of distinction, to
bring the work to a successful issue.
The information regarding the youth of Sheridan was gathered at
his early home, from his mother and her neighbors, and much of the
material from the General himself, while a large portion, forming the
great life work of the General, was public property, and open to all
having the literary ability to bring the facts together, and give in con
secutive and rounded form the story of the man and the soldier.
Later came the sickness of the General, the long suspense, and his
death. The publishers then deemed it wise to delay the work to
enable them to include the events in the last sad chapters of the
General's career.
They have considered the life and services of General Sheridan, as
they would those of Washington, Lincoln, or Grant, a matter of public
record and of public interest, and have endeavored to do the work with
honor to the General and credit tc themselves — and without detriment
to others. How well the work has been performed, and how well Colonels
Burr and Hinton have succeeded in portraying the life of the hero in a
popular manner, as they saw and knew it, the publishers leave to the
judgment of the reader to decide.
That there may be no good reason for misinterpreting or misrepre
senting, as has been attempted, either the book itself, or the motives of
its publishers, they are thus explicit.
THE PUBLISHERS.

PREFACE.

THE CAVALRYMAN.
About the man who fights on horseback the romance of war has
always centred. From the first chronicled battle the horseman has been
not only the most picturesque, but the most dramatic figure in warfare.
Writers who have recorded the history of armed conflicts have found
the most thrilling climaxes in the sweep of riding squadrons. Tenny
son's " Charge of the Light Brigade " will be read when the stories
of greater combats have been forgotten.
In the days of chivalry the mounted man was the main reliance in
war. But gradually the more deadly musket became the chief instru
ment of death. Drill and discipline were reduced to a science. The
art of war was revolutionized.
There have been still greater changes since. The duties of mounted
men have greatly expanded. They not only rush upon the solid lines
of infantry, in battle array, but in a thousand minor ways lend aid and
inspiration to great armies. They flash upon the flanks of the enemy,
and make daring raids for the destruction of lines of communication or
war supplies. They are the swift annoyance of the enemy, the rest
less messengers of defeat and death. The hoof-beats of the horseman
fall through every gap in the lines, and the reckless charge marks the
end of battle, and the beginning of pursuit.
The cavalry feels the enemy, and reports upon the presence and con
dition of his armies. It is the resistless support of the infantry in the
horrible clash of steel which forces the final decision. Such, in greater

6 PREFACE.
or less degree, has been its place and function for many years. But in
our late war it largely increased its usefulness, and won a broader recog
nition than ever before .
The cavalryman still maintains his romantic preeminence. The
poet who sings of battle instinctively makes the trooper his model.
Read "Paul Revere's Ride" to arouse, the men of Middlesex, " Loch-
invar," Tom Hood's "Wild Steed of the Plains," and a dozen other
songs, where even a single trooper has made his cause famous. The
rush of Murat's squadrons is heard through all the long story of Na
poleon's struggle for existence. With us the record has been the same.
The history of the Revolution is enriched by the exploits of Marion's
horsemen. Black-horse cavalry has been ever a conspicuous figure in
the romance of all wars. In our latest conflict, the music of battle
comes to us laden with the blare of Sheridan's bugles and the rush o£.
Stuart's rough riders. Custer's resistless charges, Kilpatrick's raids,
Pleasonton's, Torbett's, Wilson's, Merritt's, Gregg's swift dashes by day
and by night, are filled with the vigor of movement and the charm of
success. Buford, Bayard, Grierson, and a hundred other generals,
knights ofthe sabre and the stirrup, fill in a wonderful picture of dash
ing heroism that will live in song and story as long as the record of
.war is read. These horsemen taught the world new lessons of the
uses of cavalry. The story of Brandy Station, Kilpatrick's raid on
Richmond, the charge at Yellow Tavern, the cavalry fight at Trevil-
ian Station, Sheridan's first battle at Booneville, the romance of Wil
son's raid, and the rough experiences of Averill's battalions, will form
for all mankind a thrilling and instructive story. To record the heroism
of the men on horseback, directed, as it was in our war, by the best
intelligence and the loftiest patriotism, as embodied in the person of
their commanding general, Philip H. Sheridan, is the purpose of these
F. A. B.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
Sheridan as a General.

Grant's Estimate of Sheridan — His First Impressions of the Great Cavalryman
— His Qualities as a Commander — His Second Meeting with Grant —
Sheridan's Place in History — Closing Scenes ofthe Rebellion, Pages 17-21
CHAPTER II.
Sheridan's Boyhood Days.
The Humble Home in Ohio — His Family and Early Life — Traditions ofthe
Country-Side Concerning Him — A Clerk in the Country Store — Appoint
ment to West Point — Anecdotes of Sheridan's Youth — His Early Educa
tion and Opportunities,  Pages 22-28
CHAPTER III.
West Point and the Army.
His Life at the Military Academy on. the Hudson — Early Experiences in the
Army after Graduation — Interesting Stories of Frontier Life — Outbreak
of the Rebellion — His First Service in War — Not a Very Brilliant
Beginning,  Pages 29-44
CHAPTER IV.
An Unexpected Promotion.
How Sheridan was Made a Colonel — Captain Alger's Ride and Its Results —
Corinth and Pittsburg Landing — Governor Blair's Hesitancy — The Ap
pointment — Notified of His Advancement — Satisfied with the Rank of
Colonel — Takes Command of His Regiment — Its First Impression of
Him,  Pages 45-49
CHAPTER V.
The Battle of Booneville.
Sheridan's First Battle — It was at Booneville, Mississippi — Strength of His
Command — Its Perilous Position — How He Managed His Troops — Send
ing for Reinforcements — The Scout and the Negro — Fooling the Enemy —
Captain Alger and the " Forlorn Hope " — The Last Charge, and a Com
plete Victory,  Pages 51-61
CHAPTER VI.
A New Command.
Transferred to the Infantry — Higher Command but Less Congenial Service —
Battles of Corinth and Iuka — Making the Most of Small Opportunity —

8 CONTENTS.
Transfer to General Buell's Army — Commanding a Division at Perry ville
— Saving I.oomis' Battery — Victory out of Defeat, . . Pages 63-74
CHAPTER VII.
From Perryville to Stone River.
Sheridan's Place in the Army ofthe Cumberland — Preparing for Murfreesboro'
— Sheridan Leads the Way — Battle of Stone River — Deadly Wrestle
with Cheatham — Commended for Distinguished Services, Pages 75~92
CHAPTER VIII.
Moving Towards Chickamauga.
The Tullahoma Campaign — Sheridan's Part in Rosecrans' Movements — Always
on Time and in the Right Place — Incidents of His Life on the March and
in Camp — Estimated by His Men — A Popular General — A Hard Fighter
and Good Tactician,  . Pages 94-109
CHAPTER IX.
The Battle of Chickamauga.
The Field in which Sheridan was Trained — Rosecrans' Movements — How the
, Commander of Cavalry was Made — The Deadly Chickamauga — Sheridan
and Davis Save the Right Wing — Holding the Gap at Dry Valley — Long-
street's Veterans — Fighting Cheatham Again — Always a Power on March
and Field,  Pages 110-121
CHAPTER X.
At Chattanooga.
A Desperate Situation — Helping a Starving Army — Taking Part in the Battle
of Missionary Ridge — Leading a Desperate Charge up the Heights —
A Singular Story of War — With Grant on Orchard Knob — Looking at
Hooker's Fight — A Great Day's Work — Commended for Gallantry and
Ability, .  Pages 123-136
CHAPTER XI.
A Battle in the Snow.
Cole's Cavalry Have a Fight — Moseby Attacks and is Beaten Off — A Battle to
the Death — "Fire the Tents and Shoot by the Light" — Suffering of the
Men — The Death of Young Paxton, .... Pages 137-144
CHAPTER XII.
Summoned to Washington.
Hard Service After Chattanooga — Grant Puts Him in Command of All the
Cavalry in the Army of the Potomac — Disgusted at Being Ordered East 
The Confidence He Inspired — Roster of the Cavalry Corps — Dispute with
Meade — Changing Sheridan's Orders and its Results, . Pages 145-153

CONTENTS. 9
CHAPTER XIII.
From the Wilderness to James River.
Howard's Review ofthe Field — From Virginia to Louisiana — The Cavalry and
its Temper — Moving to the Wilderness — Guarding Roads and Supplies —
Losses in the May Fighting — Sheridan's First GreatRaid Round Richmond
— The Yellow Tavern Fight — Rejoining the Army, . Pages 155-165
CHAPTER XIV.
Breaking the Confederate Communications.
Sheridan's Second Great Virginia Raid — Intended to Connect with Hunter —
Operations in the Shenandoah Valley — The Rebel Cavalry Leaders —
Destroying the Virginia Central Railroad — Fight at Trevilian Station —
Consternation in Richmond- — Return to City Point — Operations About
Petersburg — Wilson and Kautz South of Richmond — The Battle of Reams
Station,  Pages 167-174
CHAPTER XV.
From Corps to Department Commander.
The Shenandoah Valley — Hunter and Early — The Valley's Importance to the
Confederates — Cavalry Raids on Railroads — Washington in Danger —
The Mine Explosion — How Sheridan Became a Department Commander —
Maker of His Own Career — Likeness to Napoleon, . Pages 175-183
CHAPTER XVI.
In the Shenandoah Valley.
Sheridan as Department Commander — His First Chance to Demonstrate His
Ability to Command — Early is Reinforced by Gordon and L'omax — The
Appearance ofthe Rebel Commander — The Army Roster — Sheridan's
Preparations — Attack and Pursuit — The Story ofthe Loyal Quakeress —
How He Got Intelligence — The Battle of Winchester — Cavalry Charge at
Opequan — Victories of Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek, . Pages 185-204
CHAPTER XVII.
Snatching Victory from the Jaws of Defeat.
Lincoln's Little Story About General Cass — Change of the Troops — Meddling
at Washington with Grant's Orders — Wright Surprised at Cedar Creek —
Rout ofthe Nineteenth Corps — Sheridan's Ride " to Save the Day" —
Defeats Early and Gordon — What He Said of His Victory — Thanks of
President and Congress — Promotion in the Regular Army — The Horse He
Rode  .... Pages 205-215

io CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Gordon's Morning Surprise at Cedar Creek.
Gordon Under Early — A Distinguished Confederate Soldier — An Interview
About Cedar Creek — Commanding Ewell's Old Corps — How He Planned
the Attack on Wright — Turning Our Flank Successfully — Rout ofthe
Eighth Corps — Early's Folly — Done Enough for One Day — Sheridan's
Arrival — A Union Victory,  Pages 217-227
CHAPTER XIX.
Sheridan's Ride.
The Dash to Cedar Creek — How the Ride was Made — Sheridan's War-Horse
— A Desperate Situation — The Tide of Battle Running Against the Union
Troops — A Fresh Inspiration for the Army — How the Story of it Came to
be Written — How T. Buchanan Read Got His Inspiration, Pages 229-236
CHAPTER XX.
The Union Cavalry and Its Commanders.
How Our Cavalry Became Effective — Mounted Infantry and its Uses — Sheri
dan and Cavalry Reorganization — How the Commanders were Bred — The
Battle of Tom's Run, and the ' ' Woodstock Races " — A Graphic Description
of Battle — Custer, the Embodiment of War — Stories of the Yellow-Haired
Cavalryman — Sketches of Other Commanders — -The Value of Cavalry —
Destroying Railroads, . ..... Pages 237-255
CHAPTER XXI.
From the Valley to City Point.
How Sheridan Went Back to Grant — Clearing the Loudoun and Luray Valleys —
Great Importance of Sheridan's New Orders — Grant Preparing for the Last
Fights — The Upper Shenandoah Left Free of a Foe — Custer's Bold Fight
for Rockford Gap — Early's Rout and Disappearance — Surrender of Char
lottesville — destruction of the James River Canal — Burning Bridges —
Blowing up Locks — Destroying Railroads — Panic in Richmond — Con
federate Government Ready to take Horseback — At City Point — Grant's
Orders- — Sheridan's Desire to " End the Business Right Here" — The Way
to Five Forks,  Pages 257-267
CHAPTER XXII.
Sheridan's Pursuit of Lee.
A Masterly Military Achievement — The Battle of Five Forks — How General
Lee was Out-Manceuvered — The Battle- Field as a Strategetical Point — The
Corps and Soldiers Engaged — Young Chamberlain's Splendid Fight —
For " the Honor of the Fifth Corps " — Sheridan's Grand Tactics — Using
His Cavalry as a Screen — A Battle of Giants — Savage Fighting all Day —

CONTENTS. n
Sheridan Seldom Out of Fire — Custer's Yellow Locks at the Front — The
" Barn Door" Movement and How it Worked — Galloping Down the Lines
— Mounting the Confederate Breastworks — General Winthrop's Death —
" Straighten that Line " — Victory — Captures — Surrender — The Solemn
Night Scene at Gravelly Run , . .... Pages 269-280 •
CHAPTER XXIII.
Sheridan at the Surrender.
The Five Forks Environment — Striking at Appomattox — Fighting Before Day
break — Standing to Horse all Night — Rapid Cavalry Movements — Over
riding Meade — Surrounding Lee — Sheridan's Distrust — The Truce —
Gordon and the Sharpshooter — Grant and Sheridan Meet — The Surrender
of Lee — " Carrying the World " on Their Shoulders, . Pages 281-303
CHAPTER XXIV.
The Confederate Cavalrymen.
The Southern Advantage at First — Cavalry Officers Making Fine Command
ers — Planter and Farmer Finding Their Horses as Troopers — Wade
Hampton and Ashby Legions — "Jeb" Stuart Their Best Commander —
Southwestern Leaders Also- — -How General Lee left the Union Service —
The Lees — Rosser — Moseby — What Grant Said of the Virginian Partisan
— Services to the Confederacy — What Lee Said of His Usefulness — The
" Boys " are Marching Home Again — Not All of Them, Pages 304-316
CHAPTER XXV.
A Warning on the Rio Grande.
Sheridan is Sent to Texas — Grant's Love for " Little Phil" — After the Grand
Review — Logan, Reynolds, Blunt, Pope, and Weitzel, Organizing — What
was Designed for Mexico — Escabedo and Cortinas on the Lower Grande- —
How the Imperialist Mejia Felt Their Power — Abandoned United States
Material Obtained by Mexico — Jaurez at Paso Del Norte — The Old Church
— Our California Cavalrymen — How the Mexican Republicans were Aided
by the Union — Difficult Task to Maintain Order in Texas, Pages 317-329
CHAPTER XXVI.
Sheridan in Reconstruction Days.
Conditions Preceding and Attending Reconstruction — Commanding in the Gulf
States — New Orleans — Andrew Johnson's Interference — Mechanics Hall
Massacre — Reconstruction Legislation — Sheridan's Service Under It —
Shows Excellent Executive Ability — Ejecting a Governor — His Bandit
Deliverance — He Gives the President the " Lie Direct" — Able but
Thankless Service — Appointment of General Hancock, . Pages 330-341

12 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXVII.
In Command at Fort Leavenworth and Chicago.
Commanding the Department of Missouri — Indian Wars and Disturbances —
Serious Military Operations Necessitated — Removing Tribes from the Great
Plains — Campaign Against the Kiowas, Comanches, and Cheyennes —
Made a Lieutenant-General — Where and How the News was Received —
Headquarters in Chicago — Visit to Europe — Sheridan at Sedan — Hob-
Nobbing with Bismarck — The Great Fire — Marriage and Removal to
Washington,  Pages 343-360
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Sheridan's Home and Family Life.
The General's Washington Residence — Mrs. Sheridan and the Children- —
Domestic Character of Husband and Father — Home Interiors — Parlor and
Library — The General's Office in the War Department — His Staff Officers
— Incidents and Associations — His Health — The Fatal Sickness — Nonquit
— Life Closes Amid Nature's Beauty, . . . Pages 361-378
CHAPTER XXIX.
His Death-Bed and the Return to Washington.
Sad Scenes at Nonquit — The General's Death — Grief of the Family — What
the Doctors Said — A Simple Military Funeral Decided Upon — Sheridan in
His Casket — Removal to Washington — Passage from New Bedford to New
York — The Veterans of the Pennsylvania Road — In Silent Respect Along
the Route — Arrival at Washington,  Pages 379-397
CHAPTER XXX.
Sheridan's Last Ride.
Lying in State — Quaint and Quiet St. Matthew's — The Widow's Last Fare
well — The Decorations and Catafalque — Chanting the Requiem — Scenes
in the Church — The Distinguished Congregation — Altar Boys and
Dominican Monks — Cardinal Gibbon's Sermon — The Funeral Pageant —
Bugler Kimball Sounds " Tap-Taps "—" Put Out the Lights " — " Good-
Night " — Historic Arlington and Sheridan's Grave, . Pages40o~42i
CHAPTER XXXI.
General Sheridan's Life and Career — A Review.
Sheridan's Services — Opinions of Contemporaries — Character and Position as
a Soldier — As a Citizen and Man — A Wonderful Story of Great Deeds — A
Romance of War — An Honorable and Upright Personality — His Graphic
Powers as a Writer — Badeau's Testimony — Brief Speeches at Army
Reunions,  Pages 422-437

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page.
The late Residence of Sheridan's Mother, Somerset, Ohio, . 21
Home of Sheridan's Boyhood, Somerset, Ohio, . . -25
Pontoon Boat — Ornamental Piece, ... 28
Store at Somerset, Ohio, ....... 35
Where Sheridan Served as a Clerk, (Present Appearance of Building.)
The Outbreak of the Rebellion — The Attack on Sumter, . 39
The Rough Riders, .... . . 133
A Street Cavalry Fight in Kernstown, Va.
On the March — Ornamental Piece, . . . 144
A Landscape — Ornamental Piece, . . . . 174
General Sheridan's Headojjarters, . ... 185
East Side of Cedar Creek, after the Battle of Fisher's Hill.
The Opeojjan Ford, ..... . . 195
Where Sheridan Crossed his Army before the Battle of Winchester.
The Stone Bridge at Fisher's Hill, ..... 209
Where, on Sheridan's Rallying the Union Army, October 19, 1S64, a large Body of Con
federate Prisoners was Taken.
Sheridan's Ride, ...... . 22S
From an Original Painting by Copeland, of Boston.
General Sheridan's Headojjarters at Winchester, . . . 236
The Residence of Lloyd Logan, Esq.
Sheridan on the Road to Five Forks, .... 268
Taking his Bearings from the " Reliable Contraband."
Las Cruces, Valley of Mesila, New Mexico, . . . . 321
Headquarters ofthe California Brigade.
The Plaza and Church of Paso Del Norte, Chihuahua, Mexico, 325
The Old Church Held as a Fortress by the Mexican Republicans.
Late Residence of General Sheridan, Washington, D. C, . 363

14 ILLUSTRATIONS.
Army Headquarters, Washington — State, War, and Navy Building, 370
Cabin of the United States Steamship Swatara, . . . 377
In which Sheridan was removed to Nonquit.
The Sheridan Cottage at Nonquit, ..... 385
Where the General Died, August 5, 18SS.
The National Cemetery, Arlington, .... 418
Showing the Graves of Many of the Union Dead in the Southwestern Section of the Grounds.
The Arlington House and Cemetery, . . . 419
Showing the Spot where General Sheridan is Buried.
PORTRAITS.
General Philip H. Sheridan, .... Frontispiece.
The Sheridan Family at Nonquit in 1887, Opposite page 16
General Sheridan, Mrs. General Sheridan, Irene, (< Little Phil," Louise, Mary, Colonel
M. V. Sheridan, Mrs. Colonel M. V. Sheridan.
Mrs. Irene M. Sheridan, .... Opposite page 17
Wife of General P. H. Sheridan : Daughter of General D. H. Rucker, United States Army.
Mrs. John Sheridan, the General's Mother, . . 17
John Sheridan, the General's Father, . . 22
Philip H. Sheridan, ..... .29
Brevet Second Lieutenant, after Graduation.
Mrs. McP. Bonsal, ....... 201
Formerly Miss Wright, upon whose Information Sheridan Fought the Battle of Winchester.
UNION.
General Gordon Granger, ...... 47
A Distinguished Officer, who Preceded Sheridan in Command ofthe Second Michigan Cavalry.
President Lincoln, ....... 50
General R. A. Alger, of Michigan, .... 59
One ofthe Heroes ofthe Booneville Fight, Later Governor of Michigan.
General B. R. Grierson, ...... 69
A Well-known Cavalry Leader ofthe Army ofthe Potomac.
General U. S. Grant, ....... 79
General George Stoneman, ...... 93
A Distinguished Cavalry Leader, and Recently Governor of California.
General John Buford, ....... 93
A Dashing Union Cavalryman.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 1 5

General Wesley Merritt, . . . . ... .111
One of Sheridan's Distinguished Generals.
General H. Judson Kilpatrick, ..... 145
Minister to Chili after the War.
General George A. Custer, ...... 149
One of Sheridan's Troopers, and after the War a Famous Indian Fighter, Killed at
Rosebud, Dakota, in 1876.
Sheridan and His Generals, ...... 154
General H. E. Davies, General D. McM. Gregg, General Wesley Merritt, General A. T. A.
Torbett, General J. H. Wilson, General George A. Custer.
General A. T. A. Torbett, ...... 161
Sheridan's Chief of Staff in the Shenandoah Valley.
Major-General Alfred Pleasonton, ..... 166
The First Chief of Cavalry of the Army of the Potomac.
General George Crook, ... ... 166
A Famous Cavalry Leader ofthe Army ofthe Potomac.
General August V. Kautz, ...... 175
A Distinguished German-American Officer — Commander of the Cavalry of the Army of
the James, under Sheridan.
General David McM. Gregg, ...... 179
A Famous Division Commander under Sheridan.
General Alfred N. Duffie, ...... 181
A Distinguished French Cavalry Officer who Performed Gallant Service with the
Union Army.
Colonel Ulric Dahlgren, . . . . . . .216
Son of Admiral John A. Dahlgren, Killed March 3, 1S64.
General H. E. Davies, .... . 216
One of Sheridan^s Famous Division Commanders.
General Eben J. Farnsworth, ...... 223
A Daring Cavalry Officer, Killed at Gettysburg.
General James H. Wilson, ....... 239
One of Sheridan's Famous Generals. He Conducted the last great Raid, in which
Jefferson Davis was Captured.
General W. W. Averill, ...... 256
A Famous Cavalry General under Stoneman, Pleasonton, and Sheridan.
General Thomas C. Deven, ...... 263
The Gallant Commander ofthe Second Brigade, First Division, Sheridan's Cavalry Corps.
General George D. Bayard, ...... 277
One of the Youngest Generals in the Army. Killed at Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862.

1 6 ILLUSTRATIONS.
General J. Irvin Gregg, ....... 293
A Distinguished Brigade Commander in Sheridan's Corps.
General William T. Sherman, ...... 342
Sheridan's Predecessor as General of the Army, Hero of the March to the Sea, and One of
the Three Great Captains under whom the War was Brought to a Successful Close.
Philip Henry Sheridan, ....... 399
From a Photograph later than that from which the Frontispiece was taken.
CONFEDERATES.
General J. R. Chalmers, of Mississippi, . . . . 55
Sheridan's Antagonist at Booneville, Member of Congress from Mississippi after the War.
General J. B. Gordon, Governor of Georgia, ... 62
A Distinguished Cavalryman, who Fought against Sheridan at Cedar Creek.
General Fitzhugh Lee, Governor of Virginia, . . .62
One ofthe Famous Confederate Cavalry^nen of the Army of Northern Virginia.
General Joseph A. Wheeler, . . . . . .119
Now a Member of the National House of Representatives from Alabama.
General N. B. Forrest, ....... 122
A Famous Cavalry Leader in the Southwest.
General J. E. B. Stuart, . . . . • . . 122
The Most Famous Cavalry Leader ofthe Confederate Army, Killed at Yellow Tavern.
Colonel John A. Moseby, . . . . . . .141
A Famous Confederate Partisan Leader, Consul to Hong Kong during President
Grant's Administration.
Colonel Harry Gilmore, ...... 184
A Confederate Partisan from Maryland.
General W. H. H. Rosser, . . . . . . .184
Pitted against Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley, in 1864.
General Jubal Early, ...... 231
Sheridan's Antagonist at Winchester.
General John B. Imboden, . ..... 256
A Distinguished Confederate General, of Virginia,
A Confederate Cavalryman — Ornamental Piece, .. . 30..
General Wade Hampton, . . . . . . . 311
A Famous Confederate Cavalry Officer. Since the War a United States Senator
from South Carolina.

m

THE SHERIDAN FAMILY AT NONQUIT IN 1887.
MRS. COL. M. V. SHERIDAN. COL. M. V. SHERIDAN. MRS. QEN. SHERIDAN. QEN. SHERIDAN.
[From a Photograph.] Irene. " little phil." louise. mary.

^v

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i '

I

MRS. IRENE M. SHERIDAN,
WIFE OF GEN. P. H. SHERIDAN; DAUGHTER OF GEN. u. M. RUOKER, U. S. A.

Chapter I.

SHERIDAN AS A GENERAL.

GRANT'S ESTIMATE OF SHERIDAN- — HIS FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE GREAT
CAVALRYMAN — HIS QUALITIES AS A COMMANDER — HIS SECOND MEETING
WITH GRANT — SHERIDAN'S PLACE IN HISTORY — CLOSING SCENES OF THE
REBELLION. "Sheridan's
pursuit of Lee
was perfect in its
generalship and
energy." Gene
ral Grantpaid this
fitting tribute to
the soldier whose
brilliant career
these pages will
record. Then the
mighty man of
war added: "As
a soldier, as a
commander of
troops, as a man
capable of doing
all that is possible
with any number
of men, there is
no man living
greater than Sher
idan. He belongs to the very first rank of soldiers, not only of our coun
try, but of the world. I rank Sheridan with Napoleon and Frederick
and the great commanders in history. No man ever had such a faculty
of finding out things as Sheridan, or of knowing all about the enemy.
He was always the best informed man in his command as to the enemy.

MRS. JOHN SHERIDAN,
THE GENERAL'S MOTHER.

20 THE LIFE OF
illustration of their discipline, and the confidence reposed in their com
mander. The cavalry had whirled through the Shenandoah — a cyclone
of war — and had left a ruined country and a scattered and dispirited
remnant of an army. It had throttled the last hope at Five Forks.
Sheridan, the dashing cavalry officer, the masterly leader of men in
battle, here proved himself a perfect tactician on the field and in the
face of a fighting army. The whole of his movements won from an
applauding world the recognition of his powers as a great commanding
general. From that point it was little more than a series of running
skirmishes, some of them desperate, all of them evidences of Ameri
can grit ; for, though sore, weary, and starving, the remnants of Lee's
once great army would sometimes turn and sting with terrible power
their relentless pursuers. But Union troopers harassed them at every
turn. The infantry drove their already dejected forces into disorder.
The great cordon closed around them like an immense barn door, and
the main army swung on the veterans of Lee like a host of beating
flails winnowing the grain. Every avenue was closed by the Federal
troopers. They had overrun all the roads of supplies and left them
barren. Wherever the Confederacy looked expectantly for some new
path of escape or succor, Sheridan was there like a whirlwind of death
and defeat. Across fields, down highways, through by-paths, and on
every road, in the storm and terror of Five Forks, on the road below
Appomattox, this great cavalryman and wonderful soldier was leading
the advance or striking the flank of the enemy, with an energy born
of the mighty power of a great brain well schooled in the best element
of the art and vigor of war.
Finally, on a beautiful April morning in 1865, as the sun rose
over the hills and vales of a region that had never yet felt the cruel
footfall of war, Sheridan's cavalry swung into line for the last charge.
The sound of those horses' hoofs on the road beyond Gordon's advance
was the final menace to the expiring Confederacy.
The night of the 8th of April closed upon' a day of hard work and
exciting events. By a forced and rapid march Sheridan had thrust his
cavalry in front of the retreating Confederate army. The night before
the surrender, Custer had enveloped Appomattox Station, capturing three
heavily laden railway trains of supplies, twenty-five pieces of artillery,
200 wagons, and many prisoners. After this stroke the cavalrymen
stood to horse all night. The gray of the morning was just yielding
to the stronger light of full day when they were ordered to move for
ward. As they emerged from the woods and advanced upon the plains

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

21

THE LATE RESIDENCE OF SHERIDAN'S MOTHER.
SOMERSET, OHIO.
[From a Recent Photography
beyond, they could see the army of Lee cut off from further retreat.
It was a sight at once grand and thrilling when the horsemen moved
forward to the final attack. Gordon made an attempt to destroy the
line of cavalry which appeared with sabres glistening in the spring sun,
the trophies of war mingling with battle-flags of the Union commander.
Behind Sheridan's cavalry long lines of infantry under Ord, Griffin,
and Gibbon, were waiting to gather the sheaves of war which Sheri
dan's troopers had secured. The last fight was a short one, and the
white flag of truce from Gordon's headquarters announced the final sur
render. Sheridan rode into the Confederate lines to receive the praises
of his chief and the applause of his country for his brilliant work. It
was a fitting end to the closing hours' of the great struggle, that his
fame as a soldier should be completed only with the final breaking up,
which his generalship and energy had done so much to hasten.
The story of so dashing and brilliant a life cannot be easily told.
But it is well before taking up the thread of his military life in detail, to
observe the elements of mind and character which have combined to pro
duce a soldier whose fame has reached far beyond the limits of his own
country, and of whom Grant once said : "No better general ever lived."

Chapter II.

SHERIDAN'S BOYHOOD DAYS.

THE HUMBLE HOME IN OHIO — HIS FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE  TRADITIONS OF
THE COUNTRY-SIDE CONCERNING HIM — A CLERK IN THE COUNTRY STORE —
APPOINTMENT TO WEST POINT — ANECDOTES OF SHERIDAN'S YOUTH- — HIS
EARLY EDUCATION AND OPPORTUNITIES. It is seldom
that the same gen
eral reveals great
ness alike on the
battle-field and
in the planning
of campaigns.
Therefore it is,
that in the sharp
test of warfare
only one officer
steps forward
among the many
possessing all the
traits necessary to
the successful
conduct of war
like operations.
Yet no two great
JOHN SHERIDAN, commanders have
THE GENERAL'S FATHER. pOSSeSSed the
same qualifications. Sheridan is not complete on the same lines that
made Grant such a mighty power in war. But he held other gifts
of head and spirit which Grant had not, and which go very far
toward rounding up the strength of resource between them. Sher-

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 23
idan has the impetuous quality that comes from Irish ancestry.
Grant inherited the perfect temper, self-poise, resolution, and endurance
ofthe Scotch. Naturally, a wide difference, yet they had many quali
ties in common. Neither of them was talkative, and in their army life
both may well be called silent men of the type of whom Carlyle says :
"The noble silent men, scattered here and there, each in his depart
ment, silently thinking, silently working, — they are the salt of the earth.
Silence — the great empire of silence."
It is not necessary, in seeking the sources of Sheridan's power, to
go back farther than his immediate family. His father came to this
country shortly before Philip was born, and settled for a time in
Albany, N. Y. He was a laborer and contractor, according to his
varying fortunes. Early in life he married Mary Maigh, a fine speci
men of Irish womanhood, who was born in the county of Cavan in
1801. She bore him six children : Patrick H., Philip H., Michael V.,
John, Maiy, and Rosa. Patrick, the oldest child, was born in Ire
land, also a daughter, who died at sea. The family came to Quebec,
Canada, in 1829, thence to St. John, New Brunswick, from there to
Portland, Me., arriving in Albany, N. Y., in 1S30. Remaining in
Albany several years, they moved to Somerset, Ohio. Next to the
daughter who died at sea came the general ; then Mary, who married
Mr. John Wilson, and died in 1868 ; then John L., born in 1837, f°l"
lowed by Colonel M. V. Sheridan, U. S. A., born in 1840. This em
braces the entire family. Mrs. Sheridan had relatives living near Som
erset; and desiring to be near her kindred, the elder Sheridan decided
to leave Albany for the West. When Philip, who was born at Albany,
March 6, 1831, was yet a child in arms, the family settled in the queer
little Ohio village, where they have ever since lived. John Sheridan
became a contractor on the Maysville turnpike, running towards
Jonesville. This region was then the far West. The vast domain beyond the
Alleghanies was only being opened up to settlement. Therefore, the
early surroundings of the Sheridan family were rude. But the primi
tive conditions of the new country, forbidding as they were, brought
out the best energies of the young who grew up in it.
John Sheridan was not as prosperous as many of his neighbors ; yet,
by industry and perseverance, he was able to bring his family up with
most ofthe advantages ofthe country-side.
It is a village tradition that Mrs. Sheridan was, in the days of their

24 THE LIFE OF
early struggle, a remarkable woman. She brought up her children
carefully, and taught them habits of industry. Her boys are said to
have been as well behaved and as neatly dressed as any of the children
in the neighborhood. She also schooled them in their first lessons, and
imparted to them much of her own spirit and many of her sterling
qualities. It has been written that men inherit their strongest qualities of mind
and heart from their mothers. Sheridan is no exception to this rule.
Ofthe four boys of John Sheridan, Patrick H. was regarded as the
brightest and the most likely to make his mark in the world. It is
stated by those who were boys and girls when Phil Sheridan was a lad,
that it was his father's intention that Patrick, and not Philip, should
be sent to West Point. All the Sheridan boys were brought up to be
industrious. Philip was, in early life, a clerk in the country stores.
Michael, now an assistant adjutant-general on his brother's staff, and
John, who never reached a higher place in the army than that of a
private, worked in the printing-office of the town.
It is an odd experience to find one's self in a country store in a
remote village, aside from the main lines of travel, and to hear from
the clerk, between the intervals of getting tape and buttons, hardware
and groceries, the early history ofthe General of the Army, who often
slept with him beneath the counter. It is a favorite pastime for the jus
tice and the preacher, the shoemaker and the attorney, to gather in
Fink & Dittoe's establishment, and listen to Captain Greiner and Mr.
Fink recall their adventures with Phil Sheridan when they were boys
together. But few of the companions of Sheridan's boyhood live in
Somerset now. They, like him, have drifted into the outer currents
of life, and are scattered over the country. Those who have re
mained find pleasure in telling stories ofthe boy, who, by dint of those
very qualities that made him a leader of his companions in youth, won
his way to the head of the army. The boys who fought and played
with him have not achieved distinction. The few of them who have
remained "in the town have stagnated there. Captain Greiner, the vil
lage dentist, who fought in the war ; Martin Scott, a genial old man,
who keeps another store over the way ; Brashton, a lawyer of advanced
years, and Henry Talbot, give many reminiscences of Phil Sheridan, as
they still call him. The little village where he was brought up has
fallen behind in the rapid growth of the country all around it. Years
ago it was the county-seat, made some pretence of bustle and business,

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

2?

HOME OF SHERIDAN'S BOYHOOD, SOMERSET, OHIO.
[From a Recent Photograph.']
and promised to grow into a city. But as railroads were built, they
passed it on one side on their way to the mines ; the county court
was held elsewhere ; the young men pushed into more active fields ;
and Somerset became that rare phenomenon in the West, a town which
lost population instead of gaining it. Quiet and dull, with few young
people to be seen, it has far less life in its central square than have
most other towns of its size.
The open space in the middle of the village is surrounded by stores
and offices. From it run four roads, along which houses are scattered
for a short distance, and then comes open country. About fourteen
hundred people are grouped in this settlement — fewer than lived here

26 THE LIFE OF
thirty or more years ago, when Phil Sheridan, a lively boy, romped
and ran through its open streets.
Only a few people can recall much of the early history of the man
who has now reached such an eminence. "Mike" Sheridan, as the
village people call him, is better known, perhaps, than his brother. A
half mile or so beyond the town, Mrs. Sheridan lived in a quiet,
unpretending house, such as one finds in any country village. The old
lady, when the writer, not long since, called upon her, had passed
more than fourscore years, and still retained her faculties and strength.
Her boys "Phil" and "Mike" were the pride of her life; and
be it said to their credit, in their prosperity they never forgot the
plain, warm-hearted, good mother, from whom they inherited many
of their best qualities. Chance threw the writer into her company.
Her strong features lighted up, and her eyes sparkled with pleasure,
when the name of the great general, her son, was spoken. v
"He was always a fine lad and good to his mother. I don't want
to be foolishly proud about him, but he's been a good son to me. He
was always in mischief, and always used to be teaching the boys to be
soldiers when he was younger than any of them. But he would never
do anything mean. He never lets a year go round that he doesn't
come to see me ; and he's very kind."
As may be imagined, Sheridan's early educational advantages were
few. His instructor was a unique character, named McNally. His
hot. temper displayed itself in bursts of passion, which alternated with
the most effusive kindness towards his pupils. At one hour he would
thrash and scold till arm and tongue were weary ; at another he would
promise the boys a holiday, and joke with them as if he were a boy
himself. Toward Sheridan especially, he was always either exceed
ingly gracious or very severe. He had a kindly feeling for the little
Irish boy who was always playing tricks on the other lads. But the
teacher had another favorite, a boy named Home. One day Sheridan
and Home quarreled, and Home rushed into the school-house with his
nose bleeding, wailing his distress to the master. McNally was furious.
He seized a long stick and sallied out in search of Sheridan. It was
recess time, and the young conqueror was sitting on a rail fence, watch
ing the school-house, knowing that there were breakers ahead. The
appearance of the teacher was warning enough. Sheridan ran away
as fast as his little legs could carry him.
"Come back here, you little rascal!" shouted McNally, starting

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 27
in pursuit. The chase led up the middle of the main village street,
and everybody rushed out to see it. The pedagogue ran, his flying
coat-tails and long hair tossed in the wind, shaking his stick, and mak
ing the most terrible threats. The boy's strength began to fail ; the
master was gaining ; escape seemed impossible. Just then the friendly
door of a tin-shop appeared wide open. The tinsmith, Sam Cassell,
was a great friend of Phil's, and to him the boy rushed.
" Hide me, Sam," he begged. There was not a second to lose.
The old man was at work on a big copper kettle. Quick as a flash he
clapped the kettle over the boy, and when the teacher arrived the tin
smith was calmly hammering away at a rivet, within two inches of the
fugitive's head.
" Where's that boy who ran in here? " panted McNally.
' ' I don't know. He went out back somewhere," responded Cassell.
The teacher looked and looked ; but Sheridan was not to be found,
and his baffled pursuer returned to the school-house. An hour later
little Phil came back also, well knowing that McNally's anger would be
cooled. The teacher let the boy walk to his desk, and never said a
word about the fight or chase.
Phil Sheridan was, from his earliest boyhood, a lover of soldiers.
His eye danced and his heart beat whenever there was a drill of the
village militia company. Every summer he would get a dozen of his
school-mates, and persuade them that it was the best fun in the world
to play soldier. His friend Cassell would let him have a sword of the
sharpest and brightest tin, and, df course, Phil was always captain.
But there would always be some mutinous boy who wanted to be
captain, too, and Sheridan's company usually broke up in confusion.
A hundred other stories like this are told in the town where he grew
up, but it would take a volume to record the anecdotes of his boy
hood days. His fame is the pride of the village, and the casual
visitor who chances to stop at Somerset is never allowed to leave with
out due notice of the fact that this little village has raised a great soldier
for the army. These humble people love to tell that one of the traits
of this boy, besides his love of fun and soldiering, was that he never
knew fear. He was always ready to stand his ground against any odds.
The school-master who taught him his earliest lessons has long since
passed away ; but his school-mates say that Phil Sheridan never studied
in earnest until he thought he had a chance to go to West Point.

28 GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.
Then he devoted all his energies to cramming for his examination. He
got his appointment in 1849, and by dint of his friends' aid, passed the
ordeal, and was admitted to the military academy. For two years the
village lost sight of him, and then he came home on his first leave of
absence. He brought two companions with him, the now famous Gen
eral Crook, and Colonel Nugent, who afterwards made something of a
mark in the army. These three cadets were the lions of the town,
and picnics, rides, and rural frolics filled the summer.
This first summer that Sheridan passed at home after his entrance
to West Point is often spoken of by his neighbors. He closed his
round of pleasures by thrashing a lawyer named Henessey, twice as
large as himself, who had made some idle remark about his family.
¦ The story of this fight is about the last reminiscence these plain people
give of the poor boy who used to live amongst them, but who is now
General of the Army. He was graduated in the class of 1853, and
immediately appointed a brevet second lieutenant in the First In
fantry. Almost all they knew of him in recent years was that, until
her recent demise, he came now and then to see his mother, and in
the glamor of his official life had not forgotten the homely days of
his youth.

Chapter III.

WEST POINT AND THE ARMY.

HIS LIFE AT THE MILITARY ACADEMY ON THE HUDSON — EARLY EXPERIENCES
IN THE ARMY AFTER GRADUATION  INTERESTING STORIES OF FRONTIER
LIFE — OUTBREAK OFTHE REBELLION  HIS FIRST SERVICE IN WAR — NOT
A VERY BRILLIANT BEGINNING. The boy, who at ten
years of age had whipped
every one of his size and
weight in the town of Som
erset, and received the sur
render of his school-mas
ter, whom with the aid of
his dog, he had ignomin-
iously driven up a tree,
was a fitting candidate, a
few years later, for a West
Point cadetship.
It was in the year 1847,
while employed as a clerk
in the dry goods store of
Fink & Dittoe at Somerset,
that young Sheridan had
his ambition fired with a
desire to enter the military
academy. There was a
vacant cadetship at the dis
posal of General Ritchie, then a representative in Congress from the
district in which Somerset was included. The ambitious boy made
his application direct, writing and signing the letter himself and having
no endorsements attached.
The congressman made the appointment, and the nominee went

PHILIP H. SHERIDAN.
BREVET SECOND LIEUTENANT, AFTER GRADUATION.

30 THE LIFE OF
earnestly and industriously to work supplying the deficiencies of a
limited education. He placed himself under the tuition of a Mr.
Clark, a fine mathematician and excellent teacher. Pupil and teacher
worked hard, and at the end of three months young Sheridan was
ready for his examination. He left Somerset for West Point and was
admitted to the academy in the spring of 1848.
No more peculiar looking lad had ever been admitted. He is,
to-day, one of the most notable appearing of men, when one associates
with so commanding a military reputation, the physique which is com
monly presumed to be part of a soldier's qualifications. On horseback
and in battle, General Sheridan is the very embodiment of conflict.
He is the apotheosis in his personality of both brain and blow ; of in
tellect and action ; of swift conception and daring execution. Some
one who has known him well declares that in the field " Sheridan was
a terribly ugly man." He was profanely bitter in cases of unneeded
delay or failure: not sparing himself, he never spared others. " He
never raved or frothed at the mouth, but he was short, sharp, hot,
peppery, crusty, sarcastic, vehement, and full of fight even with his own
staff. Excuses were in vain. When his manoeuvres were successful
he never stopped to receive praise ; he accepted it as perfectly natural ;
but when anything went wrong he was perfectly savage."
The boy was father to the man : the West Point cadet proved him
self the forerunner of the mature soldier. His appearance at the acad
emy excited both curiosity and amusement, and his peculiar build made
him the butt of his class, until it became painfully evident to those who
practiced their jokes that he was a dangerous subject to jest with.
General Hascall, one of his classmates, and now resident of Indian
apolis, says :
" He was one of the most peculiarly built boys I ever saw. His
chest was very large and full, his legs short and small, and his arms so
phenomenally long that his hands reached far below his knees as he
walked. His physical peculiarities were so marked before he finally
and fully developed that he came very near being rejected by the
examining board on that account."
It was those long arms of his that enabled Sheridan to become one
of the finest swordsmen of his age. His knowledge of horses stood
him in excellent stead, and his audacious courage in handling and rid
ing them soon made him a leader in the riding school. On horseback
Sheridan looks to be a large man. On his feet, he is indeed peculiar.
In these later and famous days, he excites as much comment as did

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 31
his rustic, ungainly appearance at the military academy forty years
since. At the headquarters of the army, or elsewhere in Washington,
Sheridan, unless met face to face, would surprise a stranger almost to
incredulity by his appearance. He is careless of dress, and like most
American officers, especially in the regular army, gets as far away from
uniform when off duty as is possible. His short figure has grown
very rotund with increasing years and comparative ease. Seen by a
correspondent a short time before his serious sickness, he was thus
described :
" He wore upon the back of his round, bullet head a very slim,
high, old-fashioned silk hat of a style that was popular at the close of
the Civil War. It was about two sizes too small. His short, iron
gray hair stood out from under the rim of his hat at nearly right angles
with it. His red, weather-beaten face did not show any new lines of
advancing age, but his grizzly, iron-gray mustache and imperial were
whitening very fast. He wore a short, light, yellow-gray overcoat
which had only two buttons on it, and they were nearly ready to fly off
from the undue strain of Sheridan's round figure. The coat like the
hat, appeared to have been long outgrown. The trousers were a gray
plaid and fitted very snugly to the general's fat legs. His boots were
thick soled and unblacked. He wore no gloves. The side and rear
views of the general suggested a low comedy man who had walked off
the stage all made up for a funny part ; but when you came to look at
the general square in the face, its stern, solemn, composed lines were
enough to make one forget his grotesque figure and careless dress."
Cadet Sheridan at his studies and books was more inapt and dull
than at his drill and exercises, yet that he was a poor scholar is not
at all a correct statement. The academic curriculum was even then
too severe to permit a dullard or dunce to graduate successfully. Sheri
dan was simply an average scholar, and a superior soldier-cadet. He
was a sturdy, self-respecting " pleb, " and did not allow himself to be
bullied by the cadets, chiefly from the slave-holding states and the
cities of the North, who presumed to set up in business as the aristo
crats of the academy. At that period the northern cadet who did not
succumb to the social and political blandishments which were under
the control of pro-slavery influences that dominated the country and all
its administrative forces, had indeed a rocky path to climb, and found
his way to even legitimate advancement a severe one. Young Sheri
dan did not quarrel with the prevailing tone of the period, it is true,
but found himself socially ignored by the cadets more favored in person

32 THE LIFE OF
and influence. He was too self respecting to care for this, though
quick to resent any presumption on the part of his fellow-cadets. It
,was an incident of this sort that set him back a year in his graduation.
On one occasion, about the middle of his cadetship, the officer of
the day was Captain Terrell, a somewhat petty martinet and diciplina- ,
rian, who sought to gain favor and promotion by a system of small
rigorousness. Sheridan was a few minutes late at reveille and Terrell
reported him for this fault. As a consequence the cadet was repri
manded. Sheridan was enraged at this, and not being at all lacking
in spirit, caught Terrell next day off duty and attempted at once to give
him a pummelling for what he considered an unwarranted indignity.
The sturdy young fellow got in his work on the older martinet, and
though he was somewhat worsted in the encounter, remained satisfied
with the humiliation he inflicted on Terrell by attacking him so unceri-
. moniously, even though it brought on him the severe punishment of a
year's suspension. In consequence of this, Sheridan did not graduate till
1853, when he was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant of infantry,
and sent to Texas immediately on the expiration of the usual leave of
absence granted to graduates on their leaving the military academy.
A brief rest at home, with one of his class : then, Sheridan was off
to begin that eventful career which has placed his name among the half
dozen foremost soldiers of this country. »At the academy he acquired
the habits of the cadets. He naturally grew fond of his pipe, and
among the many relics and trophies of his wonderful forty years of
superb activities, the little mahogany-hued meerschaum^ which with all a
boy's pride he " stained" while a cadet, is still preserved in his lovely
and interesting Washington home. He made the town-people of Som
erset remember him as the roads and by-ways witnessed his feats of
horsemanship, of reckless riding. The picture of Lieutenant Sheridan
was taken during this visit. It is a curious evidence of the sturdy sim
plicity of the Sheridan family that this old-fashioned picture, so valuable
a reminiscence of a great historical character, had been almost forgotten
by even his mother, until it was sought for as a valuable portion ofthe
material that was being collected for this volume. Perhaps this sturdy
simplicity can be best illustrated by a later incident :
Captain Greiner, of Somerset, a few years after the Civil War closed,
was a candidate for some county office. In conducting a personal
canvass, he rode horseback. Calling at the home of John and Mary
Sheridan, the general's parents, the old gentleman (who died a little

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 33
later, in 1875) remarked upon the fact that the captain was using a
very poor saddle. He said :
" Captain Greiner, you'll never get through this campaign on that
saddle, and you'd better let me give you another. We have one that
Phil sent home not long ago, and it's the one he rode at Winchester."
Of course the captain demurred at the idea of taking so valuable a
relic. John Sheridan, however, insisted that he could have it just as
well as not. The saddle — a regulation McClellan stock, with worn
military trappings, well-covered with dust, and bearing the marks of
hard usage — was brought out. One ofthe stirrups was missing, to be
found after some search. The saddle was really needed, but Captain
Greiner was very much averse to taking what he deemed the soldier's
parents would prize so highly. He finally said :
" It seems to me that you ought to keep this saddle, Mr. Sheridan.
If one of my boys had played such a great part in the war and had
made such a famous ride on this saddle as Phil did, no money could
buy it of me."
" Oh, as to that," said Mr. Sheridan, as he straightened himself up,
" I am proud enough of Phil, and I'm glad he did his work well. I
don't care so much about his promotions, nor about those stories and
poems about his ride. It would have hurt me had he played the cow
ard, and I would have felt very mean if he had not turned out well.
But I don't care for his old hats and swords and for this old saddle, so
if you want it, you are welcome to it."
Captain Greiner took the saddle, and it was for a long time in the
relic room at the capitol at Columbus. It has been at many an army
reunion, and is now the property of the State of Ohio.
It must not be supposed that the quaint and self-possessed Irish-
American, sturdily democratic to the core, was indifferent to the renown
won by his son, or was careless of the great career that son's genius
has so splendidly carved. It was the American idea that spoke in
' John Sheridan's words. It was tbe idea of duty, of manhood, and of
personal devotion that was regarded, and not the factitious adjuncts or
relics that received the parental-approval. It is this civic quality, also,
which has won for his son the plaudits ofthe country-side. This is the
lesson of American democracy as expressed in citizenship and its
service. Another incident belonging to Sheridan's graduation year illustrates
the courage and self-possession of the dear old mother, who passed
away at the age of eighty-seven,while the General himself was struggling

34 THE LIFE OF
with a terrible complication of disorders. John Sheridan, as a railroad
sub-contractor, had 150 men in his employ. He was absent at the time a
fatal riot occurred between the railroad hands, numbering in all 600,
and those of a circus which was exhibiting at Somerset. The first
day's fighting was a bloody one, and word was sent along the construc
tion works for all the laborers to assemble. John Sheridan's men were
so notified, and came by scores to the rendezvous at Somerset. Mrs.
Sheridan learned of the disturbance and of the proposed action of her
husband's workmen. By dint of mingled persuasion and authority she
succeeded in inducing them all to return to their boarding-houses.
The state militia was called out next day to quell the disturbance, but
the Sheridan men took no part in it.
The active life of the young soldier began with the close of his
brief holiday. As brevet second lieutenant he joined a company of the
First Infantry at Fort Duncan, on the Rio Grande, Texas, where he
served against Comanche, Lipan, and Apache till early in 1855, when
he was made second lieutenant in the Fourth Infantry. In May of
that year he was in command at Fort Wood, New York Harbor. He
was then sent with recruits, via Panama, to San Francisco, and on
arrival there was ordered to Washington Territory. Detailed to com
mand of the escort of Lieutenant Williamson, then surveying a railroad
from the Sacramento River, California, to the Columbia River, Oregon,
he became topographically familiar with that wonderful region. De
tached from this escort duty in September, 1855, at Vancouver, Washing
ton Territory, Lieutenant Sheridan was ordered to accompany and com
mand a detachment of dragoons in the expedition of Major Raines, of
the Fourth Infantry, to' the Yakima reservation, Oregon, against an
Indian tribe of that name. He returned to Columbia the same fall.
His conduct in the fights with the Indians at the Cascades of Columbia
were specially mentioned as very gallant.
The great river of Oregon breaks through the Cascade. Range, a
mountain formation which practically divides Oregon into two sections.
Forty odd miles east of the Cascades the Columbia makes, by " turning
on its edge," what is termed the '.' Dalles." Sheridan's earliest duty
was in this region, where settlements had already commenced, menaced,
though they were, by the constant unfriendliness of the Yakima Indians.
The pioneers of Oregon have not yet forgotten the scenes which accom
panied and followed the outbreak in '1847, when Dr. Whitman and his
associates were massacred in the Walla Walla Valley. Sheridan
arrived in the winter of 1853-4, and entered at once into active and

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

35

SHERIDAN A DRY GOODS CLERK.
PRESENT APPEARANCE OF THE OLD STORE AT SOMERSET, OHIO, WHERE " LITTLE PHIL "
STOOD BEHIND THE COUNTER.
[From a Recent Photograph.]
arduous service, both at post and in the field. In the former, by ser
vice as adjutant, commissary, quartermaster, as well as by company
duty, he acquired that minute knowledge of all military administration
and details which so early distinguished his army career.
In the field there was found ample opportunity for Sheridan, subor
dinate though he was, to prove the metal of which he was made. Old
army men who served with the tireless, audacious, restless, daring
young officer, are never tired of telling of his feats and exploits. An
interesting fact is that, though an infantry officer, Sheridan was oftenest

36 THE LIFE OF
assigned when in the field to command of a detachment of dragoons.
On one occasion, in the fall of 1855, he made a march from Fort Red
ding, where he was stationed, to the north side of the Columbia River.
It was over a very rugged country, passing, in fact, through the famous
lava beds, where in 1873, General Canby lost his life at the hands of the
Modoc Indians. This same tribe, whose meagre remnants are now
settled as poor farmers in the Indian Territory, fired upon Sheridan
and his detachment during the march in question. No one was
wounded, however. At Klamath Lake, during the same march, a
canoe was descried upon a small island. Lieutenant Sheridan, in order
to secure it and to find out whether it was evidence of any Indian move
ment, with one man swam out to the island and brought back the canoe.
In command of his dragoon detachment, Lieutenant Sheridan was
always actively at work. In the fall of 1855, while at the Dalles,
one night the long roll was sounded. Information had been received
of an attack on the block-house and settlement at the Cascades, by
Yakima Indians. The people were in great peril, as a general massa
cre was threatened. Colonel Marcus J. Wright, commanding the Ninth
Infantry, who had just taken up the line of march for other quarters,
was hastily informed and recalled. General Wright acquired in this
way that knowledge of Sheridan's value, which enabled him to truth
fully telegraph General Halleck some years after, just previous to the
Perryville campaign, that he wanted Sheridan, who "was worth his
weight in gold," ordered to report to him for duty as brigadier.
Lieutenant Sheridan at once put his cavalry detachment on board
the river steamer Belle, with a handy twelve-pound howitzer. Early
the next morning the Belle reached the Lower Cascades, being as far
as her regular trips extended. She stopped at a landing made by a
Mr. Johnson, near Bradford's Island. From this point the Indians
could be seen in force on the island. Breakfast was ordered at once.
Sheridan told his men there would be some hard fighting and perhaps
some killing. Not waiting to learn what was in progress at the Cas
cades settlement, he prepared for an attack upon the Indians on the
island. This was made on the west side and from the north bank of
the Columbia River, and his little force was immediately deployed. His
men were ordered to take advantage of every cover, and to fire only
when they could see the Indians. In this way the small force advanced
slowly in skirmishing order. Sheridan's orderly, an Irishman named
McGraw, soon shouted out that he saw an Indian. He fell dead imme
diately, shot in the mouth which he had just used so unwisely. A

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 37
volley was drawn on the advancing detachment by the injudicious
shout. Greatly outnumbered, Sheridan, having removed McGraw's
body to the rear, commenced a slow retreat, firing rapidly as he fell
back. At the shore he brought into play the howitzer that his fore
sight had caused him to place on the steamboat. The Indians were
checked and finally fell back. McGraw was our only loss. In the
evening Sheridan drew off his dragoons to the Belle, keeping steam
up, and preserving a vigilant watch. His handful of men were greatly
outnumbered, and he was unable to take more aggressive action.
The Indians remained quiet during the night. At early dawn a
whale-boat was obtained and the detachment embarked, making its way
up stream to Bradford's Island. They found Colonel Wright with several
companies of the Ninth Infantry, having made a forced march, busily
engaged with the Indians. The latter soon commenced to run, tak
ing flight in canoes and by swimming to the south side of the river.
The dragoons under Sheridan were at once sent to the block-house,
where they remained a short time, and then returned to the Lower Cas
cades, where they remained a few weeks, until relieved by a company
of the Ninth Infantry.
It was a brief but stirring Indian campaign. General Wool, com
manding the department, arrived on the field and took command in
person. At its close, the old soldier predicted that the young lieuten
ant would some day be a colonel. For his services in this campaign
Sheridan received the thanks of General Scott, being named in general
orders and breveted first lieutenant, — a promotion that like all he has
won, was the result of service in the field and hard fighting.
Another expedition in which Lieutenant Sheridan took part, again
entered the Yakima country. While so engaged, he was ordered, on
one occasion, to cross a stream in order to scout against Indians supposed
to be on the opposite shore. This order was executed by placing an
infantry sharpshooter behind the saddle of each cavalryman. The
stream was "not deep, but rapid, and two artillerymen who followed with
the howitzer, were drowned in crossing. No Indians were found, how
ever. A Cayuse scout employed by Sheridan on this expedition was
known as Cut-Mouth John, and on one occasion an Indian called out
to him to know if he would " talk." John replied, ferociously, '.' I'll
kill you first and talk afterward." He was as good as his word and got
his enemy's scalp, which he stretched that night, having a little dance
around it by himself. John used to be on good terms with all the
officers, but when Major Raines, afterward in the Confederate army,

38 THE LIFE OF
ordered him to bury that scalp, he sulked, and had nothing more to do
with them. The Indian he slew was the only one known to be killed
on this expedition.
On arriving at Yakima Mission, orders were received to proceed
with Colonel Nesmith and a party of volunteers toward White River
or Natchez Pass. Nesmith was afterward United States Senator from
Oregon. Major Maloney was supposed to be coming from Fort Steila-
coom, on Puget Sound, to hem in the Indians from the north. It was
snowing furiously, and the dragoons crossed Bald Hill in a cold storm,
Lieutenant Sheridan and all his men being compelled to dismount and
lead the horses. Further progress being impossible, and Major Malo
ney not being met, the command returned to the Dalles and camped on
Mill Creek in tents. The dragoons were camped a short distance above
the fort, which was rebuilding under Captain Jordan. This officer
afterward became historically noted as General Beauregard's chief of
staff. Major Haller was in command of the post. The Indian disturb
ances were continued sporadically for two or three years, without any
results more serious than the fears of the settlers in Oregon and Southern
Washington, or of the necessary activity of the small body of regulars
stationed in that section of our national domain. Captain U. S. Grant
was among the officers stationed in the same department, but the two
soldiers who were afterward to be so nobly associated together, did not
meet during the three years of their service in that frontier military com
mand. The service on the Pacific coast illustrates the methods that controlled
the War Department and army headquarters for at least two decades
preceding the outbreak of civil war. There is no reason to doubt
that prominent southern leaders had brought their minds to the convic
tion that an armed conflict " between the states " was bound to come
over the question of slavery. The history of the Kansas struggle is
sufficient to prove this ; but to the historical student it will be much
more clearly shown in the administration of two great branches of gov
ernment which seriously molded the conditions of life in the then almost
unknown West, from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. In the
twenty years indicated, that is, from 1840 to i860, there will not be
found the names of over a score of northern born men appointed to
positions as Indian agents, or other important places connected with
that service. Of that score not a half dozen can be named who were
in sympathy with free soil ideas. In the Kansas struggle there was but
one such man, Agent Gay, of the Shawnee tribe, and he was killed

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

39

THE OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION.

THE ATTACK ON SUMTER.

early in that conflict. As with the Indian service, so with that of the
army administration. During the control of the War Department by
Jefferson Davis and John B. Floyd, it will be found that the regular
army and its officers were so stationed and employed as to throw the
younger men, those unknown beyond their commands, and those of
northern birth who might be reasonably considered as loyal to the Union,
far from the field of probable operations, and at posts where they could
be of the least service. Officers, on the other hand, who by birth and
social conditions were likely to be drawn at once to the South, were
retained in posts and departments which would render them immedi
ately available for the purposes of disunion. An illustration of this
was seen in the re-organization by Jefferson Davis while Secretary of
War, of the famous Second Regiment of Cavalry. A roster of this
regiment, as officered by Mr. Davis, will show such names as Robert
E. Lee, Longstreet, Albert Sidney Johnston, Anderson, Philip St.
George Cooke, Stein, George H. Thomas, Sturgis, and others. Ofthe
forty odd picked officers who were in this favored organization there
were not over half a dozen of northern birth. Only as many remained

40 THE LIFE OF
faithful to the flag after Sumter was fired upon, and among these was
the immortal Virginian patriot and soldier, George H. Thomas, who
was senior major of the Second Cavalry when rebellion began. He
was stationed at a western fort in the Indian Territory. Sturgis was
at Fort Smith, Arkansas. Both officers brought their commands into
the Union lines. In the central territories there was some disaffection,
but the loyalty of the rank and file saved the public property and terri
tory. Colonel Canby at Santa Fe, held the southwest territories.
The loyal volunteers of Colorado held the centre, and to the northwest
as far as the Pacific there was scarcely any disaffection. Longstreet,
Jordan, Ewell, and a few others made their way to the Confederacy
through Arizona and New Mexico. The far-reaching nature of the
plot by which the free states and territories were to be rendered help
less can be seen in the fact that Fort Kearney, Nebraska, then an iso
lated and unimportant post out on the great plains, was made for nearly
or quite a twelve months before, an entrepot to which, under orders from
the War Department, arms of all kinds, ordnance supplies, munitions
and stores of all sorts, with wagons, artillery carriages, etc., were sent
from the various army posts east as far as Fort Leavenworth and "west
as far as California and Oregon. So also Fort Wise on the southwest
border of Kansas Territory, was used. Its site is now known as Fort
Lyon. The march of Major Sedgwick, afterward the gallant com
mander of the famous Fifth Army Corps, saved the stores and arms at
Fort Wise. Those at Fort Kearney were saved by the prompt and loyal
courage of an orderly sergeant, afterwards a lieutenant-colonel of
volunteers. Sergeant Schultze — he is a German-American and
served in Captain Nathaniel B. Lyon's command, Company B, Sec
ond Infantry — resisted the efforts of a party of deserting officers to
carry off the guns and munitions stored at Fort Kearney. There were
nearly one hundred twelve-pound howitzers massed at this point. They
were left to the care of a handful of soldiers under an ordnance ser
geant. All the frontier troops in the early summer of 1861 were
ordered to concentrate at Fort Leavenworth and at Omaha, from the
posts on the plains and among the Rockies. Sergeant Schultze arrived
at the same time that the southern army officers reached Fort Kearney.
By a bold appeal to his men and a determined front on the soldiers'
part, the fleeing officers decided that their safety was to be found in
a more rapid flight.
These incidents of the early days of the war " out West "are neces
sary to make clear the reason why officers like Sheridan were not sooner

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 41
ordered into the scenes of great military activity. It became necessary
to make quite sure of our Pacific coast before the much needed and
well-trained regular officers who were stationed there could be relieved.
The Pacific coast officers, though removed from the scene of hostili
ties when the war broke out, had plenty of patriotic ardor. General
Sumner, who arrived at, San Francisco early in June, as department
commander, issued an order that ' ' all officers charged with the care of
public property will hold themselves in readiness at all times to protect
it at any hazard. No public property will be surrendered in this depart
ment" ; and on the heels of this order came another, that " any citizen
in the employment of the army in this department who is opposed to
the Union will be instantly discharged." This was the spirit of the
army administration out there. It was efficient in covering the real
intentions of the general government, through which the loyal Pacific
States and Territories finally took almost entire charge of their own
defense, organizing an army or National Guard of volunteer militia in
California and Oregon, fully equipped by the general government. The
"regulars" stationed there were all kept busy till the close of 1861 , assist
ing in the organization indicated. The story of the Civil War from the
Missouri to the Pacific coast remains to be told, but an incident thereof
was the delaying of Sheridan's transfer to a more active field.
In October, 1861, Brevet First Lieutenant Sheridan was commis
sioned captain in the Thirteenth Infantry, and soon after ordered to re
port to General Halleck at St. Louis for assignment to duty. He
arrived there late in the year, and at the beginning of the New Year
was ordered to report to Brigadier Samuel R. Curtis for duty in the
field as chief quartermaster and commissary of the Army of South
west Missouri, then in camp at Springfield, and preparing for a forward
movement to the southwest against the Confederate troops of Missouri,
Arkansas, Northern Louisiana, and Texas, then concentrating in the
Ozark Mountains under Sterling Price, Van Dorn, Ben McCullough,
Raines, Marmaduke, Fagan, and Albert Pike, among others who after
wards became distinguished. On the 2d of January, 1862, General
S. R. Curtis reported from Rollo to department headquarters at St.
Louis, that Captain Sheridan had reported and been assigned to duty.
Staff-officers and others associated with Captain Sheridan in that army
recall his indomitable, tireless activity and administrative ability. His
post was no sinecure, but on the contrary bore in its execution far more
than the usual burden of difficulties accompanying such important
branches of military organization. West of the Missouri, the Union

42 THE LIFE OF
forces were, from the beginning till the close of the war, more ineffi
ciently and poorly supplied than was elsewhere the case. The State of
Missouri, especially its western and southwestern portions, was in
tensely disloyal. The Kansas conflict had embittered the people, free soil
and pro-slavery, to the utmost. It was hard work to keep the Kansas
volunteers within bounds on the soil of Missouri. It was far harder
work to make the southern sympathizers resident in Missouri under
stand the laws of 'war. They were generally ready to turn bush
whackers on the slightest opportunity, and on all occasions, within or
without the lines of the Federal forces, were utterly unscrupulous
enemies of the Union. There was a phrase in use out there which
humorously embodied the bitter antagonism felt towards a policy
that dealt with the people of the border states, especially those of
Missouri, as loyal citizens. It was applied generally to the Kan
sas volunteers, who were commonly known and sneered at for the
first two years of the war as " Jayhawkers." The conservative regular
army officers, especially, cherished bitter prejudices against the soldiers
of that state with whom they came in contact, no matter how soldierly
and valorous were their conduct or acts. The term " jayhawker "
was originally applied to the Seventh Regiment (cavalry) of Kansas
Volunteers, whom Fremont first assigned to duty in Western Missouri
with orders to live on the country. That term thus came to represent
a distinct view of army policy. In the east the opposite view was
taken by McClellan ; in the centre by Buell and Rosecrans, and in the
west to some extent by Halleck. General Curtis was a graduate of
West Point, who early in his army life had resigned to practice law.
He settled in Iowa, and was sent to Congress from the Keokuk district
as a Republican. He was an intimate friend of Mr. Lincoln's. At
the beginning of the Civil War, he entered the army again. Halleck
assigned him to the command of the army which was to be the right
wing of the great field wherein he proposed to operate, extending from
Western Arkansas to Northern Georgia.
With a meagre army chest and insufficient supplies, General Curtis,
knowing that if he did not make use of the stock, grain, etc., to be
found in Southwest Missouri the rebel guerrillas and cavalry raiders
would do so, ordered his chief quartermaster to supply deficiencies
from the country so far as possible, and to give vouchers therefor, pay
able on proof of the bearer's loyalty. Captain Sheridan demurred to
this policy, which he called " jayhawking," and at last made his oppo
sition so obnoxious, that when General Curtis finally began the forward

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 43
movements and field operations which eventuated in the hard-fought
battle and victory of Pea Ridge, in the march across Arkansas, and in
the capture and occupation of Helena on the Mississippi as an import
ant basis among others for the great operations by which, a year later,
the " Father of Waters " was allowed " to run unvexed to the sea,"
that commander felt himself obliged to relieve Captain Sheridan and
order him to report to General Halleck at St. Louis for duty. This
apparent slight became the turning point in the young soldier's famous
career. He was taken by Halleck to the army before Corinth as chief
commissary, and in that way came again under the notice of the cavalry
commander, General Stanley, by whose suggestion he was appointed
colonel of the Second Michigan Cavalry, just one month after he
arrived in Northern Mississippi. As for his conservative antagonism to
"jayhawking," it vanished when he entered on cavalry service. The
Captain Sheridan who resisted in Southwest Missouri, early in 1862,
the policy of the commander on whose staff he served, blossomed under
the conditions of the war into the stern general, who, in 1864, declared
while fighting in the Shenandoah Valley, that he " proposed to make
it so bare that a crow flying over it would have to carry his rations."
An incident of Sheridan's quartermaster service in Southwest
Missouri, told after the war in Household Words, a magazine that
preceded Scribner's, deserves a brief mention here, as it illustrates
Sheridan's character and courage. An army wagon with its team was
stalled on the road some distance south of Springfield. The teamster,
a burly six-footer, was engaged in brutally whipping his mules. Riding
near by on the left of the road was a stout but low-statured man, clad in a
fatigue suit of army blue, without any insignia of rank or staff buttons,
and wearing a battered army hat. He drew rein at the stalled wagon,
and in a few moments asked the teamster authoritatively, why he beat the
mules so severely. The ruffian replied with a savage oath, and imme
diately struck the near animal with the heavy butt of his " black-jack."
as the wagoner's whip is called. To a shout from the horseman the
burly teamster replied with a threat to serve him the same way. An
eye-witness, who wrote the magazine article, says that the threat was
scarcely made before the rider shot from his saddle, for all the world
like a stone projected from a catapult, and in a second was at the ruf
fian's throat. It was seen that this assailant was a smaller man, but
somehow he brought the big teamster at once to his knees, and poured
upon his head, neck, and chest such a rain of savage blows, ending in
twisting the whip out of the man's hand and applying it vigorously

44 GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.
over arms and shoulders, until the fellow fairly blubbered for mercy.
His assailant let him up, applying a vigorous kick as he arose. "Who
the devil are you ? " asked the amazed and cowed bully.
•" Captain Sheridan, quartermaster of this army, and if you don't
get to work d  quick to get this wagon out of the way, by  ,
I'll thrash you again."
It is needless to say that the man went to work under Sheridan's
orders. The mules had recovered their strength. In a few minutes
the team and wagon were on the dry road. With a parting admonition
and objurgation, " Little Phil" mounted his patient horse, which had
watched the rencounter with seeming approval, and rode away.
Captain Sheridan's experiences with the arm}' of Southwest Mis
souri, though not altogether satisfactory to him at the time, must
have been productive of fruitful knowledge. General Curtis, speaking
of his whilom quartermaster, when the latter was rising so rapidly to
' the zenith of his fame, declared that Captain Sheridan was one of the
ablest and most indefatigable of staff officers. No labor was too great,
no exertion too severe for him to undertake in the line of duty. But
his prejudices were as stubborn as his independence was marked. He
allowed nothing for anyone's superior knowledge ofthe region, and in
the matter of their differences as to the impressment of stock, etc., was
so determined in his opposition as to compel General Curtis, much to
his regret, to relieve his rather insubordinate subordinate from duty . on
the staff, and order him to St. Louis. In a personal letter to the de
partment commander, General Curtis strongly urged Captain Sheridan's
assignment to active field service, assured that he would win renown
for himself and credit to the cause. As to the policy of making war,
Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley carried out the course indicated by
Curtis nearly three years before, only the younger and greater soldier
made it more sweeping and rigorous.

Chapter IV.

AN UNEXPECTED PROMOTION.
HOW SHERIDAN WAS MADE A COLONEL — CAPTAIN ALGER' S RIDE AND ITS RE
SULTS  CORINTH AND PITTSBURG LANDING — GOVERNOR BLAIR'S HESI
TANCY — THE APPOINTMENT  NOTIFIED OF HIS ADVANCEMENT — SATIS
FIED WITH THE RANK OF COLONEL — TAKES COMMAND OF HIS REGI
MENT  ITS FIRST IMPRESSION OF HIM.
When the Civil War had been going on for more than a year,
Sheridan was still an issuer of rations with only the rank of captain.
Had not General Grant been relieved of the command of his army
after the battle of Shiloh, Sheridan might never have left the commis
sary department to lead men in battle. It is true that he fretted in the
position he then held on General Halleck's staff. He had done the best
he could to secure the command of some regiment from his native state,
but he was then without fame or influence, and for each new regiment
that was called out in Ohio there were a dozen aspirants for the colo
nelcy possessed of social and political influence. This- was then a
potent power as against a pure military training. Therefore Sheridan's
weeks of application lengthened into months, and the months into a
second year, before he found work for his military genius higher than
that of looking after the rough provender which the government pro
vided for its soldiers.
The 25th of May, 1862,. came, and Halleck, an old lawyer gen
eral, full of cranks and prejudices, had virtually dug his way in six
weeks all the way from the fateful field of Shiloh to within gunshot of
the Confederate outposts at Corinth. Each succeeding mile, from the
day when Halleck relieved Grant, a new line of earthworks was thrown
up in' this over-cautious advance. Graves of brave men dotted the
hillsides and valleys, numbering in the aggregate more souls than would
have been lost in an open combat with the Confederate army, which
was only half the size of that which Halleck had gathered to build
twenty miles of intrenchments in an approach on Corinth.
Just after the battle of Shiloh, Pope's army, which had been oper-

46 THE LIFE OF
ating on the Mississippi below Island Number Ten, was brought up
to swell Halleck's forces. With it was the Second Michigan Cav
alry, and like the other troops, this regiment fretted and grew half
demoralized with the slow and uncertain policy which marked Hal
leck's operations after Grant's frightful wrestle with Johnston and
Beauregard on the banks of the Tennessee. Its colonel, Gordon
Granger, was made a brigadier-general about this time. He was a reg
ular army officer, who had been promoted from a captaincy to the com
mand of the regiment while it was stationed in St. Louis. His dis
cipline was severe, but it made the regiment efficient beyond almost
any other body of troopers then in the service.
His advancement left it in a condition to be very soon demoralized.
During the few weeks which elapsed before a new colonel was found,
the regiment drifted, under the command of a lieutenant-colonel, into
that feeling of uncertainty which is harmful to any military body. As
it lay one evening, in the latter part of May, within cannon-shot of
the village of Corinth, its fate was dependent upon the choice of a
strong hand and a new spirit to command it.
On one of those hazy, depressing summer days so common in the
southern climate, Captain Russell A. Alger, of Company C, was act
ing field officer of the day. He always took an active interest in the
regiment's welfare. Often with the other officers had he discussed,
without solution, the problem of finding a new colonel for a com
mand, the record of which was then, and is, second to that of no regi
ment of horse in the army. Austin Blair was at that time governor of
Michigan, and at the moment was visiting the army. He was to return
home the very day when the accident occurred which gave him an
opportunity to do a meritorious act, and endow with new force the cav
alry regiment from his state, in which he took unusual interest.
Captain Alger had been on picket duty throughout the night of
the 24th of May. Early on the morning of the 25th, he reported to Gen
eral Gordon Granger upon some matters of detail, which it was his'
duty to do as acting field-officer ofthe day in front of an enemy. After
the business of the moment was over, the condition of the Second
Michigan Cavalry became the subject of discussion. General Granger,
who still took an interest in its welfare, had been casting about for some
regular army officer who would be his fit successor at the head of this
splendid regiment. He had been over to Halleck's headquarters the
day before Captain Alger's visit, and had met Sheridan. This morn
ing, as he and Alger were talking, he said :

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

47

' ' I have found
a man who will
make your regi
ment a good colo
nel." "Who is it?"
asked Alger, earn
estly. " Captain Phil
Sheridan. He is
now at Halleck's
headquarters, act
ing as a commis
sary on his staff."
A shade of in
quiry crossed Gen-
eral Granger's
countenance, as he
said :
" He is just the
man you want ;
but I doubt wheth
er Governor Blair
will commission ,
another regular officer to command a Michigan regiment. He thinks
that we are too severe in our discipline, and that the troops do not like
us." Captain Alger replied that the regiment needed a commander of
character and decision, and that he believed Blair would do any rea
sonable thing for the welfare of the troops from his state.
" Very well," replied General Granger, "I will give you a letter to
him, asking Sheridan's appointment. He is now at Pittsburg Land
ing, and leaves for the North by the steamer at 2 o'clock."
It was now breakfast time. Governor Blair was more than twenty
miles away, and there was no time to be lost. General Granger called
an orderly, had Captain Alger's horse fed, and insisted on his taking his
morning meal with him. During breakfast the subject of Captain
Sheridan's appointment was earnestly discussed. Before they had
finished the meal Lieutenant Frank E. Walbridge, Quartermaster of
the Second Michigan Cavalry, rode up. Captain Alger asked permis
sion to take him with him for his interview with Governor Blair.

GEN. GORDON GRANGER.

48 THE LIFE OF
General Granger assented, and the two officers prepared for the journey.
It was almost half-past nine in the morning when, armed with an
earnest request for Sheridan's appointment, they left the front of the
Federal lines and rode toward Pittsburg Landing. Captain Alger, who
afterwards became a brigadier-general, has frequently spoken of the
anxieties of that ride, when he must have recalled something like the
lines : " Ho, pony! down the lonely road,
Strike now your cheeriest pace ;
Camp-fires cannot burn brighter
Than burns my anxious face."
As each mile was passed, the hour for the governor's departure
drew nearer and 'nearer. It was only thirty-five minutes before 2
o'clock when Alger and his companion reached the landing. In less
than half an hour of the leaving time of the boat, General Granger's
letter was placed in Governor Blair's hands.
As General Granger had foreseen, the governor hesitated. He dis
liked the severity of regular army officers, and thought their influence
over volunteers was harmful, rather than effective. The condition
of the regiment was described by Captain Alger in a few words, and
both he and Lieutenant Walbridge strongly urged the force of General
Granger's recommendation. The governor, impressed with their earn
estness, yielded to their arguments, and just a few moments before the
boat which was to convey him to Michigan started, he turned to Gen
eral John Robertson, his adjutant-general, and said :
"Write an order appointing Captain Sheridan colonel of the Sec
ond Michigan Cavalry, to take command at once."
Only a few moments were left for the adjutant-general to act. He
took a half sheet of note paper, and hurriedly wrote these words :
Pittsburg Landing, May 25,1862.
Captain Philip H. Sheridan is hereby appointed colonel of the
Second Michigan Cavalry. He is directed to take command at once.
Austin Blair, Governor.
This was handed to Captain Alger ; the boat pushed out into the
Tennessee, and a great soldier had been started on his way to fame.
Captain Alger and Lieutenant Walbridge fed themselves and their
horses, and as the gathering shadows of night drew over the battle-field
of Shiloh, they started for an all night's ride toward the front. It was
near daylight when they arrived. The exertion killed Alger's horse.
Mounting another, he rode to General Granger's headquarters and

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 49
announced to that officer that he had Captain Sheridan's appointment
in his pocket.
General Granger directed him to carry it to Sheridan, who was some
two miles distant at Halleck's headquarters. Alger obeyed, and a
half hour later met for the first time his new colonel and the future
general. He presented him with his appointment, and Phil Sheridan
was that morning the happiest man in the whole of Halleck's army.
The colonelcy which Ohio did not give her own son, Michigan had
provided. The officers of the staff were at once summoned to cele
brate the occasion. As the officers drank their bumpers in his tent to
his good luck, there was an interesting scene. One brother officer of
the staff, more enthusiastic than the rest, pledged the new colonel's.
health with the toast :
" Here's hoping that this is a long step towards a brigadier's star.'"
How little men know of themselves ! Sheridan, flushed with the
joy of the occasion, replied :
" No, gentlemen ; I thank you for your good wishes, but I want no
higher honor. I am now a colonel of cavalry, and have all the rank I
want or expect."
The news of his appointment spread rapidly through the regiment,
and every one wondered what manner of man the new colonel was.
They very soon found out. The next day he came over and took com
mand, and was introduced to a regiment, the officers and men of which
he had never seen before. He appeared at dress parade, and his appear
ance by no means revealed his ability. He was then very slight in
figure, with little, short legs that hardly reached over his horse's sides,
and quite broad shoulders. He was so small that he could scarcely
be seen from one end of the regiment to the other. The first impres
sion he made was not very satisfactory to either officers or men. Two
days later he started off on a raid to Booneville, Mississippi, and proved
his quality. The regiment at once took new life under his direction.
Both officers and men felt perfect confidence in him, and in less than
four days after his appointment the soldiers named him " Little Phil."
They always afterwards felt an unbounded pride in their commander.
He was made a brigadier-general before he had received his commis
sion as colonel ; in fact, he was not commissioned as colonel of the
Second Michigan Cavalry until after the war. While he was in com
mand at New Orleans, the commission was issued to him by the gov
ernor as a matter of sentiment. At a much later period, to make his
army record complete, he was mustered in as the colonel of his old
regiment.

mam,
im^////////////////.

\W^€rP

PRESIDENT LINCOLN.
[From a War-Time Photograph.']

Chapter V.

THE BATTLE OF BOONEVILLE.
SHERIDAN'S FIRST BATTLE — IT WAS AT BOONEVILLE, MISSISSIPPI — STRENGTH
OF HIS COMMAND — ITS PERILOUS POSITION — HOW HE MANAGED HIS TROOPS .
— SENDING FOR REINFORCEMENTS — THE SCOUT AND THE NEGRO — FOOL
ING THE ENEMY — CAPTAIN ALGER AND THE "FORLORN HOPE" — THE
LAST CHARGE, AND A COMPLETE VICTORY.
" The enemy has ten regiments under Chalmers. I want support,
particularly artillery. I have been cut up some little, but am still strong."
This was Sheridan's first appeal in a grave emergency. He met it
with a fearlessness and show of military sagacity that thus early in war
demonstrated his fitness for high command. He was only a colonel
then and had led the Second Michigan Cavalry but little more than a
month, when suddenly called upon to meet the serious responsibilities
of a battle under as exacting conditions as were ever imposed upon a
soldier. It was 2.30 in the afternoon of July 1, 1862, when he sent the
above dispatch to General Asboth, his division commander. He had
then been fighting against overwhelming odds since early morning;
At 3 o'clock, as the combat waxed more intense, he hastily penned this
message to the same authority :
" I have been holding a large force of the enemy prisoners — say
ten regiments in all — all day. Am considerably cut up, but am hold
ing my camp."
These were the first echoes from a desperate combat that reached
the larger army twenty miles in the rear.
It has been truly said that " mighty events turn upon small hinges."
•Sheridan's first experience as an independent commander illustrates the
truth of this adage. His primary test in the stroke and strategy of battle
gave decisive promise of that inspiration in danger and fertility of
resource which, in the short space of two years, placed him in the lead
among the group that achieved greatness during the Civil War. It was

$2 THE LIFE OF
in the second year of the Rebellion — the acute stage of the colossal
struggle: the awful " battle summer of 1862 " — that Sheridan emerged
from the obscurity of staff duty into the stirring arena of command and
combat. There was a pause in the death grapple of the contending armies of
Halleck and Beauregard when Sheridan was appointed colonel of the
Second Michigan Cavalry. McClellan was then before Richmond.
Halleck was preparing a new campaign. The eyes ofthe world were
watching the Chickahominy, while the Western armies for the moment
were inactive. The new colonel found his regiment well trained, and
composed of stalwart men, skilled in woodcraft and inured to the
hardships of open-air life. The man and the instrument were well
suited to each other and the dangerous work before them.
Sheridan was no sooner in command than he was in the saddle and
taking part in an adventurous errand. Two days after he was made a '
colonel, he, with his regiment, joined an expedition under Colonel
W. L. Elliott, ofthe Second Iowa Cavalry. These two regiments cut
loose from the main army and pushed southward, to the rear of the Con
federate lines. With but little halt or rest, this small command scoured
the debatable land between the armies. It harassed the Confederate
outposts, tore up the Mobile and Ohio railway, and burned supplies at
Booneville, Mississippi, clearing the country for future operations.
This was the first successful raid of the war.
The cavalry is called the eye ofthe army. Sheridan made his the
right arm, as well. In a short time after his promotion his irresistible
dash and ceaseless activity was the talk of the meagre force of horse
men attached to the army before Corinth, to whom he was a wonder.
Shortly after his first promotion, Beauregard's army fell back, leaving
Halleck free to concentrate his forces in the Confederate stronghold.
Following the retreating enemy, Sheridan found himself again at
Booneville. On the ist of July, 1862, he was encamped there, while
the main body of the Confederates lay at Tupelo and Guntown, fifteen
miles or more to the southward.
The sluggish advance of Halleck's army left Sheridan's force isolated.
Though nominally in command of the Second Brigade of the cavalry
division, his force at Booneville consisted of but eleven companies of the
Second Michigan and eleven of the Second Iowa — in all, about seven
hundred and forty men. With the main army under Halleck twenty
miles in the rear, and Beauregard about the same distance in front,
Sheridan operated in a hostile country, watching and reporting every

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. ^
movement of the enemy, and making his map of the country as he
marched. Booneville is a small town on the Mobile and Ohio railway. Sit
uated at the conjunction of three or four converging highways, it was a
natural vantage point, the value of which the enemy promptly acknowl-
egedby the effort he made to dislodge Sheridan and his handful of cavalry.
None but the most audacious would, under the circumstances, have
dreamed of holding the place unless assured of a large command.
There were deep woods which covered the rolling hills on the imme
diate outskirts ofthe place, while beyond, cleared plantations gave the
enemy admirable ground for deploying lines of battle and surrounding
the town.
Beauregard was not slow in discerning the poverty of the force
intrusted with such important functions as holding forty miles of debat
able territory. So long as Sheridan held Booneville, many miles of
country with abundant supplies and many needed railway facilities were
cut off from his control. Sheridan's forces, his resources, to the minutest
detail, were known to the southern commander,. for every man in the
country was an emissary of his cause. Taking prompt advantage of
the situation, General Chalmers — a man destined to be well known in
war and politics afterwards — was placed at the head of eight regi
ments of cavalry, with orders to clear the country of Sheridan's meagre
force. He made an energetic attempt to execute these orders. The dis
patches above quoted show the spirit with which that attempt was
resisted. Telegrams like these were something new at headquarters at the
time, and though momentous movements under Rosecrans, Grant, and
Sherman were going on, the outcome of Sheridan's first fight was
watched with eager interest by Halleck^, and the result thought im
portant enough to be telegraphed to President Lincoln. But no
soldiers ever better deserved commendation than did this little band for
the heroic work of that day.
Unable to retreat and almost hopeless of success, Sheridan when
attacked, made his dispositions with almost preternatural foresight. The
enemy was at least four thousand strong. To strike this large force en
masse would have been certain defeat. That was not the new colonel's
plan. He strengthened the picket posts on the several roads leading
into Booneville and then held the main body in hand to await Chalmers'
attack. This fell early in the day upon Lieutenant Scranton, of the

54 THE LIFE OF
Second Michigan, who commanded the outpost on the Blackland road,
three miles and a half from the town. Although set upon by ten times
their number, the pickets fought for every inch of the ground, falling
back so slowly that the enemy supposed they had come upon a much
larger force than they had expected.
vScranton's men had retreated a mile or more to a point where the
road the enemy were advancing on intersected another. Here Sheri
dan had reinforcements at hand, and, under cover of a natural barri
cade, the attacking force was brought to a halt. The contest became
stubborn and the fighting superb, but finding the Confederates gaining
ground, three more companies were sent to the point, under command
of Captain Campbell, also of the Second Michigan. Confident now
that the Union force was at bay, Chalmers deployed two regiments on
the right of the road. This imposing line overlapped the Union front so
far that by merely curving the wings inward, the whole force would
have been surrounded. Sheridan saw the danger. He quickly sent
word to Captain Campbell to hold the ground at all hazards until he
could be reinforced, but if pushed beyond endurance to fall back slowly.
Colonel Hatch, of the Second Iowa, was then sent quickly to Camp
bell's support and was ordered to charge the enemy wherever he could
Strike him best. Meanwhile the Michigan men were engaged in a terri
ble and uncertain combat. In the open field the gray-coated horsemen
in well-closed ranks, waited until the skirmishers had driven the Union
troops well together, then, with shouts, they swept down, each man
eager to be first in at the capture.
The sorely pressed Federals were ordered to reserve their fire until
the enemy was within twenty-five or thirty yards' range, and well did
they obey this command. On came the solid Confederate battalions,
certain of victory, and the order to surrender was ringing out. A storm
of bullets which withered the first line, was the reply. Another and
another followed, for the smallness of the Union force was, to some
extent, made up by their efficient Colt's revolving rifles, which carried
five shots without reloading, and in the hands of good marksmen were
full of death.
In this onset they were so well used that the charge was stayed.
But the columns were soon re-formed, and the Confederate commander
closed up his lines and brought them on the flank of the struggling
Wolverenes. Still fighting, inch by inch, they fell slowly back, keeping
at bay the overwhelming enemy. Again Chalmers threw his regi
ments in line and charged with wild yells as of assured victory. But

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

SS

he was again beat
en off, and the
Union men hav
ing no time to re
load, used their
guns as clubs to
ward off their
over-confident en
emies. It was a
desperate mo
ment. Sheer
weight of num
bers must have
gained the covet
ed road and cap
tured the indomit
able defenders
had Sheridan not
now sent in an
other timely sup
ply of men from
his slender line.
The combat be
gan again. It had
lasted from daylight. It was now afternoon. Angered by the obsti
nacy of his opponents, Chalmers now made a wide sweep and came
in on the left of the Union camp, almost within gun-shot of the tents.
There was no sign of reinforcements by rail, for which Sheridan had
asked. There was hardly a hope of holding out another hour against
such disproportionate numbers. Still there was no thought of giving
up, and the young colonel resolved " to eke out the lion's skin with
the fox's tail." But his resources' were wofully slender for either valor
or strategy ; yet, meagre as they were, they sufficed him. While 2,000
Confederates were besetting the 400 men on the Blackland road, and
2,000 more were swinging into line at the very gates of the camp on
the east, Sheridan hurried to the tent of Captain Alger, who was
lying sick with camp fever. The situation was made known to him
and he was asked if he would take charge of a desperate venture. He
readily agreed to do his share in the crisis, and never did soldier do
his duty better.

GEN. J. R. CHALMERS, OF MISSISSIPPI.

56 THE LIFE OF
Sheridan had already parked his wagon train on the low ground to
the west and north of the town, and prepared for a last desperate stand.
Besides this, he had hurried two companies into line, one from the
Second Michigan and one from the Second Iowa. There were ninety-
two men in all in this little band, which he intrusted to Captain Alger
upon as mad an exploit as was ever known in war. To better inspire the
men with the spirit of rivalry, he had taken one company from each reg
iment in his command, instead of taking both companies from the same
regiment. When Alger was mounted, Sheridan directed him to move
off to the right, and strike the enemy in trie rear. To this officer he
spoke privately of the desperate risks to be taken, and indicated the
exact moment at which he should strike the rear of the enemy. He
was to leave Booneville by a wood road running westward. After a
mile or more, he would reach a point in a covered lane where an old
negro would be found to guide him to the point of attack. Sheridan's
instructions were so minute, and he showed such perfect familiarity with
the country, that he inspired unusual confidence in the officer to whom
he had intrusted this dangerous errand.
Thus early in Sheridan's career, did he give evidence of that won
derful power which is the keynote to his success as a soldier. Short as
had been his stay in Booneville, he knew more of the country than the
rebels themselves. Like Napoleon, he made it his first duty to memo
rize every foot of the territory that he might be called upon to defend
or contest. All capable soldiers do this to a greater or less extent, but
some have the geographical faculty better developed than others.
Sheridan, as all his campaigns attest, had this important gift. He had
not been twenty-four hours at Booneville before he had mapped in his
mind every road, lane, farm, hill, or natural impediment that might
play an important part in action. It was during a visit to the neighbor
hood of Waterloo, long before he confronted Napoleon, that Wellington
owed his escape from the French after his defeat at Quatre Bras-. Given
equal numbers in combat, the man who knows his map best is almost
certain to win the battle. Sheridan knew his by heart. He knew the
character of the people and the nature of all his surroundings. The
attack he was now called upon to resist, found him thoroughly equipped
with every possible resource, except men, that the craft and energy of
a soldier could command.
Besides a thorough knowledge of the country, he had a trusty scout
who lived in the neighborhood — a light-complexioned, long-haired
Mississippian, with a keen eye and cadaverous form. Reticent and

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 57
modest, this partisan had the confidence of both officers and men. To
him was intrusted the conduct of Captain Alger's "forlorn hope" to
the rendezvous where the negro waited. Nothing was left to chance.
Captain Alger knew that the salvation of the whole command depended
upon his courage, activity, and vigor. Perhaps it was just as well that
the men did not appreciate the madness of the undertaking. It takes
more than ordinary courage for ninety-two men to assault 4,000, espe
cially when, as in this case, every chance was against them. They were
to traverse an unknown country by divers roads, through deep woods,
and they were to meet at the end of the march an overwhelming enemy,
in the midst of a treacherous population.
In this fearful emergency tactics and dash were the two important
requisites of success. There must be no mistake as to the one and no
lack of the other. As the men moved off, Sheridan said to Captain
Alger :
" Don't dismount your men in any event ! Don't deploy them, or
you will show the enemy the weakness of your force. Charge in column,
and if possible, come through and join me. When you make the
assault, shout and make all the noise possible. When I hear you I will
strike them in front. I have carefully gauged the time, and whether I
hear from you or not, in one hour I shall charge them."
There were no cheers as the little band filed off through the deserted
streets ; no outward sign that the sorely pressed c.ommander was taking
his last desperate chance for success. In the woods to the south and
east the volleys still rang out defiantly ; but the deliberation of the rebels
showed that they were confident of capturing the town and its defenders.
With this possibility staring the " forlorn hope " in the face, it moved
through the solemn pines, beyond the dark marshes, and over narrow
plantation roads, the commander and his men impressed with the im
portance of the stroke they were to deal. It was an hour of terrible
suspense, but the scout knows his road, and all comes to pass as
Sheridan had planned. At the appointed place the negro is found, and
under orders of Captain Alger, he guides them onward. The column
has now turned eastward and is now moving upon the rear of the enemy.
Every instant it draws nearer and nearer. Now comes the supreme
moment. The troopers emerge from the sheltering woods. They are
under the eyes of the compact masses of gray troopers that line the
crest of the hill. The negro guide takes fright and runs away.
" Forward men ! " Captain Alger commands.
In column of fours the audacious handful rush up the Blackland

$8 THE LIFE OF
road from a point where the Confederates had never dreamed of the
presence of an enemy. In an instant they are in the group about the
commander's headquarters. But there is no time for spoils, not even
for prisoners. Beyond the hill is the point of attack. At the main line
Alger dashes, leaving Captain Schuyler to look after those in and to
the left of the road.
All this time Sheridan had been counting the minutes. Each one
seemed an hour. Human endurance was taxed to the uttermost. The
young colonel was now realizing for the first time the intensity of
Wellington's longing at Waterloo :
" Oh for night or Blucher ! "
The hour had nearly passed and Captain Alger had given no sign.
The enemy's line to the east was now deploying to surround the wagons,
and the fire to the south was increasing.
Where was Alger? There were no shots, no shouts ; none ofthe
clamor that usually accompanies the onsets of cavalrymen.
True to his promise, when the hand pointed to the last moment
of the hour, Sheridan prepared for the charge. Just as he moved
out for the final stroke, a train of cars came down the railway and drew
into Booneville, sounding its shrill whistle as a warning, and a welcome
to those who were in battle. Every one in the Union lines knew that
Sheridan had sent for reinforcements, and the arrival of the train thrilled
the struggling soldiers with a new hope. They began to cheer, and the
train men joined with a will. Sheridan made prompt use of the timely
incident. He sent word to the engineer to keep up whistling, and to
the train hands to cheer and make such clatter as would imply fresh
men. The civilians took the hint. There was a pandemonium of yells
and huzzas.
At this moment Sheridan swung his tired battalions into line. The
men caught the inspiration of their commander and felt with him the
responsibilities of the moment. Half a mile in front of them were the
gray masses, moving in and out in busy preparation for the final onset.
The scene on both sides was a spirited one, and to the Federal
troops the moment was big with fate. But there was no time for
reflection. Sheridan is in front. He shouts to his troops " Forward ! "
The squadrons sweep across the fields in close order. As they draw
near, dropping shots from the Confederate artillery and carbines empty
a saddle here and there. Still on they go. No one has thought for
anything but the enemy. The excitement of the charge thrills every
nerve. The lust of battle shines in every eye. They draw closer and

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

S9

<iiii'

¦¦MM*

GEN. R. A. ALGER, OF MICHIGAN.
[From a Recent Photograph.]
closer to the foe. Each blue-coat singles out his man, and with a crash
as of meeting waters, and a yell as of contending demons, the two
forces come together. The Confederate line wavers and then breaks
before the force of Sheridan's first charge.
At this instant Alger's handful of men rushed upon the Confederate
rear. The attack was so unexpected that they were thrown into utter
confusion. They broke at every point. Audacity and courage had
won. But danger to the ' ' forlorn hope " was not yet past. Sheridan
had not seen nor heard of it, but the enemy had. Alger was not within
"yelling" distance of his commander when he attacked. His force
had made noise enough, but it had all been drowned in the horrible
confusion of the moment. The tumult of his own movement had

60 THE LIFE OF
drowned all the rest of the battle to Sheridan's ears. He knew that
the Confederate masses had broken in front bf him, but he could not tell
whether the shouts he heard were Confederate or Union. He pushed
on to see. Soon the situation was under his eye. His stratagem had
been successful. The "forlorn hope" had done its work and done it
well, but in the confusion of the moment it was in a desperate scramble
with the flying Confederates. It was still beyond the reach of aid from
Sheridan, and in a running fight with the enemy. As the Confederates
broke to the rear, they tried in their flight to punish the force in its way
for its temerity. In the melee which then ensued each side sought to do
all the, damage it could to the other, while getting out of danger itself.
Alger and his little command were rushing to the rear with as much
speed as their enemy. They had emptied their revolvers into a con
fused mass of Confederates which they had driven off by the roadside.
Their ammunition was gone and they plied the sabre unsparingly.
The Confederates were now on an equality with them, and in point of
numbers, vastly their superior. But they pushed off the field, fighting
as they ran. The race was a singular one, but serious as it was, it had
its ludicrous aspects. Each side was trying to get away from the other
and man by man they separated whenever a by-road or a bit of woods
opened a chance for escape. Many a hand-to-hand conflict took place.
Alger rode for half a mile side by side with a Confederate soldier, each
emptying his revolver at the other without doing any injury. Just as
Alger had finished his last shot, he was carried, partly by the antics of
his fractious, lank, gray horse, so familiar to the men of his command,
and partly by the rush of those about him, beyond his own forces
and into the timber, where the enemy were seeking shelter. His horse,
now unmanageable, ran through the clustering branches, until a limb
tore the luckless rider from his saddle, breaking his ribs as he swung
violently against the tree." He had barely strength to parry a vicious
blow from a flying cavalryman, as he fell into the thick underbrush,
unconscious. How long he lay there he never knew ; but when he
recovered consciousness, all was quiet about him. The Confederates
had disappeared and so had his own command. He dragged himself
from his shelter, crawled to the road, and had entered an open field
when the clatter of horses' hoofs reached his ears. He thought it was the
enemy's forces, and again concealed himself. But as they neared him
he recognized them. They were from the Second Iowa. Sheridan
had sent them out to seek for his body, for it was thought that he had
been killed. Indeed, a number of the men having seen his helpless
plight in the wild stampede, had reported him dead or captured. They

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 61
put him on a horse and returned to camp. It was after dark when
Sheridan greeted him with " Old fellow, you have done well."
Then the two sat down to talk over the incidents of the remarkable
engagement. Captain Alger lost more than half of his command, and
the Confederates were many more men short from the effects of Sheri -
dan's first charge.
This day's work made Sheridan a brigadier-general before he had
even been commissioned a colonel. Captain Alger was promoted to
the rank of major for his gallant leadership of the "forlorn hope." It
was a great day's work for both officers and men, and not only his own
regiment, but the whole army was taught a wholesome respect for the
soldierly qualities of Sheridan.
That the achievement is not unduly magnified in this narration the
orders of the commanders will bear witness :
General Orders, No 81. \
Headquarters Army of the Mississippi, July 2, 1862. J
The General commanding announces to this army that on the ist instant,
Colonel P. H. Sheridan, Second Michigan Cavalrv, with eleven companies of
his own men and elevgn ofthe Second Iowa Cavalry, was attacked at Booneville
by eight regiments of rebel cavalry, under General Chalmers, and after an eight
hours' fight, drove them back, leaving their dead and wounded on the field.
The coolness, determination and fearless gallantry displayed by Colonel Sheri
dan and the officers and men of his command, deserve the thanks and admira
tion ofthe army. W. S. Rosecrans, .Major- General.
Telegram.
Corinth, July 6, 1862.
Secretary of War :
Official report is just received of a brilliant affair of our cavalry near Boone
ville, Miss., on the ist instant. Colonel Sheridan with two regiments — 728
men — was attacked by parts of eight regiments, numbering 4,700 men, which
- he defeated and drove back after eight hours' fighting. Our losses, forty-one
killed and wounded and missing. That of the enemy must have been very
great. He left sixty-five dead on the field. I respectfully recommend Colonel
Sheridan for gallant conduct in battle. H. W. Halleck, Major- General.
Trifling events often exercise a powerful influence upon each man's
life. This little fight made known Sheridan's powers and had a
more important bearing upon his future than many a greater engage
ment in which he handled an army corps. Then it was his first chance.
Had he missed, who can say what his after record would have been?
These cold facts but faintly portray the actual work of the day when
Sheridan fought his first battle ; but they state the beginning of a won
derful career in war, and insignificant as they may seem in the light of
the mighty operations which followed in quick succession, make mani
fest the points of military genius upon which a great career has been
founded.

DISTINGUISHED CONFEDERATE CAVALRYMEN.
GEN. J. B. GORDON, GEN. FITZHUGH LEE,
Governor of Georgia. ^ Governor of Virginia.
[From a War-Time Photograph.] [From a Recent Photograph.]

Chapter VI.

A NEW COMMAND.
transferred to the infantry — a higher command but less congenial
service — the battles of corinth and iuka — making the most of
small opportunity — transfer to general buell's army — command
ing a division at perryville  saving loomis' battery  bringing
victory out of defeat.
After Booneville, what? It was a swift leap to a soldier's fame,
but it was one well won and thoroughly deserved. Six weeks of
marching and fighting made the captain and commissary an acting
colonel of cavalry and a brigadier-general in prospective, recommended
with unusual earnestness by the most critical and cold-blooded of com
manding generals, Henry Wager Halleck. Sheridan's position was a
unique one. His commission was that of captain in the Thirteenth
Infantry, U. S. A. He was detailed to General Halleck's staff as chief
commissary, and while so acting was appointed colonel of the Second
Regiment of Cavalry, Michigan Volunteers, by Governor Austin Blair.
He took command immediately, was never mustered in as colonel, and
did not receive his state commission till after the war closed. Within
twenty-four hours after the governor's appointment was received, the
new commander was in the saddle, raiding and fighting along the line
of the Mobile and Ohio railroad. From May 28th the service was
continuous and severe. On the 29th, with the Second Iowa Cavalry,
Sheridan attacked and captured Booneville. The next day Colonel
Hatch reports him detached with the left battalion of the Second Mich
igan to raid on the railroad below Booneville, and " do as much dam
age as possible." This was the first of the memorable raids against
railroad communications, which of themselves make so famous a chap
ter in the history of the Civil War. It was limited in area, but was as
damaging as to extent as any that followed. Its effect was so marked
as to cause General Halleck to telegraph on the 4th of June that "Colo
nel Sheridan, Second Michigan Cavalry, conducted with great skill
and coolness the operations of his command." On the 6th Sheridan

64 THE LIFE OF
fought a sharp and successful engagement in the neighborhood of Bald
win, Miss., while on reconnaissance. The Confederate command out
numbered his own and consisted of a full regiment of cavalry and an
independent Georgia company. Sheridan met them, dismounted five
companies, and attacked at once, driving them in disorder for two
miles, and capturing several prisoners, having but one man severely
wounded. On the 9th of June, in command of the Second Brigade of
cavalry, he entered Baldwin to find the enemy gone. He pushed
southward to Guntown. From that date till July 1st, he was so con
stantly on the move that the Confederate commanders were compelled
to take vigorous notice of his audacity and activity. As already nar
rated, General Chalmers was sent to dislodge him at Booneville.
With a much superior force, he received an overwhelming repulse.
General Halleck at once recommended the little trooper's promotion
as brigadier-general. He was assigned to the command of a brigade,
and remained in that enlarged sphere of duty without receiving his
commission. Probably no other officer in the Union army could have
shown a similar record — that of commanding as colonel and brigadier,
a regiment, brigade, and division, while actually commissioned and
legally ranking only as a captain of infantry in the regular army.
The dispatches to and from Booneville on the ist and 2d of July,
as well as those sent by his commanding officers, illustrate all the
qualities which, on larger fields, afterwards compelled his recognition
as the most masterly cavalry commander of the century. To General
Asboth, the old Hungarian-American soldier who bore himself so
well in our western campaigns, Sheridan telegraphed on the 1st of
July for reinforcements, saying : " I am still holding them." He had a
large number of prisoners, and held on to them. " This is my third dis
patch. I am still holding my camp." At 5 p. m., however, he sends
his fourth dispatch saying: "I will not want any infantry support.
I have whipped the enemy. ... I have lost some fine officers
and men, but have hurt the enemy badly. It would be well to let
me have a battery of artillery. I might then be able to follow up
the enemy." Next morning at 9.30 a. m., he informs Asboth "that
the enemy had skedaddled." Chalmer's force consisted of ten regi
ments ; Sheridan's of two. Rosecrans, who commanded the wing of
the Union army before Corinth, with which the Second Michigan Cav
alry was brigaded, telegraphs Halleck, on the 2d of July, an account
of the fight, and adds : " I have issued an order complimenting Sheri
dan and his command. More cavalry massed under such an officer

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 6^
would be of great use to us. Sheridan ought to be made a brigadier.
He! would not be a stampeding general." And he never was except
to the enemy he encountered.
On the 6th of July, General Halleck asked for Sheridan's promotion.
The gallant little cavalryman remained at Booneville in command
of the Second Brigade, and the records are full of proofs of his cease
less activity. His scouting service was admirably organized, and, as
always thereafter, he showed his striking capacity for gaining a com
plete topographical knowledge of the ground over which he was or ex
pected to be operating. In order to apprehend with clearness the value
of such an officer as Sheridan at that date and at the posts he was
occupying, it must be remembered that Corinth in Northern Missis
sippi was the most important railroad post of the central region, in
which Halleck's forces were operating. The -movements of Grant
early in the year up the Tennessee and Cumberland valleys, resulting
in the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, led to the great two days'
conflict at Pittsburg Landing and Shiloh. It was primarily a flank
movement on the Confederate positions in the lower Mississippi, and an
attack on their interior and central lines. Corinth was the key to their
interior lines of railroad transportation and supply. It reached south-
westwardly to Vicksburg and Port Hudson, and eastwardly to Northern
Alabama, the Valley of the Tennessee, Chattanooga, and the mountain
regions of Northern Georgia and East Tennessee. Halleck, in assuming
general command in the field after the battle of Shiloh, advanced by
" trenches and parallels" on Corinth, which Beauregard had heavily in
trenched. There were within the lines of investment three considerable
Union armies, known as the Tennessee, Cumberland, and Ohio. The
best and ablest soldiers of the war, all things considered, were grouped
together under " Old Brains," as the army argol had already named
General Halleck. Besides Grant and Sherman, there were Rosecrans,
Thomas, Pope, Buell, Granger, Stanley, O. M. Mitchel, Nelson,
Logan, Edward McCook, McClernand, Grierson, "Bob" Mitchell,
Wallace, Asboth, Blair, Jeff. C. Davis, and a score of others who already
had won a national reputation. There were a hundred more — restless,
able, devoted — who were pushing to the front rank. Among them all,
Sheridan was welcomed from the first as an equal, and by the majority
also a coming leader, with the unmistakable evidences in his bearing
and acts of a brilliant commander. Against or about him there has
never, from first to last, been any intrigues, jealousies, or personal hos
tilities. All his places were held by right of genius and its compelling
capacity.

66 THE LIFE OF
After Corinth was evacuated by Beauregard it was occupied by
our troops. It must be remembered that Sheridan's earliest opera
tions were designed to break up Beauregard's communications, and
that they were so far successful as to compel his speedier withdrawal
from a post threatened with isolation. The Confederates were at once
obliged to begin active operations for its recapture, and their move
ments brought to the front Halleck's well-devised plan of campaign.
Grant's and Rosecrans' parts of it resulted successfully, first in de
feating, in the late summer and fall of 1862, all the Confederate efforts
to drive the Union forces from their "coigns of vantage" in Northern
Mississippi at Corinth, Iuka, and Holly Springs, with the intermediary
position, on the line those points represent. Later and in the earlier
part of 1863, this occupancy led the way to the successful land advance
on Vicksburg, thus inaugurating the great campaign which ended, July
4th, in the surrender of that fortress, and in the clearing of the valley
of the Mississippi, so that its " waters ran unvext to the sea." East of
Corinth Halleck's plan involved the clearing of Kentucky and Middle
Tennessee, the holding of Northern Alabama, and the definite and
speedy advance of the Army of the Ohio on to Chattanooga, to be fol
lowed by the occupation of East Tennessee. How the success of this
portion of Halleck's plans was hindered will hereafter be seen.
Colonel Sheridan remained at Booneville after the battle of July 1st.
His next important movement was an extended scout, during which a
Confederate mail carrier was captured with thirty letters. After this
affair, which had important results, Generals Rosecrans, Sullivan,
Granger, Elliott, and Asboth then united in a telegraphic dispatch to
General Halleck, urging Sheridan's promotion as brigadier, declaring
that he "is wo/th his weight in gold." His own and commanding
officers' reports are full of the successes he daily chronicled. On the
27th of July Sheridan attacked Ripley in three directions. He drove a
force of 600 into the post on the morning of the 29th — the day on
which he asked to be relieved because there was nothing for him to do.
The town was taken on the morning of the 30th. His promotion was
asked by all his immediate commanders. On the 10th of August, after
days of intermittent skirmishing, he was found encamped between
Rienzi and Booneville. On the 14th he seized Elliston and Baldwin
and burned the depot of supplies. He was kept busy skirmishing
with the enemy between Ripley and Rienzi . On the 26th of August
he encountered a large guerrilla force, and General Granger reports :
"The race and drubbing Sheridan gave them was the most disgraceful

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 67
rout and scatteration that I ever heard of." It would be useless to
punctuate these pages with the daily details of his actions. Though
impatient for his brigadier's commission, he was not destined to receive
it till the early part of September. The promotion was still pending,
when on the 4th of that month, Colonel Sheridan was relieved by Gen
eral Granger, under orders from General Halleck, of the command ofthe
Second Brigade, Cavalry Division, of the Army of the Mississippi. He
was immediately ordered to report to Louisville, where General Marcus
D. Wright was engaged in organizing and forwarding troops for the
purpose of driving Morgan, Bragg, and other Confederate commanders
out of Kentucky, preparatory to an endeavor to again attempt the
execution of Halleck's plan for an attack on Chattanooga. Andrew
Johnson was at Nashville as military governor of Tennessee, quarrel
ing savagely with Buell's representatives, Assistant Adjutant-General
Greene and Colonel Stanley Matthew (now Associate Justice of the
United States Supreme Court), who was acting as provost marshal.
General T. J. Boyle, assigned to recruiting Kentucky Union troops was
assuming to be in full command of that state. General ,Don Carlos Buell
was apparently wasting precious time in disciplining Union command
ers and their troops, who persisted in believing that a Confederate
in Kentucky was as much their enemy as one in Alabama or Missis
sippi. General Ormsby M. Mitchel, the learned astronomer, who
proved himself so capable and brilliant a commander, was holding
Huntsville and a large section of Northern Alabama, repairing rail
roads, fighting constant series of little battles over a great area, watch
ing fords, gathering and forwarding supplies, and generally doing
the most useful work, if not that which wins the loudest praise, that a
great forward movement necessarily involves. It was into this great
field, where the abler Confederate commanders of that date — Bragg,
Kirby Smith, Polk, Hardee, Sterling Price, Van Dorn, etc., — were
moving vigorously to retain their foothold in the Central South, that
Sheridan found himself projected.
On the date of being relieved of the command at Booneville,
Mississippi, — September 4th — Colonel Sheridan with his regiment and
two batteries, Hescock's and Barnet's, was ordered to Louisville. Gen
eral Halleck at this date was in Washington, assigned to duty as Gen
eral-in-Chief. On the 1 2th Major-General Marcus D. Wright and
Brigadier-General Gordon Granger telegraphed from Cincinnati :
" We have no good generals here, and are badly in want of them.
Sheridan is worth his weight in gold. Will you not try and have him
made a brigadier at once? It will put us in good shape."

68 THE LIFE OF
Next day, General Halleck replied that Sheridan had been reap
pointed, with his original date, that is, of the battle of Booneville,
July ist, 1862. This was the first in a line of promotions, by which
every commission he received, except the last — that of General —
bore the date of a victory. He had two in the volunteer army, five
brevets in the regular army, two full commissions as brigadier and
major-general in the same, before the war closed, and two as lieuten
ant-general and general, since its close. On the 27th of September,
General Wright asked Buell for Sheridan, saying, "I need him very
much," but General Buell assigned him to the command of the Elev
enth Division in the Third Corps in his army.
The position of that army is stated' in General Halleck's testimony
given before the Military Commission which investigated General
Buell's conduct of the campaign that closed at Perryville, Kentucky.
General Halleck left for Washington to serve as General-in-Chief, and
assumed command on the 23d of July. He said :
"When I left the Department of the Mississippi, in July last, the
main body of the army, under Major-General Buell, was between
Huntsville and Stephenson, moving toward Chattanooga, for which
place they had left Corinth about the 10th of June.
"Major-General Curtis' forces were at Helena, Arkansas, and
those under Brigadier-General Schofield, were in Southwest Missouri.
The central army, under Major-General Grant, occupying the line of
Western Tennessee and Northern Mississippi, extended from Mem
phis to Iuka, and protected the railroads from Columbus, Kentucky,
south, which were their one, only channel of supply. These several
armies — spread along a line of some six hundred miles, from the west
ern borders of Arkansas to Cumberland Gap, and occupying a strip of
country more than one hundred and fifty miles in width, from which
the enemy's forces had recently been expelled — were rapidly decreasing
in strength, from the large number of soldiers sent home on account of
real or pretended disability. On the other hand, the enemy's armies
were greatly increased by a rigidly enforced conscription. With their
great numbers and discipline, they boldly determined to re-occupy
Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, East Kentucky, and, if possible, to
invade the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, while our attention was
distracted by the invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania, and an ex
tended Indian insurrection on the western frontiers.
" This plan had very many chances of success, but the timely order
of the President, of August 4th, calling for additional forces and the

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

69

patriotic response of
the people of the
Northwest, thwarted
these plans. General
Bragg suddenly
transferred a large
part of his army
from Tupelo, Mis
sissippi, through the
states of Alabama
and Georgia, reached
Chattanooga in ad
vance of General
Buell, turned his left,
and rapidly crossing
the state of Tennes- ,
see entered Kentucky
by Mumfordsville
and Lebanon.
"General Buell
fell back upon Nash
ville without giving
the enemy battle ;
then followed, or rather moved parallel with, Bragg, who after captur
ing our garrison at Mumfordsville, turned off from the main road to
Louisville, along which General Buell passed, the latter reaching Louis
ville without any engagement.
' "Another column of the enemy had moved from East Tennessee,
after blockading Cumberland Gap, upon Lexington, and threatened
Cincinnati. A small force of our raw troops, which had been pushed
forward to Richmond, Kentucky, under Major-General Nelson, were
met by the en£my and completely routed.
"Major-General Buell left Louisville on the ist of October, with
an army of 100,000 men, in pursuit of General Bragg."
The Military, Commission found, among other things, that the
enforced repair by Buell's command, under Halleck's orders, of the
Memphis and Charleston railroad from Corinth to Decatur, Alabama,
for use as a line of supply, occupied time to little or no purpose,
and delayed Buell so much as to give Bragg the opportunity to oc
cupy and concentrate at Chattanooga before the Union general. This

GEN. B. R. GRIERSON,
A DISTINGUISHED UNION CAVALRY OFFICER.

70 THE LIFE OF
compelled the abandonment of the campaign against Chattanooga and
should have forced Buell to the defense of Nashville and the prevention
of an invasion of Kentucky, In the opinion of Buell's critics this re
quired him to concentrate his forces at Sparta and McMinnville, Ten
nessee. " Instead of that," says the Military Commission, of which Colo
nel Donn Piatt was recorder, "he waited until the 5th of September
before concentrating " . . . and he then "retired to Nashville,
thereby allowing Bragg to cross the Cumberland unmolested. The com
mission cannot justify the falling back from Murfreesboro to Nashville,
but it is their opinion that it was Buell's duty from that point to have
attacked the rebel army before it crossed the Cumberland.
" The order to hold Mumfordsville proceeded from General Wright,
commanding the Department of Ohio, of which Kentucky formed a
part. [Sheridan had been ordered to him. J
" It was given in hopes that General Buell would reach the place
in time to save it. General Wright only knew that Buell and Bragg
were advancing towards it."
Brigadier-General Sheridan was engaged in the task of organizing,
disciplining, and drilling the new troops which had responded to the
call of the President, as mentioned by General Halleck, when General
Buell's arrival at Louisville brought at once every, available man and
commander into the field. The army moved from Louisville on the
ist of October. General Buell describes the troops "as yet undisci
plined, unprovided with suitable artillery, and in every way unfit for
active operations against a disciplined foe." The force was reorganized.
Brigadier-General Philip Henry Sheridan was assigned to the com
mand of the Eleventh Division of the Third Army Corps, which was
under command of Major-General Gilbert. The portion of this army
under Buell which fought the battle of Perryville was organized into
two army corps. The first was under command of Major-General A.
D. McCook, and but two divisions were brought on the field, led by
Generals Lovell H. Rousseau and James S. Jackson. It contained six
brigades. The Third Corps was under the command of Major-General
Charles C. Gilbert ; its three divisions were led by Brigadier-Generals
Albert Schoepff, a capital German soldier ; Robert B. Mitchell, a sturdy
fighting Kansas volunteer, who had seen service in the Mexican War ;
and the Eleventh Division under command of our hero, " Phil" Sher
idan. He had three brigades of infantry, with two field batteries.
There were twelve regiments in all. In this division the brigades

GEN. PHIL H. SHERIDAN. 71
were commanded by Colonels Daniel McCook, Nicholas Gruesal,
Lieutenant-Colonel Bernard Loifdolt, and the cavalry by Captain Eben-
ezer Gay.
The events immediately leading to the battle can be rapidly sum
marized. On the 22d of August, General George H. Thomas, second
in command, notified General Buell that Bragg's army was trying to
turn the left of his position at Minsville, and so enter Kentucky.
Buell regarded this with doubt, as he believed Bragg would turn into
Northern Alabama. Before he saw his error, Bragg had gained a great
advantage. Between that date and the ist of October there was a
series of daring movements on Bragg's part, and of Fabian manosuvres
on that of Buell's. Five divisions were put under Thomas to defend
Nashville, which Bragg seriously threatened by the beginning of Sep
tember, gaining control of the Cumberland Valley, and pushing for
Kentucky. He moved along the roads from Bardstown to Bryants-
ville, passing Marysville and Harrodsburg, and by Springfield, Perry
ville, and Danville. Polk reached Harrodsburg on the 6th of October.
Hardee, moving on the most southerly roads, was at Perryville on the
same date. He proposed to General Bragg to concentrate the Con
federate army at that point. Kirby Smith was at Frankfort and
reported that a great portion of the Union army was in front of him.
Hardee on his side felt troubled, and was closely pressed. Confused
by these contradictory reports, Bragg thought that Buell was marching*
toward him, and that his columns were placed all along parallel roads
from Lebanon on the right to Shelbyville on the left. Acting on this,
he reinforced Kirby Smith, and sent him to Perryville to assist Hardee.
Buell had not, however, fallen into the error that Bragg supposed he
had done, but had kept his forces well concentrated. There was a
considerable scarcity of water, which embarrassed the Union com
mander. The possession of the three great springs at Perryville was
the prize in view, and Buell concentrated his forces in order to obtain
possession of them. On the 6th of October General McCook with the
First Corps on the left, was encamped between Bardstown and Macks-
ville. Gilbert's, the Third Corps, was in the centre at Springfield ; and
Crittenden's force was on the right, between Springfield and Lebanon.
They were now in a position to help each other. On the morning of
the 7th, McCook posted himself at Macksville, from whence he could
march either on Harrodsburg or Perryville. Crittenden bivouacked
where cross-roads lead to the latter village. Gilbert approached by the
Springfield road, driving Hardee's pickets before him. A little before

72 THE LIFE OF
reaching Perryville, this road cfosses a small stream called Doctor's
Creek, which though dry at the time, had a few muddy pools at its
bed ; it was the only water within reach. Sheridan, whose division
formed the right of Gilbert's corps, took possession of it on the evening
of the 9th, and placed his outposts along the ridge of Chaplin's Hills
which rise on either side. These hills separated the creek valley from
that of another stream, Chaplin's Run. Perryville is situated at a point
where the road crosses Chaplin's Creek, the sources of which are
further up. The region is cut with ravines and thickly wooded, mak
ing it difficult to hear and impossible to see for any distance. Hardee
with his two divisions was encamped on the heights beyond Perryville,
bordering the left bank of Chaplin's Creek. At daybreak ofthe 9th he
tried to dislodge Sheridan from the position he had assumed during the
night. This attack brought on the engagement, and at the outset Sheridan
had his full share. The movement of the evening before by which the
water holes were seized, was participated in by both Sheridan's and
Mitchell's divisions. Crittenden did not get into line until the middle of
the day, though not from any want of effort on his part. McCook
took his position on to the left of Gilbert at about ten in the morning,
but his men were heated and tired, and his force was reduced by the
withdrawal elsewhere of Sill's division. Of his force of 12,000 under
• Rousseau and Jackson, nearly all were raw soldiers who had never
been under fire before.
The Federal line was finally formed : Crittenden on the extreme
right, beyond the reach of sight and sound. To the right of the Perry
ville road was Gilbert's corps, with Sheridan resting on his left on the
road, and Mitchell's division on his right. In the rear, and separated
from him by a considerable space, was Schoepff's division, held in reserve
on Doctor's Creek. At a certain distance to the left of the road, in
advance of the one he had followed on his way from Macksville,
McCook's corps went into bivouac. The arms were stacked and the
men on fatigue duty had gone in search of wood and water.
It was two in the afternoon. At this moment cannonading com
menced, but it did not disturb either army. While the soldiers were
seeking shade and repose, groups of officers were watching the shells.
The Confederate commanders were preparing for a move in force
upon the next day. They did not suspect that a splendid opportunity
was being lost. General Buell, or rather his corps commanders, had
massed 58,000 men within reach of Perryville. On the other side of
Chaplin's Creek was Hardee with 15,000 men. Cheatham had just

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 73
arrived and raised this to 23,000 men. The arrival of this division deter
mined the Confederates to assume the offensive1 in the hope of prevent
ing a junction of the Federal forces. Bragg was present on the field,
but left the command to Polk. The two divisions of Hardee were
separated from the Federal lines by Chaplin's Creek. Anderson was op
posed to Rousseau and Sheridan. Buckner, on his right, faced Jackson.
Cheatham found himself on the left of Anderson, but by a fortunate
chance was withdrawn from this position, and after a march to the right
was placed in reserve behind the other two divisions. If he had com
menced the battle on the left, he would have roused Crittenden and
brought him back to the battle-field. About 2 o'clpck, Buckner and
Anderson put themselves in motion. Anderson attacked Rousseau's
line. The Union troops made a splendid resistance and compelled the
enemy to show himself openly. On the right Liddel's troops, led by
Buckner, took advantage of the woods to approach Terrell's brigade
unperceived. It suddenly opened fire and marched right on the enemy's gun.
Jackson was killed at the, first discharge. The men broke in disorder.
Terrell was killed trying to rally them. A fresh brigade checked the
onset, but the line was staggering. Rousseau fell back to the creek.
Buckner sent Cleburne's brigade forward to complete what seemed a
rout. Its leader was wounded. Colonel Webster on our side was
mortally wounded. The division lost one-fifth of its strength. Stark
weather was compelled also to fall back with his brigade.
It was this success of Buckner's, steadily pushed by that com
mander, that brought the rebel left against Sheridan's right, which
then advanced uncovered. He immediately attacked their flank furi
ously and under the movement re-formed his front. He opened an
enfilading fire with his two batteries, and brought them to a halt at
once. The soldiers who had just driven Rousseau's 5,000 men were
unable to break Sheridan's lines. The indomitable little soldier, with
his fresher troops, occupied a position easy to defend. All the efforts of
the assailants were now directed against Sheridan. Posted along the
edge of the wood which crowned the Chaplin Hills and commanding
the open fields through which they, the " rebs," were coining to attack
him, Sheridan inflicted terrible loss on the enemy. The fight was
fierce and heavy. About 4 o'clock General Gilbert sent Mitchell's
division to take part in the battle. With two brigades he drew near
to Sheridan, covering his right. One of them under Colonel Carlin, of
Illinois, joined the Eleventh Division in an offensive movement. On
that side the enemy was thrown back beyond Chaplin's Creek. The

74 GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.
Federals passed through the village, where they captured a body of
prisoners. Mitchell's third brigade had gone to the extreme left to
McCook's relief, and for two hours it made head almost alone against
the attack of the Confederates, slowly retiring before them, but with
cruel sacrifices. Night came at last and put an end to one of the most
sanguinary battles of the war, if we take into account the forces
engaged. The Federal brigades, numbering 25,000 men, lost 4,000.
The three divisions which had alone sustained all the brunt of the
battle, about 15,000, had left on the field of Perryville, 510 killed,
2,635 wounded, and 251 prisoners — more than one-third of their effect
ive force.
The Comte de Paris, from whose work most of these details are
drawn, considers the battle a drawn one, though acknowledging it
destroyed the hope of occupying Kentucky. It destroyed the reputa
tion as a soldier of General Buell, who was not on the field till sun
down, while it added laurels to McCook, Rousseau, Mitchell, and
especially to Sheridan, whose superb resistance to Buckner's troops,
flushed with apparent victory, turned the fate of the day into the
victory it certainly was. Many anecdotes are told of Sheridan per
sonally in connection with this fight, but the following will suffice :
General Gilbert, not understanding something which he saw through
his glass, sent a staff officer to find out what it was. When Sheridan
was asked what the movement meant, he said : "I have driven the
enemy before me, and whipped them like h. — 1, and that battery," point
ing to a battery of the enemy which was firing on General McCook's
troops, "I'll silence it in five minutes." He did it.
One of the stirring episodes of the day was the rescue of a battery
commanded by Captain Loomis, and belonging to Rousseau's division.
It was exposed and in danger from the advance of Buckner's forces.
The long range ammunition was exhausted, and the Parrots were
loaded with grape and used effectively at short range. When Rousseau
was hardest pressed there was considerable danger of losing this bat
tery, till Sheridan ordered up three regiments, who in their impetuous
charge cleared the ground before them, and enabled the battery and
hard pressed troops to fall back ancl re-form. Sheridan was every
where during the fight, and exposed himself so much that he was
reported killed. The battle made solid the reputation he had already
won as a fighting trooper, and proved his ability to handle and move
raw men under fire as well as to fight them effectually.
There was no breathing spell for Sheridan or any of the real fight
ers, as at once the army advanced towards Stone River.

Chapter VII.

FROM PERRYVILLE TO STONE RIVER.
SHERIDAN'S PLACE IN THE ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND — PREPARING FOR MUR-
FREESBORO' — SHERIDAN LEADS THE WAY — THE BATTLE OF STONE RIVER —
THE DEADLY WRESTLE WITH CHEATHAM  COMMENDED FOR DISTINGUISHED
SERVICES.
" I have possession of the ridge occupied by the enemy yesterday."
This was Sheridan's characteristic dispatch the day after Perry
ville. It was addressed to his corps commander, Major-General Gil
bert. That officer in his Perryville report says : " Brigadier-General
Sheridan I commend to notice as an officer of much gallantry and of
high professional ability. He held the key of our position with tenacity,
and used the point to its utmost advantage."
To Sheridan the next two months were full of activity, leading up,
as they did, to the notable battle of Stone River, at Murfreesboro', Ten
nessee. Drawn battle though the Comte de Paris declares Perryville to have
been, it was the Union forces that held the field and made the advance
therefrom, while Bragg's Confederate army retreated rapidly south
and eastward, until they reached the defensible lines of Stone River.
General Buell found it convenient to return to Louisville, after arrival
at which post he was not again restored to active command. His con
duct of the Perryville campaign was made the subject of searching
inquiry by a military commission, whose verdict was in the main
adverse to that general. The campaign and its character still remains
the subject of dispute by military critics. Major-General George H.
Thomas was in command until October 30th, moving 'the main body of
the Union forces toward Nashville. At that date General Rosecrans,
who had just successfully fought the second battle of Corinth, was
placed in control of the Buell army, still known to history as the
Army of the Cumberland. Rosecrans was at Louisville on the ist
of November, and immediately assumed command, arriving at Bowling

76 THE LIFE OF
Green on the same day. A considerable Confederate force was at
Murfreesboro', having arrived there on the 27th inst., Breckenridge being
in immediate command, with 8,000 men. Forrest had in the valley a
poorly equipped cavalry force of over five thousand. An attack was
made on Nashville and repulsed on the 6th of November. The entire
rebel force did not then exceed thirty thousand in and about Murfrees
boro'. At that place forty-five guns were also concentrated. Later
Breckenridge was joined by the divisions under Cheatham and Buckner.
General Kirby Smith held Cumberland Gap with over twelve thousand
men. Bragg himself was at Tullahoma, half way between Nashville
and Chattanooga. General Joseph E. Johnston, reported to be in com
mand, was, at the date given, in feeble health at Chattanooga. Our
scouts and spies reported that Bragg acknowledged to receiving only
1,500 recruits in Kentucky. Van Dorn acknowledged in his report
a loss of 13,000 officers and men, killed, wounded, and missing. Ster
ling Price was superseded, creating dissatisfaction among the southwest
Confederate troops.
The direct pursuit of Bragg's scattering army was pressed from
the nth to the 22d of October by the army corps under Major-General
Thomas L. Crittenden. Skirmishes were had at Danville, Harrods
burg, Stanford, Lancaster, Mountain Gap, Crab Orchard, near Mount
Vernon, Camp Wildcat, at Nelson and Pitman's Cross-roads, and on
the Madison road. The enemy retired through Cumberland Gap and
the pursuit was discontinued at Richmond, Kentucky, on the 21st of
October. The troops of the corps which at Perryville had been under the
command of General C. C. Gilbert, was under the arrangements made
by the new commander, General Rosecrans, transferred to Major-Gen
eral Alexander McCook, the senior member of the famous fighting fam
ily of that name, whose youngest member, Colonel Dan McCook, com
manded a brigade under Sheridan at Perryville. Our little brigadier
was placed in command of the Third Division of the army, in the Twen
tieth Corps, which was strengthened and made more efficient. The
records of the service are not, as during the last year of the Civil War,
full of Sheridan's movements, but they tell of his progress by the story
of skirmish and charge, of rifle volley and battery roar, of stubborn fight
ing and bayonet's flash. Wherever there was work to do, an enemy to
feel, or a force to be repulsed, Sheridan was ordered to the front. When
general battle was had and great armies interlocked in herculean strug
gle, Sheridan is reported as stubbornly fighting, heroically resisting

GEN. PHIL H. SHERIDAN. 77
great odds, holding the key of our position with Irish tenacity, or
advancing on the kibes of victory with that elan and dash that at last
made him renowned. As Grant said of Sheridan on one occasion,
" When I wanted that man, he was sure to be there." Sheridan, on
being told of this, said very coolly, " Well, a fellow ought to be where
he is expected."
Carrying the general outlines of this campaign in mind, the reader
must remember that the Union policy involved, first, the defense and—
safety of Nashville, and second, an advance on Chattanooga, a move^
ment which must be made in order to clear the Tennessee Valley and
bring the fighting to the gates of Georgia, thus beginning the linking of
our eastern and central armies together. The rebel policy had already
proved unsuccessful. It aimed to divide the Union line of action,
between the Appalachian Range and the Mississippi, by an attack on
the centre, to end in the occupation of Southern Kentucky and North
ern Tennessee. So far it had but reaped disaster. The two objectives,
then, were Nashville, as sought by the rebels, and Chattanooga, as
advanced upon by the Union forces. Bragg claimed to have won a—
victory at Perryville. His previous operations, with the expectations
whereon they were based, proved, however, a complete failure. He
was badly punished in having Polk's army driven back, but declared that
he left his enemy in a worse condition. This was not true. Bragg
himself retired to Tullahoma, and only slowly did the Confederate
military authorities realize that General Rosecrans was making ready
for a winter battle. Indeed, it is doubtful if they conceived that to be
the case until after they were defeated and driven back at Stone River.
General Rosecrans wisely concentrated his effective army about
Nashville. He was fortunate first, in having Buell's troops to handle,
and next, in securing a large number of recruits and new regiments to
fill all gaps. The concentration at Nashville enabled the easy repulse
of all Confederate movements on that point. By means of the railroad
and the Cumberland River, a vast amount of supplies were gathered,
transported, and stored within the next forty days following the battle of
Perryville. Some skirmishing and brief conflicts marked the movements of
Sheridan's division between the ioth of October when he moved out
on the Chaplin Hills, and his movements in the advance on the 26th
of December, along the Murfreesboro' and other pikes, toward the
Stone River battle-field. On the nth of October Sheridan's com
mand had a sharp encounter at Crab Orchard, Kentucky. . From that

78 GEN. PHIL H. SHERIDAN.
date till November 4, 1862, when General McCook moved to Nash
ville direct, there is little to be said of Sheridan and his command.
Brigadier-General Sill entered Nashville on the 7th. Breckenridge
had made a movement in force and been driven back. The Fourteenth
Corps took some slight part in this encounter. Rosecrans then began
the deliberate concentration of his army. Confederate concentration
began at Murfreesboro', to which point Bragg also moved his Tulla-
homa forces. Sheridan had a severe brush at Edgefield Junction on
the 7th of November. On the 14th he reports movements from Mill
Creek. But the month of November was one of preparation. The
work became serious early in December. On the 9th of that month
Sheridan reports "something brewing" inside of the Confederate
lines. On the 12th he had a brush while reconnoitering along Mill
Creek. His scout reported 60,000 Confederates concentrated at Mur
freesboro'. On the 1 6th Sheridan's vedettes were in sight of those
of the enemy. The efficient force of the Third Division on the
1 8th was 6,495 rank and file. On the 20th it was nearly ten thou
sand strong. On the 26th of November Sheridan's division was on
the Nolensville pike. The enemy's cavalry were feeling the Federal
lines, and Sheridan sent out detachments in every direction. A large
quantity of stores were captured. Morgan was also driven in disorder
across the Cumberland. Constant movement was the order of the day.
On the 7th of December the Confederates gained an advantage in the
capture by Morgan of 1 ,500 men at Hartsville. Two days later General
Wheeler, now in Congress, tried but failed to capture our forage train.
He was handsomely repulsed by Colonel Stanley Mattnews, now an
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. General Stanley, command
ing the Union cavalry, many of them new men, drove the Confederates
from Franklin, where two years later General Schofield (who is now the
Senior Major-General ofthe United States Army) , under General George
H. Thomas' command, fought the famous battle of Franklin and utterly
routed the Confederate Hood. A new revolving rifle was used for the
first time by Stanley's men.
Up to this date the Confederate commanders had failed to recog
nize the audacious nature of Rosecrans' policy and purpose. , They
did not deem it probable that a sane commander would give battle in
mid-winter. On the 26th, the day following Christmas, they began
a rapid concentration on Stone River, at Murfreesboro', a very strong
natural position.
Within the Department of the Cumberland, embracing Southern

GEN. U. S. GRANT.

THE GREAT GENERAL-IN-CHIEF, UNDER WHOM THE CIVIL WAR WAS CARRIED TO
A SUCCESSFUL ISSUE.

[From a Photograph Taken Since the War.]

80 THE LIFE OF
Kentucky and Central Tennessee, General Rosecrans' effective force
was on the 20th of December, 1862, reported at over one hundred and
twenty-seven thousand men, rank and file. He commenced his move
ment on Murfreesboro', 'fifteen miles from Nashville, upon the 26th
of December, with a force of 46,910 men — 41,451 infantry, 2,223
artillery and 150 guns, and 3,266 cavalry. General George H. Thomas
commanded the centre, consisting of two divisions, a force in all of
13,397. General A. D. McCook, under whom Sheridan was serving,
commanded the right wing, with three divisions under Davis, Johnson,
and Sheridan, having a total strength of 13,397. Crittenden was in
command of the left, with an equal force.
On the 26th Sheridan was reported with his division as " all out of
camp, followed by Johnson." On the 30th, when battle was at last
closed, he was reported close "up with Negley's division" of the
centre. The Confederate General Hardee held the lines of Stone
River. The Union commander was confident of victory, and was
reported as saying : " We've come out to win this battle, and we shall
do it. We'll keep right on, if our provisions give out, and eat corn
for a week. We can and will win this battle."
To reach Chattanooga by early spring — thq object of all Federal
operations in the Central South — it was necessary to fight a vigorous
and decisive battle. Bragg meant to fight at Tullahoma ; Rosecrans
planned a combat in the neighborhood of his base of supplies. His
movements were bold and well-timed. The Confederate cavalry under
Forrest and Morgan was operating far from the Cumberland region.
To oppose the Union advance on Murfreesboro' were Polk's corps and
Breckenridge's three brigades of Hardee's corps. The balance of
Hardee's force, under Cheatham, was at Eagleville, forming the rebel
left to the southwest of Polk. The rebel right wing, opposing Critten
den, was at Readville. Hardee himself was on the Nashville pike
with one division, watching the advance of our centre.
The Federal army was put in motion on three different roads, lead
ing from Nashville in a south and southeasterly direction. The centre
under Thomas, took the Franklin road ; McCook, with the right wing,
that of Nolensville ; and Crittenden, on the left, that of Murfreesboro'.
The right and left thus flanked the position occupied by Hardee at
Triune on the Nashville pike, ready to unite in a combined attack on
him if he tried to hold that position. If he fell back, Thomas and
McCook were both to bear to the left and approach the Nashville road,
followed by Crittenden, in order to present themselves simultaneously

GEN. PHIL H. SHERIDAN. 81
with Hardee before Stone River, a small stream which covers Murfrees
boro'. It was evident that at this point Bragg must fight or evacuate.
McCook met Hardee's pickets a short distance from Nashville. The
head of his column took possession of Nolensville after a sharp fight, .
in which they lost seventy-five men and captured a gun. Hardee had,
however, begun to concentrate the day before, and on the 27th his
forces were well advanced on the roads to positions before and lead
ing to Murfreesboro'. Crittenden on the Union left, advancing slowly,
so as to allow McCook time to feel the enemy, reached Lavergne on
the evening of the 26th, after some slight skirmishes. The next
day he reached Stewart's Creek, and his cavalry by a bold move
ment succeeded in carrying the bridge thrown across the stream, before
the Confederates could destroy it. Thomas neared the other corps.
Negley joined Crittenden at Stewart's Creek on the 27th. Rousseau
camped that day at Nolensville. On the 28th the Confederate army
united at and near Murfreesboro'. According to the Comte de Paris,
they were 35,000 strong. On the main pikes three brigades of infantry,
three batteries of artillery, and 5,000 cavalry remained to check and
delay the Federal advance. On Sunday evening, the 28th of December,
the Federal army found itself massed' on two roads. McCook, who con
tinued to occupy the Nashville and Shelbyville, had the main body of his
troops near Triune, on the direct road to Murfreesboro'. Thomas had
joined Crktenden's corps not far from Stewart's Creek, and taken a
position behind that corps. Everybody was put in motion on Monday
morning, the 29th. McCook, on the right, reached Wilkinson's Cross
roads, where he halted the greater part of his corps. His advanced brig
ade, under Woodruff, having taken the Murfreesboro' road, arrived that
evening at Overall's Creek. The left wing advanced still further, fol
lowed by Negley's division of Thomas' corps. Palmer's brigades,
which were in advance, soon met the Confederate outposts and secured
the bridges and turnpike, making an easy means of getting over the
creek. Palmer halted at last near Murfreesboro' , upon a line of breast
works which lay across the road. Here the Confederates were massed.
The scouts reported that they seemed to be getting ready to leave the
works. Misled by this information, Crittenden took Harper's brigade
of Wood's division and caused it to ford Stone River to get in position
with Palmer, who was before him. The purpose was to reach the
town on the side easiest of approach. Harper that day captured some
prisoners and put a regiment to flight. The prisoners said they had
no intention of leaving. On the evening ofthe 29th the Federals through
different manoeuvres, found themselves in two bodies.
6

82 THE LIFE OF
On the 29th the Confederate army, well in hand, was ready to fight,
occupying a narrow space before Murfreesboro'. Hardee's corps was
on the right bank of Stone River ; Breckenridge was in front, on some
hills, with Cleburne behind him. Polk held the left bank ; Wither' s
division was in front. Still more to the left, and in the rear, was
McCown's division of Kirby Smith's corps. This was to cover Polk's
flank in case McCook should come by the Franklin road. Wheeler's
cavalry brigade started on the 29th to harass Rosecrans' rear and if
possible capture his wagon trains. Wharton, with 2,000 cavalry,
cleared the front of the rebel army. Bragg waited all day of the 30th
to be attacked, believing Rosecrans to have a force larger than was the
case. This inaction enabled the Union commander to bring all his
forces up for the decisive battle of the 31st. On the evening ofthe 30th
the musketry firing on McCook's advance was very sharp. Sheridan
did the fighting. In his report General Sheridan says :
"At sundown I had taken up my position, my right resting on the
timber, my left on the Wilkinson pike, my reserve brigade of four regi
ments to the rear and opposite the centre.
" The killed and wounded during the day were one hundred and
thirty-five. General Jeff. C. Davis' left closed on my right, and his
line was thrown to the rear, so that it formed nearly a right angle with
me. General Negley's division of Thomas' corps was immediately on
my left, his right resting on the left-hand side of the Wilkingon pike."
General Rosecrans gave his orders to his corps commanders on the
evening of the 30th, and gave them in detail his plan of battle. The
rebel army, he said, lay across Stone River. Rosecrans determined
to concentrate as large a force as possible in front of Breckenridge's
division, occupying the hills on the right of the field. While our right
was to hold the enemy in check in case it assumed the offensive, the
left was to. cross Stone River and take possession of the hills. From
this point our artillery was to enfilade Bragg's rear, while the centre
bearing toward the south would force the river road, and place itself
between them and Murfreesboro'. This was a bold plan, because
Rosecrans thought his enemy had 50,000 men. Its chief aim was to
divide the enemy in two. The ground of attack was covered by thick
ets which would protect our movements. Breckenridge was on the
top of bare hills. The right wing was the weakest part ofthe Federal
lines : in fact McCook, with his corps alone, occupied more than one-
half of our line. This came very near proving a fatal weakness. At
any rate, the plan threw the burden of the severest fighting on the Twen-

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 83
tieth Army Corps. Each of its three divisions had two brigades in
front and one in reserve. Sheridan's was on the left, Davis' in the centre,
and Johnson's on the right. It was deemed probable the-e«emy would
attack our right, in order to make a division in favor of their left.
Thus Rosecrans' success depended on the resistance which this part
of his army could make. Our officers were ignorant of the topography,
while the rebels were familiar with every acre. On the evening ofthe
30th the rebel position was as follows : Hardee left Breckenridge alone
on the hills upon the right bank of Stone River. Polk was in the centre
with Withers' division in first line and that of Cheatham in the second
line. Hardee was on the left with McCown's and Cleburne's divisions
behind him. The convergence of three roads here enabled the Con
federates to mass their centre and left upon two lines, interior and short,.
a fact which made hot and dangerous work for McCook. McCown
was ordered to attack the extreme right of the Union army, while
Cleburne was to follow and attack McCook's centre. Polk was to take
the offensive at the same time. Breckenridge was held in reserve.
It will be seen by this disposition of their forces the Confederates
designed to give McCook a hammering, with the expectation of at least
doubling him up. Rosecrans was somewhat afraid of this, but left
McCook with discretion as to changing his position. Upon his corps'
capacity to bear this hammering by Hardee was to depend the success
of the river march.
In the execution of his plan Rosecrans, leaving the right wing to
bear the hammering of Hardee, personally superintended the moving
of the left under Crittenden across the Stone River, to the south.
Wood's division of Thomas' command was to be moved again to the
north side. The main Confederate attack was to be from the northeast ;
our main attack would have been on their southeast. Had it been suc
cessful it must have flanked and completely doubled up Bragg's army.
Hardee made this plan nugatory by concentrating such powerful attacks
on McCook as at last to compel Rosecrans to order Crittenden across
the river again, and to turn Thomas by the left flank into line of battle
to meet and drive back the on-coming Confederates. It is not neces
sary to follow in detail the movements in this great battle, as we develop
chiefly the part that Sheridan played. From the brief outline given it
will be seen that the corps of which his division formed a part, bore the
most savage brunt ofthe battle. It is equally as certain that his part of
it was in the foremost and thickest of the fight. Sheridan's report of
his own and division's share in that day of savage onslaught tells the
story of the conduct of his troops in the battle. He says :

84 THE LIFE OF
"About 7.15 A. m., the enemy advanced to the attack across an
open cotton field in Sill's front. This column was opened on by Brush's
battery of Sill's brigade, which had a direct fire on its front ; also by
Hiscock's and Houghtailing's batteries, which had an oblique fire on its
front, from a commanding position near the centre of my line. The
effect of this fire on the enemy's columns was terrible. The enemy,
however, continued to advance until they had reached nearly the edge
of the timber, where they were opened upon by Sill's infantry, at a
range of not over fifty yards. The destruction to the enemy's columns
which was closed in a mass, was terrific.
" For a short time they withstood this fire, manceuvered, then broke
and ran, Sill directing his troops to charge, which was gallantly done,
and the enemy driven back across the valley and behind their intrench-
ments. In this charge General Sill was killed. The brigade then fell
back in good order and resumed its former lines. Here, unfortunately,
the brigade of Colonel Woodruff gave way, also one regiment of Sill's
brigade, which was in the second line. This regiment fell back some
distance, into an open field, and then rallied, its place being supplied
by a third regiment of the reserve. At this time the enemy, who had
attacked on the extreme right of our wing against Johnson, and also
on Davis' front, had been successful, and two divisions on my right
were retiring in great confusion, closely followed by the enemy, com
pletely turning my position and exposing my line to a fire from the rear.
" I hastily withdrew the whole of Sill's brigade, and the third regi
ment sent to support it, at the same time directing Colonel Roberts of
the left brigade, who had changed front and formed in column of regi
ments, to charge the enemy in the timber from which I had withdrawn
those regiments.
" This was very gallantly done by Colonel Roberts, who captured
one piece of the enemy's artillery, which, however, had to be aban
doned. "In the meantime I had formed Sill's brigade and Schaeffer's on a
line at right angles to my first line and behind the three batteries of
artillery, which were placed in a fine position, directing Colonel
Roberts to return and form on this new line. Then I made an unavail
ing attempt to form the troops on my right on this front line, in front of
which were open fields, through which the enemy was approaching
under a heavy fire from Hiscock's, Houghtailing's, and Brush's bat
teries.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 85
"After the attempt had proved entirely unsuccessful, and my right
was again turned, General McCook directed me to advance to the front
and form on the right of Negley. This movement was successfully
accomplished under a heavy fire of musketry and artillery, every regi
ment of mine remaining unbroken. I took position on Negley's right,
Roberts' brigade having been placed in position at right angles to Neg
ley's line facing to the south, the other two brigades being placed to the
rear and at right angles with Roberts, and facing the west, covering
the rear of Negley's lines.
" General Cheatham's division advanced on Roberts' brigade, and
heavy masses of the enemy, with three batteries of artillery, advanced
over the open ground which I had occupied in the previous part of
the engagement, at the same time the enemy opening from their in-
trenchments in the direction of Murfreesboro'.
" The contest then became terrible ; the enemy made three attacks
and were three times repulsed, the artillery range of the respective bat
teries being not over two hundred yards. In these attacks the Roberts
brigade lost its commander, who was killed.
" Schaeffer's brigade being entirely out of ammunition, I directed
them to fix bayonets and await the enemy. Roberts' brigade, which
was nearly out of ammunition, I directed to fall back, resisting the
enemy. " The difficulty of withdrawing the artillery here became very great,
the ground being rocky and covered with a dense growth of cedar.
Houghtailing's battery had to be abandoned, also two pieces of Brush's
battery. " Three regiments of Schaeffer's brigade having supplied themselves
with ammunition, I put into action, by direction of General Rose
crans, directly to the front and right of General Wood's division, on
the left-hand side of the railroad.
" The brigade advanced through a clump of timber, and took posi
tion on the edge of a cotton field, close upon the enemy's line, relieving
the division of General Wood, which was falling back under the heavy
pressure of the enemy. At this point I lost my third and last com
mander, who was killed."
The Comte de Paris says that two of Sheridan's brigades under Sill
and Roberts, formed a continuation of the line as far as the Wilkinson
road ; they were supported by Schaeffer with Sheridan's third brigade.
A large space separated this road from the Franklin road. It was occu
pied by the other two divisions of McCook's corps ; Davis' left and right

86 THE LIFE OF
was formed by Woodruff's and Post's brigades. They were in the woods.
Carlin's was between these two, a little to the rear, in a clearing where
the artillery of that division had taken a position. Johnson had the
extremity of this line ; Kirk's brigade was in front of the strip of wood
land extending to the Franklin road, and that of Ih^German- American
Willich, brigadier, was placed parallel to this roac
drawn back and facing the west. The third brigade of triis division
was placed on a dirt road. Communications were extremely difficult
between the different bodies.-
The attack on McCook's corps, led by McCown, was a terrific one.
The Confederates advanced under a terrible artillery fire, and at one
time a savage hand-to-hand encounter ensued. It was so overwhelm
ing that Johnson's division was driven to the north of the Franklin
road. The pursuing rebels diverged to the west, a mistake which
enabled Davis to form for Cleburne's attack, which he repulsed.
Cleburne, reinforced by Liddel, drove Davis until Carlin's brigade
checked the rebel advance. He lost his guns and was compelled to fall
back. The Union lines re-formed and checked Hardee. Then followed
the assault on Sill's brigade, already described by Sheridan. McCown
succeeded in driving Davis back to the cedar wood.
It was a critical moment. We had lost all the field on the right, south
of the Wilkinson road. Here our cavalry held Wharton in check. He
had been trying savagely to capture our ordnance train and to seize the
batteries hastily withdrawn to the encumbered pike. If Polk had moved
at this opportune moment, the fate ofthe day might have been very dif
ferent. But he delayed for nearly an hour. This was probably due to
uncertainty as to the point on which Rosecrans would hurl his left and
centre. The latter's movement required McCook to delay the opera
tions of Hardee for at least three hours. Believing that his proposed
attack on the left would fully compensate for all losses on the right,
Rosecrans gave no heed to McCook's first report, but pushed his own
movement with vigor. But the roar of battle growing nearer, at last
convinced him of danger to the Twentieth Corps. When later dis
patches were received from McCook, the commanding general acted
promptly. There was not a moment to lose. Disaster to the right
could not be repaired by smashing the rebel left, for the right had to be
rescued from its dangerous position.
The enemy was already trying to cut off his communications and
drive him back to the river. The forces massed on the left must be
pushed forward to oppose the victors. In a moment the troops were

GEN. PHIL H. SHERIDAN. 87
marching toward the cedar wood. Rosecrans brought back Van Cleve
and sent him with Wood's division to a point where the Nashville road
crosses a plain, the defense of which was of great importance. With
out waiting for the execution of these orders, the general galloped to
_the centre^ wherejyjgw battle had just begun. Wither' s division had
V^HMNNHP^^position on that side with great fierceness. Sheridan
came to thTfront with equal vigor. He had been expecting this attack
since daylight and was prepared to receive it. Sill's brigade on the
right, Roberts' on the left, were posted along the wooded slopes and
among rocks, whence they commanded several large cotton fields which
the enemy would have to pass without shelter. Their batteries were
placed in the most prominent positions, and Schaeffer was ready to nelp
them. When Cleburne was stopped in front of the hospital, Polk made
his great attack on the Federal centre. The left column, led by Cheat
ham, marched against Sheridan. Loomis' brigade on the left, that of
Marrigault on the right, bravely advanced amidst a shower of balls and
scrapnel which thinned their ranks.
Our lines were compelled to abandon some ground, and on retak
ing possession of it they found themselves exposed to a still more severe
fire than at first. Loomis was wounded and his men driven back. Marri
gault on the right was also repulsed after great slaughter. Cheatham
pushed his second line forward, Vaughn resumed the fight on the left,
and Maney on the right, but these attacks were fruitless.
Sheridan was in the midst of his soldiers, whose efforts he directed
with the quick glance of a leader who knows how to turn the least ob
stacle to account. Just as Vaughn's troops were beginning to give way,
Sill boldly assumed the offensive, charged and drove them back in dis
order. In a short space of time the Confederates lost one-third of their
effective force. But the heroic Sill fell mortally wounded in the midst
of his retreating enemy. Maney's brigade, which Cheatham had hurled
on the right, became engaged with Roberts' troops, but gained no
ground. It was not so completely repulsed as Vaughn and Loomis'
troops. But a fresh danger was about to compel Sheridan to surrender
part of the ground which the enemy had so unsuccessfully attacked in
front. Davis had just been dislodged from the hospital, and his whole
division was driven back on the Wilkinson road. Here Polk's force
and Johnson's brigade of Cleburne's division struck the extremity of
Sheridan's line, where Sill's soldiers stood, hardly recovered from a too
dear success. Almost at the same time Liddel's and McNair's troops,
extending on the right in the pursuit of Davis, who was in full retreat,

88 THE LIFE OF
threatened to surround Sheridan completely. But neither himself nor
his soldiers were disconcerted at finding themselves in this dangerous
position. Instead of allowing the division to be carried away by the
movement of his neighbors, Sheridan did not hesitate to make, under
the very fire of the enemy, a change of front. This enabled him to
preserve the important position he occupied with the least possible loss
of ground. He could not abandon this position without uncovering
the centre of the army, as he had himself been uncovered by the rout
of the right. The cedar wood, the eastern margin of which he so suc
cessfully defended, extended to the Wilkinson pike at the southeast,
but the southern border soon receded again, to make room for a square-
shaped clearing.
It was upon this receding margin of the woods that Sheridan
resolved to rest his new line, facing south. His left still lay joined
to Negley's right, which he thus continued to protect, and he only
abandoned the extreme end of the wood, which stretched out as far as
the Wilkinson road — a point where he had run the risk of being
surrounded. In order to effect this conversion, Sheridan brought the
brigades of Sill and Schaeffer to the rear. As soon as the Confederates
started in pursuit of them, Roberts' brigade made a vigorous charge,
thus freeing the wood and enabling the other two brigades to effect
their change of front, after which the former came in its turn to- take
position alongside of them. Shortly after Cheatham's first attack upon
Sheridan, Withers, on his right, had directed one of his brigades under
Anderson, against Negley's division. This was in conformity with
Bragg's instructions, who desired that the battle be gradually extended
from left to right. But this isolated brigade was received with a terrific
artillery fire, excellently handled. It caused such loss that it fell back
rapidly on Stewart's brigade in the second rebel line, which had just
moved to its assistance. In one of its regiments, the Thirteenth Missis
sippi, out of a total of 350 men, sixty-two were killed and 132 wounded*
A little later Sheridan, being menaced by Cheatham and Cleburne
at once, fell back to secure a better position. From his second position
his artillery flanked a portion of McCown's troops, who had attacked
his right wing. His shells bursting in the rear of the Confederates,
gave Hardee to understand that he could not advance further without
danger, and that before following up his successes on the extreme left
it was necessary for him to overcome the formidable adversary who by
his tenacity paralyzed the whole movement of his army. While bring
ing back his left for the purpose of dislodging Sheridan, he requested

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 89
Bragg to order the troops forming the Confederate centre to support
him. Withers received orders to attack the Union troops posted before
him with all his force.
It was at this juncture that the new movements ordered by Rose
crans for bringing the left into line with Thomas, put Rousseau's division
along the north margin of the wood behind Sheridan, so as to support
him if necessary. Van Cleve's division on this new alignment of the
right, lay between the wood and the railroad. Further to the right
Harper's brigade of Wood's division was placed ; the latter general
remaining in reserve with two of his brigades.
Quickly as the new line was formed, it could not prevent the Con
federates from winning some partial success. Rosecrans proceeded in
person to Negley's division, forming the centre of this new disposition.
His arrival renewed the fierce combat. Polk's right was vigorously
executing its orders. Stewart was again attacking Negley. Chalmers
advanced on Palmer. Hardee, recalling McCown, again attacked
Sheridan, who again had to make a second change of front, more diffi
cult than were his first manoeuvres, in order to avoid being taken in
flank. Falling back a short distance before the enemy, who was press
ing' him on every side, Sheridan ordered his two brigades on the right
to face to the west, and they found themselves back to back with Neg
ley's division.' Roberts' brigade, having turned toward the south, placed
itself at right angles to these two bodies of troops, so as to cover their
flank. This formation in a sharp angle, which was only feasible in the
midst of woods, and under the protection of their thickness, presented
a solid obstacle against the rebel's attacks-. In order to. render the posi
tion still stronger, Sheridan had massed all the cannon he had in front
of Roberts, which was the point most menaced, and the key to the whole
position. His energy thus enabled him to resist for nearly an hour all
of Hardee's attacks ; and it may be said that this hour saved the Federal
army from an irreparable disaster. In fact, while Polk's command,
which was obliged to charge Negley's and Palmer's position in front
and across large open fields, was exhausting itself in fruitless efforts
against them, Rosecrans had formed a new line with fresh troops from
the left, which alone could enable him to check the rebel march.
Sheridan could not prolong his resistance in such a hazardous position.
His soldiers were thinned out. Roberts, Schaeffer, and Sill were killed.
The enemy after three fruitless attacks still returned to the charge. At
last ammunition was failing them, Wharton's cavalry having either
captured or dispersed all the wagon trains of McCook's corps. The

90 THE LIFE OF
time had arrived for retiring. Sheridan rallied around him the remains
of his division, which left behind on the ground so stubbornly disputed,
and around the dismounted guns which could not be taken along, 1 ,800
men killed or wounded, and proceeded to re-form his lines in the rear
of the cedar wood he had so stubbornly held.
Rosecrans having formed his new line, found himself at Sheridan's
position. He at once ordered Rousseau to enter the cedar wood, in
order to prevent the enemy from taking his entire centre in reverse, and
to cover. Negley's right flank in the place of Sheridan. The latter had
hardly withdrawn before Rousseau was fiercely assailed, and on every
side. The Federals, favored by the thickets, were able to open a pas
sage for themselves at the point of the bayonet, through the enemy's
lines which surrounded them, but they left a great many prisoners in
their hands.
Rousseau had formed his division in column on the right, in order
to reach the position which had been assigned him, and hardly had
time to deploy his first brigade when the latter met the enemy, to whom
the retreat of Sheridan and Negley had imparted new ardor. This
brigade, consisting of four battalions of regular infantry and the Fif
teenth Kentucky under Colonel Shepherd, opened its ranks to let the
fugitives pass whom the enemy was driving before him, and then
waited steadily for the attack. It had just formed in a clearing west
of the new position Sheridan had taken. The rest of the division
found itself fronting the main forces which had just driven Sheridan
and Negley. The wood was full of disbanded soldiers. The enemy
could not be seen, but the swarms of fugitives told of his approach ; all
the artillery blocked up the roads, and to extricate it, Rousseau was
compelled to fall back, thus preventing a new disaster. While Shep
herd's force was covering his retreat by vigorously resisting the enemy,
he sent the artillery away in a semi-circle and again brought them to
the field between the road and the wood. Rousseau then hastily
re-formed his lines under the fire of the enemy. Thomas and Rose
crans hastened to the spot ; Thomas directing his troops as coolly as if
on parade. Rousseau's three batteries took position on a height
over-which the railroad passes into a cut, supported on their right by
the engineer brigade, which had been keeping the hill alone.
Rousseau's brigades under Shepherd, Beatty, and Scribner, extended
to the left in front of the turnpike. In their rear, Sheridan's and Has-
call's brigades of Wood's division had been detained on the road, trying
to stem the current of fugitives. The Confederates, invigorated by sue-

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 91
cess, were coming from the wood again. Although their lines were
thinned, they came in perfect order and confident of victory.
While Cleburne was following Rousseau's troops, McCown's division
had taken a similar direction toward the northwest. By this course it
would reach Burrows' House. General Hardee led in person. General
Bragg had sent him plenty of reinforcements because his own position
was not menaced. The reinforcements could not reach Hardee before
2 p. m., and he had to go on fighting with troops that had been under
fire all the morning. Rains (once Sheridan's commander in Oregon),
whose troops had not been exposed, was placed fronting the hill held
by Rousseau. Liddel, McNair, and Ector deployed on his left. They
dislodged Jeff. C. Davis' division from the cedar wood and came out
into the plain, to be met by the oblique fire of Rousseau's guns. Rains
was killed and his men retreated. There were three other brigades in
great danger in the clearing, and Hardee was unable to protect them
unless he brought all his artillery to the front so as to occupy that of the
Union army.
By this time the Confederates were entirely, exhausted and needed
rest or reinforcements. In the centre they were doing better because
they were not so tired. As soon as Polk saw Negley driven out of
the wood by Cheatham, he sent Withers against Palmer's division.
Thomas' movement having uncovered Palmer's right, the latter was
so6n turned by Cheatham, while Withers drove the brigades of Cruft
and Grose back upon the Nashville road. From noon till 2 o'clock
the battle was almost suspended, preparations being made for a last
effort. Bragg decided not to send the reinforcements Polk had asked
for, concluding that they could not be spared from his right.
About 2 p. m. the attack was renewed. The firing of musketry began
with fresh fury. It was growing late and Bragg in order to secure
victory must possess himself of the Nashville causeway before dark.
Toward 3 o'clock Cleburne advanced alone against the position held by
Van Cleve. This was the fiercest hour, the rebels fighting like demons.
The whole force on both sides became engaged. Several Confederate
regiments lost half their number in a few minutes, and our loss was very
heavy, also. Rosecrans, always at the post of greatest danger, ordered
his soldiers to "fire low and close." " Some brave fellows must be sacri
ficed for the sake of victory, — cross yourselves and march forward."
It was certainly not victory, says the Comte de Paris, but the salvation
of the Federal army. Not a breach had been made in its last position
when the battle suddenly ceased, just before night spread her mantle

92

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

over this field of carnage. The fight had lasted ten hours. On the
Federal side, Sheridan and Hazen had signalized themselves among all
for their indomitable tenacity. More than seven thousand men were
missing at roll-call. Sheridan had lost one-third of his division.
When Sheridan reported to Rosecrans with his shattered command,
at the time of his withdrawal later in the day, the little commander said,
with the big tears coursing down his cheeks : " This is all there is left of
it, general." The French writer has -been taken as, on the whole, the most impar
tial authority. His powerful description of the great battle places
Sheridan in the foremost rank of our division commanders, and proves
again what Perryville so clearly developed — his ability to hold the key
of any position or line to which he should be assigned.
A song that strayed from the rebel lines was altered and adopted
about these days, to fit the estimation in which Sheridan was held by
his soldiers, and those of the Union army generally :
" He's in the saddle now ! fall in !
Steadily there, all brigades !
Sheridan calls — 'Fall in, we'll win
Our way with ball and blades.'
What matter if our troops are worn ?
What matter if our ranks are torn ?
Quick step now, Victory will dawn !
That's our Sheridan's way."

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DISTINGUISHED UNION CAVALRYMEN.
GEN. GEORGE STONEMAN. GEN. JOHN BUFORD.

Chapter VIII.

MOVING TOWARDS CHICKAMAUGA.
THE TULLAHOMA CAMPAIGN — SHERIDAN' S PART IN ROSECRANS' MOVEMENTS
— ALWAYS ON TIME AND IN THE RIGHT PLACE  INCIDENTS OF HIS LIFE
ON THE MARCH AND IN CAMP — ESTIMATED BY HIS MEN — A POPULAR
GENERAL  A HARD FIGHTER AND GOOD TACTICIAN.
Stone River was named at the time " that great furnace of afflic
tion." Its effect on the country as well as the Army of the Cumber
land was immediately inspiriting. However close a call on Rosecrans
the cold military critics of later days may regard it, the feeling of the
country was that a great and very important victory had been won. It
came in opportunely, also, to strengthen the President's emancipation
policy, and to inspire the people to a renewal of continued exertions.
The dawn of the new year saw the Confederate army under Bragg
moving away rapidly to the southeast. Tullahoma, on the Tennessee
River, became again the rebel headquarters, while the Union army
under Rosecrans moved into Murfreesboro', occupying it as a winter
camp. On the 5th of January the headquarters of the Army of the
Cumberland were established in this now historic town of Tennessee.
It has since acquired another reputation, as the home of the accom
plished writer who, under the name of "Egbert Craddock," has of late
years made the American public familiar with the people, idioms, and
scenes of that region.
General Rosecrans received and published to his army the following
dispatches : •
To Major-General Rosecrans :
Your dispatch announcing the retreat of the enemy has just reached
here — God bless you, and all with you. Please tender to all, and accept
for yourself, a nation's gratitude for their skill and endurance.
A. Lincoln.
Washington, January 5th, 1863.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 95
To Major-Gen. Rosecrans :
The field of Murfreesboro' is made historical. You have won the
gratitude of your country, and the admiration of the world. All honor
to the Army of the Cumberland.
H. ,W. Halleck.
General Rosecrans in his report of the campaign and battle did
ample justice, among other mention and recommendation, to the services,
skill, and courage of Brigadier-General Sheridan, whose promotion to
a major-generalcy was asked and given. Our gallant soldier was but
thirty-one years of age when he wore the double stars on his shoulders.
How he was regarded by the enemy against whom he fought may be
aptly illustrated by the following anecdote :
A poor fellow, worn out in the retreat from Murfreesboro', found an
old mule which he got astride of. He was without shoes, hat, or coat,
and wore only an old gray hunting shirt torn into tatters and a very
ragged pair of pants. But he had his pipe in his mouth, and was
happy. Bragg and his private secretary, Major Hunter, were coming
along the same road.
"Who are you?" asked the Confederate general.
" Nobody, " was the answer.
" Where do you come from ? "
" Nowhere." .
' ' Where are you going ? "
"I don't know."
" Where do you belong? "
" Don't belong anywhere."
" Don't you belong to Bragg's army?"
" Bragg's army — Bragg's army?" replied the chap. " Why, he's got
no army ! One-half of it was shot in Kentucky, and the other half has
just been whipped to death by that little whelp Sheridan, at Murfrees
boro'." Bragg asked no more questions.
The winter camp became a jolly one. There was work to do and
plenty of it, in making roads, bridges, constructing earthworks, repair
ing damages, drilling new recruits, scouting and raiding actively, and
in all the multifarious preparations for the expected and longed-for for
ward movement of the spring. The songs and stories of that winter
are abundant and interesting also. A little and pathetic incident is
narrated of the Stone River battle-field : While Sheridan's division lay
along a hill crest in the famous cedar wood he and they held with

96 THE LIFE OF
such courage, the birds, rabbits, and wild turkeys that swarmed in the
region became so frightened at the noise of the furious cannonading as
to come out of their warrens and down from their trees and coverts, to
creep beneath the soldiers' coats and between their legs, where they
lay cowering in fear.
It is told of an Irish-American volunteer, one Mike Ryan, then of
Company K, Twenty-first Illinois, that while marching on the evening
before the battle toward Murfreesboro', a grape shot whizzed past him
so close as to cut away his haversack with three days' rations in it.
Without falling out or changing countenance, Mike marched on, re
marking in a loud stage whisper :
" Och, be jabers, if the inimy hasn't flanked me and cut off me
supplies. What'll I do now, begorra ! "
It was a winter prolific of song. A couple of verses will show the
quality and illustrate the feelings of our soldiers :
" When those we love request a sign
For words as yet unspoken,
That sign shall be, Remember me,
And a Rosey wreath for token.
And now may roses crown our land,
May blissful peace soon come, sirs ; '
May Bragg-ing traitors soon be damned,
And we in peace, at home, sirs.
Come, boys, fill up the brimming cup,
We'll toast the Union ever.
Our health, the man that can Bragg tan, —
The hero of Stone River."
Again, we have a ruder refrain, but equally as catching :
" I'll sing you a song to suit the times,
Called 'bobbin' around,' ' bobbin' around,'
You'll see dar's reason in the rhymes
As they go bobbin' around.
Ole Rosey's down in Tennessee,
Bobbin' around, bobbin' around ;
And settin' all the darkies free
As he goes bobbin' 'round.
The big Secesh no more will be
' Bobbin' around,' ' bobbin' around,'
For Rosey's down in Tennessee,
An' he am ' bobbin' around.' "
General Rosecrans on the 5th of January, 1863, "was in Murfrees
boro' with Rousseau's and Negley's divisions of Thomas' corps. The

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN, 97
five days preceding were full of great activity and severe fighting, as
Stanley's cavalry and brigades from Crittenden's corps followed on the
rear of the rebel army, who retreated along the Manchester and Shelby-
ville pikes. The Confederate cavalry was untiring and very bold in its
efforts to defend Bragg's rear and retreat. They even made feints of threat
ening Nashville. Generals Boyle and Wright, commanding in Kentucky,
did their utmost to assist Rosecrans by placing expeditions in the field
to attack and pursue Morgan and other Confederate raiders. The gen
eral government did not content itself with congratulations only, but
hurried to Rosecrans all the forces available. On the ioth of January
the returns of the Army of the Cumberland showed a force " present
and absent," of 117,837 rank and file, including all arms of the service.
This roster shows the effective force to have been 60,916. Some
fourteen thousand fresh troops were at this time sent forward from Ken
tucky, Under command of Major-General Gordon Granger. They
consisted of twenty regiments of infantry, four of cavalry, and four bat
teries. The divisions and brigades were commanded by such soldiers
as Baird, Crook, Judah, Gilbert, and Carter. Orders were issued for
the purchase pf horses and equipments wherewith to mount infantry, a
movement which soon became of great value to the Union cause.
On the Confederate side it was seen that the result of the battle of
Stone River was disastrous to their operations in the Central South, and
that it threatened alike their positions in the Mississippi Valley and East
Tennessee. General Joseph E. Johnston was in chief command ofthe
army and territory of Mississippi under Pemberton, against whom Grant,
Sherman, and Banks were operating in movements that culminated at
last in the capture of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, also of Alabama,
Georgia, and South and East Tennessee ; Kirby Smith holding the lat-
,ter important military section, with Chattanooga and Northern Georgia.
Braxton Bragg was in command of the central section, having Polk
and Hardee under him as chief field commanders. At Tullahoma, on
the 20th of January, 1863, his effective force was reported at 31,215
infantry and artillery, with 8,615 cavalry, under Morgan, Wharton,
Wheeler, and Forrest. This made a total force under Bragg direct, of
39,830 rank and file. The same roster reports as present and absent,
67,117 infantry and 14,350 cavalry — a total of 81,468 rank and file.
This is a difference of 41,638 between the nominal and effective forces.
The Confederates acknowledged a loss in killed, wounded, and missing,
of about fifteen thousand. Their own returns show the loss must have
been nearer twenty-five thousand, allowing the balance of the 41,000

98 THE LIFE OF
deficiency for post and other field duty. McCown's division of Kirby
Smith's army was at Shelbyville, breathing, after its hard and splendid
fighting at Stone River. Its returns, dated January 17th, show an effective
force of but 3,940, while the roster of " present and absent " is given at
7>712' showing a decrease of 2,486 rank and file. This is, doubtless, a fair
statement of its actual loss. According to Johnston's dispatches to the
Confederate War Department, Bragg wanted 20,000 fresh troops.
There were but 42,000 in the Department of the Mississippi, and about
25,000 under Kirby Smith. Chattanooga was transferred to Bragg's
command and the long tussle began for its possession, which was to
end in the late fall by the overwhelming defeat of Bragg at Mission
Ridge. It was a long road thereto, however, and the Union interest
centered for the next five or six months on Rosecrans and Grant, — one
preparing at Murfreesboro', and the other pounding away at Vicksburg.
As Sheridan remained with "Rosey," attention must be again turned
to the operations at and from that point.
The esteem in which the gallant young major-general was held by
those who were nearest to him is illustrated not only by the unbroken
record of commendation he received from commanding officers, but
by the following, among other incidents : About this date the officers
of his division surprised him with a testimonial of their regard. A
magnificent sword, the blade being exquisitely wrought, with jeweled
hilt and gold-plated scabbard, while the sword belt was woven with
bullion, with a silver mess service, a case of elegant, ivory-handled,
silver-mounted Colt's revolvers, and a major-general's saddle, bridle,
and trappings, the whole costing not less than $2,000, were presented
to him. The presents were rendered the more acceptable and valuable
by the evidences of goodwill and confidence with which, in written and
spoken words, they were accompanied.
General Sheridan has always been a man of idiosyncrasies, and one
of them, at this time, was a great aversion to walking with old ladies.
One very rainy day he met an old lady who wanted him to escort her
where she was going.
" Excuse me, madam," said he, " but it's raining too hard."
Another time he met the same old lady, who said: "It's clearer
now, general."
" Yes, clear enough for one, but not clear enough for two, yet,"
was the response.
Here is another illustration of his peculiarities : A stupid and
garrulous person after babbling some time to Sheridan, said :

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 99
" Sir, I fear I have been intruding on your attention."
" No, no," said Sheridan, " I haven't been listening."
After the occupation of Murfreesboro', though the army settled to
camp life, there was work to be done. Railroads were rebuilt and
bridges constructed across Stone River. Earthworks surrounding the
town were built. Foraging trains scoured the country in every
direction. So passed the months of winter and spring, the quiet of
camp life being broken every now and then by the going out or coming
in of foraging and raiding parties. The enemy was not idle either.
Their chief object was to cut off communications and interrupt our
supplies. On the 31st of January, Brigadier-General Jeff. C. Davis, with his
infantry division and the second brigade of cavalry (1,328 men), under
command of Colonel Minty, left camp for an extended scout in the di
rection of Rosser, Eagleville, and Franklin. Colonel Minty was ordered
to Versailles, where General Davis was to form a junction with him.
They went to Rosser. A Confederate cavalry force of four hundred
was found and attacked. Some fifty of them were captured, and the
balance dispersed. Not hearing from Davis, Colonel Minty proceeded
to Unionville, driving the enemy out of that town. Colonel Dan
McCook now sent a messenger to say he had taken Middletown, and
captured Colonel Douglass. After passing through Peytonville, Pop
lar Grove, Franklin, Kinderhook, and Charlotte, where he camped one
night, he proceeded on the road to Centerville, capturing a colonel and
major upon Forrest's staff, two lieutenants and twenty-three men of
Forrest's and Wharton's escort, one of them a courier bearing dis
patches. This expedition lasted till the middle of February, 1863.
On the 3d of February, the Confederate Generals Wheeler, Forrest,
and Wharton, at about 1.30 p. m., sent a flag of truce to Palmyra, de
manding the surrender of the post and garrison, which consisted of nine
companies of the Eighty- third Illinois, a battalion of the Fifth Iowa Cav
alry, Flood's battery, and some wounded men. The surrender was
promptly refused, and Colonel Harding, commanding, at once began
preparations for defense. The fighting was very severe, and the Con
federates were defeated over and over again in their attacks. Their loss
was 250 killed, 155 of whom were buried by our forces, 600 wounded,
and 105 prisoners.
On the 4th of March an expedition under Colonel, Coburn was
ordered to move on Spring Hill, from Franklin, ten miles south of

ioo THE LIFE OF
and thirty miles from Nashville. About four miles out it- met the
enemy, and had a sharp skirmish. At Thompson's Station, on the next
day, they had another severe skirmish. It soon became evident that
Colonel Coburn had encountered the whole of Forrest's and Van
Dorn's forces. After severe fighting on both sides, Coburn was com
pelled to surrender, and he and "his men (1,306) were made prisoners
and sent south. The engagement is known as the battle of Spring
Hill. While this battle was being fought, General Sheridan with his
division and Colonel Minty with a force of 863 cavalry, were out on
a ten days' scout. Colonel Minty drove the enemy out of Rosser and
Unionville, pursuing them to within five miles of Shelbyville, where
McCown's division had its headquarters. The colonel then fell back
•to Eagleville, and was joined there by Sheridan on the morning of
the 5th of March. On the 6th and 7th .he moved towards Triune and
Unionville. On the 8th he arrived in Franklin. On the 9th he
marched on to Carter's Creek pike to form a junction with General G.
Smith near Thompson's Station. Six miles out the enemy was met,
but after a short, sharp skirmish they were driven from the field. Sheri
dan camped that night at Springfield. The next day Rutherford's
Creek was forded, Forrest's cavalry disputing the passage. They, soon
fell back and were pursued for five miles toward the Lewisburg pike.
Upon reaching Duck River it was found that Van Dorn's whole force
had crossed. On the afternoon of the 14th the expedition got back
to Murfreesboro', having developed the strength and intentions of the
Confederate commanders. Colonel A. S. Hall was sent out on the
1 8th of March with mounted infantry, and made a bold stand at Milton,
fighting General J. H. Morgan and completely routing him. This was
the first thorough defeat the rebel raider had met with. Hall got back to
camp on the 2 1 st and was warmly congratulated for his gallant fight. On
the ist of April Colonel Wilder started out with the Fifteenth, One Hun
dred First, and One Hundred Twenty-third regiments Illinois Infantry.
He scoured the country in all directions, and on the second night con
centrated his force 'at Lebanon. He took possession of Rome and
Carthage on the next day. Here he found many Union families desti
tute, while the rebels had plenty. The goods of the latter were distrib
uted among the former. To one a dollar's worth of captured cotton
yarn would be thrown, to another a tired-out horse or mule would be
given. Able-bodied negroes who chose to accompany the army were
promised work and clothes, and a large number accompanied his return.
While Wilder was making this raid he was marching by a place where

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 101
an active and bitter rebel was at work getting in his fat cattle. He
looked rather astonished when our cavalry advance was followed by his
horses. The quartermaster then came next with his mules and the con
tents of his corn-cribs. When the commissary marched by with all his
extra fat cattle, the rebel farmer was in great alarm, and wanted to know
if they were not going to pay him for his goods.
" We are not paying money, at present, to any one," blandly an
swered Wilder, "but we will give you a receipt for all. Providing
you prove at the close of the war your loyalty, you'll get your money
for them." " Well, if that's the case," said the irate rebel, " they may go to the
devil," and turning to a couple of darkies who were looking on with
open mouths, he administered to them a few good kicks, exclaiming,
" D — n you, go to  r."
On the ioth of April Major-General Gordon Granger, with two
divisions, fought the rebels at Franklin. The necessity upon them of
relieving Mississippi, then feeling the effects of Grant's operations, had
compelled them to assume the offensive against Rosecrans. But they
had to fall back for want of provisions and ammunition. On the 20th
of April McMinnville was captured by our cavalry. On the 27th a bril
liant dash was made upon a camp of rebels at Carter's Creek. About
one hundred and fifty prisoners were taken, all of the First Texas Legion,
as many horses, one hundred mules, eight wagons, and an ambulance.
For several months there was an almost complete lull in the Depart
ment of the Cumberland, on both sides. Murmurs were heard against
Rosecrans' alleged inactivity. At last, on the 23d of June, that general
issued orders for an advance in force upon the enemy the following
morning at daybreak. He sent the lesser part of the army toward
Shelbyville, to make a feigned movement in that direction, while the
decisive blow was to be struck by rapidly marching with the principal
body upon the enemy's right, turning of pushing it out of the way, and
thence moving quickly via Manchester, upon Tullahoma, seizing the
Confederate base at the lines of retreat, and their communications from
that point, the object being to force them to fight on our own terms or
scatter. To General McCook's troops, the Twentieth Army Corps,
the task of making the first formidable attack was assigned.
The third division of the Twentieth Corps was under arms before
sunrise on the 24th of June. Owing to a delay in receiving marching
orders, General Sheridan's, which was to have had the advance, did
not get under way on the Shelbyville road until about 7 a. m. It

io2 THE LIFE OF
marched over that road, preceded by five companies of the Thirty-ninth
Indiana Mounted Infantry, under Lieutenant-Colonel Jones, until it
came in sight of the enemy's outposts, when it halted and bivouacked,
according to orders, in the woods on each side of the road, paying no
attention to the desultory musketry and artillery fire the rebels opened
on it at intervals. Johnson's and Davis' divisions turned to the left when
six miles out, and took the road to Liberty Gap. Up to this date the
weather had been fine and clear, but when the troops marched out of
camp the rain commenced falling heavily.
Before daybreak on the same day Colonel Wilder's mounted infantry
struck tents and were soon in motion along the pike leading to Man
chester. Colonel Reynolds with the remainder of that division followed.
Later in the day Generals Negley and Rousseau, of the Fourteenth
Corps, followed in the same direction. Colonel Wilder was sent forward
to within a few miles of Hoover's Gap. Nine miles from Murfreesboro',
the advance guard came upon the enemy's pickets. Two companies
were deployed as skirmishers and the column moved forward, driving
the Confederates before it. From prisoners, Colonel Wilder learned
that the works commanding Hoover's Gap, constructed by Bushrod
Johnston, were not occupied. He determined to take possession of
them before knowledge of our movements could reach Bragg. This
he accomplished, taking several prisoners. Hoover's Gap afforded
strong defensive points, but they were practically unused. Colonel
Wilder hurried forward and took position on the hill commanding
the road and the enemy's camp. By this move he captured a train
of nine wagons, a drove of fine cattle, and fifteen prisoners. The
long-roll was heard in the rebel camp soon after, and Wilder deployed
his men for battle. Captain Lilley hurried his battery forward to a
cleared eminence, while the Twenty-third Illinois, under Colonel
Monroe, was moved up to the battery's support. The Seventy-second
Indiana formed near ; Colonel Jordan, of the Seventeenth Indiana, also
took position, and Colonel Funkhouser, with the Ninety-eighth Illinois,
formed some distance to the right but on the same ridge. Soon after,
the firing of artillery announced the opening of battle, and the rebels
replied directly. Five regiments of their infantry rose from the low
ground near the stream and came charging across the rolling but open
field toward the Seventeenth Indiana. They approached within range
and received a volley that checked but did not stay their charge. Sup
posing pur guns exhausted, a cheer followed the report, and they moved
on. Again Wilder's Spencer rifles (twelve-shooters) poured in their

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 103
rain of bullets, and still the enemy pressed on. They were nearing the
line in large force, and the colonel was looking anxiously for assistance.
Ultimate capture seemed inevitable. Not a man, however, left our
lines. Just as hope was giving way, successive volleys on the right
announced reinforcements. The united firing of the Ninety-eighth and
Seventeenth regiments sent the enemy flying from the field.
The importance of this victory was seen by the general command
ing. He said, " Wilder has saved us thousands of men." The loss in
two hours of fighting was sixty-three killed and wounded. The rebel
forces engaged were Liddel's, Wharton's, and Bate's brigades, number
ing fifteen regiments. During this time brilliant work was being done
at Liberty Gap, through which Major-General McCook was to pass in
advancing upon Cleburne's division. General Benjamin Harrison, in
advance with one battalion of the Thirty-ninth Indiana Mounted
Infantry, discovered a force of about eight hundred rebel infantry at
about 1 p. m., near the gap. General Willich led our column. It pushed
on under a heavy fire through the open fields, with loud cheers, and soon
drove the rebels in precipitate flight, capturing their tents, baggage, and
supplies. General Johnson ordered Willich to rally and briefly rest his
brigade. Colonel Baldwin took the lead and cleared the upper edge
ofthe gap. Advancing rapidly he soon found the enemy in force, a
brigade of infantry and a battery of artillery being in a strong position
on each side of the road. Placing the Louisville Legion (Fifth Ken
tucky) on the right and the Sixth Indiana on the left of the road, with
skirmishers in front, and the Ninety-third Ohio as a reserve, and direct
ing a section of the Fifth Ohio Battery, under Lieutenant Ellison, to
engage the rebel battery, Baldwin made an attack under a severe fire.
After a sharp conflict the enemy was driven out and he occupied
their position in fine style. The following day General Johnson held
the position his men had won the day before. In the forenoon Willich's
brigade was ordered to picket duty on the front. After two or three
trifling skirmishes, an attack in force was made on our lines. Counter
charging, we drove them several miles. About 3 o'clock the am
munition of the Thirty-second Indiana and the Eighty-ninth Illinois
giving out, General Willich ordered the Fifteenth Ohio to advance.
They divided up their ammunition with the two former regiments and
thus kept the enemy in check. Soon after Willich ordered the Forty-
ninth Ohio behind the centre of the line, and placed Goodspeed's bat
tery on the hill, where it did very good service. About the same time
Willich sent word to General Johnson that the fight was becoming

104 THE LIFE OF
serious. Between five and six the ammunition of the Fifteenth Ohio,
the Thirty-second Indiana, and the Eighty-ninth Illinois was entirely
exhausted. General Willich then ordered the Forty-ninth Ohio to.
charge. General Johnson in the absence of General Davis, who was
sick, had ordered Carlin's brigade of the First Division to the support
of the Second Brigade. Advancing across the valley with a dash, it
came up on the right ofthe latter. General Davis having left his sick
bed upon the first sound of battle, arrived in front just in time to see
this charge of his men. Shortly after the appearance of Carlin's bri
gade the enemy abandoned the contest. The order being'to check, not
attack them, the fighting ceased.
The two gaps in the Cumberland Range, Liberty and Hoover's, were
the keys of this position, and their loss to the enemy at once determined
him to retreat. Upon obtaining these facts, on the ist of July, General
Rosecrans, perceiving that he could go through them and flank Bragg
at Tullahoma, at once threw his whole force forward in rapid pursuit,
Thomas moving on the Manchester road and McCook on the one toward
Tullahoma. The division of General Negley encountered the rear of
Hardee at a point about four miles north of Elk River, and skirmished
with it all day. The enemy's rear guard under Wheeler made a stub
born resistance, enabling his trains to get beyond the river. During the
night by great exertion Bragg, drew off his reserve of artillery — twenty-
six pieces — across Elk River, at Estelle Springs, and reached Tin
Mountain. They burned the bridges on both roads, and the rear guard
took up positions on the opposite side of the Elk. The heavy rains
had also swollen the river to a great height. General Crittenden with
his corps was sent by a rapid march to take possession of the road
leading from Deschard, via Tracy City, to Chattanooga. This move
ment was successful, and forced the enemy to take roads across the
mountains. On the morning of the 2d, General McCook crossed at
the mouth of Rock Creek, below Bragg's position, in front of our
right, and thus flanked the road to Winchester and the mountains. At
the upper bridge, under Negley, a similar movement was made, with
still better success. Rousseau and Brannan were sent to the upper
crossing to come down on the rear of the enemy, whom Negley was to
detain, — not to. drive. It was thought that Rousseau could cross by
io o'clock ; but the swollen state of the river prevented that, and only
a few troops got over in time. In the meanwhile a cavalry brigade
came in upon the rebels' right flank. Their firing was mistaken for
that of Rousseau, and Negley opened with two batteries on the rebel

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. io?
position , i ,000 yards distant. The first fire dismounted one gun and
killed several of their gunners. They were taken completely by sur
prise and made very little resistance, retreating precipitately to the
mountains. General Turchin had engaged the rebel right, and after a
fight of two hours drove it and the entire rebel force from the field.
The troops were thus enabled to cross on the morning of the 3d.
They moved only a short distance, Negley encamping on the battle
field, and, Rousseau and Brannan on the bank of the river. McCook in
the meantime advanced and occupied Winchester, Deschard, and
Cowan. On the morning of July 4th our whole force advanced to
the foot ofthe mountains at Cowan, to find the enemy in full retreat
on Chattanooga. Meanwhile Generals Stanley and Granger marched
on and took possession of Shelbyville, meeting with little opposition,
and capturing several guns and 300 prisoners. The Union citizens of
Shelbyville greeted our troops with waving of flags and great delight. •
Bragg's retreat demoralized his army. This was shown by incidents
like the following :
Some of our men pushed to Elk River to repair a bridge. While
one of the men was bathing, five of Bragg's soldiers, guns in hand, came
to the bank and took aim at the swimmer, one of them shouting,
" Come in here, you d  d Yank, out ofthe wet ! "
The Federal was sure he was done for, and at once obeyed the
order. After dressing himself he was thus accosted :
" You surrender our prisoner, do you?"
" Yes, of course I do."
" That's kind ; now we'll surrender to you," and the five stacked
arms before him, their spokesman adding, " We're done with 'em,
and said fc Good-bye ' to old Bragg. Now you surround us and take us
to your camp ! " It was done accordingly.
To return briefly : On the 3d of July, after Bragg retreated from
Elk River, Thomas and McCook advanced to Tullahoma, and pressed
hard on his rear, hoping to strike a fatal blow before he reached the
Elk River, but they failed to do so. The roads, cut up by the re
treating army and saturated with continued rain, were impassable, and
Bragg escaped across the river. When the Elk was crossed, on the
3d of July, Sheridan forced a passage at Rock Creek Ford. The
Confederates having the railway for use in heavy transportation, were
swarming in comparatively light marching order on the- loftjr and
rugged ranges of the Cumberland Mountains, by way of Tautallont and
University. Thus they were well on their way toward Chattanooga.

106 THE LIFE OF
Rosecrans advanced his army to near the foot of these mountains, and
finding Bragg had got too far ahead to be easily overtaken, halted his
entire force, chiefly on the high tableland between Winchester, Des-
chard, Manchester, and McMinnville. On the 5th of July Van Cleve,
who had been left at Murfreesboro', arrived, and moved toward Mc
Minnville. Bragg pushed on over the mountains, crossed the Tennes
see River at Bridgeport, where he destroyed the bridge behind him, and
made his way to Chattanooga. Bragg saw that he must hold Chatta
nooga, it being the key to East Tennessee, and, indeed, also of Northern
Georgia. Every effort was afterward made for that purpose, even to
the weakening of Lee's army in Virginia.
Rosecrans now had the control of the railroad to Stephenson, and
put it in order under the skillful Colonel Innis and his Michigan en
gineers. Sheridan's division was advanced to the leading section of
the road to hold the same. Stanley with the cavalry then swept
down in a southwesterly direction, by way of Fayetteville and Athens,
Alabama, to cover the line of the Tennessee from Whitesburg eastward.
As forage was scarce in the mountain region through which he passed,
Bragg's troops having consumed the last blade of grass, Rosecrans
delayed his march until the Indian corn was large enough to furnish a
supply. Finally in the middle of August, the army went forward to
cross the Tennessee to capture Chattanooga.
The Army of the Cumberland was the centre of national interest.
Halleck ordered Burnside to move down and connect with Rosecrans,
and directed General Hurlbut, at Memphis, to send all of his available
forces to Corinth and Tuscumbia to operate against Bragg, should he
attempt a flank movement, and, if necessary, to ask Grant or Sherman
at Vicksburg for reinforcements. He also telegraphed to the com
mander at Vicksburg to send all available forces to the line of the
Tennessee River. Similar orders were sent to Schofield in Missouri
and to Pope in the Northwestern Department. The commanders in
Ohio and Kentucky were ordered to make every exertion to secure
Rosecrans' communications. It was determined that Bragg should not
cross the Tennessee River again.
There was no effort spared to also strengthen Bragg. Buckner
was sent to join him. Johnston sent him a strong brigade from Missis
sippi under Walker, and thousands of prisoners paroled by Grant and
Banks at Vicksburg, were sent to swell his ranks.
In this way Bragg was rapidly gathering a large force in front of
Pigeon Mountain, near Lafayette, while Longstreet was making his

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 107
way up from Atlanta. His arrival increased the Confederate army to
80,000 men.
General Rosecrans pursued his advantage and pressed on Chatta
nooga. Wilder was in front of that place on the 21st of August, 1S63.
He announced his presence by throwing a few shells into the town
from the position which he was occupying. This created a panic
among Bragg's men. They had a gang of slaves at work fortifying on
the south side, but were not at all prepared for an attack. Wilder, how
ever, after cannonading all day, had not waited for the enemy to seek
him on the opposite heights. Bragg recalled to Chattanooga, Ander
son's brigade, which, posted in front of Bridgeport, was to oppose the
crossing by Rosecrans, of the Tennessee River. The place chosen by
Rosecrans for a pontoon bridge was the ferry at Caperton's, near Steph
enson. As this bridge would not suffice for the entire army, Sheridan
had undertaken to construct at Bridgeport one of trestles, to be finished
as early as the 27th. Brannan and Reynolds were also busy making
bridges for their troops to cross.
All this could not escape the attention of Bragg. But his attention
was also distracted higher up by Hazen, who made a feint of crossing the
Tennessee in front of Harrison, and also by news concerning Burnside's
movements. He sent part of Hardee's corps to guard the river above
Chattanooga. Meanwhile Rosecrans had finished his preparations,
Sheridan began to build the bridge at Bridgeport, while Davis launched
the pontoons at Caperton's Ferry.
¦ Bragg was at last warned. He called back Wheeler's two divisions,
placed Martin at Trenton in Will's Valley, and Wharton behind him,
near Chattanooga. On the 29th the bridges were finished ; Davis,
crossing the river, made the Caperton's ferry-boat fast to the left bank,
while the cavalry, fording a little lower, met the Confederate vedettes
in front of the landing place and drove them away. Five hours later
the infantry began to cross. Sheridan found nothing confronting him,
but an accident caused the breaking of the trestle bridge at Bridgeport,
and his troops were not able to cross before the 2d of September.
Bragg had not annoyed them in any way, though he was but twenty-
two miles distant. He afterwards said that up to the 31st of August
he was ignorant of Rosecrans' movements. He still gave his atten
tion to the feints that were being made above Chattanooga.
Rosecrans, to deceive the enemy still more, on the 3d of September
gave to General Hazen the command of Wagner's, Wilder's, and
Minty's mounted troops, which with his own force, made his command

108 THE LIFE OF
about seven thousand strong. He was then to make a feint of crossing
the Tennessee. Hazen executed this order perfectly. Moving with
his troops simultaneously at several crossings, he caused his artillery to
pass to and fro, and built bivouac fires, doing so well that the Confeder
ates thought they had a whole army before them.
Davis' and Johnson's divisions ofthe Twentieth Army Corps, crossed
on pontoons from the 29th to the 31st of August. The bridge at Bridge
port had to be so strengthened as to enable Thomas and Sheridan to
transfer their heavy artillery and trains to the southern shore. On the
2d of September, after Sheridan had crossed with his infantry, 216
yards of the trestle work again broke down. This was fixed by dint of
hard labor in two days, and on the 4th of September, early in the morn
ing, Baird's division, followed by all the artillery and wagons of the
Fourteenth Corps, filed over. Negley followed Johnson at Caperton's
Ferry, and going up the left bank bivouacked near Taylor's store. He
had thus passed to the rear of Sheridan, who proceeded from Bridge
port to Trenton in order to effect a junction with the other two divisions
of the Twentieth Corps. On the same day, McCook sent Davis down
into Will's Valley, whom Johnson had relieved on the summit of
Raccoon Mountain. On the 3d, each division made a forward move
ment. On the left, Brannan and Reynolds proceeded up the Nickajack
Valley, in which was a grotto that furnished the Confederates with salt
petre. It was therefore very precious, and our capture of it was a
severe loss to the enemy. This force proceeded to Lookout Creek.
Negley toiled up the slopes of Raccoon Mountain. On the right,
McCook's three divisions occupied the eastern declivity of that mount
ain and descended easily into Will's Valley, between Trenton and
Johnson's Creek.
On the 4th instant, two divisions of the Twentieth Corps were near
Trenton with Sheridan. By this date all the Union army, with the
exception of Hazen's four brigades, had cleared the Tennessee, and
were collected on the eastern side ofthe Raccoon Mountain.
Bragg, troubled and undecided, had until now remained inactive.
On the ist of September, he concluded to wait for his enemy on the
plain to the east of Lookout Mountain. Only one serious motive could
justify this plan : it brought him nearer to the reinforcements that were
promised, and by delaying the struggle gave them time to arrive. But
it involved the evacuation of Chattanooga, which was a necessary sacri
fice if Stephen's Gap was abandoned to the Union army. Long trains
carried to Atlanta all the material accumulated in Chattanooga for two

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 109
years, but the commanding general did not yet set his troops in motion.
Polks' command had, however, taken the line of march in the direction
of Lafayette. On the 8th, the rear guard left the works so laboriously
thrown up around Chattanooga. Next morning the whole of Polk's
corps was halting at Gordon's Mills, on the banks of the West Chicka
mauga River. Buckner had been left on the Hiawassee two days. On
the 7th of September he received orders to start at once to the south.
Marching over forty-four miles in forty-eight hours, Buckner on the
9th arrived upon the banks ofthe Chickamauga, and placed himself a few
miles above Polk's corps, on Anderson's farm. On the 8th, Wagner's
outposts reported to Rosecrans that the enemy appeared to be evacuat
ing Chattanooga. He immediately sent Crittenden to ascertain the
fact. On the 9th, in the morning, Beatty's and Grose's brigades climbed
Lookout Mountain to Summertown, on the summit, and looking down,
saw Chattanooga deserted. At noon the Federal army was occupying
the Gate City of the Confederacy.
In this campaign Sheridan's division did its full share of the heavy
work it required. Owing to the nature of the operations, however, it
afforded no scope for that terrible tenacity and stubborn fighting which
had marked him on the battle-fields of Perryville and Stone River. But
what the Tullahoma campaign most fully developed was the little
soldier's ability to meet all the exigencies of dangerous marches, bold
tactics, and daring engineering work, in the constant expectation of
sharp attack and severe fighting. Nor was he found wanting in any
one of these emergencies. It has been customary to consider Sheridan
as a great fighter, and that only. But the careful reviewer of his won
derful career will find that he could think as well as fight ; plan as well
as attack ; consider conditions before moving, and that, in fact, his
apparent audacity and recklessness in the field itself, was based upon
the conditions preceding as well as surrounding him. Even as a divi
sion commander he was not alone a soldier and fighter ; he was a leader
and a general also.

Chapter IX.

THE BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA.
THE FIELD IN WHICH SHERIDAN WAS TRAINED — ROSECRANS' MOVEMENTS —
HOW THE COMMANDER OF CAVALRY WAS MADE — THE DEADLY CHICKA
MAUGA — SHERIDAN AND DAVIS SAVE THE RIGHT WING — HOLDING THE
GAP AT DRY VALLEY — LONGSTREET's VETERANS — FIGHTING CHEATHAM
AGAIN — ALWAYS A POWER ON MARCH AND FIELD.
" Old Brains" planned in the spring of 1862, a campaign designed
to secure the control and possession of Chattanooga. In the early days
of September, 1863, the Army of the Cumberland once more un
furled the flag of our Union over this very important strategetical
position. In this narrative, there will be little to do with criticis
ing, pro or con, the operations of the commanding generals. The
personal and descriptive features, with results, and the action leading
thereto, are the objects of our work. It is well, however, to suggest
that the leading operations of the Union armies during the years of
the Civil War, were largely based upon grand strategetical necessi
ties. The great topographical fields upon which their movements
were directed rendered this a necessity ; yet as a matter of fact most
writers and critics have either missed or avoided such important con
siderations in formulating their judgments. The Union campaigns
have, as a rule, been treated too often as so many bold and brave, but
isolated endeavors, while the fact remains that each of them was in the'
main, part of a pre-considered and pre-arranged plan of action, looking
far beyond the immediate results it was hoped to achieve, and aiming
deliberately, if successful, towards the occupation of some important
field of operations, or to the possession, as of Chattanooga, of an espe
cially significant point or post — a veritable " coign of vantage."
In general outlines the movements which began in May, 1862,
with the battle of Pittsburg Landing, or Shiloh, and closed with that
of Mission Ridge, in the fall of 1863, must be considered as among
the boldest of our earlier operations. They cleared Kentucky, held
Tennessee from Memphis to the Appalachian Range ; opened the Mis
sissippi River to New Orleans ; kept Missouri in the Union lines ; pre-

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

1 1 1

served Nash
ville; kept
open the
Cumberland and Tennes
see rivers, and
finally made
wide that
gate to Geor
gia through
which Sher
man went
" marching to
the Sea," and
thence swung
northward by
the left flank
through the
Carolinas. It was in
this broad
field, with its
extensive op
erations, its weighty responsibilities, and its splendid action, that our
young soldier, General Sheridan, was so thoroughly learning that great
"art of war," which he afterward practiced under General Grant with
such tremendous vigor and magnificent results in the closing months of
the civil conflict. Sheridan could hardly have had a better training-
school, a more fitting field of preparatory operations. And his record
therein shows how.equal he was to every duty.
General Grant is on record at this date in Sheridan's career, as affirm
ing him to be one ofthe two best division commanders that he knew of,
General Crocker being the other officer honored with such commen
dation. As an illustration of the experiences through which Sheridan
was passing, a brief summary of what General Rosecrans himself* de
clares to have been the chief features of the strategetical and fighting
campaign ofthe Army of the Cumberland, between October 30, 1862,
and the 22d of September, 1863, may not be out of place.
General Rosecrans dates the commencement of his army's active

GEN. WESLEY MERRITT.

ONE OF SHERIDAN'S FAMOUS GENERALS.

f Campaign for Chattanooga,'' Century, May, 1887, W, S. Rosecrans.

112 THE LIFE OF
service from December 26, 1862, when, he says, it began from Nash
ville " its movement for Chattanooga, distant 151 miles." The battle
field of Murfreesboro', thirty-two miles from Nashville, was fought over
and won, four days later. Twenty per cent. of. the Union forces were
killed or wounded. The Confederates retired to Duck River, thirty-
two miles south, and established "a formidable intrenched camp."
Another was also established at Tullahoma, " where the McMinnville
branch intersects the main Nashville and Chattanooga railroad." It
was expected that our forward movement would begin May 1, 1863.
General Burnside, commanding Department of the Ohio, arranged a
plan of cooperation with Rosecrans for the relief of East Tennessee,
then occupied by the Confederate forces under Buckner. Rosecrans'"
plan was as follows :
ist. Follow the lines of the Nashville and Chattanooga railroad.
2d. Manoeuvre Bragg out of his intrenched camps by flank move
ments to the east of him, fight and drive him until he crossed the Ten
nessee. 3d. Deceive him as to the point at which we should cross.
4th. Manoeuvre him out of Chattanooga. Then fight him, choos
ing, if possible, our own battle-field.
5th. Burnside's part was to guard the left flank, and enter East
Tennessee. Bragg's attention would thus be drawn northward.
6th. These operations must be so timed in the driving of Bragg out
pf Middle Tennessee as not to force him southward and thus to the re
inforcement of General Joseph E. Johnston, who might thereby be able
to seriously imperil the Union army in its operations about Vicksburg.
It was this necessity that delayed Rosecrans' movements till June
24, 1863. There were seventeen days of severe rain, yet on the
4th of July, we had occupied both the Duck River and Tullahoma
camps. On the 7th, Bragg was in full retreat over the Cumberland
Mountains. Rosecrans' headquarters were at Winchester, fifty miles
east from Murfreesboro'. Middle Tennessee was in our full possession,
with the Nashville and Chattanooga railroad also. This had been
achieved within fifteen days, with a loss on our part of but 586 killed
and wounded. Chattanooga is sixty-nine miles from Winchester, lying
on the south side of the Tennessee, which is thereabouts from twelve
hundred to twenty-seven hundred feet wide. The Cumberland Mount
ains, directly in front, were to be crossed before the river could be
reached. On the north side, beyond the range, lay Sequatchie Valley.
East of it the Waldron Ridge is cut from the Cumberland Range by
the stream that gives a name to the long, narrow valley. The Tennes-

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 113
see above Chattanooga flows at the base of this ridge. South of it are
the Sand Mountain Cliffs, then Trenton Valley ascends to the plateau,
while to the east are the long, precipitous cliffs of Lookout, a thou
sand feet above, stretching northward to the gap at Chattanooga with
out a single road for twenty-six miles. Indeed, there is not such a road
for sixty-six miles, as the first ascends at Valley Head, forty miles
southward from the Gate City.
Rosecrans' problem at Winchester and beyond was — (a) to de
ceive Bragg as to our crossing place ; (6) to repair the railroad with
out attracting his attention ; (c) to subsist troops and accumulate
twenty days' rations at Stephenson ; (d) to contract and forward with
out attention large pontoon and trestle bridges ; (e) to a delay suffi
cient to secure the benefits of the early corn feed ; (/") in crossing the
river, to do it so as to endanger Bragg's communications and compel him
thereby to fall back so far that we could select our own field of fight
in front of Chattanooga. He was expected to fight in force before the
campaign closed. Rosecrans succeeded, as has been already shown,
up to the possession of Chattanooga. He claims it was done unassisted ;
the Army of the Potomac even being kept so idle as to allow Lee to
send Longstreet to the assistance of Bragg. The Army of the Tennes
see (Grant's) did not assist, though unoccupied, according to Rose
crans, since the capture of Vicksburg. Burnside's command was kept
so far north as not to be of use, while in the Gulf Department there
was no attempt made by diversions to prevent the sending of reinforce
ments to Bragg, who was in these days aided to the utmost.
The story of the Tullahoma campaign has already been briefly told.
After Winchester seven days were occupied in crossing the Cumber-
lands. The movement was so managed as to appear to be directed
toward Knoxville, while its real purpose was the seizure of Bridgeport
and Stephenson. This was achieved by making long bivouacs in east
erly directions, but sufficiently in hand as to enable rapid concentration.
The Confederate observers were easily deceived. Our mounted men
descended into the Tennessee Valley and boldly drove everything across
the river, concealing the infantry movements in this wise, heavy masses
of which, screened by the timber, were prepared to descend and seize
the available river crossings. The pontoon bridge came from Nash
ville on the 24th of August. A trestle bridge over twenty-seven hun
dred feet in length was also contracted for, and five light-draught, flat-
bottomed, stern-wheel steamers were contracted for to run between
Bridgeport and Chattanooga. It must be borne in mind that the com-
8

114 THE LIFE OF
mander at Bridgeport, selected by Rosecrans, was Philip H. Sheridan,
who thus learned by actual service some of the most valuable duties of
a general officer, other than those of actual fighting and manoeuvering
in the face of an enemy.
It was McCook's corps, the Twentieth, which led the southward
advance on the completion of the first bridge. Sheridan was there.
This advance placed a heavy force forty miles south of Bragg. It
naturally made him uneasy, and finally compelled him, through fear of
our permanently holding positions between him and Atlanta, to evacuate
Chattanooga, which he did on the 8th of September, 1863. On the
9th the Twenty-first Corps entered, and our cavalry also crossed the
river. McCook and Thomas were both manoeuvered so as to threaten the
enemy, who lay behind Missionary Ridge, with headquarters at Ross-
ville. Thomas, with the Fourteenth Army Corps, crossed over Lookout,
up Johnson's and down Cooper's passes, putting himself in a good
position at the mountain's foot. Crittenden was in Chattanooga, and
when Bragg was located behind Missionary Ridge, his infantry was
moved out. On the 1 2th Bragg was found concentrating near Lafayette,
behind Pigeon Mountain. His rear was discovered on the 13th near
the Chickamauga, and Crittenden was at once placed in supporting
distance of Thomas. McCook, with whom Sheridan was serving, had
been operating southward, on the possibility of Bragg's retreat to At
lanta. The Twentieth Corps was at once ordered to Thomas' support.
Bragg began manoeuvering to get between Chattanooga and Missionary
Ridge, concentrating on the field of Chickamauga. On the 18th Mc
Cook was within touch and came down the mountain. Thomas, with
three divisions, moved northeast through the forest till his command,
the centre, was placed across the Reed's Bridge road, and others leading
from Rossville to Chattanooga. Crittenden was again on the left and
McCook on the right. Bragg once more hammered us from his right
on" our left. Crittenden was the cover for Chattanooga. The supreme
importance of this fight was owing to the overwhelming topographical
significance ofthe position we had just seized.
On the 1 8th of September the two armies were facing each other
on the opposite sides ofthe Chickamauga, a stream which, rising at the
junction of Missionary Ridge and Pigeon Mountain, at the southern
extremity of McLemore's Cove, flows by Crawfish Spring, and at Lee
and Gordon's Mill reaches the Lafayette and ' Chattanooga road. It
is an Indian name and bears an ominous meaning, — " the river of
death." Bragg was on the east, and Rosecrans on the west side of this

GEN. PHIL H. SHERIDAN. 115
stream. During the night of the 18th Bragg concentrated over thirty
thousand men, Polk being on his right, and Hood on his left. He had
sent Wheeler's cavalry to press Rosecrans' right, and so draw attention
from his real movement, which was aimed at our left. Longstreet's
troops were arriving on the 18th, and were being placed in posi
tion. Longstreet himself arrived at midnight. Fighting began early
on the 19th, Thomas opening. By a continuous night march up the Dry
Valley road, with his heavy corps, followed by a part of McCook's
corps, he had reached an assigned position on a southerly spur of
Missionary Ridge, near Kelley's Farm, on the Lafayette and Rossville
road, facing Reed and Alexander's burned bridges, and there, a mile
or two to the left of Crittenden's corps, early on the morning of the
19th, he proceeded to strike, without waiting to be struck. He was
informed by Colonel Dan McCook, who with his reserve brigade had
been holding that front during the night, that a Confederate brigade
was on the west side of the Chickamauga, apparently alone, and as he
(McCook) had destroyed Reed's bridge behind them, he thought they
might easily be captured. The attack was made at once and repulsed.
The Confederate brigade was supported, and the fighting was in force.
Cleburne came up to attack Thomas' right, but was driven back. The
attack on our left was abandoned and the centre assailed. It was
pressed back, but being reinforced, held its ground. Johnson from the
Twentieth Corps reinforced Thomas. Negley went to Van Cleve's
aid. Sheridan had earlier been sent to help Davis. Night came and
the battle proved indecisive. After Longstreet's arrival, Bragg divided
his army into two wings, gave the right to Polk and the left to Long-
street. The order of battle, from right to left, in the first line, was
Breckenridge, Cleburne, Cheatham, then Stewart, Hood, Hindman,
and Preston ; in the second line, and in reserve, was Walker, Johnson,
and McLaws, from right to left as named. Pegram's cavalry was
placed on the extreme left. It could do but little in such a broken and
wooded valley. On the 20th McCook still held our right, his right
wing being refused ; Crittenden had his two divisions in reserve, and
in the rear of the centre ; Thomas remained on the left, reinforced by
two divisions of Johnson and Palmer ; Brannan and Negley were in
reserve. The mass of our cavalry was on the extreme right. Granger
formed the principal reserve toward Rossville. The preceding night
had been spent in preparation. Thomas' troops made a breast-work in
their front. At daybreak an impenetrable mist covered the field.
Rosecrans intended to take the offensive, and concentrated his forces
more to the left, which Bragg was still determined to flank, and thus

u6 THE LIFE OF
get between it and Chattanooga. Polk began the battle as soon as it
was light enough to see. The whole line was then pushed persistently
against our lines.
At io o'clock Breckenridge's division, followed by Cleburne's,
advanced against Thomas. These attacks were, made with so much
energy that Thomas had to send repeatedly to Rosecrans for help. He
at last succeeded in driving the enemy back with great loss, and ad
vanced against Breckenridge's right. At midday the Confederate right,
except two brigades, was all engaged. The two armies were thus in
full conflict upon a narrow neck of land. General Bragg waited
vainly for the demonstration which he thought his right wing was
about to make, and thus lost the best hours of the morning. The
Union army appeared in force near the Chickamauga, about three miles
below Gordon's Mill. Bragg then thought it best to weaken his cen
tre and strengthen his right. Walker and Cheatham were sent to aid
Forrest. Rosecrans ordered Crittenden to defend Gordon's Mills at any
cost. It was a pivot for his entire army. Crittenden's line was a mile
in length. The Twentieth Corps (McCook's) , Negley's division of the
Fourteenth Corps, and Mitchell's cavalry, were at Crawfish Spring.
McCook held the right wing, and Rosecrans sent, at io a. m., John
son's division to the aid of Thomas. He was watching the enemy
above Owen's Ford, on the Cattell's Gap road. The fierceness of the
battle on the left soon enlightened Rosecrans. McCook was directed
to dispatch Davis' division after Johnson. Crittenden had anticipated
all orders and was in position. The Confederate Virginia reinforce
ments were, however, first in the field. The Confederate General
Govern had, under cover of the mist, moved from Thomas' left, to a
point of attack on Baird's position. Shortly after noon Baird encoun
tered the heavy line which took him on the flank and rear. He tried
to change his line of battle. King and Brannan were close together.
Scribner's brigade was most exposed. Baird endeavored to form a line
of battle on the right. Before Starkweather had time to arrange his
line the Confederates came up on a run, fell on him, captured his bat
tery, routed his troops, and after a short struggle drove them back in
disorder. King found himself a little on the left, while changing front.
He was also surprised by Walthali. The remnants of this brigade were
driven upon Starkweather, who had no time to place himself on the
defensive. Liddel now concentrated himself upon our lines. Stark
weather's men held their ground and began a terrible resistance, which
soon became mere slaughter. Walker, with two other brigades, gave

GEN. PHIL H. SHERIDAN. 117
the order for a new attack on Brannan. The latter, no longer sup
ported by King, saw his line broken in the centre, and his brigades
were separated : one brigade was cut in two. Starkweather weakened,
and the Union situation became very grave.
General Palmer then united with Grose. Rosecrans formed these
divisions in a quarter wheel, with Hazen and Cruft. Hazen was the
first to again meet the rebels. A little before 9 o'clock he fell on
Govern's flank and extricated Starkweather's brigade from them.
Brannan now hurled the forces he had collected in obedience to Thomas'
order, with Vandever, on the flank of Walthall's brigade. The Con
federate lines thus taken on both sides, were at once badly shaken ; the
assailants recaptured most of the enemy's trophies, five pieces of the
regular battery, and all of Loomis' guns, a battery renowned in the
Union army on account of its brilliant record. Liddel quickly aban
doned this portion of the field. Brannan came to a halt. Hazen fol
lowed Govern closely, while Palmer brought forward to the right his
two reserve brigades.
At 5 p. M. the Confederates renewed the battle, Liddel and Gist
charging on Reynold's right. While Thomas was trying to concen
trate, they attacked Johnson, Baird, and Van Cleve, producing con
fusion, and threatening the destruction of that part of our line. For
tunately, General Hazen had been sent back to the Rossville road to take
charge of some artillery. These guns he quickly put in position on a
ridge, with such infantry supports as he could collect, and brought them
to bear on the rebels at a short range. This caused them to recoil in
disorder, and the day was saved on our left. At sunset General Cle
burne again charged on Johnson's front with a division of Hill's corps,
but secured no positive advantage.
There had been some lively work on the right (McCook's) during
the day by the artillery, and in an attack by three of Bragg's brigades
in succession, one of our batteries was for a time in possession of the
foe. But the guns were soon recovered. At 3 p. m. Hood threw
two of his divisions on Davis' division, pushing it back and capturing the
Eighth Indiana Battery. Davis fought bravely until near sunset, when
Sheridan came vigorously to his aid. A successful counter-charge was
then made, the battery retaken, and a number of prisoners also: Sheri
dan's luck, as usual. When night fell on the 20th, the battle ceased.
We had lost no ground, had repulsed the enemy at all points, and cap
tured three guns. But our army was clearly outnumbered. On the
morning of the 20th, Longstreet's troops having all arrived, the Confed-

u8 THE LIFE OF
erates had 70,000 men,* while the Union army was but 55,000 strong.
Of Sheridan's services on the 20th, Rosecrans wrote (see Century
article) , after the forenoon fighting, at the time that Brannan was being
driven in, that " Sheridan's three brigades were ordered to the break,
but had only force enough to break a line or two and were obliged to
withdraw. " Watching the unavailing efforts of Sheridan to stem the tide, I ob
served the long line of Longstreet's wing coming from the southeast
in line of battle, out-reaching our right (McCook) by at least half a mile.
I ordered Davis and Sheridan to fall back northward," to a line indi
cated as a " first good point for defense." He then proceeded to the
rear of our centre, directing all troops met to "join Sheridan on the
Dry Valley road." At this point Sheridan and Davis were ordered at
all hazards to resist the advance of Longstreet, as our commissary trains
were but three miles or so in the rear, and time was essential to secure
their safe retreat to Chattanooga. And this was done. According to
Rosecrans' plans, the holding of Chattanooga was the supreme need.
Our fighting had shaken, delayed, and finally checked the rebel move
ments and army. Garfield was sent to Sheridan and Davis to tell them
what was wished, and thence to Thomas, the "rock of Chickamauga
itself." This was the situation in the afternoon of the 20th : Thomas
held the field ; Sheridan and Davis checked the rebel's flanking move
ment, Mitchell with our cavalry doing an important part of this work.
Rosecrans returned to Chattanooga to prepare for the new dispositions
of his troops so necessary. It was the hard fighting of Sheridan and
Davis alone, just before and at the Dry Valley road movement, that
prevented the Longstreet attack on our right wing (Twentieth Corps)
from becoming an utter rout. The Comte de Paris in his fourth vol-
ume^criticises Sheridan's action here somewhat adversely, and Rose
crans' very sharply.
Thomas, meanwhile, ignorant of the disaster which had befallen
the right wing, was holding his own position most gallantly. He had
sent Captain Kellogg at noon to hasten the march of Sheridan, whose
* Afoot-note to the Century article, already referred to, says that at Chickamauga Bragg had
1 84 regiments and 29 battalions of infantry, 34 regiments of cavalry, and 47 batteries of artillery.
Our roster showed 133 infantry regiments, iS of cavalry, and 35 1-2 batteries of artillery. The Con.
federates were on the aoth, says Rosecrans, holding a front line of 6,880 yards, and a second one of
3,310 yards long. Our own lines were 3,400 yards on the front and 1,750 on the second line. That is
to say, the front Confederate lines were nearly four miles in length, and our front was but a little
over two miles in length. This is an important factor 'in estimating the character and results of the
battle of Chickamauga, which had to be fought, for otherwise the Union army would have been
almost hopelessly environed within the lines of Chattanooga.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

119

support had been
promised, but he re
turned with tidings
that a large Confed
erate force was ap
proaching. Thomas
sent General Har-
ker, whose brigade
was on a ridge, in
the direction of this
reported advance, to
resist them. This
was gallantly done.
In the meantime
General T. J. Wood
came up, and was
directed to put his
troops on the left of
Brannan, then in the
rear of Thomas' line
of battle, on a slope
of the Missionary
Ridge, a little west
of the Rossville
road, where, b y
Thomas' order, had
been massed all the
artillery that could
be found, with as
much infantry to its support as was possible. At this position Thomas
now took his command. Wood had barely time to dispose of his
troops on the left of Brannan, when they were furiously attacked ; the
Confederates keeping up the attack by throwing in fresh troops as fast
as the others were repulsed. Meanwhile, General Granger had moved
to Thomas' support without orders, and appeared on his left flank at
the head of Steadman's division. He was directed to push on and take
position on Brannan's right. Steadman gallantly fought his way to
the crest of the hill, and then turning his artillery on the rebel line,
drove them down the slope with great slaughter. They soon returned
to the attack, however, in overwhelming force, pressing Thomas in

GEN. JOSEPH A. WHEELER,
DISTINGUISHED CONFEDERATE CAVALRYMAN, AND NOW A MEMBER OF THE
NATIONAL HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FROM ALABAMA.

120 THE LIFE OF
front and on both flanks. Granger formed the cavalry brigades of
Mitchell and Whittaker and charged upon the flank of the Confederates
as they were moving in line along a ridge. General Hindman was
in command at the gorge and met this attack. Our infantry was led
by Steadman, who seized a regimental flag and headed the charge.
Within twenty minutes the Confederates were not only repulsed, but
had disappeared. Our troops held the ridge, but at a fearful sacrifice
of life. This daring action brought on a lull for half an hour, which
was but a deep calm before the roaring tempest. The Confederates
were swarming around and behind the ridge, on which stood Thomas
with the remnants of seven divisions of the Army of the Cumberland.
Longstreet in person commanded his veterans, Hood having lost a
leg in the morning. There seemed no hope for our shattered army.
Thomas, however, stood like a rock, and assault after assault was
repulsed till sundown, when by order of General Rosecrans, he com
menced the withdrawal of his troops to Rossville. His ammunition
was nearly exhausted. His men had not more than three rounds
apiece when Steadman arrived. Garfield bore an order from Rose
crans for Thomas to take command of all the forces, and with McCook
and Crittenden to secure a strong position at Rossville and assume a
threatening attitude. On the way Turchins' brigade charged upon a
heavy body of Confederates who were seeking to obstruct the move
ment. They were driven with a great loss, and there was no pursuit.
Thomas quietly took possession of the Rossville and the Dry Valley
gaps of Missionary Ridge. That night the whole army withdrew in
perfect order to the position assigned it by Rosecrans, in front of
Chattanooga. The following day Bragg took possession of Lookout
Mountain, and so ended the battle of Chickamauga. Rosecrans says in
the article already quoted, that Thomas used the discretion indicated
by Garfield, "and retired to Rossville, where our troops halted, and,
in spite of their condition, wearied with three days and a night of
marching and fighting, were by 1 1 o'clock in fair defensive posi
tion. . . . On the next morning, Monday, the 2 ist, our lines
at Rossville were rectified, and advantageous positions were taken to
receive the enemy if he desired to attack us."
This he did not feel like doing after a sharp reconnaissance. Chat
tanooga, at least, was held, and a very superior force was successfully
checked, if not defeated. The campaign was certainly a memorable
one. It occupied ninety-two days. A great army had moved success
fully for 139 miles through an hostile country. Three mountain

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 121
ranges and a broad river had been passed. Two strongly intrenched
camps were made useless. Many small battles were fought. A great
amount of severe military service was performed. The objective point
ofthe campaign remained in our hands, after a great battle wherein we
had been largely outnumbered. This was the school and the work
wherein Sheridan was trained .
Severe criticism has been accorded General Rosecrans for his part
in this serious battle. It certainly cost him the confidence ofthe coun
try, and has embittered, justly or otherwise, his whole life since that
date. In his latest volume (the fourth) , the Comte de Paris sharply
arraigns Sheridan, even, for some laxness in the afternoon fighting, and
in executing the order to hold the Dry Valley road. As the French
author, however, stands alone in this, the friends of General Sheridan
can well afford to leave his memory undefended in all respects. The
Comte de Paris' is that of the closet, and is naturally based more upon
suppositions as to what a commander should do in a given emergency,
than upon an actual realization of all the factors of the case — the inci
dents and conditions upon which alone even a soldier like Sheridan
could act and achieve.
The hero of Chickamauga, as every one concedes, was the noble
old Virginian soldier, George H. Thomas. If living to-day he would
be Sheridan's successor. The " Rock of Chickamauga " was one of
the best beloved of American soldiers. The esteem, nay love, in which
his memory is held by all soldiers and officers who fought with and
under him, forms a tribute to his name and fame ofthe most enduring
renown. Sheridan, like all who knew the calm, upright, powerful
integrity of his character and will, held the memory of Major-General
George H. Thomas in the highest regard.
The battle of Chickamauga was a decided turning point in the war,
drawing as it did the nation's attention to the grave importance of the
Chattanooga situation, and thereby compelling its speedy succor. Such
action meant at any cost ; such success meant, as events soon established,
the rending asunder of the slave-holders' confederacy.

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DISTINGUISHED CONFEDERATE CAVALRYMEN.

GEN. N. B. FORREST.
A VOLUNTEER FROM CIVIL LIFE.

GEN. J. E. B. STUART,
GRADUATE OF WEST POINT, AND FORMEHLY IN THE REGULAR ARMV.

Chapter X.

AT CHATTANOOGA.

A DESPERATE SITUATION — HELPING A STARVING ARMY — TAKING PART IN THE
BATTLE OF MISSIONARY RIDGE — LEADING A DESPERATE CHARGE UP THE
HEIGHTS — A SINGULAR STORY OF WAR  WITH GRANT ON ORCHARD KNOB
— LOOKING AT HOOKER'S FIGHT — A GREAT DAY'S WORK — COMMENDED FOR
GALLANTRY AND ABILITY.
After the battle of Chickamauga the situation within the " Gate
City" of Georgia soon became a fearful one. Bragg's army held the
two great mountain lines : Lookout to the east, enfilading, as it were,
our positions ; Missionary Ridge, commanding our entire west front and
the great bend of the Tennessee River with its marvelous defensible
positions. The Chattanooga Valley, between Missionary Ridge and
Lookout Mountain, formed the great battle amphitheatre in which the
mighty combat for the control of the region was to be fought. It is as
notable a field for tremendous military tactics and struggles as that other
famous one of the Civil War, the historic valley of Gettysburg. The
latter is eminently simple, though large in topography. It is also lovely
and sylvan in its picturesque aspects. At Chattanooga the shock of
armies was heightened and enhanced in imaginative effect by the mas
sive details of the topography and the bold, rugged, and frowning
aspects ofthe grand yet rude details of a superb and mighty landscape,
which holds in its vast ensemble the culminating conjunction ofthe great
Appalachian Range that combines the Cumberland and Blue Ranges
with the mighty, haze-draped plateau of Northern Georgia. Through this
great mountain formation the Tennessee has forced its way by deep
gorges, rapids, great bends, serpentine channels, and over the Mussle
Shoals, adding marvelously to the romantic beauty and wonderful pic
turesqueness of the whole region. It was a field fit for the combat of
Titans — for the settlement of a continental destiny. A story is told of
a Confederate soldier which illustrates this. He declared after the

i24 THE LIFE OF
battle that Grant's orders were not those of an ordinary commander.
Against Bragg, he affirmed that the Yankees came —
" By States, attention ! "
" By Nation, right wheel ! "
" By Continent, forward march ! "
The Confederates, who were at this time well handled by Bragg,
succeeded in cutting off our railroad supply line at Bridgeport, on the
Tennessee, twenty-six miles to the west of Chattanooga. As a conse
quence the situation of the Army of the Cumberland rapidly assumed,
after Chickamauga, the aspect of a closely beleaguered post, camp, and
force. The animals died from want of forage ; the troops were placed
on half rations, and those of the poorest quality. The only road open
to the army was a round-about line on the river, north of, and over the
Waldron Range, through the Sequatchie Valley, some sixty miles in
length. It was liable to be overwhelmed by a raid of the successful
enemy at any time. Eastward, Burnside at Knoxville was in great
danger. The worst feature of all was Rosecrans' own discouragement.
In this plight, the Washington authorities turned to Grant as a suit
able commander to reorganize victory. Previously, however, Sherman
had been ordered by Halleck from Vicksburg to the relief of Chatta
nooga. He was to start from Memphis, following the railroad to Cor
inth, with all the troops that could be obtained from Hurlbut. Those
from Vicksburg were to be under McPherson. These orders were
received on the 23d of September. After Vicksburg, Grant had urged
a movement against Mobile. This was to be done in order to relieve
Rosecrans, by compelling the withdrawal southward of Bragg's troops.
The Ninth Corps was ordered to Tennessee. On the 29th Halleck
ordered all forces possible to Rosecrans' relief. At that time, Grant
says in his Memoirs : " The National troops were now strongly in
trenched in Chattanooga Valley, with the Tennessee River behind
them, and the enemy occupying commanding heights to the east and
west, with a strong line across the valley, from mountain to mountain,
and Chattanooga Creek for a large part of the way in front of their
line." Both Sherman and McPherson were then moving slowly eastward ;
Sherman being hindered by orders to repair the railroad line. Gen
eral Hooker's corps from the Army of the Potomac was also started to
Chattanooga. On the 3d of October, Grant was ordered to Cairo to
receive orders from Washington. Arriving there, he was directed to
proceed to Louisville. He then met Secretary Stanton at Indian-

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 12$
apolis, and they went to Louisville together. There Grant was offered
and accepted the command ofthe Division of the Mississippi, embracing
all territory between the river and the Alleghanies north of the region
under Banks in the Department of the Gulf. In this division were
the armies ofthe Ohio, holding Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio,
that of the Tennessee, and of the Cumberland, with Burnside's army in
East Tennessee, Hancock's fighters from the Potomac, and Pope's
troops in the Northwest Department. It included as corps command
ers such men, among others, as Thomas, Sherman, Hooker, Burnside,
Granger, Blair, and Stanley ; such department chiefs as Hurlbut, Pope,
Wright, Boyle, and others ; and a host also of great division com
manders, among whom were growing soldiers and fighters, like our
hero; Sheridan, T. J. Wood, Howard, Geary, Palmer, Wilcox, W. F.
Smith, Steadman, Baird, Jeff. C. Davis, Hazen, Willich, Mitchell,
Brannan, Minty, Wilder, Logan, McPherson, Innis, Johnson, Negley,
and many others. Grant and Stanton were in Louisville on October
17th. That night, Assistant Secretary of War Charles A. Dana, who
was at Chattanooga, telegraphed of Rosecrans' desire to evacuate or
surrender. Either involved the worst disasters. Thomas by tele
graph was at once placed in chief command at Chattanooga. He was
directed by Grant to hold the place at all hazards. Hooker was then
in supporting distance, O. O. Howard being at Jasper, and Geary
nearby. Thomas declared he would " stick." Grant reached Chat
tanooga, October 22d. He was on crutches at the time, and was car
ried by men part of the way over the Waldron Ridge. Rosecrans was
met at Bridgeport, and gave Grant some " good suggestions," which
the latter naively wonders he " had not himself adopted."
Sheridan and others of " Rosey's" division commanders awaited
without enthusiasm Grant's arrival. Finding a second pontoon bridge
in process of construction, the boats being hidden from Bragg's outlooks
up the North Chickamauga, the new commander determined to load
them with picked men, move Hooker from Bridgeport up the Tennessee
on the south side, developing also a force on the north side under Gen
eral Palmer, and thus run the river by night, seizing the enemy's pickets,
make a new crossing, and open the railroad from Bridgeport to Kelley's
Ford, eight miles from Chattanooga with a good wagon road thereto.
It was successfully done, and once more the " cracker line," as the boys
called it, was established. The inspiring effect was immediate. Men
were fed and reclothed. Medicines, vegetables, etc., were received and
new means of field transportation obtained. Much credit for all this

126 THE LIFE OF
is due to General W. F. Smith, who as engineer-in-chief, began, be
fore Grant's arrival, measures of the kind that commander accepted
and enlarged. It was all done by the 28th, and the river was again
opened to Lookout. Our extreme right was thus connected in Lookout
Valley with Chattanooga and the army there. During Hooker's move
ments in support, Howard had a sharp and successful fight near Brown's
Ferry. On the 29th of October, Geary's division was savagely attacked
at Wauhatchie, north of the Tennessee, by Longstreet in force. Hooker
marched rapidly to Geary's support, who held his own for three| hours
against a larger force. The fighting continued till long after dark. It
ended rather ludicrously, though, in a Union victory. Hooker's team
sters got panic stricken and the mules stampeded, rushing towards the
rebel lines, which, supposing the rush to be a cavalry charge, retired in
haste and without order. A camp parody embalms the "Battle of the
Mules," and it is given here :
"Forward, the mule brigade ;
Was there a mule dismayed ?
Not when the long ears felt
All their ropes sundered.
Theirs not to make reply — -
Theirs not to reason why —
Theirs but to make them fly —
On to the Georgia troops
Broke the two hundred.
" Mules to the right of them —
Mules to the left of them —
Mules all behind them —
Pawed, neighed, and thundered;
Breaking their own confines —
Breaking through Longstreet's lines,
Testing chivalric spines ;
Into the Georgia troops
Stormed the two hundred."
The Union loss in these movements was 489 killed and wounded.
Ofthe Confederates, 150 were left dead on the field, and 100 remained
prisoners. Their wounded were removed.
Already the siege had been lifted in large degree. There was
great peril, however. Sherman was /hastening eastward with the
Army of the Tennessee. Burnside's position grew worse. He was
over one hundred miles from a railroad or his base of supplies, with
insufficient forces and stores, but holding Knoxville and the Union

GEN. PHIL H. SHERIDAN. 127
settlements with a cheery courage. Grant was earnestly pressed to
relieve him, and the only way to do so was to fight a great battle at
Chattanooga. Bragg made a vigorous effort to recover the line broken
by Grant's first movements. Longstreet and Wheeler, with 20,000 men,
had been sent against Burnside, halting, ,however, at Loudon, East
Tennessee, where their railroad terminated. This enabled them to
threaten Knoxville or reinforce Bragg.
On our side, Sherman and McPherson were marching steadily and
rapidly to Stephenson. Sherman under Grant's orders had abandoned
the railroad work that Halleck imposed. But in order to get more rail
road transportation, Granville M. Dodge was left at Athens, Tennessee,
with 8,000 men, to repair and hold the Nashville and Decatur line, with
its 102 miles of broken road and its 182 bridges. This in a region
swarming with guerrillas. Seeing the impossibility of otherwise reliev
ing Burnside, Grant on the 7th of November ordered Thomas to make
an attack in force. As he was without animals to move artillery, this
Thomas declined to do. On the 14th, however, Sherman's advance
was at Bridgeport. Burnside was telegraphed to that effect, and assured
that the fight was imminent which would relieve him. The weather
was rainy. It was decided to fight on the 24th. This was begun a
day earlier, however, to encourage our troops at Knoxville. Long-
street's absence at Loudon weakened Bragg very seriously.
Chattanooga's lines of defense were very strong, and extended for a
mile along Cetico Creek, near the base of Missionary Ridge. This
stream empties two miles below. All elevations were carefully forti
fied. The fort closest to the ridge was named after General Wood, and
with its twenty-two guns could reach the nearest points on the enemy's
lines. Cetico Creek is south of Chattanooga. Bragg's main army was
aligned for six miles along the crest of Missionary Ridge to the west.
From the centre of the slope to Chattanooga River they held a strong
line of works. In other words, Thomas held the interior lines, making
a sickle-shaped position, with Chattanooga and the Tennessee River as
the handle. The rebel position might be counted as a scythe blade with
out handle, while from the centre lay an irregular swath of troops.
This was met and faced with a series of independent redoubts which
Grant's new lines had erected. The north end of Lookout Valley was
in our possession. Hooker had moved across it, and his lines faced
alike the northwest slope of Lookout and were headed toward the
northeast slope of the Missionary Ridge . Sherman was moving into the
great field from the direction of Chickamauga to the south and east.

128 THE LIFE OF
From Chattanooga as a base, then, the Army of the Cumberland under
Thomas was in the centre. Hooker held the right and Sherman the
left of our position on the high and rugged intervale or plain of Chatta
nooga on the 23d of November, 1863. The centre was strengthened
greatly by its strong, defensive works. Back of us was the Tennessee ;
to the front of us the frowning heights of Missionary Ridge ; to the
east and north the precipitous cliffs of Lookout.
General Granger, under Grant's new disposition, was in command
of the corps composed of Sheridan's and Wood's divisions. On the
23d, this corps was in the early morning placed to the foot of Fort
Wood, " Sheridan on the right and Wood on the left, extending to or
near Cetico Creek." * Palmer, in command of Thomas' old corps, the
Fourteenth, was in position to the south and southwest, supporting
Sheridan with Baird's division, the other, Johnson's, being kept in the
trenches ready for any movement. A signal-gun from the fort gave
the order to advance. This was done in fine style, driving in all pick
ets, and securing a new line one mile in advance to the west. It was
not done without loss. That night our earthworks were turned to the
enemy, men working all night to secure that end. Our loss was about
eleven hundred killed and wounded. The artillery fire was maintained
all night, on both sides, and the advantage strongly remained on our
side. The night before, a rebel deserter informed Sheridan that Bragg's
baggage was being reduced, and that he was preparing to fall back.
Our movements of the next day were executed wholly by the Army of
the Cumberland — a change in Grant's original plans. The capture of
Orchard Knob, from which, later, Grant and others directed the opera
tions, was part of the successful work done on the 23d. Brigadier-
General J. S. Fullerton, then chief of staff to General Granger, says : f
"At noon [23d] General Grant, Assistant Secretary of War Dana,
General Thomas, Generals Hooker, Granger, Howard, and other dis
tinguished officers, stood on the parapet of Fort Wood, facing Orchard
Knob, waiting to see this initial movement — the overture to the battle
of Chattanooga. At half-past twelve Wood's division, supported by
Sheridan, marched out on the plain in front of the fort. . . . Flags
were flying ; the quick, earnest step of thousands beat equal time. . .
. All looked like preparations for a pageant, rather than for the
bloody work of death. Groups of officers on Missionary Ridge looked
down through their glasses . . . unconcernedly viewing what they
* Grant's Memoirs.
* "Army of the Cumberland." Century, May, 1887.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 129
supposed to be preparations for a grand review." The advance was
sounded. " At once Wood's division, moving with the steadiness of a
machine, started forward. . . . General Howard, who had just
come from the East, remarked to an officer : ' Why, this is magnificent !
. They could not go on dress-parade better.' " The finale is
briefly told, and it embraces the capture of Orchard Knob : " A sharp,
short struggle, and the hill was ours." This capture caused Bragg to
' transfer a division from Lookout to Missionary Ridge. That weakened
Lookout, and made Grant consider the feasibility of an attack thereon.
Sherman's army was still struggling into position. All but one
division, that of Osterhaus, was ready to move. He was ordered to
report to Hooker on the right, if he could not cross at Brown's Ferry
on the early morning of the 24th. Thomas strengthened his position,
but did not move forward, of course. Sherman's command moved over
the Tennessee at the mouth of the South Chickamauga, by pontoon
bridge and ferry. At noon all was ready, and Sherman was in position
for his great assault on the south end of the ridge. By sundown he
was in possession of a good line from the Chickamauga River west
ward, holding the foothills strongly. Hooker engaged with three divis
ions on the west. These represented the three Union armies, under
Osterhaus of the Tennessee, Cruft of the Cumberland, and Geary of
the Potomac. Howard was with Sherman. Three rebel brigades
under General Carter L. Stevenson, held the east of Lookout Creek.
Thus the two armies confronted each other. Hooker moved Geary
and one of Cruff s brigades to the front early on the 24th. Then fol
lowed the balance of his command. Thus was begun the "battle
above the clouds," of which so much has been written and sung, end
ing in the capture of Lookout. Grant says :* " Hooker's advance now
made our line a continuous one. It was in full view [from the top of
Onchard Knob, where he and Thomas were observing], extending from
the Tennessee River where Sherman had crossed, up Chickamauga
River to the base of Missionary Ridge, over the top ofthe north end of
the ridge to Chattanooga Valley, then along parallel to the ridge a mile
or more, across the valley to the mouth of Chattanooga Creek, thence
up the slope of Lookout Mountain to the foot of the upper palisade.
At 4 o'clock Hooker reported his position [there] as impreg
nable." General Fullerton says :f "As the sun went down [24th] the
clouds rolled away, and the night came on clear and cold. A grand

* Century article, Grant's Memoirs, November, 1885.
^Century, May, 1887, *' The Army of the Cumberland."
9

1 30 THE LIFE OF
sight was Old Lookout that night. Not two miles apart were the par
allel fires of the two armies, extending from the summit of the mount
ain to its base, looking like great streams of burning . lava ; while in
between, the flashes from the muskets of the skirmishers glowed like
giant fireflies." In the morning it was found that the enemy had left
Lookout. The 25th opened "big with expectancy." In retiring from Look
out the previous night, the enemy had burned all bridges and other~>
wise damaged the roads on which Hooker was to advance. This
delayed him four hours. The main position became so critical that
Grant gave the order for the advance of the Army of the Cumberland,
which was to storm the ridge in the centre. Sheridan's and Wood's
divisions were under arms. They had impatiently waited the order
to " move " since early morning. Sheridan's order was : "As soon as
the signal is given the whole line will advance and you will take what
is before you."
General H. V. Boynton, the well-known journalist and military
critic, who commanded a regiment, and was severely wounded in the
assault, says of this great movement, that " It was the third and last
day of the battle. On the first, Thomas had sent Hooker to the suc
cessful assault on Lookout. On the second, Sheridan had taken a
brilliant part in a movement, which, in its precision, was mistaken by
the enemy for a review, but which ended with the rush which cap
tured Orchard Knob. On the last, four divisions of the Army of the
Cumberland lay from morning till near sundown facing the ridge, and
impatiently watching the terrible pendulum -swings ofthe splendid but
unsuccessful assaults of Sherman's troops on its northern extremity,
which were plainly seen from Orchard Knob, where Grant, Thomas,
and Granger stood watching the contest hour after hour, with an
intensity of interest and a growing impatience which were inseparable
from the situation. The sun was nearing the western ranges. Hooker's
guns had not been heard on the right, and Sherman was unable, with all
his forces, to make further impression on the left. Baird was hurried
to his aid. He then had seven divisions, or over half the Union army,
but there being no room for Baird to operate, he returned to the centre,
and had just formed again on the left of the Army of the Cumberland,
when the grand spectacular movement began which closed the fight."
At twenty minutes to four the signal gun was fired. Suddenly
20,000 men rushed forward, moving in a line of battle by brigades,
with a double line of skirmishers in front, and closely followed by the

GEN. PHIL H. SHERIDAN. 131
reserves en masse. The guns of Fort Wood and other Union works
roared above the rattle of our light artillery and musketry. The enemy's
rifle-pits were all ablaze. The Cumberland Army divisions deployed
right and left in front of Indian Hill, and moved in face of a terrible
fire from the rifle-pits at the base of the ridge. When they reached the
Confederate skirmishers, they fled precipitately, closely pressed by the
Fourth and Fourteenth corps. Coming up on a run our men were
greeted with a formidable fire, for all the Confederate outposts assigned
to duty massed themselves in their lower rifle-pits. In a few minutes
all was confusion among them.
By a bold and desperate rush, the two divisions had broken through
in several places, and opened both flank and reverse fires. The enemy
was thrown into confusion and took flight up the ridge. Many prisoners
were captured. The order of the commanding general did not go far
enough to satisfy our brave men, who were burning to wipe out the
defeat of Chickamauga. There was a halt of a few minutes to
re-form, then with a sudden impulse and without orders, the soldiers
started up the ridge. Officers first followed, then led them.
General Boynton's description of the ground gives a vivid idea of
what was before our men. He says : " The orders for the movement
contemplated a halt in the first line of works for slight rest, and a re
forming of lines for forward movement ; but impatient under the galling
fire from above, elated by success, anxious and determined to play their
full part in the day's pageant, the front line scarcely halted at the lower '
works, but springing over and out of them, began to climb the rough
face ofthe ridge. It was 500 yards to the summit. The general eleva
tion was 500 feet, and from a point a short distance within the works
at the base the slope became precipitous. It was broken by ravine,
tangled with fallen timber, strewn with masses of rock, and covered
at points with loose stones from the ledges on the crest. Spurs pro
jected from the face of the ridge at intervals, serving for natural bas
tions, from which field artillery and riflemen swept the intervening
curtains of the slope with an enfilading fire."
When the Fourth Corps was seen from Orchard Knob " swarming
like bees," as Grant said, up the rugged mountain slope, the general
turned quickly to Thomas, and said :
'' Who ordered those men up the ridge ? "
Thomas replied, coolly : " I don't know ; I did not."
Then came the inquiry : " Did you order them up, Granger? "
" No," said Granger. " They started up without orders. When
those fellows get started, all h — 1 can't stop them."

132 THE LIFE OF
General Grant was startled, and at first dissatisfied. By and by,
he turned to Granger's chief of staff and said : "Ride at once to Wood,
and then to Sheridan, and ask them if they ordered their men up the
ridge. Tell them, if they can take it, to push ahead."
General Fullerton writes : "As I was mounting, Granger added :
' It's pretty hot over there, and you may not get through. I'll send
Captain Avery to Sheridan, and other officers after both of you.' " *
When asked, Wood said: " I didn't order them up; they started
up on their own account, and they are going up, too ! Tell Granger if
we are supported, we will take and hold the ridge."
" I didn't order them up," said Sheridan. " But we are going to
take that ridge ! " He then asked Avery for his flask, and waved it
at a group of rebel officers standing just in front of Bragg's head
quarters, with the salutation: " How are you, Mr. Bragg? Here's
at you ! " At once two guns — the "Lady Breckenridge " and the
" Lady Buckner," — in front of Bragg's headquarters, were fired at
Sheridan and the group of officers about him. One shell struck so
near that the dirt flew over Sheridan and Avery. " Ah ! " said the
little general, " that was d  d ungenerous. I'll take those guns
for that."
Before Sheridan received the message taken by Avery, he had sent a
staff officer to Granger, inquiring whether " the order given to take
the rifle-pits meant the rifle-pits at the base or those on the top of the
ridge ? " Granger told this officer that ' ' the order was to take those
at the base." Conceiving this to be an order to fall back, this officer,
on his way to Sheridan, gave it to General Wagner, commanding the
second brigade of Sheridan's division, which was then nearly half way
up the ridge. Wagner promptly ordered his men back again to the
mountain base. They only remained a few minutes there. Sheridan
seeing the mistake, ordered it forward. It again advanced under the
raking fire at the lower part of the ridge. The men were climbing
and fighting up the steep hill-side. The broken ground made it impos
sible to keep a regular line of battle. Sometimes the troops were in line
like a lot of birds, again in " V"- shaped groups with the point toward
the enemy. At these points our regimental flags were seen flying.
Sixty of the gleaming colors were advancing up the hill, in the face of its
defenders. Again, says General Boynton : " Nothing less than the palisades of
Lookout could have stopped that Army of the Cumberland, though
* " The Army of the Cumberland." Century, May, 1887.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

^3

THE ROUGH RIDERS.
A STREET CAVALRY FIGHT IN KEBNSTOWN, VA.
Bragg and his thousands above still deemed their position impregnable.
All heights were fringed with spectators of that wonderful assault. The
guns in the Union works which had covered the first advance were
necessarily silent. The sun shone clear on the slopes, and the advanc
ing flags and glittering bayonets marked the rush of the swift advance.
Under the fire of the sharpshooters color-bearers fell at every point of
the line, only to be relieved by other hands eagerly bearing the colors
forward. This deadly fire gradually drew each regiment toward its
flag, and soon, far as the eye could reach along the slope, the line was
transformed into countless wedge-shaped masses, with a flag at the
point of each, cleaving their way upward, following the headlong push
of the guards bearing the colors. The rebels, who had been hurled
back from the lower line, were soon driven out of the second parallel,
and thence pursued so closely to the summit that retreating Confeder
ates and the Union flags poured over the whole extended line of works
together." Bragg hurried large bodies of men from his right to the centre.
They could be seen from Orchard Knob coming in double-quick
time along the summit of the ridge. Bragg and Hardee were at the
centre striving to encourage their troops, urging them to stand firm

134 THE LIFE OF
and drive back the advancing enemy, now so near the summit, — so
near, that the guns which could not be sufficiently depressed, became
useless. Artillery-men were seen lighting the fuses of shells and bowl
ing these by scores down the hill. At six different points, and almost
simultaneously, Sheridan's and Wood's divisions broke over the crest.
Sheridan's came first to the top, near Bragg's headquarters. In a few
minutes Sheridan himself was beside the guns that were fired at him
and claiming them as prizes. Baird's division ofthe Fourteenth Corps
took the works on Wood's side almost immediately afterwards. John
son then came up on Sheridan's right. The enemy's guns were still
turned upon those who were in the woods. But soon all were in flight
down the eastern slope. Baird got on the ridge just in time to change
front, and oppose a large body moving down from the rebel right to
attack our left. After a sharp engagement that lasted till dark, he
drove them beyond a high point on the north, which he at once occu
pied. The sun had not yet gone down, and Missionary Ridge was
ours. Bragg afterward declared that the positions so rapidly taken were
so strong that a single cordon of skirmishers ought to have defended
the ridge against the whole Federal Army. Sheridan, however, had
so well foreseen the success, that he sent to ask General Granger before
starting, " if it was necessary to come to a halt at the foot of the hills ? "
This was when well on his way to the top. For a brief space the sus
pense was terrible, but it was soon over when the troops under Sheri
dan, Wood, Baird, Johnson, and others, so recklessly and fearlessly took
possession of the summit. The Confederates could be seen from Or
chard Knob, retiring on the road to Ringgold. Then followed the
wildest confusion, as the victors gave vent to their joy. Cannon roared,
men shouted, flags waved tumultuously. Sheridan did not stop for
congratulations or praise. With two brigades he started eastward down
the Mission Mills road, finding strongly posted on a second hill, the
enemy's rear. They made a stout resistance, but by a sudden flank
movement, he drove them from the heights and captured two guns and
many prisoners. At 7 o'clock General Granger sent word to Gen
eral Thomas that by a bold dash at Chickamauga Crossing, he might
cut off a large number of the enemy. It was midnight before the
guides could be found, and then General Sheridan again put his tired
men in motion. He reached the creek just as the rear guard of the
enemy was crossing, and pressed it so closely that it burned the pon
toon bridge before all the troops were over. Sheridan captured several

GEN. PHIL H. SHERIDAN. 135
hundred prisoners, a large' number of wagons, together with caissons,
artillery, ammunition, and many small arms.
In the battle of Missionary Ridge Sheridan's and Wood's divisions
took thirty-one pieces of artillery, several thousand small arms, and
3,800 prisoners. But in that one hour of assault they lost 2,337 °f trie'r
brave men. The fire along the rebel line was terrific while the conflict
raged, still the damage done was comparatively small. According to
Boynton : " From the first it had been an advance almost wholly with
out firing. Each successive line of works and the summit were carried
with the bayonet. In an hour from the sounding of the signal guns
Bragg had been swept from these dominating positions of a great nat
ural fortress, strengthened by every engineering art ; and the sun, which,
at its rising, lighted up that one flag at Lookout, rested, at its setting,
on the countless banners which a storming army had planted along the
crest of Missionary Ridge.
"Throughout this movement Sheridan was conspicuous, followed
by his staff. As ever, he was splendidly mounted, and could be easily
followed by all eyes as he dashed across the plain and rode with his
lines to and over the crest, and without a halt hurled forward upon
the retreating enemy."
General Grant says s * "To Sheridan's prompt movement [after
the ridge was captured] the Army of the Cumberland and the nation
are indebted for the bulk of the capture of prisoners, artillery, and
small arms that day. But for his prompt pursuit, so much in this way
would not have been accomplished."
Hardee's command, of all the rebel army, was still unbroken. The
Comte de Paris says of this pursuit of Sheridan's, that Hardee had
' ' kept Sherman in check all day by his powerful artillery fire. At night
he was congratulating himself on success when he heard of Breck
enridge's disaster. Out of ten brigades only two, those which formed
Anderson's right, maintained their ranks ; with these our right flank
was menaced. But Baird's arrival with Vandever's and Phelps' brigades
obliged Anderson to fall back and seek support near Hardee."
Taking with him Cheatham's division, Hardee moved rapidly to
the assistance of Anderson, arriving when the latter was falling back.
This opportune reinforcement temporarily checked our progress as we
advanced toward the north, following the summit of Missionary Ridge.
Cheatham's division deployed on this crest, and for a moment resumed
the offensive. It then retired step by step till it reached a point which
* Century. Article from Memoirs, November, 1885.

136 GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN,
it was able to hold till nightfall. Bragg gave the order to fall back
during the night. It was then that Sheridan in hot pursuit descended
the slope of Missionary Ridge with Wagner's and Harker's brigades
placed on the right and left of the Chickamauga road. Night came,
but Sheridan brought his reserves into action despite the darkness and
the difficulties of the ground. While Harker engaged the enemy in
the front, Wagner with two regiments scaled a steep acclivity, and
endeavored to turn Bate's right flank. As the full moon slowly rose
behind the dark crest of the hill, Sheridan and his companions could see
depicted against the sky the profile of Wagner's soldiers who just then
had reached the acclivity's summit. It was the signal for a fresh attack,
before which General Bate promptly fell back. This commander
has since been governor of Tennessee, and is now a United States
Senator. Sheridan moved rapidly, to prevent the destruction of the
bridges over the Chickamauga, but at 2 a. m. he reached the stream
only to find them in ruins.
Again, among the soldiers growing in public honor and national
recognition, Sheridan was one of the foremost, and also the youngest.
He was generally acclaimed, and received special mention in all orders
and reports. It was a complete victory. The Union army was, in round
figures, sixty thousand strong ; the rebel nearly the same, with the
added advantage of its strong positions. According to Grant, Bragg's
mistakes were seen in sending away his ablest corps commander, Long-
street, with 20,000 men ; in weakening himself by sending a division
away the night before, and finally in massing so large a proportion of
his troops below, and not in a position practically impregnable if it had
been well occupied. The result was to put Bragg in full retreat south
ward. Sherman was sent to relieve Burnside, with two corps. Long-
street abandoned the siege without a fight. The Central South re
mained entirely in our hands. Sheridan remained through the winter
and early spring with the Army of the Cumberland, under General
Thomas, at Chattanooga, and was reluctant to leave it for the East,
having been offered command of his old corps, and expecting to take
part with it in the already outlined movement against Atlanta.

Chapter XI.

A BATTLE IN THE SNOW.
COLE'S CAVALRY HAVE A FIGHT -^- MOSEBY ATTACKS AND IS BEATEN OFF — A
BATTLE TO THE DEATH — "FIRE THE TENTS AND SHOOT BY THE LIGHT" 
SUFFERING OF THE MEN  THE DEATH OF YOUNG PAXTON.
Sheridan is about to occupy a larger field. In it, he will fill the
public eye, and make the general tongue wag in wonder at the deeds
performed. No commander, however, accomplishes great things with
out finding a quality kindred to himself in the officers who carry for
ward his designs, and in the men by whose courage and devotion the
execution is alone made possible. The stuff for heroes was to be found
in the men of the Potomac Army. Even Sheridan could not have made
its troopers the fighting centaurs they became, in that last marvelous
year of civil strife, unless, indeed, they were made of that splendid
human material whose mould is never broken, even if it be sometimes
weakened. In evidence of this the reader will find the story of " Cole's
Cavalry " worth reading. They were a famous fragment of the troopers
who, under his command, like mighty harvesters with their flails,
pounded the armed enemies of the Union into fragments. The cav
alry under Sheridan was Grant's flail. And here are incidents con
nected with some of the material whereof it was made :
One rather sultry day in September, 1862, when the clouds of war
were black, a second lieutenant of cavalry sat upon the top of a rail
fence at Paxton's cross-roads, in Loudoun County, Virginia. He was
covered with the dust and smoke of a fight that his battalion was hav
ing with Moseby's command a few miles up the road. He had come
back to the point where this scene opens, in charge of five severely
wounded men, a partial result of the skirmish. They were lying back
of him under an apple tree, one of them, his own brother, shot through
the body, and believed to be mortally wounded. The other four were
not bound to him by the tie of kindred, but they were very near to him,
for not only had they been his playmates in childhood, but the compan
ions of his later years, and ever since the beginning of war his closest

138 THE LIFE OF
comrades. They were suffering terribly, and while the officer was
wondering how they were to be taken to the Potomac River, where
assistance could be secured, his command came down the road some
what in disorder, showing that the battle had gone against them. The
dread of capture was now added to the gloom ofthe situation, but there.
was no time for reflection or despondency. Moseby was coming, and
something must be quickly done. .
The officer sought the farmer whose name the cross-roads bore, and
offered $100 for a wagon to transport his wounded comrades to the
river, a few miles distant.
"You can have the wagon in welcome. I am a Confederate and
have a boy in the Confederate army, and I do by you, sir, as I would
want others to do by him if he were wounded."
The farmer spurned the offer of pay for his vehicle, and not only
assisted the officer in laying straw in the bottom of the wagon and
placing the wounded men upon it, but he drove with him to the Poto
mac River, where medical assistance was summoned, and the lives of
the wounded men saved. The farmer's son was in Moseby's command
at this moment, and in the fight where these men were shot.
The tide of battle flowed on, and the disasters of war multiplied.
Hardly a week during the two eventful years which followed, leading
up to the climax of this story, but that Moseby's command and the bat
talion to which belonged the lieutenant and the five wounded men
met in combat. Both saw hard service. The four companies of cav
alry, whose marvelous gallantry under the most trying circumstances
known in warfare gives this theme, were raised from among the
Union men of Western Maryland and the adjoining counties of Penn
sylvania. They were enlisted for the difficult and dangerous duty of
scouting along the border, a service for which their familiarity with the
general lay of the country specially fitted them.
Army operations along the Potomac River were so active and im
portant that this battalion almost from the day of its muster into the
service was called to the fore-front, and it was not long before "Cole's
Cavalry " was known far and wide for its almost tireless activity and
dauntless bravery. ' Major Henry A. Cole, of Frederick, Maryland,
was the commander, and it is needless to say that he was a man of great
dash and courage. From the very first fight in which he led his four
companies of brave mountaineers, down to the close of the war, the
cavalry he commanded bore his name, and every one of those sturdy
veterans took a special pride in saying that he belonged to Cole's

GEN. PHIL H. SHERIDAN. 139
Cavalry. Very many of these gallant veterans are still living, but they
are scattered to the four quarters of the country.
It would be almost impossible to select any week during the years
from '61 to '65 that was not fruitful in the stories of the daring of this
handful of cavalry. But there is one bold deed that stands preemi
nent, not only in the history of this battalion, but in the whole cavalry
service of the war.
If the reader could stand upon the great iron bridge which spans the
Potomac River at Harper's Ferry, and look upon Maryland Heights,
towering from the river's brink 2,000 feet into the air, and crowned
with a great stone fort, useful in the days of conflict, and then turn the
eye toward the great pile of rocks on the Virginia side, known as Lou
doun Heights, rising abruptly from the Shenandoah River to the height
of more than one thousand feet, and then upon Bolivar Heights, stand
ing as a bold background to the desolate village of Harpervs Ferry,
he could better appreciate the situation where a singular battle was
fought than by tracing its outlines on a map, or following a description
of the place, however vividly pictured.
In the winter of 1864, Cole's Cavalry was encamped on the east face
of Loudoun Heights, a little more than two miles by road from Harper's
Ferry, but "as the crow flies" not more than half that distance. They
were the only troops on that side ofthe river, and their position, as the
sequel will show, was a very dangerous one. The single road leading
past the camp toward the point where, at the beginning of this chap
ter, this command was engaged with Moseby, leads up the mountain
side, and at times was almost impassible.
Loudoun County was the home of many of Moseby's most daring
officers and men. Every path, ravine, and declivity in the neighborhood
of this isolated camp was as familiar to them as the high-road.
The camp was not established here without reluctance, for both
officers and men recognized the perils which would surround it all
through the hard winter months. For a time the men were cautious,
and never undressed at night. Their arms were kept always within
reach, ready for use. But the sense of danger, which all felt at first,
wore off. As the weeks went by and there was no attack, not even an
alarm, both officers and men relapsed into a feeling of security, which
made them more mindful of their own comfort than of the dangers of
the moment.
About the first of January there was a heavy snow-fall, and the
weather became intensely cold, inclining the men to stow themselves

140 ,THE LIFE OF
snugly away at night, as though going to bed at home. They were also
not over careful about the.ir arms and ammunition.
The 9th of January was very cold, and the night which followed
intensely dark. The snow carpet which covered the camp was the only
relief to the great black veil which seemed to be drawn over the face of all
nature. It was upon this night that Moseby had determined to attack,
and, if possible, capture this battalion of cavalry, which oftener than any
other on the Potomac, had met him in battle, and dealt him hard blows.
He selected about four hundred of the best of his command and
left camp, crossing the snow-clad mountains to the right of Major Cole's
camp. They came by by-paths and through ravines, avoiding the
pickets on the Hillsborough road and finally capturing them from the
rear before they had a chance to fire a shot or alarm the camp. It was
between 2 and 3 o'clock on the morning of the 10th of January that
Moseby captured the pickets and prepared his plan of attack upon the
slumbering camp. His command was quietly and quickly posted
along the lines of tents where the Union cavalrymen were sleeping in
fancied security, without even a suspicion that an enemy was near.
At a given signal a deadly fire was opened upon them. In an in
stant all was confusion. The volley which killed some of the men in
their tents and wounded others was the first warning of danger. There
had been no call to arms. " Boots and saddles " had not been sounded
to prepare the men for duty. The crack of the enemy's guns was the
dread demand made upon these sleeping men. They were given no
time to reach their clothing, and almost less to grope for their arms in
the darkness. Used to severe hardships, they had never yet failed to
respond to the call of duty. Their pluck and endurance were now
subjected to the severest test known in war, but they did not flinch or
hesitate. Almost without waiting for the orders of their officers, the
men turned out into the bitter cold, in their night clothes, and in most
instances without shoes, with the snow ankle deep. The determina
tion with which the attack was met astonished the Confederates, who
expected to have an easy capture after so complete a surprise.
" Fire at every man on horseback ! " was almost the first order of
the Federal commanding officer.
" Men, do not take to your horses ! " was the next order.
The men obeyed, and directed their fire upon every mounted man,
and this judicious action won them the day.
When the Confederates found that they were to be resisted to the
death, Captain Smith, one of the principal officers in command of the
attacking force, shouted to his men :

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

141

BBSS

m

ali

" Fire the
tents, and shoot
'em by the
light ! "
He was sit
ting on his
horse near the
head of the row
of tents occu
pied by Com
pany A. A
sergeant of that
company, who
had been grop
ing f o r his
carbine, had
found it, and
was just push
ing his head
through the tent
when this order
rang out on the
night air. He
dropped on his
knees, raised
his piece to his
shoulder, and
fired at the officer giving the command. The ball struck him near
the eye, crashed through his brain, and he fell dead into the mouth
of the tent, almost upon the man whose bullet had killed him.
For an hour or more this fight in the snow continued, with varying
chances of success. What the brave men who were doing battle in the
bitter cold, without clothing, suffered, no man can tell, and yet they
never wavered.
The scene during the fight was simply indescribable. The men on
both sides fought like tigers, and volley after volley made the night hid
eous. The flash of the guns as each was discharged was the only relief
to the sombre darkness. The shouts of the men engaged could be heard
above the din of battle, and the cries of the wounded mingled strangely
with the confusion of the strife. As each fresh volley would for a

COL. JOHN A. MOSEBY.
FAMOUS CONFEDERATE PARTISAN LEADER. CONSUL TO HONG KONG
DURING PRESIDENT GRANT'S ADMINISTRATION.

142 , THE LIFE OF
moment light up the camp with its sickening, death-like glare, some
comrade would fall and a fresh stream of blood crimson the snow.
How the men fought, and how they stood out during that hour, was a
marvel,, even to themselves, and the history of wa!r cannot produce a
more striking evidence of bravery and devotion to duty.
Hardly had the flash from the first volley died away and the fight
actually begun, before the sorely tried cavalrymen heard the long-roll
beat in the camps at Harper's Ferry ; and the struggling men knew that
if they could hold out for a little while, relief would come. The 'troops
in the infantry camps on the opposite side of the river, on Bolivar
Heights, could see the flash of every gun and hear the crack of every
death-dealing carbine, but they were two miles away. There was no
cavalry relief at hand, and the conflicting emotions of hope and fear as
to the fate of the courageous little band of veterans on the mountain,
filled the hearts of those soldiers who could hear and see, but could not
help. The Thirty-fourth Massachusetts was ordered to the rescue on a
" double-quick" as soon as it could be rushed into line. But before it
could reach the summit of Loudoun Heights the Confederates had been
repulsed, and Cole's Cavalry had won the fight upon the snow-clad
mountain-top that added much to the name and fame it had already
gained. When night lifted and day dawned upon that battle-field, there
was a scene which never can be described. The dead lay upon the
ground frozen stiff by the terrible cold. The severely wounded com
plained bitterly of the frost, and the bullet-pierced tents of the men
that did the fighting were full of weary, powder-stained veterans, suffer
ing sorely from the effects of frozen feet, of which they were unmindful
until the battle was won. Seven Confederates, four of them commis
sioned officers, were killed in this night attack upon Major Cole's camp,
and a great many more were wounded, some of whom were carried
off by their comrades. Indeed, those who were able to follow the
retreat declared that their path was literally marked by a track of blood.
Major Cole lost two killed and thirteen wounded. Captain Vernon,
afterward a lieutenant-colonel, lost an eye, and Lieutenant Rivers was
wounded. A large number of the command was sent to the hospital
with frozen feet, and two amputations were necessary. The suffering
of these brave men did not stop with the battle.
General Sullivan, who was in command .of the district, rode over
from Harper's Ferry after daylight, accompanied by his staff. He had
the men drawn up in line, and eulogized their conduct in the strongest

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 143
terms- that words could express. He called the department com
mander's attention to the gallant conduct of this handful of men,
requesting that his report of the fight be transmitted to the Com
mander-in-Chief. General Kelley, in complying with General Sulli
van's request, indorsed upon the report: "I cheerfully comply with,
the request of General Sullivan in calling the attention of the General-
in-Chief to the gallant conduct of Major Henry A. Cole and his brave
command. His repulse of the murderous attack made by an over
whelming force at 4 o'clock in a dark morning evinced a watchful
ness and bravery most commendable." The following comnTendatory
order was at once issued by the General-in-Chief:
Headquarters of the Army,
Washington, D. C, January 20, 1864.
Major- General B. F. Kelley, Cumberland, Md.
General : I have just received from your headquarters Major Henry
A. Cole's report of the repulse of Moseby's attack upon the camp on
Loudoun Heights on the 10th inst. Major Cole and his command, the
battalion of P. M. B. Cavalry, Maryland Volunteers, deserve high
praise for their gallantry in repelling this rebel assault.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
H. W. Halleck, General-in- Chief.
This order was read tos the army, and a copy forwarded to Major
Cole. It was the only instance during the Rebellion that such conspic
uous commendation was awarded from the headquarters of the army to
anything like such a force as that commanded by Major Cole.
There were a thousand thrilling incidents connected with this bare
footed fight on the mountains, in the snow, worth relating, and the
conspicuous instances of almost unexampled bravery would include
almost every man in the command. But there is one touching incident
necessary to join the woof and warp of this narration.
When daylight broke upon the scene there was a young Confederate
soldier lying upon the field with a fatal wound in the neck, near the
jugular vein. He was not more than twenty years of age, and a boy
in appearance as well as in years. The officer who appears at the
cross-roads in the beginning of this story, found him. He raised up the
dying lad and asked him his name.
"My name is Paxton," replied the boy, in broken tones.
"My God ! are you Mr. Paxton's son who lives at the cross-roads
towards Waterville?" eagerly inquired the officer.

144 GEN. PHIL H. SHERIDAN.
"I am," was the simple response.
The humane act of his father in 1862 was recalled, and, full of emo
tion, the officer picked the lad up, carried him to the hospital, laid him
upon an easy couch, and summoned the doctor, who replied, petulantly :
"We can't care for those men until we look after our own wounded."
"But this boy must be cared for," said the officer ; and in as few
words as possible he told the story of 1862, when five of their men
belonging to Cole's Cavalry lay wounded upon Paxton's farm at the
cross-roads. There was no more parleying, and the boy was at once carefully
attended to, but he was beyond human aid. All that could be done
for him to ease his last moments, was done. All the command felt,
terribly as they themselves had suffered and were suffering, that this
boy was entitled to every attention that could be shown him.
"I do this," said Mr. Paxton in 1862, when he assisted in taking
the wounded men toward the river, "because I would want others to
do the same by my boy, who is in the Confederate army, if he should
be wounded." The same officer and the same men who heard these words and
received that favor, dealt the death-blow to that son. Yet his dying
moments were made easier by them for the favor his father had done.
For this fight the battalion was raised to the dignity of a regiment,
and Major Henry A. Cole was made its colonel, and Captain Vernon
its lieutenant-colonel. The other officers were promoted to various
positions in the regiment, but neither officers nor men, in their ad
vanced places, lost an opportunity to refer with pride to the "old bat
talion" and its record.

Chapter XII.

SUMMONED TO WASHINGTON.

HARD SERVICE AFTER CHATTANOOGA — GRANT PUTS HIM IN COMMAND OF ALL
THE CAVALRY IN THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC — DISGUSTED AT BEING
ORDERED EAST — THE CONFIDENCE HE INSPIRED — ROSTER OF THE CAV
ALRY CORPS — DISPUTE WITH MEADE -
ITS RESULTS.

-CHANGING SHERIDAN'S ORDERS AND

After Chattanooga, what? Hard service
without cessation. The little soldier welcomed
it unhesitatingly. He had won commendation
on all sides ; most ungrudgingly from General
Grant, who had from the first appreciated the
young general, blunt of speech and bold of
deed, untiring in action, persistent of pursuit,
and fertile of resources under all conditions. He
still further appreciated him when he saw at
Chattanooga, how his valor and energy could
not alone secure victory for himself, but repair
also the breaches made through others. Adam
Badeau says in his volume on the military life
of Grant, that when first made brigadier, the
young commander eagerly seized on the oppor
tunity to participate in the pending campaign of
General Buell, which terminated for that officer
at Perryville. Grant, says Badeau, was " net
tled" at Sheridan's willingness to leave the
" Army of the Tennessee, then (1862), by Hal
leck's removal to Washington and acceptance of
the post of General-in-Chief, under ' Uncondi
tional Surrender's' immediate command." Ba
deau adds : " Grant followed Sheridan later to
the same field, and again at Chattanooga the fiery spirit and genius of
Sheridan commended him to his superior. Grant always spoke in
10

GEN. H. JUDSON KILPATRICK,
A FAMOUS UNION CAVALRY LEADER,
AND MINISTER TO CHILI AFTER
THE WAR.

146 THE LIFE OF
glowing language of Sheridan's charge at Missionary Ridge, and still
more warmly of his pursuit of the enemy afterward. He already saw
that quality so rare, even in an illustrious soldier — the power to make
the most of a victory.
"When Grant became (as lieutenant-general) the General-in-Chief,
he at once put Sheridan at the head of the eastern cavalry.
" I remember asking him about the new commander, who at that
time I had not seen, and his praise was enthusiastic when he described
the energy and ability, the promptness and persistency of Sheridan.
Grant always became eloquent when he talked of Sheridan or Sher
man. His face Would flush with generous ardor, his eyes gleamed, and
he even gesticulated a little when he spoke of the feats of the two men
who could ever, by any chance, become his rivals. After a very short
time I can testify to the confidence, the chivalrous admiration, the com
mendation, which Grant bestowed on his cavalry commander.
" In the Wilderness campaign the young general (barely thirty
years of age) was constantly given the most difficult and dangerous
tasks. When he was sent off on a distant expedition his formal orders
went through Meade, but Grant always saw him in person, and added
verbal instructions, but leaving all detail of execution to Sheridan.
They understood each other easily, they had so much in common."
Grant himself says in his Memoirs, that it was Halleck who sug
gested Sheridan's name. Here is what Grant wrote :
" In one of my early interviews with the President, I expressed my
dissatisfaction with the little that had been accomplished by cavalry so
far in the war, and the belief that it was capable of doing so much if
under a competent leader. I said I wanted the very best man that
could be had.
" Halleck was present and spoke up, saying : ' How would Sheridan
do ? ' I replied, ' The very man I want,' and the President said I
could have any one I wanted. Sheridan was telegraphed for that day,
and took command of the cavalry corps. This relieved General Alfred
Pleasonton." Sheridan, however, did not receive his new assignment without dis
taste. He had been promised command of his old corps. The battle
fields of Virginia had proven the grave-yard, in character, of so many
rising soldiers, that it was not to be wondered at, that a brilliant young
soldier like Sheridan should feel distrust at a command which might, in
its results, ultimately cloud his own splendidly growing reputation.
So it was, however.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 147
There were yet over four months of toilsome work before Sheridan,
ere he was to flash, meteor-like, over his new field of action. Imme
diately after the battle and victory of Chattanooga, Grant had to be
assured of the temporary prostration at least, of the rebel forces his
armies had so completely driven from their chosen positions. It was
soon found that Bragg had fallen rapidly back to Ringgold, Georgia,
and beyond. This southward movement relieved Tennessee. The
head-lines ofthe New York Tribune's dispatches of November 27th,
give in staccato sentences a picture of the condition of affairs which is
worthy of reproduction. Here they are :
" Panic flight of the rebels !
" They burn the bridges behind them, all their depots and stores,
and abandon everything that retards their flight !
"Three thousand prisoners taken — fifty-two cannon — 5,000 stand
of arms and ten battle-flags !
" The rebels fly, leaving Longstreet to take care of himself!"
A dispatch of the 26th, says :
" Sheridan reached Chickamauga Station at 4 p. m. He captured
500 prisoners, four guns, and a number of pontoons."
Quartermaster-General M. C. Meigs, in a most brilliant dispatch,
wrote that ' ' the battle extended six miles along Missionary Ridge and
for several miles along Lookout Mountain. No better ordered or
directed battle has taken place during the war."
The condition of affairs that followed is shown by this dispatch of
December 3d : " Generals Hooker and Palmer evacuated Ringgold this
morning [Tuesday, December ist]. There is no enemy within twenty-
three miles. But they are in force at Tunnel Hill." That was at least
sixty miles south of Chattanooga.
Sherman, however, with part of the Army of the Tennessee (Mc
Pherson held Northern Alabama with the balance) and two divisions
of the Fourth Corps (Granger's) , Army of the Cumberland, was im
mediately sent after Longstreet, and to relieve East Tennessee entirely.
Sheridan and his division were part of this co'mmand which, in the slush
and snow of early winter, marched over the mountains to Knoxville.
Longstreet with all of the regular Confederate forces under his com
mand, made a hasty retreat and complete evacuation of the entire
region, falling back eastward into Southwest Virginia. The relief thus
afforded had a great effect on the preponderating Union sentiment, and

148 GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.
the Tennessee mountaineers flocked by the thousands to the Union
army. Our troops at Chattanooga were in December and January placed
in winter quarters, along the Lookout Valley, holding the railroad
to Loudon, and at Huntsville, Northern Alabama, helping to keep
open the railroad and river communications with Nashville, Memphis,
and Louisville. Sheridan was at Knoxville in January, 1864, when
on the 1 2th of that month, Grarit was there, leaving that day to com
plete a tour of the southern portion of the great territorial area under
his command. The Union army was reported as "in good condition
with plenty to eat," but the weather was bitterly cold. Active, though
isolated rebel movements began to be reported, showing their desire to
at, once resume offensive-defensive operations. A news dispatch from
Chattanooga, under date of January 13, 1864, says :
" When the pursuit of Bragg ceased at Ringgold, Sherman was sent
to the relief of Burnside, then besieged at Knoxville by Longstreet.
Two divisions ofthe Fourth Corps (Granger's), of Thomas' command,
were pushed up another route — so together to drive Longstreet from
Eastern Tennessee. When Grant- left Knoxville the military world
was held fast in the bonds of winter. There is no likelihood of any
thing being done on either side for the present. But as soon as the
weather permits our forces will be in motion."
That the time for " motion" soon came is seen in a Chattanooga
dispatch which locates General McPherson's troops (Sherman's Army
of the Tennessee) as destroying the bridges on some portion of the
Mobile and Ohio railroad in Mississippi and Tennessee, and a long
distance from Knoxville. This was probably done by a portion of
General G. M. Dodge's command, which had been left at Decatur and
along the railroad line to Corinth, southwest, and to Nashville at the
north. The camp and bivouac records of this period convey interesting
evidence ofthe esteem in which Sheridan was held. They also show
the feeling over the battle of "Chickamauga which existed in the Army
of the Cumberland. In Sheridan's division, especially, the cry was
" Chickamauga ! " when rushing up Missionary Ridge. When the
division charged over the summit, a rebel captain was captured by a
drummer boy of one regiment, and refusing to go to the rear, our
boy pushed him upon the breast-works, and gave him a kick that sent
him headlong down the hill, accompanying the demonstration with a
ringing shout of " Chickamauga ! d — n you, Chickamauga ! "

ONE OF SHERIDAN'S TROOPERS.
GEN. GEORGE A. CUSTER,
As He Appeared on Passing Through Harper's Ferry to Join General Sheridan, Aug. 7, I 864.
[From a Sketch by J. E. Taylor.]

i jo THE LIFE OF
A favorite camp song of this period, under the title of " Keep Step
to the Music ofthe Union," has this verse :
"So Sheridan, our leader, proclaimed,
While fearlessly through all the battle
His soul like a thunderbolt flamed.
O! still shall his patriot engine
Crash over disloyalty's cars,
Until every State that seceded
Returns to the old stripes and stars."
The poetry is rude and the rhythm is poor, but the sentiment is un
questionable. February and March passed unbroken by serious incident with the
Army of the Cumberland. Evidence accumulated tha,t the Confeder
ate army, under General Joseph E. Johnston, was making ready by
an active campaign to meet and anticipate offensively the advance that
the Union forces would soon make, southward from Chattanooga, and
indeed from the Tennessee River in general.
Grant was in Nashville early in March, when summoned to Wash
ington. He had been commissioned lieutenant-general, the grade
only held theretofore in the American Army by Washington and Scott,
but destined after Grant's further promotion to be held by both Sher
man and Sheridan. On the 12th of March Grant was at Washington.
On the 17th it was reported he would return West. In a few days
thereafter it was known to the country and the Army of the Cumber
land, that the lieutenant-general would direct in person the operations
of our force in Virginia and against Richmond, and that its most bril
liant and youngest division commander, Philip Henry Sheridan, had
been ordered east for service.
On the 8th of April, 1864. the following order was made :
"Major-General P. H. Sheridan is assigned to the command ofthe
Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac."
The importance and numerical character of that command may be
seen from the following roster (May 5, 1864), as subsequently pub
lished by the War Department :
COMMANDING THE CAVALRY CORPS.
Major-General Philip H. Sheridan.
ESCORT.
Sixth United States, Captain Ira W. Claflin.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. iji
FIRST DIVISION.
Brigadier-General A. T. A. Torbett.
First Brigade. ,
Brigadier-General George A. Custer.
First Michigan, Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Stagg.
Fifth Michigan, Colonel Russell A. Alger.
Sixth Michigan, Major James H. Kidd.
Seventh Michigan, Major Henry W. Granger.
' Second Brigade.
Colonel Thomas C. Deven.
Fourth New York,* Lieutenant-Colonel William R. Parnell.
Sixth New York, Lieutenant-Colonel William H. Crocker.
Ninth New York, Colonel William Sackett.
Seventeenth Pennsylvania, Lieutenant-Colonel James Q^ Anderson.
Reserve Brigade.
Brigadier-General Wesley Merritt.
Nineteenth New York (ist Dragoons,) Colonel Alfred Gibbs.
Sixth Pennsylvania, Major James Starr.
First United States, Captain Nelson B. Sweitzer.
Second United States, Captain T. F. Rodenbough.
Fifth United States, f Captain Abraham K. Arnold.
SECOND DIVISION.
Brigadier-General David McM. Gregg.
First Brigade.
Brigadier-General Henry E. Davies, Jr.
First Massachusetts, Major Lucius M. Sargent.
First New Jersey, Lieutenant-Colonel John W. Kester.
Sixth Ohio, Colonel William Stedman.
First Pennsylvania, Colonel John P. Taylor.
Second Brigade.
Colonel J. Irvin Gregg.
First Maine, Colonel Charles H. Smith.
Tenth New York, Major M. Henry Avery.
Second Pennsylvania, Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph P. Brinton.
* Detached guarding trains.
t Companies B, F, and K, under Captain Julius W. Mason, detached as escort to Lieutenant-
General U. S. Grant.

1 52 THE LIFE OF

Fourth Pennsylvania, Lieutenant-Colonel George H. Covode.
Eighth Pennsylvania, Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Wilson.
Sixteenth Pennsylvania, Lieutenant-Colonel John K. Robison.

THIRD DIVISION.
Brigadier-General James H. Wilson.
Escort.
Eighth Illinois (detachment), Lieutenant William W. Long.
First Brigade.
Colonel Timothy M. Bryan, Jr.
First Connecticut, Major Erastus Blakeslee.
Second New York, Colonel Otto Harhaus.
Fifth New York, Lieutenant-Colonel John Hammond.
Eighteenth Pennsylvania, Lieutenant-Colonel Wm. P. Brinton.
Second Brigade.
Colonel George H. Chapman.
Third Indiana, Major William Patton.
Eighth New York, Lieutenant-Colonel William H. Benjamin.
First Vermont, Lieutenant-Colonel Addison W. Preston.

The effective force of each brigade would average two thousand,
and the total cavalry under the new commander would aggregate at
least fourteen thousand men and horses. . Subsequently Sheridan had
command also of the cavalry of the Army of the James, consisting of
the following troops under :
Brigadier-General August V. Kautz.
First Brigade.
Colonel Simon H. Mix.
First District of Columbia, Lieutenant-Colonel Everton J. Conger.
Third New York, Lieutenant-Colonel George W. Lewis.

GEN. PHIL H. SHERIDAN. _ 19
Second Brigade.
Colonel Samuel P. Spear.
Fifth Pennsylvania, Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Kleinz.
Eleventh Pennsylvania, Lieutenant-Colonel George Stetzel.
Artillery.
New York Light, Eighth Battery, (section,) Lieutenant Peter Morton.
UNATTACHED TROOPS.
First United States Colored Cavalry, Major Harvey W. Brown.
Second United States Colored Cavalry, Colonel George W. Cole.
Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, Thirteenth Company, (pontoniers,) Captain
John Pickering, Jr.
Brigadier-General Averill commanded a cavalry division operating
in the valley under Hunter first, and afterwards with Crook. He was
with Sheridan from the latter's entrance in the Valley of the Shenan
doah, at a later date.
There was no boy's play ahead, but work that was to make a conti
nent rock, and whose reverberations were heard round the world.
A story is told at this time, and early in the Wilderness movements,
which aptly illustrates Sheridan's independence. General Meade, in
immediate command of the Army of the Potomac, changed the orders
of Wilson at Todd's Tavern. The spunky little commander, on learn
ing of this interference, roundly demanded to know "if he (General
Meade) commanded the cavalry, or whether he (Sheridan) did, by
G  ." There was a stormy period, and then Meade gracefully
acknowledged he was wrong. As a matter of fact, had Sheridan's
orders not been tampered with by Meade on the evening of May 7th,
1864, Spottsylvania would have been successfully held in all human
probability against Lee, and the terrible fight at the Bloody Angle
would not have occurred. Badeau says, that while Grant's written
orders to Sheridan were always sent through Meade,, yet that he
personally consulted with his cavalry commander on all such matters.

SHERIDAN AND HIS GENERALS.

Gen. H. E. Davies. Gen. D. McM. Greqo.
[From a War-Trme Pkotograpk.]

Gen. Wesley Merritt.

Gen. A. T. A. Torbett.
Gen. J. H. Wilson.

Gen. George A. Custer.

Chapter XIII.

FROM THE WILDERNESS TO JAMES RIVER.
Howard's review of the field ¦ — from Virginia to Louisiana — the cav
alry AND ITS TEMPER — MOVING TO THE WILDERNESS — GUARDING ROADS
AND SUPPLIES — THE LOSSES IN THE MAY FIGHTING — SHERIDAN'S FIRST
GREAT RAID ROUND RICHMOND — THE YELLOW TAVERN FIGHT — REJOINING
THE ARMY.
General Oliver O. Howard says in the Century of July, 1887,*
that :
" On the 1 8th of March, 1864, Grant and Sherman were together
at Nashville. Grant having received promotion, immediately set out
for Washington, and Sherman (having returned from East Tennessee
and Northern Alabama) accompanied him as far as Cincinnati. That
meeting and journey were of interest. They involve the thorough dis
cussion and planning of eventful campaigns. Soldiers like Grant and
Sherman consider first the forces at their disposal, and next a plan of
operations. Grant had now under his general charge all the Union
armies, — the Army of the Potomac, under Meade ; that of the Ohio,
near Knoxville, under Schofield ; that of the Cumberland, under Thomas,
near Chattanooga ; that of the Tennessee, under McPherson, scattered
from Huntsville, Alabama, to the Mississippi ; that of the Gulf, under
Banks, in Louisiana ; besides subordinate detachments, under Steele
and others, in Arkansas and further west.
" Grant took the whole field into his thought. He made three
parts to the long, irregular line of armies, which extended from Vir
ginia to Texas. He gave to Banks the main work beyond the Missis
sippi ; to Sherman the middle part, covering the hosts of McPherson,
Thomas, and Schofield, and reserved to himself the remainder. The
numbers were known, at least on paper ; the plan, promptly adopted,
was simple and comprehensive : Break, and keep broken, the connect
ing links of the enemy's armies ; beat them one by one ; unite for a
final consummation. Sherman's part was plain. Grant's plan, flexible
* " The Struggle for Atlanta," Vol. XXXIV., pp. 442-63.

i $6 THE LIFE OF
enough to embrace his own, afforded him ' infinite satisfaction.' It
looked like ' enlightened war.' "
These words of Howard's are quoted in order to give that breadth
and significance to the whole vast field of operations which will enable
us fully to understand the great part assigned, subordinate in outward'
seeming though it was, to the young major-general and division com
mander whom Grant, with his unerring sagacity as to soldiers, had
drafted frbm the Army of the Cumberland to that of the Potomac, and
placed in command of all its superb array of cavalry troopers. The
struggle was reduced to a system of pounding on our part, costly, heroic,
and full of terrible sacrifice. In it Sheridan had to do a wonderful
part, breaking constantly the communications and supply lines of an
already exhausted fqe, holding, however, to its position — the key of
the Confederate struggle — with a tremendous tenacity and a slowly
expiring vitality which never yielded until annihilation was threatened.
Howard's few words indicate also what proved to be the weak points
in Grant's comprehensive survey. It was a weakness he received and
did not create. Sherman was able in the Atlanta campaign to break
the last sturdy resistance of the Central South, and then by his " march
to the sea," to prove that the Confederacy was indeed a " hollow shell."
If the operations projected for the Southwest had been as vigorously
executed, the Civil War would doubtless have closed some months
earlier. A brief review of Howard's references to that "third" of the
Union field, will throw some light on the causes of the long lingering
vitality displayed by Lee and Johnston during the terrible punish
ment inflicted by Meade, Sheridan, and Sherman, in their several places,
and under Grant's orders.
Howard speaks of the Union lines as irregularly extending from
Virginia to Texas. In reality they reached only, as to the Southwest,
to the Indian Territory at Fort Gibson, and to Shreveport, Louisiana.
The points held on the Gulf coast had little or no importance at the time
named by Howard, who is also a little wrong in giving Banks full
sway. That general was charged with an important movement up the
Red River to Shreveport. General Steele at Little Rock was required
to move simultaneously from that point southwesterly toward Shreve
port. He moved twenty-two days later, and as a result Banks was first
overwhelmed by a conjunction of the Confederates under Dick Taylor,
Kirby Smith, and Sterling Price. Steele was then beaten in detail and
driven back by the forces under the two latter commanders. General
S. R. Curtis was commander of the Department of Kansas, and Gen-

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 157
eral James G. Blunt was his fighting lieutenant in the field. Under
the plans first sanctioned and then overthrown by Halleck, before
Grant assumed chief command of field operations, Blunt was to have had
command of some twelve thousand men, mostly mounted, who from Fort
Smith, Arkansas, on the border of the Indian Territory, were to have
raided in the rear of the Confederate armies of the Southwest, and
broken up the supply depots of Northern Texas and Louisiana. Blunt's
troops were unwarrantably taken from him by Halleck's order, and
transferred to Steele, who through that action moved too slow, and
really caused Banks' defeat on the Red River. These facts are worth
understanding, as they practically caused a prolongation of the war, by
enabling the Confederate authorities to retain unharmed its enormous
cattle and wheat sources in Texas, and preserving also for nearly
twelve months longer the power of reinforcement from the armies in
the Southwest. These actions and changes sprang from the prejudices,
and not the wisdom of Halleck, Steele, and other officers of the regular
army, who were in high places. The men of Kansas were "anti-
slavery radicals," and that was sufficient until Grant assumed full com
mand, and obtained thereby the necessary understanding of the whole
field. One of his first orders was to assign Rosecrans to command of
the Missouri Department, and Pleasonton as second, with headquarters
at St. Louis.
On Sheridan's advent, the cavalry arm of the Army of the Potomac
was found somewhat demoralized by the same influences that had up
to that date injured the morale of the entire force. It was in large
part due to the army's undue nearness to the national capital, and
the political forces collected there, which sometimes proved potent to
arouse personal ambition and disturb discipline. Even Gettysburg had
not succeeded in restoring, or rather, in creating, a fighting unity. It
needed the presence of commanders untouched by the forces which had
for nearly three years, more or less, unfavorably affected the efficiency
of a great and valiant soldiery. It was also necessary that the com
mander should have rank enough to command all the gallant generals
who were there upon the final battle-fields. In the promotion of
U. S. Grant this was achieved. As to the cavalry, it was ready to
receive the soldier who had stormed Missionary Ridge. Major-General
Alfred Pleasonton, a splendid organizer and tactician at least, but who
was not popular with his brigadiers, was sent by Grant to the Depart
ment of the Missouri. Sheridan took his command. From that hour
Pleasonton was forgotten. What a galaxy of men, mainly young,
too, like himself, did the new trooper find awaiting his commands !

i?8 THE LIFE OF

<

There were Torbett, Merritt, Deven, Crook, Kautz, Chapman, Custer,
Henry E. Davies, Jr., the Greggs, Spear, Buford, Irving, Mackenzie,
Bryan, Dahlgren, Alger, and two score more, as famous as those, who
have not been named invidiously, or to- detract from the fame of others.
At midnight, or soon after, May the 3d and 4th, 1863, the Army of
the Potomac moved from its position north of the Rappahannock, on a
march towards the Wilderness, entering on that campaign which was to
close nearly one year later by the surrender ofthe Southern Confederacy.
At the beginning of this great campaign the Army of the Potomac had
been reorganized into three infantry corps — the Second (Hancock) ,
the Fifth (Warren), and the Sixth (Sedgwick, afterwards Wright).
The Ninth (Burnside) served as an independent command until May
24th, when it was permanently attached to Meade's army. A cavalry
corps under Sheridan completed the organization. The Confederate
army was composed of three corps — Longstreet's (later R. H. Ander
son's) on their left, Ewell's in the centre, and A. P. Hill's on the right,
General Robert E. Lee commanding the whole.
It is not a necessary part of this work to describe the tremendous
conflict of the Wilderness, or of Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, and
North Anna. Our work is with the cavalry under its new commander,
so soon to prove himself to be a very thunderbolt of war. In the first
movements, Sheridan's cavalry was charged with the necessary but,
perhaps, prosaic duty, even to a soldier, of guarding supply trains and
lines of communication. The corps under Sheridan's command had
for brigade commanders such leaders, in the First Division, as Brig
adier-General George A. Custer, Colonel Thomas C. Deven, and
Brigadier-General Wesley Merritt. In the Second Division were
Brigadier-General David McM. Gregg, and Brigadier-General Henry
E. Davies, Jr., and Colonel J. Irvin Gregg. The Third Division
was commanded by Brigadier-General James H. Wilson, and Colonels
Timothy M. Bryan, Jr., and George H. Chapman. The total effective
force of the Union army has been carefully estimated at 118,000 men,
and that of Lee's at 61,000. It must be remembered that under all
military rules, the Confederates, being on their own ground, chosen for
defense, were at least equal to the Union forces in operating strength.
At Cold Harbor, on the ist of June, twenty-eight days after beginning
to cross the Rappahannock, there were reported " present for duty"
103,875. The cavalry corps was not "present." The strength or
losses of Lee's army are nowhere authoritatively given. According
to the late Colonel Scott, the Union army lost during that memorable
battle month, as follows :

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

1*9

as

13 §

The Wilderness, .....
Spottsylvania Court House,
North Anna and Tolopotomy, .
Cold Harbor, ......
Sheridan's first expedition,
Sheridan's second expedition, .

2,246 2.725 591
1,844 64
150

12,037i3.4!6 2.734<J.o77 337 74i

3.383 2,258 661
1,816 224625

17,66618,399 3,986
12.737 625
I.5I6

Grand total from the Wilderness to the

7,620

38,342

8,976

S4.929

The loss has been counted as enormous. Aggregated in this wise
it certainly seems so. But remembering that much of the earlier and
severer fighting was done in the Wilderness, amid timber, brush, and
undergrowth , and that the struggle over the ' ' Bloody Angle " at Spottsyl
vania was one of the terribly contested events in modern warfare, it will
be seen that the loss is not greater, as a whole, than that of other
battles of the Civil War ; certainly not more, proportionably to time
and troops, than was the case at Pea Ridge, Vicksburg, Port Hudson,
Perryville, Stone River, Chickamauga, and Chattanooga. The differ
ence between losses under Grant and those incurred under other Union
commanders in Virginia, is seen in the fact that Grant moved forward,
and the others generally fell back after winning or losing a battle.
Grant's losses were always gains in the game of war.
Besides the continual skirmishing and the arduous duties devolving
on troopers in a moving army, the cavalry corps fought several splen
did independent engagements. On the 5th of May, when Warren's
leading division, under General Getty, first became engaged with the
enemy, Wilson with his cavalry division was further south, and was
cut off from the rest of the army. On the arrival of Hancock's
troops the battle became general. In this day's fighting Brigadier-
General Alexander Hays, a classmate of Grant's, was killed. During
the afternoon, Sheridan sent Gregg's division to Todd's Tavern in
search of Wilson, whom he found engaged with a superior force
under the Confederate cavalry leader, Rosser. Fortunately, together
they were enabled to assume the aggressive and drive the enemy beyond
Corbin's bridge, which' was done in fine style.

i6o THE LIFE OF
On the morning of the 6th, Sheridan moved to connect with Han
cock's left, there to attack the enemy's cavalry, which was endeavoring
to get to our left and rear. They had not yet learned the quality of the
new commander they were opposing, and so were not as cautious as
they soon after became. Sheridan met, attacked, and defeated the
enemy, commanded by Stuart in person, at Todd's Tavern and at the
junction of Furnace and Brock roads. Later in the day he was himself
attacked, and again defeated the enemy. The sound of these engage
ments caused Hancock to make stronger his position at the Brock road's
opening. In the closing of that day's engagement Longstreet was
severely wounded, and Lee in person took command of his right wing.
The 6th of May closed the fighting in the Wilderness, General
Custer on the following morning moving against the rebel cavalry and
driving them from Catharpin Furnace to Todd's Tavern. No effort at
resistance was made by Lee.
The movement to Spottsylvania at once began. Sheridan concen
trated at Todd's Tavern and had considerable severe fighting, lasting
till long after nightfall. He held the field at its close. The purpose
ofthe stand taken here was clear. It was to prevent our cavalry press
ing too sharply the rear of Lee's army as it fell back to a stronger
position. Grant says, Sheridan issued the necessary orders for seizing Spott
sylvania and holding the bridge over the Po River, which Lee's troops
would have to cross to get to Spottsylvania. But Meade, on his
arrival, changed Sheridan's orders to Merritt, who was holding the
bridge. The road was thereby left free for Anderson's advance. He had
succeeded to Longstreet's command. Wilson had obeyed orders, seized
the little town, and was holding it with his cavalry division. If Lee's
left had been detained at the Po by Merritt, as Sheridan directed, Wil
son could have been reinforced. Warren would have come up while
the gallant Merritt with his two brigades was resisting Anderson's
advance. However, the compulsory evacuation of Spottsylvania by
Wilson on that day enabled the terrific battle so named in the annals
of the Civil War to be fought as it was, and at that point.
Sheridan now had other work to do. It was on the morning of the
.8th — that of the opening storm of Spottsylvania — that Grant ordered
Sheridan to cut loose from the army and go round Richmond. How
well and swiftly he did the work assigned him can be seen in the
fact that on the nth instant, the closing day of the great battle of
Spottsylvania, Sheridan sent back a dispatch of his successful progress
toward and around Richmond. It was in this raid that he met and

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

i6j

overthrew
Stuart ; and
that he also
successful ly
withstood the tempta
tion of en
tering Rich
mond, which
undoubtedly, he could
have done.
The sto
ry of Sheri-
dan's ser
vices after
the Wilder
ness, and
before the
Army of the
Potomac
was quar
tered on the
James, can
be well told
in Grant's
words :
"On the
8th of May,
just before the battle of the Wilderness, and when we were moving on
Spottsylvania, I directed Sheridan verbally to cut loose from the Army
of the Potomac, pass around to the left of Lee's army and attack his
cavalry ; to cut the two railroads — one running southwest through
Gordonsville, Charlottesville, and Lynchburg, the other to Richmond
— and when compelled to do so for the want of forage or rations, to
move on to the James^River and draw from Butler's supplies. This
move took him past the entire rear of Lee's army. The objects of this
move were threefold :
" First, If successfully executed, and it was, he would annoy the
enemy by cutting his line pf supplies, and destroy or get for his own use
supplies in store at their rear, or coming up.
n

GEN. A. T. A. TORBETT,
SHERIDAN'S CHIEF OF STAFF IN'THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY.

162 THE LIFE OF
" Second, He would draw the enemy's cavalry after him, and thus
better protect our flanks, rear, and trains, than by remaining with the
army. " Third, His absence would save the trains drawing his forage and
other supplies from Fredericksburg, which had now become our base.
He started at daylight the next morning and accomplished a great deal
more than was expected. It was sixteen days before he got back to
the Army of the Potomac. The course Sheridan took was directly to
Richmond. Before night Stuart, commanding the Confederate cav
alry, came on the rear of his command. But Sheridan's advance kept
on, crossed the North Anna, and at Beaver Dam, a station on the Vir
ginia Central railroad, recaptured 400 Union prisoners on their way
to Richmond, destroyed the road, and used and destroyed a large
amount of their subsistence and medical stores. Stuart, seeing that our
cavalry was pushing toward Richmond, abandoned the pursuit on the
morning of the 10th, and, by a detour and exhausting march, interposed
between Sheridan and Richmond at Yellow Tavern, only about six
miles north of the city. Sheridan destroyed the railroad and more
supplies at Ashland, and on the nth arrived in Stuart's front. A
severe engagement ensued in which the losses were heavy on both
sides, but the rebels were beaten, their leader mortally wounded, and
some guns and many prisoners captured.
" Sheridan passed through the outer defenses of Richmond, and
could no doubt have passed through the inner ones. But having no
supports near, he could not have remained. After caring for his
wounded, he struck for the James River, below the city, to communi
cate with Butler, and to rest his men and horses, as well as to get food
and forage for them. He moved first between the Chickahominy and
the James, but on the morning of the 12th he was stopped by batter
ies at Mechanicsville. He then turned to cross to the north side of the
Chickahominy by Meadow Bridge. He found this barred and the
defeated Confederate cavalry, again reorganized, occupying the opposite
side. The panic created by his first entrance within the outer works
of Richmond having subsided, troops were sent out to attack his rear.
He was now in a perilous position — one out of which few generals
would have extricated themselves.
" The defenses of Richmond were to the right, well manned ; the
Chickahominy was to the left with no bridge remaining, and the oppo
site bank well guarded. Close to his rear was a force from Richmond.
This force was attacked and beaten by Wilson's and Gregg's divisions,

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 163
while Sheridan turned to the left with the remaining division and
hastily built a 'bridge over the Chickahominy under the fire of the
enemy, forced a crossing, and soon dispersed the Confederates he found
there. The enemy was held back from the stream by the fire of the
troops not engaged in bridge building.
"On the 13th, Sheridan was at Bottom's Bridge and over on the
Chickahominy. On the 14th he crossed that stream and on that day
went into camp on the James River at Haxall's Landing. He at once
put himself into communication with General Butler who directed all
supplies he wanted to be furnished.
"Sheridan had left the Army of the Potomac at Spottsylvania, but
did not know where either it or Lee's army was placed. Great cau
tion, therefore, had to be used in getting back. On the 17th; after rest
ing his command for three days, he started on his return. He moved
by the way of the White House. The bridge over the Pamunkey had
been burned by the enemy, but a new one was speedily improvised,( and
the cavalry crossed over it. On the 22d he was at Ayletts on the
Mattapony where he learned the position of the two armies. On the
24th he joined us on the march from North Anna to Cold Harbor, in
the vicinity of Chesterfield.
"Sheridan on this memorable raid passed entirely around Lee's
army, encountered his cavalry in four engagements, and defeated them
all ; recaptured 400 Union prisoners, and killed and captured many of
the enemy ; destroyed and used many munitions of war and supplies ;
destroyed miles of railroad and telegraph, and freed us from annoyance
by the cavalry ofthe enemy for more than two weeks."
Sheridan's rejoining the army on the North Anna was the signal
for renewed cavalry service. The North Anna country was a differ
ent field of operations from any the army had been in during that series
of battles. The roads were wide and good, and the country well culti
vated. But we had neither guides nor maps to tell where the roads
were, or where they led to. By reconnoitering Grant was enabled to
locate those in the vicinity of each army corps. The course was south,
and we took all routes leading in that direction which would not separate
the army too widely. Hancock had the lead. He marched easterly to
Guinney's Station, on the Fredericksburg railroad, thence southerly, to
Bowling Green and Milford, and was at Milford on the night of the
2 ist of May. Here he met a detachment of Pickett's division, which
was coming from Richmond to reinforce Lee. They were speedily
driven away, and several hundred captured. Warren followed on the
morning of the 21st, and reached Guinney's Station that night without

1 64 THE LIFE OF
molestation. Burnside was in supporting distance. The cavalry was
again with the army, and played an important part in the Cold Harbor
movements. These required that there should be great vigilance exer
cised. Grant threw the head of his columns to the south, and directed
that they march on all roads so leading that were not too widely sepa
rated. The impression was given by our movements that we were
designing to attack the left flank of Lee's army, while the real aim was
to throw our own forces safely across the James, as well as other im
portant streams that intervened. Their presence made the country
very defensible. Grant says of these movements, and the use made of
his cavalry, that :
"Wilson's division of cavalry was brought up from the left and
moved by our right south to Little River. Here he -managed to give
the impression that we were going to attack the left flank of Lee's army.
Under cover of night our right wing was withdrawn to the north side
of the river, Lee being completely deceived by Wilson's feint. On the
afternoon of the 26th Sheridan moved, sending Gregg's and Torbetf s
cavalry to Taylor's and Littlepage's Ford, toward Hanover. As soon
as it was dark both cavalry divisions moved quietly to Hanover Ferry,
leaving small guards behind to keep up the impression that crossings
were to be made. We were enabled, therefore, to turn the enemy's
right by crossing at or near Hanover town. This move crossed a'll
three streams at once, and left us still where we could draw supplies. It
was a delicate move to get the right wing of the Army of the Potomac
from its position south of the North Anna, in the presence of the
enemy." In a letter of instruction to Major-General Meade, of this date, he
says :
General Smith will start up the south bank of the Pamunkey at
an early hour, say 3 a. m. It is probable that the enemy being aware
of Smith's movement, will be feeling to get on our left flank, for the
purpose of cutting him off, or by a dash to crush him and get back
before we are aware of it. Sheridan ought to be notified to watch the
enemy's movements well out toward Cold Harbor, and also on the
Mechanicsville road. I want Sheridan to send a cavalry force of at
least half a brigade, at 5 a. m., and communicate with Smith and return
'with him. I will send orders for Smith by the messenger you send to
Sheridan with his orders.
U. S. G.
On the 31st Sheridan's advance was near the Old Cold Harbor. He
found it intrenched and occupied by rebel cavalry and infantry. A
hard fight ensued, but the place was carried, as Was the constant custom

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 16?
of our troopers at this date. The importance of Cold Harbor was
understood. The Confederates seemed determined that we should not
hold it, returning to the attack with such a large force that Sheridan was
about withdrawing without making any further effort to hold it against
overwhelming odds. He had commenced the evacuation, but received
orders to hold the place at all hazards, until reinforcements could be
sent him. To receive was to obey. The rebel works were speedily
faced against them, and his men were placed in position for defense.
Night came on, however, before the enemy was ready to renew the
assault. Wright's corps was ordered directly to Cold Harbor that
night, marching in the rear of our army. It was expected to arrive
by daylight, but was not there till 9 a. m., on the ist of June. Sheri
dan had gallantly and successfully repelled two fierce assaults. Smith,
who was expected early, did not arrive till the afternoon had half
waned. Anderson, of Lee's left, moved along Warren's front and
was vigorously attacked on the flank, but he succeeded in holding
and fortifying the position he had gained. At six that evening (June
1, '63), Wright and Smith charged the rebel works, broke their
lines, driving them back, and capturing over seven hundred prisoners.
Grant expected to take the offensive early next morning, and especially
ordered that every advantage gained was to be pressed to the utmost,
in order to drive or draw Lee out of his cover. Sheridan having rec-
onnoitered the banks of the Chickahominy to find crossings and the con
dition of the roads, reported favorably upon the chances of crossing.
During the night Lee moved his left up to make his line correspond
with ours. The Confederate lines extended from the Tolopotomy and
New Cold Harbor to the Chickahominy, with a division of cavalry
watching our right.
An assault was ordered for the 3d, to be made mainly by the corps
under Hancock, Wright, and Smith ; but Warren and Burnside were
to support it by threatening Lee's left, and to attack with earnestness if
a favorable opportunity presented itself. Hancock sent Barlow forward,
and after some very severe fighting he carried a position outside the
enemy's main line. Three pieces of artillery and several hundred
prisoners were also taken. Gibbon had an encounter and gained much
ground. Wright's corps captured the outer rifle-pits in its front.
Smith's also carried the outer rifle-pits in its front. Warren and Burn
side advanced and gained ground which brought the whole army on a
line. These assaults cost us heavily. The next day and night were
spent making our intrenchments as strong as Lee's.

DISTINGUISHED UNION CAVALRYMEN.

MAJ.-GEN. ALFRED PLEASONTON,
THE FIRST CHIEF OF THE CAVALRY OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAO.

GEN. GEORGE CROOK.
A FAMOUS OAVALRY LEADER OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.

Chapter XIV.

BREAKING THE CONFEDERATE COM
MUNICATIONS.
SHERIDAN'S SECOND GREAT VIRGINIA RAID — INTENDED TO CONNECT WITH
HUNTER — OPERATIONS IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY  THE REBEL CAV
ALRY LEADERS — DESTROYING THE VIRGINIA CENTRAL RAILROAD — FIGHT
AT TREVILIAN STATION — CONSTERNATION IN RICHMOND  RETURN TO
CITY POINT  OPERATIONS ABOUT PETERSBURG  WILSON AND KAUTZ SOUTH
OF RICHMOND — THE BATTLE OF REAMS STATION.
Just before the completion of the great operations by which the
Army ofthe Potomac had been brought to the north bank ofthe Janies,
the second of Sheridan's great raids became a necessity. Lee's position
was now so near Richmond that it was determined by the next flank
movement to carry the Army of the Potomac across and south of the
James River. This movement was a hazardous one. The Chicka
hominy had to be crossed. All the bridges over it had been destroyed ;
the enemy had shorter roads and better ones to travel on to confront
us on crossing ; more than fifty miles intervened between Grant and
Butler, and lastly, the Army of the Potomac had to be got out of a
dangerous position : it was but a few- hundred yards from Lee's army
at the widest place. Sheridan was sent on the 7th of June with two
divisions to communicate with Hunter, and to break up the Virginia
Central railroad and the James River Canal, also taking instructions
to Hunter to come back with him.
The.canal and Central road and the region penetrated by our troopers
on this raid, were of vast importance to the enemy, furnishing and car
rying a large per cent, of all the supplies they required for the Army of
Northern Virginia and the people of Richmond. Before Sheridan got
off on the 7th, Hunter's messengers reported his advance to Staunton
and a successful engagement with the enemy near that place on the
5th, in which the Confederate commander, General W. S. Jones, was
killed.

168 THE LIFE OF
The death of General J. E. B. Stuart had deprived the Confederate
Army of Northern Virginia of its most daring field commander. The
cavalry under " Lee's master of horse," — as Lieutenant-General Wade
Hampton, with that pompous affectation of feudalism once so com
mon in the South, was often called — consisted, at the time of Sheri
dan's second great raid, of three divisions, and seven brigades. Its
roster was as follows : CAVALRY CORPS.
Lieutenant-General Wade Hampton, Commanding.
Major-General Fitzhugh Lee's Division.
Brigadier-General W. E. Wickham's Brigade.
Brigadier-General L. L. Lomax's Brigade.
Major-General M. C. Butler's Division.
Brigadier-General John Donovan's Brigade.
Brigadier-General P. M. B. Young's Brigade.
Brigadier-General Thomas L. Rosser's Brigade.
Major-General W. H. F. Lee's Division.
Brigadier-General Rufus Barringer's Brigade.
Brigadier-General J. R. Chamblis' Brigade.
Grant's Memoirs say in a foot note that this corps appears to have
consisted of Hampton's, Fitzhugh Lee's, and W. H. F. Dearing's bri
gades. Obviously it was inferior to the mobile and effective force that
Grant and Sheridan had made of the Union cavalry. This opposing
disparity of numbers, as will be seen, was due largely to the longer lines
of cavalry defense, scouting, and operations generally, which the posi
tion of Lee's army was then and thereafter requiring. Grant's strate
getical action practically comprehended and brought about a Vigorous
concentration of Union forces in Virginia. The Confederates' was
rapidly being reduced to but two objects : the defense of Richmond,
and the maintenance of their lines of communication and fields of
supply. The first compelled him to keep his infantry well in hand.
He was allowed but twice to detach efficient forces from the army,
which Grant's unyielding persistence kept constantly engaged. These
occasions were in the direction of his granary- — the Valley of the Shen
andoah, to which he had sent Early, the North Carolinian, and after
wards gave him the force of Longstreet's genius, the effect of which
was seen in the very narrow escape at Cedar Creek, when " Sheridan
saved the day." The second object obliged him to extend and thus

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 169
weaken the force and value of his cavalry. Sheridan's skill in hand
ling the cavalry, and Grant's genius in directing, may be clearly, even
luminously traced, from this point onward. The opportunity was offered
to make of this arm of the service something far greater than vedettes,
pickets, guards for roads, messengers to commanders, or even advance
raiders and fighting " rough riders." Sheridan so used the cavalry as
to make it, in effect, a swift-moving army, to be hurled with terrible
force in a given direction, and then moved away off as swiftly as it came.
Then came his other use of it — a use born of his own genius in war :
the handling of it as a screen for the massing of infantry bodies behind
it. This digression is necessary to illustrate the nature of Sheridan's
future movements. He was assigned to the breaking up of commu
nications, then to the occupation of supply fields, and finally to the
work of leading, as well as screening, the vast forward movement which
finally ended the armed rebellion.
It will be interesting to note at this point the personalities and past
and present positions of some of the rebel cavalry leaders, for they,
like our own, -were all men of mark. Contrary to our own rule, at
least in the Army of the Potomac, the majority of the rebel commanders
were from civil life. In the roster given, Brigadier-Generals W. H.
F. Lee, P. M. B. Young, and T. L. Rosser are the only West
Pointers. The last two belonged to the class about to graduate when
the Civil War began. General Young has since served several terms
in Congress as a Representative from Georgia. Rufus Barringer is
from North Carolina, and has since the war become a Republican. He
is, pr was recently, a judge in the International Court, which sits in
Egypt under the Khedive's rule. General W. H. F. Lee is now a
farmer on part of the Lee estate, within a short distance of Washing
ton and almost in sight of Arlington, where Sheridan has been laid at
rest. His cousin, Fitzhugh Lee, is now the governor of Virginia. The
lieutenant-general is now United States Senator Wade Hampton, rep
resenting, with one of his former major-generals and division com
manders, Senator M. C. Butler, the State of South Carolina in the Sen
ate Chamber of a restored Union. General Wickham, who is now
dead, became, some years after the war, a Republican United States
Senator from Virginia.
The true hero ofthe Confederate cavalry was unquestionably James
E. B. Stuart. He is thus described by a Southern writer, as he re
ported in 1862 to General Johnston, at Williamsburg, Virginia, during
the first Peninsula Campaign : " He appeared much fatigued and over-

iyo THE LIFE OF
worked, and would have served admirably for a picture of Dick Tur-
pin when chased by officers on the York road. His horse was a
splendid black, with heavy reins and bits, cavalry saddle and holsters ;
foam stood in a lather upon him, and he was mud-splashed from head
to foot. The officer himself bore no insignia of command. A com
mon black felt hat, turned down in front and up behind ; a heavy black
overcoat, tightly buttoned ; elegant riding boots covering the thighs ;
a handsome sabre, carelessly slung by his side, and a heavy pair of
Mexican spurs, that jingled and rattled on the pavement as he dis
mounted, were all that could be noticed at a distance. A nearer view,
however, showed a full-faced, ruddy-complexioned man, with close-cut
hair, and apparently some thirty years old. His eyes were bright,
beaming, and when lighted up, piercing and full of deep expression.
A stranger, unaccustomed to the war, would have at first taken him to
be the daring chief of some wild predatory band ; and yet, a moment
more would cause a change of opinion, especially on hearing him
speak, and noticing the high-toned, gentlemanly bearing he displayed."
General Hunter was informed by way of Washington and the val
ley that Sheridan was on the way to meet him. The following letter
was sent to Hunter : Cold Harbor, Va., June 6, 1864.
Major-General D- Hunter,
Commanding Department West Va.
General Sheridan leaves here to-morrow morning with instructions
to proceed to Charlottesville, Va., and to commence there the destruc
tion of the Virginia Central railroad, destroying this way as much as
possible. ' The complete destruction of this road and of the canal on
James River is of great importance to us. According to the instruc
tions I sent to General Halleck for your guidance, you were to pro
ceed to Lynchburg and commence there. It would be of great value
to us to get possession of Lynchburg for a single day. But that point
is of so much importance to the enemy that in attempting to get it such
resistance may be met as to prevent your getting onto the road or canal
at all. I see, on looking over the letter to General Halleck on the
subject of your instructions, that it rather indicates your route should be
from Staunton via Charlottesville. If you have so understood it, you
will be doing just what I want. The direction I would now give is,
that if this letter "reaches you in the valley between Staunton and
Lynchburg, you immediately turn east by the most practicable road until
you strike the Lynchburg branch of the Virginia Central road. From
thence move eastward along the line of the road, destroying it com
pletely and thoroughly, until you join General Sheridan. After the
work .laid out for General Sheridan and yourself is thoroughly done,

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 171
proceed to join the Army of the Potomac by the route laid out in Gen
eral Sheridan's instructions.
If any portion of your force, especially your cavalry, is not needed
in your department, you are authorized to send itback.
If on receipt of this you should be near to Lynchburg and deem it
practicable to reach that point, you will exercise your judgment about
going there.
If you should be on the railroad between Charlottesville and
Lynchburg, it may be practicable to detach a cavalry force to destroy
the canal. Lose no opportunity to destroy the canal.
U. S. Grant, Lieut. -General.
This comprehensive plan thus briefly outlined was never laid aside
by its author, though it took more months of hard fighting ere, under
Sheridan, there was even a chance to execute a considerable portion of
it. Lynchburg was never taken. It surrendered with or- after the
Army of Northern Virginia.
Crook and Averill were on the nth, known to have united and to be
moving east. This, with the news of Hunter's successful Staunton
engagement, must have been known to Lee before the news reached
Grant. Sheridan's departure with two divisions of cavalry looked
threatening to both Lee's communications and supplies. The rebel
cavalry was sent after Sheridan, and Early with Ewell's entire corps
was pushed to the Valley of Virginia. Consternation prevailed again
in Richmond. It was Sheridan's mission in those days to spread alarm
and terror within the rebel capital. Supplies were growing scarce
within it, and the outside refugees who were driven in by fears of our
raiders, helped to consume the little that remained. Grant's object was
to practically put Richmond in a state of siege, and this could not be
accomplished while to the south and west communications remained
unimpaired. This second great raid of Sheridan and his cavalry, though it
failed to unite with Hunter owing to Lee's sending Early strong rein
forcements, and thus compelling "Black Dave" to fall back up the
yalley, was full of memorable encounters, chief of which was the brilliant
battle at Trevilian Station. Sheridan started on the yth of June from
Cold Harbor. He crossed the river and pushed at once to reach the
station and commence his destruction at that point. On the night of the
10th he bivouacked some six miles east of that place, while Fitzhugh Lee
was on the same night at the station itself. Wade Hampton was but a
few miles away. During the night Hampton ordered an advance on
Sheridan, hoping, no doubt, to effect a surprise and thereby badly cripple

172 THE LIFE OF
him. Sheridan, however, by a counter-move, sent Custer on a rapid
march to get between the two rebel divisions and into their rear. This
Custer successfully executed. At daylight, when the assault was made,
the enemy found himself at the same time attacked in his front and
rear. His troops broke in considerable confusion. Sheridan got away
with five hundred prisoners, and sent them to City Point. On the same
day Sheridan moved into Trevilian Station, and the following day pro
ceeded to tear up the road, east and west. There was considerable fight
ing during the whole of the day, but the work of destruction went on.
At night the enemy had possession of the crossing which Sheridan had
proposed to take to go north when he left Trevilian. Sheridan learned,
however, from soine of the prisoners he had captured, that General
Hunter was near Lynchburg, and therefore there was no use of his
going on to Charlottesville to meet him.
On the night of June 12th, Sheridan started back, moving north
and east. He reached the White House on the 21st, after a consider
able detour, and found an abundance of forage and supplies for both
horses and men. The James River was crossed on the 26th, Sheridan
transferring all supplies, etc., in breaking up the depot, to the south
side of the river.
While Sheridan was absent on this raid the transfer of the Army
ofthe Potomac had been effected. Soon after dark on the 7th, some
of our cavalry at Long Bridge also effected a crossing of the Chicka
hominy, by wading through the swampy water and mud, waist deep.
They then drove away the Confederate pickets. A pontoon bridge was
speedily thrown across. Warren's corps followed the cavalry, and on
the morning of the 13th Hancock followed Warren. Burnside took
the road to Jones' Bridge, followed by Wright. Ferrero, with the
wagon train, moved by Window Shades and Cole's Ferry, our rear
being covered by Wilson's cavalry. Warren on crossing, moved out
and joined Sheridan's cavalry in holding the roads from Richmond
while the army passed. But no attempt to oppose the crossing was
made. The advance of the army reached the James River on the 14th
of June. The same day pontoon bridges were laid. Next day Grant
visited Butler at Bermuda Hundred for the purpose of directing a move
ment against Petersburg while the Army of the Potomac was crossing
the James. Butler gave Smith about" six thousand reinforcements,
including some twenty-five hundred cavalry under Kautz, and about
thirty-five hundred colored infantry under Hinks.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 173
Smith in his advance encountered a rebel force intrenched between
City Point and their lines outside of Petersburg. This position he
carried. Hancock was sent across to reinforce Smith at Petersburg.
He arrived in front of the lines early on the 15th and spent the day'
reconnoitering apparently empty works, consisting of redans occupy
ing commanding positions, with rifle-pits connecting them. The
assault was made with the colored troops and with success. By nine
that night, he was in possession of five of these redans and the rifle-pits
with them. Hancock came up and relieved Smith's men, who were in
the trenches. On the 16th, Hancock was in command and captured
another redan.
Meade arrived, and during the day carried three more redans. All
the guns and men in these redans fell into our hands. Beauregard,
who up to this time had commanded south of Richmond, had received
no reinforcements though calling strongly for them, believing we were
seeking Petersburg. On the 17th, the fighting was very severe. That
night Beauregard fell back to a new line and commenced fortifying it.
On the 18th our troops took the position he had vacated. The armies
remained quiet now until the 22d, when General Meade ordered an
advance towards the Weldon railroad.
After a sharp battle the Union soldiers were withdrawn, and to the
Army of the Potomac was given the investment of Petersburg, while
the Army of the James held Bermuda Hundred.
The balance ofthe cavalry corps was not idle while these operations
were in progress. During Sheridan's twenty-days absence from head
quarters, General Meade sent General James H. Wilson with his
division, aided by General Kautz' cavalry, on a raid to destroy the
Weldon and Southside railroads. His position, however, soon grew pre
carious, and on the 27th, the day after his arrival at City Point, Sheri
dan was in the saddle again, crossing the river to demonstrate in aid of
Wilson's retreat. The united commands burned Reams Station and
all the buildings, ten miles south of Petersburg, and were able to tear
up the track for several miles. They then pushed over to the South-
side railroad at Ford's Station, five miles further south of Petersburg.
They destroyed it, and the road also to Nottoway Station, twenty-two
miles south. At Nottoway a vigorous hand-to-hand encounter was
had with a brigade of Virginia and North Carolina troops, commanded
by Fitzhugh Lee in person. The enemy was defeated and severely
punished. General Kautz then pushed on to Burke's Station, the
junction of the Southsidejwith the Danville road. It was at this place,

174 GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.
nine months later, that General Grant sent in his first demand for Lee's
surrender. Kautz destroyed a large section of both roads, and then
pushed on to Meherrin Station and joined Wilson there. They then
destroyed the road to Staunton River. But the country was in arms
against the Union raiders. Lee hurried his cavalry against them, and the
mounted farmers joined in the hurry. Our cavalry was forced to turn
back. They expected to fight their way to Reams Station, on the
Weldon. This, they believed, would be in our possession. Instead,
they encountered Hampton with his cavalry, supported by two infantry
divisions under Mahone and Finnegas, the Irish-American soldiers of
the Army of Northern Virginia.
Our cavalry was compelled to accept battle against these great odds
of at least four to one, and were severely defeated, reaching our lines
below Petersburg in bad condition. Sheridan crossed the river on the
27th to make a diversion in favor of our hardly pressed cavalry. This
movement facilitated their retreat and prevented the rebel pursuit being
as active. It was the only defeat of any portion of our Potomac cavalry
after Sheridan assumed command.
It is impossible to particularize details. The cavalry movements
thus inaugurated under Sheridan by Grant's orders were of so gigantic
and audacious a character as to give a new conception of such warfare.
The dash, vigor, boldness, and audacity displayed at all times startled
' the Confederate commanders. They recognized that this was a "new
departure," and the abler ones saw that the end was rapidly approach
ing. It would require the pen of a poet and the brush of an artist com
bined, dipped in the sunshine, or made red with the blazonry of battle,
to describe the tone, color, movement, of these events. It is simply
impossible. It is only glorious to have lived and been of them.

Chapter XV.

FROM CORPS TO DEPARTMENT
COMMANDER.
THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY — Hl/NTER AND EARLY  THE VALLEY'S IMPORT
ANCE TO THE VIRGINIA CONFEDERATES — CAVALRY RAIDS ON RAILROADS —
WASHINGTON IN DANGER — THE MINE EXPLOSION — HOW SHERIDAN BECAME
A DEPARTMENT COMMANDER  MAKER OF HIS OWN CAREER  LIKENESS
TO NAPOLEON.

Major-
GeneralDavid Hun
ter was m
the Valley of
Virginiaearly in that
fateful mid
summer of
1864. Sigel
had preceded
him. "Black
Dave," as
Hunter was
called in the
old army,
took the of
fensive. He
fought at
Piedmont in
the Shenan
doah Valley
on the 5th of
June, defeating the rebels. On the 8th he effected a junction at Staunton
with Generals Crook and Averill, the latter in command of a cavalry divis
ion, and the former with a large force of West Virginia infantry. Hunter

GEN. AUGUST V. KAUTZ,
« DISTINGUISHED GERMAN-AMERICAN OFFICER — COMMANDER OF THE
CAVALRY OF THE ARMY OF THE JAMES UNDER SHERIDAN.

176 THE LIFE OF
moved directly on Lynchburg -by way of'Lexington, which place he
reached May 16th. His main difficulty was from inability to transport
ordnance stores sufficient for the vigorous operations he was striving to
execute. His movements did great damage, destroying grain, forage,
food, growing crops, and otherwise making waste the granary of Lee's
army. The fear of losing Lynchburg made Lee send " old " Jubal A.
Early with his corps to oppose Hunter. He arrived first at Lynchburg
— a most important point on the railroad lines extending south and
southwest from Virginia — before Hunter, who, after brisk skirmishing
on the 17th and 18th of June, was compelled to retire for the want of
ammunition, and to reach the Ohio River by a circuitous route through
the mountainous valleys of the Gauley and Kanawha rivers in West
Virginia. On reaching the Ohio his army was transported to Harper's
Ferry, by the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. As a consequence, of this
retreat Early occupied the valley and Washington was uncovered. He
moved at once on the national capital, arriving before it on the nth
of July. General Lew Wallace at Baltimore, in Hunter's enforced
absence, commanded his department. Wallace's force was small, and
generally raw troops. Washington had a very small effective garrison.
There was a considerable body of convalescents who were ordered into
the intrenchments. The department clerks and the quartermaster's
employes had been organized as regiments, and were also put under
arms. Brigadier-General Halbert A. Paine, of Wisconsin, afterward
in Congress, and who is now a practicing lawyer at the Federal city,
was placed in command of the defenses. General Paine had com
manded the colored division in the famous attack upon the rebel works
at Port Hudson. He lost a leg there, and was on invalid duty at the
time of these occurrences.
Wallace had pushed forward from Baltimore to the Monocacy with
such force as he could gather. He was soon joined by General Rick-
etts' division of the Sixth Army Corps, which Meade had already
ordered to Baltimore by Grant's orders. They arrived on the 8th of
July. Ricketts at once followed Wallace, and together they gave bat
tle to Early. Though defeated, this fight delayed his progress for one
day, enabling the balance of the Sixth Corps which had already been
sent forward by Grant, to reaeh Washington on the night of the nth
instant. It has been reported, and never denied, that Early could have
easily marched into the city on the afternoon of the nth. Brecken
ridge, at a council held in the senior Frank Blair's residence at Silver
Springs, Maryland, six miles from Washington, urged an immediate
forward movement.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 177
Among the troops in the defenses before Early were some six com
panies of Vermont cavalry — part of Sheridan's troopers, who were at
the cavalry depot selecting horses to remount their regiment. They
were under command of Major Chamberlain. Immediately on arrival
at our meagrely manned works, they were ordered out in front of them
as skirmishers. That these men were veterans every rebel understood.
Early, with information from inside sympathizers that the Sixth Corps
was expected to relieve the endangered city, could not be persuaded to
believe otherwise than that the Vermont cavalrymen were part of
Wright's corps, and withheld his attack till morning, when he found
it was too late. Preparations had been made within the Federal city
for disaster. The more important public archives and treasures were
all ready for removal to, if not on board our war vessels in the Poto
mac. The public buildings and Capitol would have been blown up if
necessary. This, at least, is generally understood. The rebel sympa
thizers within our lines were known to have prepared food, etc., for
their friends, and some of the more indiscreet paid the penalty of show
ing their feelings by imprisonment in the " Old Capitol" jail.
In the West there had been some disasters to the Union cause.
Sherman was pounding away in the Atlanta campaign. Then came
the mine disaster at Petersburg, which Grant in his Memoirs deliber
ately sets down to the discredit of General Burnside. The famous
mine was ready for explosion on the 23d of July, and Grant writes that
he designed' that event as the occasion, if possible, for carrying Peters
burg. To that end he wrote: "It was the object, therefore, to get
as many of Lee's troops away from the south side of the James River
as possible. Accordingly, on the 26th, we commenced a movement with
Hancock's corps and Sheridan's cavalry to the north side, by way of
Deep Bottom, where Butler had a pontoon bridge laid. The plan was
to let the cavalry cut loose, and joining with the cavalry of the Army
of the James, General Kautz, get by Lee's lines and destroy as much
as they could of the Virginia Central railroad, while, in the meantime,
the infantry was to move out so as to protect their rear, and cover their
retreat back when they got through with their work.
"We were successful in drawing the enemy's troops to the north
side of the James, as I expected. The morning of the 30th was fixed
for the explosion of the mine. All was ready by the 30th, and on the
29th Hancock and Sheridan were brought back near the James River
with their troops."
12

178 THE LIFE OF
' ' Under cover of the night they started to recross the bridge at
Deep Bottom, and to march directly for that part of our lines in front
of the mine. Warren was to hold his line of intrenchments on Burn
side's right, while Ord, now commanding the Eighteenth Corps, under
Meade, was to form in the rear of Burnside, to support him when he
went in. Everybody was ordered to charge as soon as the mine had
been sprung, except Burnside's troops, who were to push to the top
of the hill, supported by Ord and Warren.
" There was some delay about the explosion, and it did not go off
until 5 a. m., but it was very successful, making a crater twenty feet
deep, and something like a hundred feet in length."
The heavy cannonading Grant planned, began immediately. Troops
marched into the crater, but there was no one to give them proper direc
tions. The Confederates were seen flying in all directions, as rumors
of the town being undermined were in circulation. So great "was their
confusion, that it was half an hour " before musketry fire was opened '
on our men." Grant says :
"The effort was a stupendous failure. It cost us about four thou
sand men, mostly, however, captured ; and all due to inefficiency on
the part of the corps commander, and of the division commander who
was sent to lead the assault."
Next day, however, finding that the portion of Lee's army which
had been drawn north of the James was still there, Grant immediately
gave orders to have the cavalry with infantry supports sent out under
Sheridan to destroy, before Lee's troops could get back, from fifteen to
twenty miles of the Weldon railroad, to the south of Richmond. This
was successfully accomplished and without any serious fighting. It was
the last of Sheridan's raids in that region. The time had come for the
young soldier to take on larger responsibilities and to practically as
sume the independent command of a separate army. The " old women"
at Washington (among whom Mr. Lincoln was not, it will be clearly
seen, to be counted) were afraid to trust this young soldier. They
were always in dread of Washington and its safety. This fear made
" Old Brains " a trembling strategist, and the Carnot of our conflict,
Secretary Stanton, a constant hinderer of regional success. The same
fear had infected with ambition or dread, thecouncilsordecisions of every
soldier who had risen to the command of the Army of the Potomac.
Grant had sagaciously separated himself from direct relations with
Washington influence. He soon found that his instructions were trans
lated in the War Department adversely to the views he held. Pursuit

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

179

was out of
the range
where the
capital was
concerned.
When the
failure at
Petersburg made it self-
evident that
a longer
period re
mained of
patienthammeringagainst Lee
and the
chief Con-
fed era t e
forces and
govern- ment in and
around Richmond,
Grant saw
clearly that
this delay,
to be ser
viceable, must be
compensated for in other and more important directions. The fall of
Atlanta was one of these compensations.
But in Virginia other action was imperative. General Wright,
with the Sixth and a portion of the Ninth Corps, had failed in a vigor
ous pursuit of Early, who, however, supposed for some days that he
was being actively followed southward. Since Grant's advent the
Confederates had begun to expect the untiring activity which was so soon
to have its disastrous effect on their morale. Early turned and assumed
the offensive on finding that Wright had a severe attack of Washington
paralysis. The Confederate general returned to Winchester, where
Crook was stationed with a small force, and drove him out. He then

GEN. DAVID McM. GREGG,
FAMOUS DIVISION COMMANDER UNDER SHERIDAN.

180 , THE LIFE OF
pushed north until he had reached the Potomac ; then he sent McCaus-
land across to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, to destroy that town. It
was entirely defenseless, with no garrison or fortifications, but it was
burned by Early's orders, on the 30th of July. Grant says: "I now
recalled the troops that I had sent to destroy the railroad and sent them
to Washington City. After burning Chambersburg McCausland re
treated, pursued by our cavalry, toward Cumberland." Here he was
met and defeated by General Kelley, and driven into Virginia.
An interesting contest now occurred, as it were, " behind the scenes."
The importance of the Shenandoah Valley as a base of supplies was
well understood by the Virginia Confederates. Grant desired to destroy
this, and utterly. As Sheridan himself said afterward, in a dispatch
announcing its accomplishment, that it was necessary to lay the valley
so bare "that a crow flying over it must carry its rations." Pre
viously to the Petersburg affair, Grant had asked for the assignment of
Major-General Sheridan to the command of Hunter's department. Mr.
Stanton was understood to object on account of the age of the gallant
soldier rendering him unfit for so important a command. It is prob
able that the real reason was that Sheridan would always prefer Grant's
policy to that of Stanton. On the ist of August, Grant having settled
that a waiting policy was necessary in front of Richmond, ordered re
inforcements to Washington for its direct protection and forwarded to
the Cabinet general the following :
Major-General Halleck :
I am sending General Sheridan for temporary duty, whilst the
enemy is being expelled from the border. Unless General Hunter is
in the field in person, I want Sheridan put in command of all the '
troops in the field, with instructions to put himself south of the enemy
and follow him to the death. Wherever the enemy goes, there let our
troops go also. Once started up the valley, ithey ought to be followed
until we get into possession of the Virginia Central railroad. If Gen
eral Hunter is in the field, give Sheridan direct command of the Sixth
Corps and the cavalry division. All the cavalry will reach Washing
ton in the course of to-morrow. U. S. Grant.
President Lincoln, on reading this, sent Grant a remarkable dis
patch, which reads as follows :
Lieutenant-General Grant :
I have seen your dispatch in which you say, I want Sheridan put
in command of all the troops in the field, with instructions to put him
self south of the enemy, and follow him to the death, etc. This, I

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

181

think, is exactly right, as to how our forces should move. But please
look over the dispatches you may have received from here, even since
you made that order, and discover if you can, that there is any idea in
the head of any one here, of putting our army south of the enemy, or
of following him to the death, in any direction. I repeat to you it will
neither be done nor attempted unless you watch it every day, and hour,
and force it. A. Lincoln.
Grant's reply was emphatic and significant: "I start for Washing
ton in two hours."
Sheridan and the first two divisions of his cavalry corps "Were
already on the way. Grant went on to the Monocacy where Hunter's
army was encamped, not stopping at Washington. Hunter did not
know where to find the enemy. He had been so embarrassed by orders
from the cap
ital, moving
him right and
left, that he
had lost all
direct traces of
Early. Grant
at once deter
mined to find
him, and
pushed f o r
Halltown,four miles
above Har
per's Ferry,
quite sure that
the foe would
soon be found
in front of our
troops moving
s o u th . In
structions
were then
written to
General Hun
ter, in which GEN. ALFRED N. DUFFIE,
it was sug- '
(.J fU t- A DISTINGUISHED FRENCH CAVALRY OFFICER, WHO PERFORMED GALLANT
gestea tnat SERVIOE WITH THE UNION ARMY.

14*.

182 THE LIFE OF
department headquarters be established, of which he assume com
mand, leaving Sheridan in the field with the fighting force. The
latter was then in Washington. To this Hunter replied that General
Halleck seemed to doubt his fitness, and he had better be relieved alto
gether. This was done by Grant, and Sheridan assigned to the com
mand. The latter was ordered by telegraph to go at once to the
Monocacy. He arrived on a special train, upon the 4th of August, but
the troops were all off before his appearance. Grant met him at the
little station, told what had been done, and what he was to do, giving
him at the same time the instructions already prepared for Hunter.
He at once assumed his new command in a general order to his troops.
Sheridan's first grand opportunity had come. He was but thirty-two
years old, and in command of 30,000 men, the flower of our eastern
army. There were eight thousand of the finest cavalry in the world,
under such commanders as Averill, Torbett, D. McM. Gregg, Custer,
Deven, Wesley Merritt, H. E. Davies, and J. Irvin Gregg. Against
him was Early, with an equal force, including Stonewall Jackson's
veterans, Rosser's and Wickham's rebel cavalry. The valley was a
familiar battle-field to their forces, and eminently adapted also to the
defensive-offensive operations which distinguished the entire history of
Lee's struggle in Virginia.
The brilliant commander already held the expectant North by its
eager ears. The attention of the country was truly turned upon the
new star in our military firmament. It was no nebulous flicker that
was seen ; no mere-asteroid dimly gleaming on clouded sky ; but a full-
orbed planet that glowed steadily through all the lurid storms that o'er-
cast our summer horizon. Surely the large place he now filled was
well won, for Sheridan had no adventitious aids in his upward career.
The lucky incident of Granger's suggesting to Captain Alger Sheridan's
appointment as colonel ofthe Second Michigan Cavalry, and the for
tunate circumstance of Governor Blair's presence at Pittsburg Landing,
cannot be esteemed as other than the incidents which sometimes favors
modest merit. A luckier and more personal fact that greatly shaped
the outset of Sheridan's superb career, is seen in that dislike of volun
teer officers which Halleck always exhibited, and which always made
him push forward the West Pointers and trained men of the regular
army, no matter how young they were or how little actual service they
had seen. In Sheridan's case it was an event of importance, for the
day after his appointment as colonel, he was in the saddle and at the
front, commanding more than his own regiment, and having under

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 183
Halleck's orders, a splendid opportunity of beginning a soldier's laiger?
life. How well he availed himself of this all the world knows. It is
part of its current history. But even then, as always thereafter, it was
Sheridan's unaided genius that carved for him name and fame. When
he reached Grant, the golden gates of opportunity were held back so
firmly by that man and soldier of calmest equipoise, patience, and cour
ageous trust, that his gallant and daring lieutenant was always able to
dash through them unimpeded.
General Sheridan in August, 1864, was, though small in stature, a
very model for a soldier. He was molded as if in bronze. Not an ounce
of superfluous flesh was to be seen on that energetic frame. He bore in
every line and motion the outward evidence of concentrated energy,
while his face and head were the picture of vitalized mental power.
Lincoln had looked into the little trooper's brain, and with that deep,
penetrative, patient glance of his, had fathomed its capacity, and grown
confident of its ability to succeed. The likeness in mold and line
to Napoleon Bonaparte at Sheridan's age, was being generally com
mented upon. Stanton came to observe it later ; and after Sheridan's
historic ride a little later, itis recorded that Mr. Stanton had in his room,
on the marble mantel, a little book of about five hundred pages,
which contained, as a frontispiece, a likeness of Napoleon ; and, says a
writer in the Washington Star, he took it, and, turning to the frontis
piece, handed it to the President, saying that there was a resemblance
about the forehead and bust. Sometime prior to this, when our armies
were being slaughtered by piecemeal, in Virginia, Mr. Stanton had
received a letter from some prominent person calling his attention to
a saying of Napoleon's that one commander for an army was better than
two armies with independent commanders. "He then told me to get
him this book on Napoleon from the library. They talked for sometime
about General Sheridan, who had, several days before his Cedar Creek
battle, defeated Early, and I heard Mr. Stanton then say to the Presi
dent that Grant and Sheridan would end the war very soon with such
fighting." It was after and in connection with this saying of Napoleon's,
that the President is reported as having said that one bad general was
better than two good ones.

DISTINGUISHED CONFEDERATE CAVALRYMEN.

GEN. W. H. H. ROSSER,
PITTED AGAINST SHERIDAN IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY IN 1864.

COL. HARRY GILMORE,
A CONFEDERATE PARTISAN FROM MARYLAND.

i

Chapter XVI.

IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY.
SHERIDAN AS DEPARTMENT COMMANDER  HIS FIRST CHANCE TO DEMONSTRATE
HIS ABILITY TO COMMAND  EARLY IS REINFORCED BY GORDON AND LOMAX 
THE APPEARANCE OF THE REBEL COMMANDER — THE ARMY ROSTER — SHER
IDAN'S PREPARATIONS  ATTACK AND PURSUIT' — THE STORY OF THE LOYAL
QUAKERESS — HOW HE GOT INTELLIGENCE — THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER —
CAVALRY CHARGE AT OPEQUAN — VICTORIES OF FISHER'S HILL AND CEDAR
CREEK. After theMon-
ocacy, Maryland, on
the 4th of August,
1864, our troops
were rapidly mov
ing south on the
kibes of Early's
army. Sheridan, on
the 10th instant, was
ready to follow the
veteran rebel com
mander to Stras-
burg, whither he
had fallen back.
The confidence
Sheridan inspired
in Gra'nt was re
warded by the lat
ter's energetic efforts
to prevent Lee's
reinforcing Early,
at least to a dangerous degree. On the 1 2th of August, Sheridan was in
formed from City Point via Washington, that two divisions of infantry,
twenty guns, and a considerable force of cavalry under Gordon and

GEN. SHERIDAN'S HEADQUARTERS,
EAST SIDE OF CEDAR CREEK, AFTER THE BATTLE OF FISHER'S HILL.

186 THE LIFE OF
Lomax had been sent to Early by Lee. It arrived in time to prevent
Sheridan attacking Early in his chosen position, thus greatly strength
ened. The position in Virginia could be likened to an irregularly
formed triangle, the base of which was occupied by the Confederates
under Lee, with the rebel capital to hold and guard. City Point with
Grant and Meade's army might well be considered the most easterly
point. Washington could be considered the northernmost point of
our triangle. The irregular western side was formed of the Valley
ofthe Shenandoah, contested by Sheridan and Early. In other words,
the Union armies held the left flank entirely, were penetrating the
centre as an Occupying force, and contested the right flank (viewed
from Washington) , so as to be ready to strike at the rebel rear from
that direction. This was the purpose of Grant's plans, and by it he
expected to smash their southwestern railroad communications at Lynch
burg. In order, then, to aid Sheridan, Grant gave orders to Meade to
again threaten Richmond by another move to the north side of the
James River. Hancock was placed in command with his own corps,
part of the Ninth under Birney, and Gregg's cavalry division. They
crossed on the night of the 13th. Sheridan was near Strasburg on the
1 2th when Early had received his reinforcements. The movement on
the James seriously threatened Lee, and effectually prevented the send
ing of more troops to Early. During these days of severe skirmishing,
prisoners were captured belonging to a rebel division it had been sup
posed was in the valley. Of all this Sheridan was made aware.
Grant's field movements lasted till the latter part of the month, and we
retained as a result our hold on the Weldon railroad.
Sheridan, as the press dispatches of the period show, was not idle.
The New York Tribune of the ist of August repeats an admirer's
statement that " Sheridan is physically the smallest major-general I
know, but he is mentally one of the largest." On the 10th a valley
telegram says: "General Sheridan has assumed command of all the
troops in the field belonging to the Department of West Virginia, the
Susquehanna, and defenses of Washington. His headquarters will be in
the saddle."
On the morning of the 10th, the march up the Shenandoah Valley
began. Early was supposed to be at Wmcnesr-er. The army con
sisted of the Sixth Corps, the Nineteenth Corps, Crook's Kanawha
Division of West Virginia, infantry ; and Averill's, Torbett's, and Wil
son's divisions of cavalry, which included among the brigade command
ers, Custer, Deven, and Wesley Merritt. Torbett's cavalry division

GEN. PHIL. H. .SHERIDAN. 187
under Davies was holding the roads and the country in the rear ; Tor
bett was serving as chief of cavalry. The march was made in three
columns, and the first halt was at Berryville, eleven miles east of
Winchester. On the 13th the two armies were at Cedar Creek, " the
enemy," says the current news dispatches, " being sorely pressed by
our advancing columns, who are harassing their rear and flanks.
Early marched down the valley but a few hours in advance of Sheridan,
and from our bivouacs at night you can see the rebel camp-fires."
" Little Phil's " mettle was beginning to tell; his quality was raising
the mo rale of our own troops. On the 17th Sheridan's headquarters
were established at a farm-house on Cedar Creek, a locality which was
so soon to be inseparably associated with his military renown. Skir
mishing and picket firing were frequent. Strasburg was taken and
retaken several times. The reports of the 22dand 24th say " Sheridan
is taking good care of Early," and tell of a brisk engagement between
the advanced brigades of both armies, two miles beyond Charlestown,
memorable as the place where Captain John Brown, of Kansas, was
hung by the State of Virginia, on the 2d of December, 1859. ^n tne
engagement of the 24th, our skirmishers were compelled to give way,
the enemy outnumbering us, and also occupying a very strong position.
The latter, however, steadily, if slowly, was pressing the Confederates
southward, becoming intimately familiar with the topography, condi
tions, and resources of the region over which he was to operate, strength
ening his rear and means of supply ; in fact, during this August month,
Sheridan was proving himself as capable a general " in taking care,"
as he was already proven to be in forcing the fighting. Since the death
of General Sheridan, in a notable review of his career, shaped and col
ored, it is evident, by Charles A. Dana, if not actually written by him,
the New York Sun has said :
"This necessarily took time, but time which the sequel showed had
been well spent.
"The government was filled with apprehension, the country was
alarmed, not only at the deadlock which existed on the James, but at
the danger which was now clearly menacing the national capital. The
newspapers had become impatient, and asked with significant intensity,
' Why doesn't Sheridan do something?' Stocks began to decline, and
gold, already alarmingly high, to rise still higher, which showed with
unmistakable certainty how anxiously the business men had come to
regard the situation of military affairs. There was marching and coun
ter-marching ; an advance and a counter-advance ; then a demonstration

iiL.

1 88 THE. LIFE OF
and a retreat from Winchester to Harper's Ferry, followed by louder
mutterings of discontent, and a still higher rise in the price of gold.
The President became uneasy, and wrote one of his wisest letters to
Grant, who in turn began to doubt, and when he could stand it no
longer he left the Army of the Potomac in its impregnable position
facing Petersburg, and hurried through Washington to Harper's Ferry
to see for himself why his lieutenant did not advance, and if need be to
give him a plan of operations and to stay with him till it was in a fair
way of execution.
"It was believed then, and it afterward became certain, that Sheri
dan's army outnumbered that of his wily antagonist and was far better
clad, armed, and supplied, and so men wondered why the dashing cav
alryman had grown so cautious, and the croakers went so far as to
declare that Grant had made a grave mistake in putting him in com
mand of an army.
" Thus six weeks of gloom and unhappiness passed over the country,
but they were also six weeks of vigilance, careful study, and prepara
tion ; and when Grant, arriving on the ground, and considering the
plan which he found to his joy the gallant Sheridan had matured, he
stamped it with his approval in that laconic but all-sufficient order,
' Go in !' There was no more deliberation or delay. Every detail had
been worked out, every contingency had been prepared for, and the
hour of action and of victory was at hand."
In this wise, Sheridan's course put Early, on territory entirely famil
iar to him, almost wholly upon the defensive, for active attacks were
only made to anticipate our unquestioned plans of advance. At the
commencement of the serious work in the valley Sheridan's department
and field forces were as follows :
ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY OF THE SHENANDOAH IN THE
MIDDLE MILITARY DIVISION, ON AUGUST 31, 1864.
Major-General Philip H. Sheridan, Commanding.
GENERAL HEADQUARTERS ESCORT, SIXTH UNITED STATES CAVALRY.
CAVALRY FORCES.
Brigadier-General Alfred T. A. Torbett, Commanding.
first division (army of the potomac cavalry.)
Brigadier-General Wesley Merritt.
First Brigade. — Brigadier-General George A. Custer : First Michigan ;
FifthjMichigan; Sixth Michigan; Seventh Michigan.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 189
Second Brigade. — Colonel Thomas C. Deven: Fourth New York; Sixth
New York; Ninth New York; Seventeenth Pennsylvania; First United States
Artillery, Batteries K and L.
Third Brigade. — Colonel Charles R. Lowell, Jr. : First Maryland P. H. B. ;
Second Massachusetts ; Twenty -fifth New York.
Reserve Brigade. — Colonel Alfred Gibbs : First New York Dragoons ; Sixth
Pennsylvania ; First United States ; Second United States ; Fifth United States ;
Second United States Artillery, Battery D.
THIRD DIVISION (ARMY OF THE POTOMAC CAVALRY.)
Brigadier-General James H. Wilson.
First Brigade. — Brigadier General J. B. Mcintosh : First Connecticut :
Third New Jersey ; Second New York ; Fifth New York; Second Ohio; Eight
eenth Pennsylvania.
Second Brigade. — Brigadier-General G. H. Chapman: Third Indiana
(detached); First New Hampshire; Eighth New York; Twenty-second New
York ; First Vermont.
Reserve Horse Artillery Brigade. — Captain La Rhett Livingston : First
United States Artillery, Battery I; Second United States Artillery, Battery
A; Second United States Artillery, Batteries B. and C; Second United States
Artillery, Battery M ; Third United States Artillery, Battery C ; Fourth United
States Artillery, Batteries C and E.
FIRST DIVISION (WEST VIRGINIA CAVALRY.)
Brigadier-General Alfred N. Duffie.
First Brigade.— Colonel William B. Tibbets : Second Maryland P. H. B.,,
Company F; First New York (Lincoln); First New York Veteran; Twenty-
first New York; Fourteenth Pennsylvania. ,
Second Brigade. — Colonel John E. Wynkoop : Fifteenth New York ; Twen
tieth Pennsylvania ; Twenty-second Pennsylvania.
SECOND DIVISION (WEST VIRGINIA CAVALRY.)
Brigadier-General William W. Averill.
Eighth Ohio ; First West Virginia ; Second West Virginia ; Third West Vir
ginia; Fifth West Virginia; Fifth United States Artillery, Battery L.

SIXTH ARMY CORPS.
Major-General Horatio G. Wright, Commanding.
FIRST DIVISION.
Brigadier-General David A. Russell.
First Brigade. — Colonel W. H. Penrose: Fourth New Jersey; Tenth New
Jersey ; Fifteenth New Jersey.

190 THE LIFE OF
Second Brigade. — -Brigadier-General Emory Upton: Second Connecticut
Heavy Artillery; Sixty-fifth New York; Sixty-seventh New York (detached);
One Hundred and Twenty-first New York ; Ninety-fifth Pennsylvania; Ninety-
sixth Pennsylvania.
Third Brigade.- — Colonel Oliver Edwards: Seventh Massachusetts (de
tached); Tenth Massachusetts (detached); Thirty-seventh Massachusetts;
Twenty-third Pennsylvania (detached); Forty-ninth Pennsylvania; Eighty-
second Pennsylvania; One Hundred and Nineteenth Pennsylvania; Second
Rhode Island Battalion; Wisconsin Battalion.
SECOND DIVISION.
Brigadier-General George W. Getty.
First Brigade. — Brigadier-General Frank Wheaton : Sixty-second New
York; Ninety-third Pennsylvania; Ninety-eighth Pennsylvania; One Hun
dred and Second Pennsylvania; One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Pennsylvania.
Second Brigade. — Brigadier-General Lewis A. Grant; Second Vermont
(detached); Third Vermont (detached); Fourth Vermont; Fifth Vermont;
Sixth Vermont; Eleventh Vermont.
Third Brigade. — Brigadier-General Daniel D. Bidwell : Seventh Maine;
Forty-third New York; Forty-ninth New York; Seventy-seventh New York;
One Hundred and Twenty-second New York; Sixty-first Pennsylvania.
THIRD DIVISION.
Brigadier-General James B. Ricketts.
First Brigade. — Colonel William Emerson: Fourteenth New Jersej'; One
Hundred and Sixth New York; One Hundred and Fifty-first New York; Eighty-
seventh Pennsylvania; Tenth Vermont.
Second Brigade. — Colonel J. Warren Keifer : Sixth Maryland ; Ninth New
York Heavy Artillery; One Hundred and Tenth Ohio; One Hundred and
Twenty-second Ohio; One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Ohio; Sixty-seventh
Pennsylvania; One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Pennyslvania.
ARTILLERY BRIGADE.
Colonel Charles H. Tompkins.
Maine Light Artillery, Fifth Battery; First Massachusetts Light Artillery,
Battery A; New York Light Artillery, First Battery; First Rhode Island Light
Artillery, Battery C; First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Battery G; Fifth
United States, Battery M.

NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS.
Brigadier-General William H. Emory.
first division.
Brigadier-General William Dwight.
First Brigade.— Colonel George L. Beal : Twenty-ninth Maine ; Thirtieth.
Massachusetts; Ninetieth New York; One Hundred and Fourteenth New York;

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 191
One Hundred and Sixteenth New York ; One Hundred and Fifty-third New
York. Second Brigade. — Brigadier-General J. W. McMillan : Twelfth Connecticut;
Thirteenth Maine; Fifteenth Maine; One Hundred and Sixtieth New York;
Forty-seventh Pennsylvania ; Eighth Vermont.
Third Brigade. — Colonel L. D. H. Currie : Thirtieth Maine ; One Hundred
and Thirty-third New York; One Hundred and Sixty-second New York ; One
Hundred and Sixty-fifth New York; One Hundred and Seventy-third New
York. Artillery.— New York Light Artillery, Fifth Battery.
SECOND DIVISION.
First Brigade. — Brigadier-General Henry W. Birge : Ninth Connecticut;
Twelfth Maine; Fourteenth Maine; Twenty-sixth Massachusetts; Fourteenth
New Hampshire ; Seventy-fifth New York.
Second Brigade. — Colonel Edward L. Molineux: Thirteenth Connecticut;
Third Massachusetts Cavalry (dis.) ; Eleventh Indiana ; Twenty-second
Iowa; One Hundred and Thirty-first New York; One Hundred and Fifty-ninth
New York.
Third Brigade. — Colonel Jacob Sharpe : Thirty-eighth Massachusetts ;
One Hundred and Twenth-eighth New York ; One Hundred and Fifty-sixth
New York; One Hundred and Seventy-fifth New York; One Hundred and
Seventy-sixth New York.
Fourth Brigade. — Colonel David Shunk : Eighth Indiana; Eighteenth
Indiana ; Twenty-fourth Iowa ; Twenty-eighth Iowa.
Artillery. — Maine Light Artillery, First Battery.
Reserve Artillery. — First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Battery D; Indiana
Light Artillery, Seventeenth Battery.

ARMY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
Brigadier-General George Crook, Commanding.
first division.
Colonel Joseph Hoburn.
First Brigade. — Colonel George D. Wells : Thirty-fourth Massachusetts ;
Fifth New York Heavy Artillery (four companies) ; One Hundred and Sixteenth
Ohio ; One Hundred and Twenty-third Ohio. .
Second Brigade. — Colonel William G. Ely: Eighteenth Connecticut; Second
Eastern Shore, Maryland; First West Virginia ; Fourth West Virginia; Eleventh
West Virginia ; Fifteenth West Virginia.
Third Brigade. — Colonel Jacob M. Campbell : Twenty-third Illinois ; Fifty-
fourth Pennsylvania; Tenth West Virginia; Eleventh West Virginia; Fifteenth
West Virginia.

192 THE LIFE OF
SECOND DIVISION.
Colonel Isaac H. Duval.
First Brigade. — Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes : Twenty-third Ohio ; Thirty-
sixth Ohio; Fifth West Virginia ; Thirteenth West Virginia.
Second Brigade. — Colonel Daniel D. Johnson : Thirty-fourth Ohio ; Ninety-
first Ohio ; Ninth West Virginia ; Fourteenth West Virginia.

MILITARY DISTRICT OF HARPER'S FERRY.
Brigadier-General John D. Stevenson.
Cavalry. — Twelfth Pennsylvania ; Virginia Rangers; Loudoun Independent
Company. Artillery. — Indiana Light Artillery, Seventeenth Battery; Kentucky Light
Artillery, First Battery; Maryland Light Artillery, Battery A; Maryland Light
Artillery, Baltimore Battery; Fifth New York Heavy Artillery ; New York Light
Artillery, Thirtieth Battery; New York Light Artillery, Thirty-second Battery;
Ohio Light Artillery, First Battery; First Ohio Light Artillery, Battery L;
First Pennsylvania Light Artillery, Battery G ; First West Virginia Light
Artillery, Battery A ; First West Virginia Light Artillery, Battery F.
Infantry. — First Maryland P. H. B. ; Second Maryland P. H. B. ; One Hun
dred and Thirty-fifth Ohio ; One Hundred and Sixtieth Ohio; One Hundred and
Sixty-first Ohio.

FORCES WEST OF SLEEPY CREEK.
Brigadier-General Benjamin F. Kelley.
Cavalry. — Ohio Third Independent Company; Sixth West Virginia.
Artillery. — First Illinois, Battery L; First West Virginia, Battery H ; First
Maryland, Battery B.
Infantry. — One Hundred and Twenty-second Ohio; Sixth West Virginia;
One Hundred and Sixty-fifth Ohio.

KANAWHA VALLEY FORCES.
Brigadier-General Jeremiah C. Sullivan.
Seventh West Virginia Cavalry; First Pennsylvania Light Artillery, Baftery
D; Pennsylvania Acting Engineers, Independent Company; Virginia Exempts,
Independent Company A; Veteran Reserve Corps, One Hundred and Thirty-
second Company, Second Battery; First West Virginia Light Artillery, Battery
D ; First West Virginia Light Artillery, Battery E ; Fifth United States Artil
lery, Battery B.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 193
Early in September, Grant determined on an immediate advance
in the valley. He says in his Memoirs:
"Knowing that it was impossible for me to get orders through
Washington to Sheridan to make a move because they would be stopped
there, and such orders as Halleck's caution (and that of the Secretary
of War) would suggest, would be given instead, and that they would,
no doubt, be contradictory to mine, I therefore, without stopping at
Washington, went directly through to Charlestown, some ten miles
above Harper's Ferry, and waited there to see Sheridan, having sent a
courier in advance to tell him where to meet me."
The result of this meeting is pertinently summed up in Grant's
order " Go in." The general tells the story of this famous interview
in a letter quoted by Badeau :
" When I visited Sheridan at Charlestown I had a plan of battle
with me to give him, but I found him so ready to move — plan and all
— that I gave him no order whatever, except the authority to move.
He is entitled to all the credit of his great victory, and it established
him in the confidence of the President and Secretary of War as a
commander to be trusted in the management of the troops under him.
Before that, while they highly appreciated him as a commander to exe
cute, they felt a little nervous about giving him too much discretion."
The order suited the man and the occasion. It suited his troops.
They did "go in" for victory. Grant had a map in his pocket, but
before using it he asked if Sheridan had one. From ,his pocket came
map and plan, anticipating, as was seen, all of the commanding gene
ral's ideas. Our troops were in front of Berryville on the turnpike
leading from that town across the Opequan Creek to Winchester.
Early was on the same road west of the ford ofthe Opequan, which
is about four miles east of Winchester. In this wise he covered the
town. Thinking that Sheridan would be on the offensive, Early had
extended the bulk of his army, by his left, to Bunker Hill, leaving his
right on the Berryville road, weak and isolated.
The Confederate commander was described at the time as " a man
past middle life and of vigorous and athletic appearance. His stature
approached if it did not reach six feet, and he seemed to be capable of
undergoing great fatigue. His hair was black and curling, and just
touched with gray ; his eyes dark and sparkling, his smile ready and
expressive, but somewhat sarcastic, as was the bent of his character.
His dress was plain gray, with slight decoration ; long exposure had
made the old coat which he wore quite dingy ; a wide-brimmed hat
13

194 THE LIFE OF
overshadowed his sparkling eyes, his swarthy features, and grizzled
hair; his face, set upon a short neck joined to stooping shoulders,
attracted attention from every one."
The campaign actively began on the Union side by the issuing to
General Torbett, who was chief of cavalry, of the following order :
Headquarters Middle Military Division, )
Cedar Creek, Virginia, August 16, 1864. J
General: In compliance with instructions of the lieutenant-general command
ing, you will make the necessary arrangements and give the necessary
orders for the destruction of the wheat and hay south of a line from
Millwood to Winchester and Petticoat Gap. You will seize all mules,
horses, and cattle that may be useful to our army. Loyal citizens can
bring in their claims against the government for this necessary destruc
tion. No houses will be burned, and officers in charge of this delicate
but necessary duty must inform the people that the object is to make
the valley untenable for the raiding parties of the rebel army.
Very respectfully,
P. H. Sheridan, Major-General Commanding.
Brig.-Gen. A. T. A. Torbett, Chief of Cavalry, Middle Military Division.
The same day a cavalry engagement occurred at Front Royal
between 3,000 Union cavalry under Merritt, and 3,500 Confederates,
cavalry and infantry, which resulted in a Union victory. At this time
Sheridan who was about to make a bold move directly to Early's rear,
had watched him keenly, and when on the 8th, the Confederate leader
sent half his army from Bunker Hill on a reconnaissance to Martins
burg (which Averill repulsed), he determined to "go in" at once,
crush Early's weak right, and cut up the remainder of his force in
detail. The Union forces were under arms that evening, and at 3 A. m.
they were all in motion toward Winchester, Wilson's cavalry leading ;
Wright's corps, the Sixth, followed in double columns, flanking the
Berryville road, while its artillery and wagon train occupied that high
way. The Nineteenth Corps under General Emory followed in the
same order. Early had pushed his largest force from Bunker Hill to
Martinsburg on the extreme left. Sheridan designed to get his army
across the Opequan and smash the weakened right wing of the rebels
before aid could arrive. Crook, commanding the Eighth Corps, in
position near Summit Point toward the left, was ordered to join the
main army at the ford. Torbett and Averill, with their cavalry divis
ions, were Left to make vigorous demonstrations on Early's left.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

l9S

At day
break Wil
son's caval
ry was over
the Ope
quan and in
possession
o f a n ar
row mount-
ain gorge
or pass,
throughwhich alone
our army
could move.
In this bril- THE OPEQUAN FORD, '
liant sortie WHERE SHERIDAN crossed his
the cavalry *R«y before the battle
,, OF WINCHESTER.
swept all
before them, till they secured a space
within two miles of Winchester, suf
ficient for the deployment of our
forces. The Sixth Corps followed
sharply, but the Nineteenth was de
layed. So our line of battle was not formed till 9
o'clock on the morning of the 19th of September.
Wright held the right, Wilson's cavalry extending
on its flanks. Emory held the centre and left, and
Crook's West Virginians were held as reserve.
Early had been for hours hurrying his troops back from Bunker
Hill. Sheridan was well posted as to his movements, but the delay of
the Nineteenth Corps enabled the Confederate commander to get his
entire force into a strongly fortified position, on a series of detached
hills northwestward of the town. They had a powerful line thrown
well forward for the purpose of breaking our lines by a vigorous charge,
hoping thereby to seize the gorge already mentioned, through which
alone if beaten, we might retreat. Early made the mistake of his mili
tary career in allowing us to obtain control of the gorge Wilson had
seized. Averill had hung closely on the rebel rear from Bunker Hill, and
now formed a junction on our left with Merritt's troopers. This pow-

196 THE LIFE OF
erful cavalry force enveloped Winchester on the east and north. Early's
position gave a strong defensive capacity. Our cavalry gave Sheridan
a great advantage, not one iota of which was neglected during the hot
scenes of that fiercely contested field. Between the two positions, the
ground was rugged, rising, and quite heavily wooded. Troops found
it difficult to move over it. The left and centre of Early's position
seemed to be the only vulnerable ones. To reach them, the Union
troops must pass through a narrow pass flanked by wooded hills. Un
der Sheridan's eager orders, Ricketts' division of the Sixth Corps was
-¦sent forward, followed immediately by a division of the Nineteenth,
vnder Grover. Both commanders were old army officers. The pass
-was gained. Amid a terrible storm of shell, Early's centre was charged
in splendid style, and the first line of his work remained in our hands.
'General Rhodes, Confederate division commander, was slain in this
•charge, at the head of his troops. Early hurled heavy masses of fresh
troops upon our divisions, which fell back in disorder upon the narrow
pass, from whence they had just before, at io A. m., so steadily emerged.
A heavy flanking fire increased the rout, when Captain Rigby, a ser
geant, and twelve men of the Twenty-fourth Iowa, at a designated point
turned on the pursuing foe, and by heroic efforts were able to clear a
space and gather a considerable force. Grover then ordered two guns
of the First Maine Battery, Captain Bradbury commanding, into the
gap. The fire checked the Confederate advance. The One Hundred
and Thirty-first New York, at the same time got into their rear and
poured a destructive volley upon the foe, making them rapidly recoil.
A second volley sent them flying back to their positions. There was
rapid rallying and re-formation of the Union lines, under Sheridan's
eye, and again the two divisions advanced. The fighting was most
desperate, charge and counter-charge, bayonet against battery, with
varying fortune, until about four in the afternoon, when, with loud
¦shouts, Crook's corps of West Virginians and Torbett's cavalry divis
ion swung superbly from the woods on the Union right, pressing for
ward in the face of a concentrated and murderous fire, and charged
boldly on Early's left. The sight was inspiriting, and at once the Union
lines moved solidly forward on the rebel right and centre. Wilson's
cavalry swung in on the right flank, and without halting, continually
charged the retreating Confederates, following them to their fortified
heights. There was no halting there. " Forward," was the cry. In
a few moments the heights were captured. Early's broken and con
fused columns fled in great disorder towards Strasburg. The victory

• GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 197
was ours. The field was hotly, fiercely contested, and the result
hung for hours in the wavering balances of war. They left in our
hands 2,500 prisoners, nine battle-flags, and five pieces of artillery.
It was not until long after dark that the pursuit ceased, and the stars
shone over Sheridan's first victory in the Shenandoah Valley. The
battle of Winchester was ours. The rebel wounded found in the
town numbered 3,100. From his headquarters in Lloyd Logan's
house, Sheridan sent Secretary Stanton a dispatch saying :
" We have just sent the rebels whirling through Winchester, and
are after them to-morrow."
That was the key-note of all Sheridan's actions. This first thoroughly
successful battle of the Union armies in the Valley of the Shenandoah
was not only a signal illustration of the valor of our soldiers, as well as
the boldness and skill of their commander, but it was evidence also of
the value qf the Union sentiment which still prevailed in the region.
A competent critic has said since the general's death that : ' ' The
battle of the Opequan was fought with the precision of clock-work,
and that was the first one of the war in which cavalry, artillery, and
infantry were all used concurrently and to the best possible advantage,
each according to its own nature and traditions. The overthrow of
the enemy was absolute and complete. The country was electrified,
and the shadow of gloom which had Rung over it was dispelled as if by
magic. Gold took such a tumble as it had not received since the out
break of the rebellion, and thenceforth no man of sense doubted the
ultimate triumph of our arms, or the reestablishment ofthe Union."
The story of Rebecca I. Wright, a young Quaker lady of Win
chester, has become of late familiar to the public. It will bear retelling.
No soldier who entered Winchester on the night of September 19th,
1864, deserves more honor than the modest little Quaker maiden, through
whose intelligence and courage Sheridan gained the information which
warranted the movements he was making for crossing the Opequan.
Here is the story as told in the press, and verified for this work from
the official records :
Miss Wright was the unmarried daughter of a Quaker family living
in Winchester. Her old father had died a prisoner in Confederate
hands. Her mother and little brother, with Miss Rebecca, constituted
the family. The Union generals all knew their steadfast loyalty, and
Crook especially trusted Miss Wright. She told the story during
General Sheridan's sickness :
"I was engaged in some household duties about noon on the 16th

198 THE LIFE OF
of September, '64. I was interrupted by a knock at the door, and, on
opening it, 1 found an intelligent looking colored man, who asked to
see Miss Wright. There were two Misses Wright living in Winches
ter, and I asked which he wanted. ' Miss Rebecca,' he said ; ' the
other is in sympathy with the rebels.' He would not" say what he
wanted, but after looking about carefully, asked to be allowed to speak
with me alone. I was impressed by his manner, and took him into
another room. He at once closed the door, and I became alarmed, as
my mother and I were alone in the house. But he immediately said he
had a note from General Sheridan, who wanted me to give him all the
information I could concerning the rebel forces. He took from his
mouth a little wad of tinfoil, which proved to be a letter from Gen
eral Sheridan, written on tissue paper. The colored man said he had
carried it all the way in his mouth, and had been instructed to swallow
it if molested by the Confederate pickets. He was engaged in carrying
provisions through the lines for the use of the town, and General
Sheridan had secured his services in this matter. I was taken by sur
prise and did not know what to do. I did not know how far I could
trust the man, fearing that there might be a trick to get me into trouble,
and I told him that I knew nothing about the rebels. But the. man
spoke very intelligently and gave such evidences of earnestness that I
concluded to trust him. While he was talking I was tearing the tinfoil.
" ' Don't, don't ! ' he said. ' You will need that to wrap the reply
in.' " He said he would return at 3 o'clock.
" After his departure I read the note. It was written on very thin,
yellow tissue paper, which was greatly wrinkled and mussed from
being folded so tightly."
It is still preserved. "Miss Rebecca" is now Mrs. Bonsai, and
lives in Washington. The framed letter reads as follows :
September 15, 1864.
I learn from Major-General Crook that you are a loyal lady and
still love the old flag.
Can you inform me of the position of Early's forces, the number of
divisions in his army, and the strength of all or any of them, and his
probable or reported intentions ? Have any more troops arrived from
Richmond, or are any more coming, or reported to be coming? I am,
very respectfully, your obedient servant, P. H. Sheridan,
Major- General Commanding.
You can trust the bearer.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 199
"After reading the letter, I went at once to my mother and told her
what had occurred. We were almost overpowered by the thought of the
great danger we were in, but we concluded to run the risk.
"If it had not been for an accident, that seems to have been provi
dential, I should have known nothing to tell General Sheridan that
would have been of value to him. As it happened, I did not know
how valuable the information I possessed might be. My mother and I
were known to be loyal, and the Confederates had very little to do with
us, so we knew nothing of them or of what was going on. But a Con
federate officer, who had been wounded and was then convalescent,
was boarding with one of our neighbors. As a convalescent, he wan
dered about at will, and knew all about the strength and, movements,
the dangers, the hopes, and the fears of Early's forces. It happened that
just two evenings before I got General Sheridan's letter, or before I had
any thought of serving him or the Union cause, this young Confederate
asked permission to call on me. He had often observed me from his
window arranging or gathering my flowers, and he was lonely and
sought my company. So it chanced that two evenings before I got the
note the officer was at our house. We were strangers, with nothing in
common to talk about, so this conversation turned upon the war, and
more especially the state of affairs directly about us. He described
the situation from his stand-point — how many troops they had and
what they must rely on. I asked questions without any purpose except
to keep up the conversation, and he answered freely. I had no idea of
what importance all this was, or that it would ever come of use to me,
but when I read General Sheridan's letter it at once occurred to me that
I could tell him what the Confederate had told me.
" When the colored man returned I gave him an answer to the gen
eral's letter, telling the number of troops, their situation, and the fact
that some had been called off for service elsewhere. I told him, in
fact, the very things, as I see now, that he most wanted to know : but
I expressed regret that I could not give more information, and said I
would try to gather more for him if he would send the messenger back
in a day or two.
' ' The colored man put the letter in his mouth and left the house
quietly. Many times during the next day, Saturday, and the quiet Sab
bath that followed, I wondered what had become of the messenger, and
what would result from my note.
' ' When I was awakened Monday morning by the booming of can
non my first thought was whether my note had anything to do with it.

200 THE LIFE OF
It was a terrible fight, and in the afternoon, when the streets were filled
with troops, wagons, cannon, and the poor suffering wounded, and the
buildings were on fire all around us, my mother asked me, with tears in
her eyes, if I thought my note had anything to do with this battle. I
had thought of that all day, and I was overwhelmed. I hid my face in
my hands, and cried : ' O ! no, no ! I don't believe he got it.' It was
the most terrible day of all my experience. Houses about us were on
fire, our own fence was burning, and shells fell so near that my mother
and I went into the cellar for safety. Finally the rumbling of battle
grew fainter and fainter, until it got so quiet I could not endure to
remain in the cellar in ignorance of the result. From the first floor I
could see nothing ; nothing from the second floor ; but from the garret
windows I saw the old American flag coming in the town. I dropped
upon my knees. I soon learned whether my note had to do with the
battle. " Hearing sabres clattering against the steps, I started td the front
door, and met two Union officers, already inside the house. One intro
duced himself as General Sheridan. He told me that it was entirely
from the information I had sent him that he fought the battle, and he
thanked me earnestly, saying he would never forget my courage and
patriotism. I was so fearful of suspicion that I would hardly permit
him to speak to me. I knew that should the southern people discover
the part I had in the battle, my life would not be worth much, and I
was afraid to have the general talk to me. I begged him not to speak
of it ; that my life would be in danger when the Federal troops went
away. General Sheridan replied that the Confederates would never
come again. He wrote his report at my desk, and called in the morn
ing to say good-bye before following Early to Fisher's.
" He rode a beautiful black horse that morning. I lived on quietly
at Winchester until 1867, and no one suspected me. They knew
nothing of the matter until the watch arrived, accompanied by a letter
from General Sheridan. Then the Union people gathered around me
in astonishment. I remember an old man who took both my hands in
his and said : ' Why my little girl, there was not a man in the place
who would have dared do such a thing. As much as I loved the
Union I would not have had the courage.' Most of the community1
were wild with indignation, but the war was over and they could do
me no injury. But they showed their dislike for me in many ways.
The boys used to spit at me on the street.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

201

" I had no conception of the service I had done until I received this
letter :
"Headquarters Department of Gulf, I
New Orleans, Jan. 7, 1867. )
' ' My Dear Miss Wright : You are probably not aware of the ser
vice you rendered the Union cause by the information you sent me by
the colored man a few days before the Opequan, on September 19,
1864. It was on this information the battle was fought and probably
won. The colored man gave the note rolled up in tinfoil to the scout,
who awaited him at Millwood. The colored man had carried it in his
mouth to that point and delivered it to the scout, who brought it to me.
" By this note I became aware ofthe true condition of affairs inside
ofthe enemy's lines, and gave directions for the attack. I will always
remember this courageous and patriotic action of yours with gratitude,
and beg you to accept the "watch and chain which I send you by General
J. W. Forsyth, as a memento of September 19, 1864."
This letter is put in a double frame, so as to show the writing on
both sides. On the back of it is an indorsement by General Grant, in
his own hand, asking
an appointment for
(then) Miss Wright
to a position in the
Treasury Depart
ment. A report was
also made by a com
mittee" of Congress
and ordered printed.
While in the Treas
ury she met and mar
ried Mr. Bonsai.
The watch, a
handsome one of
gold, bears the in
scription : " Presen
ted to Rebecca I.
Wright, September
19, 1867, by General
Phil H. Sheridan.
A memento of Sep
tember 19, 1864."
It is attached to a

MRS. McP. BONSAL,

FORMERLY MISS WRIGHT, UPON WHOSE INFORMATION SHERIDAN
FOUGHT THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER.

202 THE LIFE OF
long gold chain, fastened at the neck with a clasp representing a horse
shoe, a military gauntlet, and stirrups. Hanging to a short end is a
sword, a key, and a seal. Mrs. Bonsai is a lady of fifty, but she appears
ten or fifteen years younger. Her manner is quiet, and her face expresses
amiability and all the gentler womanly qualities.
Early was both early and late on the way from Sheridan's cavalry.
His flight was not stopped until the Confederate forces reached Fisher's
Hill, beyond Strasburg. Here they occupied a very strong position,
previously prepared for an emergency. Sheridan kept the promise
made in his dispatches "to be after the foe early in the morning."
His cavalry was moving towards Strasburg by daybreak. The
whole army was soon en route, full of that electric fervor of vic
tory which makes the soldier forget fatigue and wounds, and causes
him to feel as if the world was akin to. his mood, beating in rhythmic
jubilance with the passion of triumph wherewith he is animated.
Our army was in front of Fisher's Hill on the 'early forenoon of the-
•22d. Early was found intrenched strongly in a defensible position,
with his left resting on the adjacent North Mountain. But Sheridan
never hesitated. Torbett, with two divisions of cavalry, was sent by
way of the Luray Valley, to take Newmarket, thirty miles in Early's
rear. The Eighth Corps, under his old classmate, General Crook, was
sent to gain the rear and left of Early's lines, beyond the North Mount
ain, with the Sixth and Nineteenth corps, commanded by Wright and
Emory, screened by the cavalry under Averill. Sheridan, at 4 p. m.,
impetuously advanced to a general attack. The weight of the attack
was made, front and rear, on Early's left. It gave way almost im
mediately, driven in upon the centre by the weight of the impetuous
assault. The North Mountain was cleared at once. When the advanc
ing lines were swiftly precipitated on Early's centre, the whole- of the
rebel infantry broke, and retreated down the valley in great disorder,
leaving sixteen guns and a thousand prisoners in bur hands. The vic
tory was complete. All that saved Early's army from entire destruc
tion as an organization, was the stubborn fight made against Torbett,
at Milford, in the Luray Valley, by the Confederate cavalry under
General Wickham, who at Front Royal the day before (September
2 ist), had fought Wilson most vigorously. Torbett was held all day
in check at Milford, finally at sundown driving Wickham before him.
Front Royal was a draw. Both were splendid and well-matched cav
alry battles, in which the advantages finally rested with us, but the
stubborn fighting of the Confederate troopers saved their army never-

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 2o?
theless. General Wickham afterwards served in the United States
Senate from Virginia as a Republican.
Sheridan pursued Early, as Grant desired and his own wishes dic
tated. He overtook them at Port Republic, charging their broken
lines with his cavalry, backed by infantry supports, and drove them
again, destroying their supply train of seventy-five wagons. Our
cavalry continued the pursuit until Early's army found shelter in the
passes of the Blue Ridge. A large quantity of army stores were
destroyed at Staunton. From that point, our cavalry passing on to
Waynesboro', laid waste the Virginia Central railroad, destroying it
utterly for several miles. A large Confederate tannery was also burned.
Then came the execution of Grant's order to leave nothing in the
valley to invite the return of the enemy. All our cavalry was recalled
to Sheridan's headquarters, and down the valley went the Union army,
destroying all supplies as they moved.
When this serious but necessary work was completed, our entire
force was placed behind Cedar Creek, " twenty miles away " from
Winchester, between Middletown and Strasburg. Field headquarters
were established at the residence of Benjamin B. Cooley.
Sheridan's dispatches at this period tell the man as much as his acts
proclaim the soldier. In a report on the raid following the victory of
Fisher's Hill, Sheridan wrote :
" In moving back to this point the whole country from the Blue
Ridge to the North Mountain has been made untenable for a rebel
army. I have destroyed over two thousand barns filled with wheat,
hay, and farming implements, and over seventy mills filled with flour
and wheat, have driven in front of this army over four thousand head
of stock, and have killed and issued to the troops over three thousand
sheep. Since I entered the valley from Harper's Feity, every train,
every small party, and every straggler has been bushwhacked by the
people, many of whom have protection papers. Lieutenant Meigs
and his engineer officer were murdered near Dayton ; . . . for this
atrocious act," continued Sheridan, " all the houses within an area of
five miles were burned." Badeau, in the Military Life of Grant,
says :
" Sheridan's telegrams during this campaign were handed to Grant
usually as we sat around the camp-fire at City Point. No success had
cheered him at the East for months, and the first gleams of light came
from Sheridan's victories in the valley. As Grant read out these
ringing dispatches : * We sent them whirling through Winchester ' ;

204 GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.
' They were followed on a jump twenty-six miles ' ; ' I thought I best
delay here one day and settle this new cavalry general,' (referring to
Rosser) , his voice betrayed how welcome was the news. ' Keep on,'
he replied, ' and your good work will cause the fall of Richmond.' "
Sheridan writes from Strasburg: " The people here [in the val
ley] are getting sick of the war." He wrote also : " I'm coming back
to this point." As he moved down the valley after the raid, Sheridan
reported : "I was not followed until late yesterday, when a large force
of cavalry appeared in my rear. I then halted my command to give
battle. I found it was only the rebel cavalry commanded by Rosser,
and directed Torbett to attack them and finish this new ' saviour of the
valley.' " And he did it so effectually that Rosser has ever since been
explaining why he was so thoroughly thrashed. Honors and recognition
were showered upon Sheridan after Winchester and Fisher's Hill.
Congress passed a resolution of thanks at its next session for the Valley
Campaign. The victorious general was made a brigadier-general in
the regular army.
Torbett's fight with Rosser occurred on the 9th of October. At
the first charge the Confederates broke and fled, leaving over three
hundred prisoners, a dozen guns, and, nearly fifty wagons in our hands.
They were chased twenty-six miles.
Three days later Early attempted to surprise Sheridan, who had
halted near Fisher's Hill. This time the Confederates were so severely
chastised that it was supposed they would remain quiet for some time.
With that impression, Sheridan went to Washington on official busi
ness, leaving General Wright in temporary command of the army.

Chapter XVII.

SNATCHING VICTORY FROM THE JAWS
OF DEFEAT.
Lincoln's little story about general cass — change of the troops
— meddling at washington with grant's orders — wright sur
prised at cedar creek  rout of the nineteenth corps  sheri
dan's ride "to save the day" — defeats early and gordon — what
he said of his victory — thanks of president and congress — pro
motion in the regular army — the horse he rode.
Considerable anxiety had prevailed in Washington during the lat
ter of Sheridan's operations. He had got beyond telegraphic commu
nication. The War Department feared for the capital. Halleck feared
that the little soldier might seriously propose to end the war otherwise
than according to Jomini, as translated by "Old Brains," while the
President grew anxious for Sheridan's safety. None of them knew the
man — he was a fighting soldier, who did his "job" with the same
persistent determination that he would have bossed a railroad contract.
Mr. Lincoln, of course, had a story to tell. He was afraid that Sheri
dan's hot pursuit had been a little like that of General Cass, in one of
our Indian wars. Cass was pursuing the Indians so closely, that the
first thing he knew he found himself in their front and the Indians
were pursuing him. Sheridan might have got on the other side of
Early. Mr. Lincoln feared that Early was behind him. Reinforce
ments might be sent out from Richmond to enable Early .to meet
and beat him. Grant says: "I replied to the President that I had
taken steps to prevent Lee from sending reinforcements to Early by
attacking the former where he was."
Sheridan had driven the enemy out of the valley and destroyed
everything, so that if Early came back he would have to bring his
provisions with him. It was in announcing this that he used the apt
illustration already quoted, of the crow being compelled to carry its
rations. He felt, therefore, he did not need so large a force, and sent to

206 THE LIFE OF
Grant, asking him to take some and put them where they were needed
more. This Grant did. The Sixth Corps was ordered to the James
River. Sheridan then repaired the railroad up the valley toward the
advanced position which he believed could be held with a small force.
Troops were sent to Washington, by way of Culpepper, in order to
watch the east side of the Blue Ridge, and prevent the enemy from
getting into the rear of Sheridan, while he was still doing his work of
destruction. On the ioth of October, the march down the valley was again
resumed ; Early, at a very respectful distance, slowly following.
Sheridan was ordered, however, to halt by Grant, and to improve the
opportunity, if afforded by the enemy's having been sufficiently weak
ened, to move back again if possible and cut the James River canal
and the Virginia Central railroad. This order had to go through
Washington, where it was intercepted, and when Sheridan received
what seemed to be a statement of what Grant wished him to do, it
was something entirely different. Halleck informed Sheridan that it
was Grant's wish for him to hold a forward position, as a base* from
which to act against Charlottesville and Gordonsville, and that he
should fortify and provision this position. Sheridan objected most
decidedly. Grant then telegraphed him on the 14th of October, as
follows :
Major-General Sheridan :
What I want, is for you to threaten the Virginia "Central rail
road and the James River canal, in the manner your judgment tells
you is best, holding yourself ready to advance, if the enemy draw oft"
their forces. If you make the enemy hold a force equal to your own
for the protection of those roads, it will accomplish nearly as much as
their destruction. If you cannot do this, then the next best thing to do
is to send here all the force you can. I deem a good cavalry force nec
essary for your offensive, as well as your defensive operations. You
need not, therefore, send more than one division of cavalry.
U. S. Grant.
Sheridan was at Winchester, having returned the night before from
Washington. Upon the forenoon of the 19th of October, on his way
to his headquarters, he learned from the stream of stragglers, the news
of the attack by Early on his lines at Cedar Creek, and the partial
rout of his army that was then in progress. The story has been told
by many pens, but the most compact account is that printed in White-
law Reid's. volume, Ohio in the War. It is so clear and direct, yet
comprehensive, that it is given here in full :

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 207
"On the night of the 18th of October, while Sheridan was
approaching Winchester, on his return, Early and Longstreet were
stealthily moving out from Fisher's Hill. So careful and minute were
their arrangements for silence on the inarch, that they even took away
the canteens from their men, lest their rattle against the bayonet-sheaths
or cartridge-boxes should be heard. Wright, as we have seen, was
apprehensive about his right flank. His disposition of the entire
cavalry there showed it, and the enemy at once profited by the dis
closure. They moved rapidly to the opposite flank. Here the front
was scarcely protected at all. The exultant army that had followed
the rebels ' whirling up the valley ' was utterly incredulous as to the
possibility of attack. They slept, officers and men, the deep slumber
of absolute confidence. Pickets were advanced but a short distance
from the camp — so short a distance that the rebel column crept around
them within six hundred yards of the main line. Some pickets did
report the sound of marching in the darkness on their front, and Gen
eral Crook ordered men into the trenches ; but this report failed to
arouse much apprehension, and they neglected to send out a reconnais
sance. The front line was broken here and there by regiments sent
out for picket duty — even these gaps were unfilled.
"The dawn was obscured by fog. Through this suddenly came
bursting the wild charging yells of the rebel infantry — not Early's
often beaten troops alone, but the flower of the Army of Northern
Virginia. The extremity of Crook's line, taken thus by surprise in
flank and rear, was doubled up in confusion, precisely as, a few weeks
before, Crook had himself doubled up Early's flank at Fisher's Hill.
The enemy was into the trenches before all the muskets of the defend
ers were loaded ; the movement was quick, orderly, forceful on the
part of the assailants — hesitating and bewildered on the part of the
confused troops thus rudely awaked from their dreams of security. In
fifteen minutes the struggle was practically over. The rebels, knowing
perfectly their ground, and knowing, moreover, precisely what they
wanted to do, drove forward their charging columns with a rapidity
that to the surprised army seemed amazing. The Nineteenth Corps
next gave way ; next/only a little more slowly, the Sixth. Long be
fore this the tide of runaways had swept down the pike as far as Win
chester, twenty miles away. The camps were abandoned, twenty-four
pieces of artillery were lost, and the whole army was in full retreat on
Winchester. Nearly five miles down the valley it began to come
together, and General Wright essayed the formation of a defensive line.

208 THE LIFE OF
He was presently interrupted by his chief, who ' here took the matter
in hand.' " General Sheridan had arrived at Winchester the night before, on
his way back from the consultation at Washington, to which he had
been ordered. In the morning artillery firing was heard, but it was
attributed to an intended reconnaissance, and nothing was thought of it.
After an early breakfast Sheridan mounted and trotted quietly through
Winchester, southward. A mile from the town the first fugitives from
the lost field were encountered. He instantly gave orders to park the
retreating trains on either side of the road, directed the greater part of
his escort to follow as best it could, then, with only twenty cavalrymen
accompanying him, he struck out in a swinging gallop for the scene of
danger. As he dashed up the pike the crowds of stragglers grew
thicker. He reproached none ; only, swinging his cap, with a cheery
smile for all, he shouted : ' Face the other way, boys ; face the other
way ! We are going back to our camps ! We are going to lick them
out of their boots ! ' The wounded raised their hoarse voices to cheer
as he passed, and the masses of fugitives turned and followed him to
the front. As he rode into the forming lines, the men quickened their
pace back to the ranks, and everywhere glad cheers went up. ' Boys,
this never should have happened if I had been here,' he exclaimed to
one and another regiment, ' I tell you it never should have happened.
And now we are going back to our camps. We are going to get a
twist on them ; we'll get the tightest twist on them yet that ever you
saw. We'll have all those camps and cannon back again.' Thus he
rode along the lines, rectified the formation, cheered and animated the
soldiers. Presently there grew up across that pike as compact a body
of infantry and cavalry as that which, a month before, had sent the
enemy 'whirling through Winchester.' His men had full faith in 'the
twist ' he was ' going to get ' on the victorious foe ; his presence was
inspiration ; his commands were victory.
" While the line was thus being reestablished, he was in momentary
expectation of attack. Wright's Sixth Corps was some distance in
the rear. One staff officer after another was sent after it. Finally
Sheridan himself dashed down to hurry it up ; then back to watch
it going into position. Ashe thus stood, looking off from the left, he
saw the enemy's columns once more moving up. Hurried warning
was sent to the Nineteenth Corps, on which it was evident the attack
would fall. By this time it was after 3 o'clock.
" The Nineteenth Corps, no longer taken by surprise, repulsed the

GEN. PHIL H. SHERIDAN.

209

BPPPR

38

§111
§Bjj3f>p

- -"5^^©

)*6i8^ff<*S^^:"ftHp'WBE -• !L_.
¦M

THE STONE BRIDGE AT FISHER'S HILL,
where, on Sheridan's rallying the union army, October 19, 1864, « large body of
confederate prisoners was taken.
enemy's onset. ' Thank God for that,' said Sheridan gayly. ' Now
tell General Emory if they attack him again to go after them and to
follow them up. We'll get the tightest twist on them pretty soon they
ever saw.' The men heard and believed him ; the demoralization of
defeat was gone. But he still wai ted. Word had been sent in from the
cavalry, of danger from a heavy body moving on his flank. He doubted
it, and at last determined to run the risk. At 4 o'clock the orders went
out : ' The whole line will advance. The Nineteenth Corps will move
in connection with the Sixth. The right of the Nineteenth will swing
toward the left.'
"The enemy lay behind stone fences, and where these failed, breast
works of rails eked out his line. For a little he held his position firmly.
11

210 THE LIFE OF
His left overlapped Sheridan's right and seeing this advantage he bent it
down td renew the attack in flank. At this critical moment Sheridan
ordered a charge of General Mc Williams' brigade against the angle
thus caused in the rebel line. It forced its way through, and the rebel
flanking party was cut off. Custer's cavalry was sent swooping down
upon it. It broke, and fled or surrendered, according to the agility of
the individuals. Simultaneously the whole line charged along the
front ; the rebel line was crowded back to the creek ; the difficulties of
the crossing embarrassed it, and as the victorious ranks swept up it
broke in utter confusion.
" Custer charged down in the fast gathering darkness to the west
of the pike, Deven to the east of it, and on either flank of the fleeing
rout they flung themselves. Nearly all the rebel transportation was
captured, the camps and artillery were regained ; up to Fisher's Hill
the road was jammed with artillery, caissons, and ambulances ; prisoners
came streaming back faster than the provost marshal could provide for
them. It was the end of Early's army ; the end of campaigning in
the beautiful Valley of the Shenandoah."
The scenes were startling, amusing, pathetic, humorous, and heroic,
— all combined. Custer threw his arms around Sheridan's neck, as he
rode up, and kissed him in the face of the army. " Little Phil '' was
the supreme incarnation of war. Some of his oaths were more pictur
esque than those of Homer's heroes. Men shouted, ran, screamed, and
cried, as he came thundering along the pike with waving flag over his
head. The Honorable A. F. Walker, ofthe Inter-state Commerce Com
mission, has given to our war literature an admirable little volume on
the history of the Vermont brigade with which he served. They were
at Cedar Creek. The brigade, says Mr. Walker, while sulkily waiting
for the re-formation of the army, "heard cheers behind us on the pike.
We were astounded. There we stood, driven four miles already,
quietly waiting for what might be further and immediate disaster, while
far in the rear we heard the stragglers and hospital bummers and the
gunless artillery-men, actually cheering as though a victory had been
won. We could hardly believe our ears."
The explanation soon came, horse and man, but four miles away
from the battle-field. " As the sturdy, fiery Sheridan, on his sturdy,
fiery steed, flecked with foam from his two hours' mad galloping,
wheeled from the pike and dashed down the line, our division also
broke forth into the most tumultuous applause. ....
' ' Such a scene as his presence produced, and such emotions as it

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 211
awoke, cannot be realized once in a century. All outward manifesta
tions were as enthusiastic as men are capable of exhibiting ; cheers
seemed to come from throats of brass, and caps were thrown to the tops
of the scattering oaks ; but beneath and yet superior to these noisy
demonstrations, there was in every heart a revulsion of feeling and a
pressure of emotion beyond description. No more doubt or chance
for doubt existed ; we were safe, perfectly and unconditionally safe,
and every man knew it."
"Forward "was at once the order. Mr. Walker's account is at least
animating. He says :
" At the commencement of its advance, the brigade met a shallow
mill-pond that had not been noticed in the forest, in some way floundered
through, rushed up the hill to the rebel works, then turned to the left,
and in a confused, delirious mass, hurried on as best it might after the
scattering enemy. Guns were fired wildly into the air, and reloaded as
the soldiers ran ; captured cannon were wheeled about and discharged at
the panic-stricken foe in mad salute for our victory. General Sheridan,
with long black streamers waving from his hat, joined our division, ex
claiming, ' Run, boys, run ; don't wait to form ; don't let 'em stop' ; and
when some one answered, ' We can't run, we're tired out,' his reply was
perhaps unmilitary, but certainly, under the circumstances, judicious :
' If you can't run then holler,' and thus the wild pursuit was continued
until we reached the turnpike where it crosses the very summit of
Fisher's Hill.
" The defeat was utter and decisive, so far as the Shenandoah Valley
was concerned. Its secret was simply Sheridan's personal magnetism -
and all-conquering energy. He felt no doubt, he would submit to no
defeat, and he took his army with him as on a whirlwind."
Colonel Herbert E. Hill, of Somerville, went all through the Shen
andoah Valley Campaign of General Sheridan, and was close by " Gal
lant Phil" at the battle of Cedar Creek, made famous by Sheridan's
memorable ride from Winchester to the relief of his routed army.
Colonel Hill has written several articles upon the Shenandoah Valley
Campaign, and as some of his statements were disputed he appealed to
Sheridan for the confirmation of his stories. He received in reply two
dispatches, which are of great historical interest, as they settle forever
some mooted points. Some have even seen fit to question whether
there ever was such a thing as his ride from Winchester. Historians
have disputed each other regarding the time when ht arrived, the horse
he rode, the number of guns captured, etc. These points are all settled

212 THE LIFE OF
by the man who knew the most about the matter, and they corrob
orate Colonel Hill's accounts in every particular. Here are copies of
the dispatches in question : ' Chicago, Oct. 17, 1881.
Colonel Herbert E. Hill, Boston, Mass. :
Between 6 and 7 o'clock on Monday, October 19th, the officer on
picket at Winchester reported to me, while I was in bed at the house
of Colonel Edwards, the commanding officer, the sound of scattering
artillery shots. These I supposed to be made by Grover's division of
the Nineteenth Corps, which was to have made a reconnaissance that
morning. My black horse " Winchester" was saddled, as well as the
horses of my staff officers, and we started about 8 o'clock, passing
through the main street of Winchester.
On reaching the southern suburbs of the town the sound of artil
lery indicated a battle to me unmistakably. We walked leisurely until
we reached Mill Creek, half a mile or so from the town, trying to
determine by the sound whether the firing "was coming toward us or
receding, and after crossing Mill Creek and rising a little bluff on the
south side saw the heads of the troops retreating, coming rapidly to
the rear. I at once ordered a halt, directing that the train be stopped
and parked at Mill Creek, and sent orders that the brigade in garrison
at Winchester be stretched across the country and all stragglers
stopped. Then taking twenty men from the escort I rode rapidly on, as
nearly parallel to the valley pike as the crowd of stragglers would per
mit, until I struck Getty's division of the Sixth Corps, three-quarters
of a mile north of Middletown, reaching there a little before 10
o'clock, a. m. I rode my black horse, " Winchester," until just before
the final attack at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, when I changed to my
gray horse, which I rode until the battle was over.
P. H. Sheridan,
Lieutenant- General United States Army.
Chicago, Oct. 18, 1881.
Colonel Herbert E. Hill, Boston, Mass.
The enemy captured from our troops in the morning twenty-four
pieces of artillery. These were recaptured and twenty-four more from
the enemy in the afternoon, making forty-eight pieces. Ten battle-
flags were also captured from the enemy. The black horse, "Win
chester," died October 2, 1878, and is set up on exhibition at the Mili
tary Institute, Governor's Island. The gray horse was burned up in
the Chicago fire, October 9, 1871.
P. H. Sheridan,
Lieutenant- General United States Army.
Colonel Hill has preserved these dispatches and some autograph
letters from General Sheridan with the greatest care. The Eighth

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 213
Vermont Regiment, of which Colonel Hill was a member, was in the
brunt of the fight at Cedar Creek. When Sheridan arrived from Win
chester he found his army disorganized and presenting only a division
front to the enemy. The divisions were ranged back and to one side
of each other in echelon, as it is termed in military parlance, a form
which is best represented by the steps of a staircase. He immediately
ordered the rear division to the front, and presented an unbroken line to
the attack of the enemy. The Eighth Vermont was on the right of
their line, and here Sheridan took up his position. This regiment
suffered as no other in the army. Out of 164 men who went into
action, no were lost by death or wounds; thirteen out of sixteen
commissioned officers were killed, three color-bearers were shot dead,
and a fourth afterwards died of his wounds. For their conspicuous
gallantry, Sheridan wrote them a letter of thanks over his own sig
nature. The only monuments which have been erected upon the battle-fields
in the Shenandoah Valley were set up to mark the spot where this regi
ment fought, and they were both the gifts of Colonel Hill.
"The great secret of Sheridan's strength and popularity with his
men," according to the colonel, " was that he never ordered his men to
go where he would not lead them. He was perfectly fearless, and they
had perfect confidence in him and would follow him into the jaws of
death. He was said to be a profane man, but it only showed his
earnestness, and was more in the nature of an invocation to the Deity
than profanity. He had a thorough plan for every battle, and his men
soon learned to appreciate and see the importance of every movement
as bearing on the whole scheme of the fight. When he appeared on
the field after his great ride he appeared to the enemy, to use a scriptural
expression, like a great light in a dark valley."
General Sheridan, speaking of the Valley Campaign and of the
battle and victory at Cedar Creek, said : »
" This battle [Cedar Creek] practically ended the campaign in the
Shenandoah Valley. When it opened we found our enemy boastful and
confident, unwilling to acknowledge that the soldiers of the Union were
their equals in courage and manliness. When it closed with Cedar
Creek, this impression had been removed from his mind, and gave
place to good sense and a strong desire to quit fighting. The very best
troops of the Confederacy had not only been defeated, but had been
routed in successive engagements until their spirit was destroyed. In
obtaining these results, however, our loss in officers and men was

214 THE LIFE OF
severe. Practically all territory north of the James River now belonged
to us, and the holding of the lines about Petersburg and Richmond
must have been embarrassing, and invite the question of good military
judgment." At the next session of Congress, which followed close upon the
heels of the Cedar Creek rout, a concurrent resolution of thanks was
voted unanimously to General Sheridan and his command.
No account of this campaign can be completed without a reference
to " Rienzi," the famous charger which carried Sheridan " all the way
from Winchester" " to save the day" at Cedar Creek. " Rienzi," or
" Winchester," as he was called by the general after the battle at that
place, died at Chicago, Illinois, in October, 1878, at the age of twenty-
one years. His remains were sent to a taxidermist at Rochester, New
York, and after being skillfully mounted were presented by the general
to the Military Institute for exhibition at their museum at Governor's
Island, New York. Here the steed of that memorable ride to Win
chester can still be seen, looking as natural as life, and is the object
of the greatest interest to the daily visitors to the island.
The damage done to the enemy in the valley during this memora
ble struggle is summed up in army reports as follows.:
Barns destroyed, 630, valued at $1,593,000; mills, 47, $314,000;
tons of hay, 3,445, $103,607 ; bushels of wheat, 410,742, $1,025,105 ;
saw-mills, 4, $8,000; furnaces, 3, $45,000; woolen mills, 1, $10,000;
acres of corn, 515, $18,000 ; bushels of oats, 750, $756 ; cattle driven
off, 1,347, $3°>38o; sheep, 1,231, $6,340; swine, 725, $8,000; barrels
of flour, 560, $6,720 ; tons of straw, 255, $2,550 ; tons of fodder, 272,
$2,720; tanneries, 2, $4,000; wagons loaded with flour, 2, $500;
railroad depots, 2, $3,000; locomotives, 1, $10,000; box cars, 3,
$1,500; total, $3,193,172.
The country was wild with delight. The President and Secretary
of War shared the common enthusiasm. The latter seeking some way
of honoring the victor, conceived the idea of appointing him major-
general in the regular army. Then, as General McClellan had just
resigned his commission, he having been nominated by the Democrats
on the platform declaration " that the war was a failure," Mr. Stanton
decided that Sheridan's new commission should date from that of Mc-
Clellan's resignation, November 8, 1864. A general order was issued
announcing Major-General Sheridan's promotion to the same rank
that he held in the volunteer service, and that his commission was made
to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement of George B. McClellan.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 215
In order to still further emphasize the feelings which dictated this
appointment, the Assistant Secretary of War, Charles A. Dana, was
sent by the President's orders to present the commission in person.
Mr. Dana has recently talked of his visit to the valley. Noticing the
affection of Sheridan's men for him, Dana said : "General, how is this ;
these men seem to have a special affection for you, more than I have
ever seen displayed toward any other officer ; what is the reason ? "
" Well," said Sheridan, " I think I can tell you. I always fight in
the front rank myself. I was long ago convinced that it wouldn't do
for a commanding general to stay in the rear of the troops and carry
on battle with paper orders, as they do in the Army of the Potomac.
These men all know that where it is the hottest there I am, and they
like it, and that is the reason they like me."
In the same conversation, Sheridan declared emphatically that it
was all nonsense about a man's not being afraid under fire. He
asserted that he always was, and that the only reason he did not
turn and run was that his mind had control of his body and its fears.
Sheridan's own simple and modest dispatch announcing this great
victory, snatched from the jaws of defeat, is only needed to complete
the story :
"I have the honor to report that my army at Cedar Creek was
attacked this morning before daylight, and. my left was turned and driven
in confusion. In fact, most of the line was driven in confusion, with
the loss of twenty pieces of artillery. I hastened from Winchester,
where I was on my return from Washington, and found the armies
between Middletown and Newtown, having been driven back about four
miles. I here took the affair in hand and quickly united the corps,
formed a compact line of battle just in time to repulse an attack of the
enemy which was handsomely done at about i p. m. At 3 p. m., after
some changes of the cavalry from the left to the right, I attacked with
great vigor, capturing, according to the last report, forty-three pieces
of artillery, with very many prisoners. I do not know yet the number
of my casualties or the losses of the enemy."
Mr. Lincoln, in reply to Sheridan's dispatch announcing the vic
tory, wrote Sheridan as follows :
" With great pleasure I tender you and your great army the thanks
of the nation, and my own personal admiration and gratitude for the
month's operations in the Shenandoah Valley, and especially for the
splendid work of October 19th."

COL. ULRIC DAHLGREN,
SON OF ADMIRAL JOHN A. DAHLGREN — KILLED MARCH 3, 1864.

GEN. H. E. DAVIES,
ONE OF SHERIDAN'S FAMOUS DIVISION COMMANDERS.

Chapter XVIII.

GORDON'S MORNING SURPRISE AT
CEDAR CREEK.
GORDON UNDER EARLY  A DISTINGUISHED CONFEDERATE SOLDIER — AN INTER
VIEW ABOUT CEDAR CREEK  COMMANDING EWELL'S OLD CORPS  HOW
HE PLANNED THE ATTACK ON WRIGHT — TURNING OUR FLANK SUCCESS
FULLY — ROUT OF THE EIGHTH CORPS — EARLY'S FOLLY — DONE ENOUGH
FOR ONE DAY — SHERIDAN'S ARRIVAL — A UNION VICTORY.
One of the most notable of soldiers produced by the Confederacy
is the present governor of Georgia, formerly a United States Senator
from that state — JohnB. Gordon, who at the time of Lee's surrender
had attained the rank of lieutenant-general. General Gordon is one
of the few Southern officers who obtained and held distinguished rank
in their army from civil life. The general himself stands first among
that few. Senator Wade Hampton, of South Carolina, General Mahone,
of Virginia, and Representative Wheeler, of Alabama, are still living.
Forest and Morgan as cavalry leaders, Price as a corps commander, of
those who are dead, count all whose names will be held in military
¦esteem. Of these Mahone is the only ,one who had any military train
ing, he having graduated as an engineer at the Virginia Military
Academy. General Gordon, however," was easily first among the few.
In an interview with Colonel Burr since General Sheridan's death,
which has been published in a Boston paper,* Governor Gordon
gives a 'number of such interesting details of the Valley Campaign of
1864, as well as confirms so strongly the extraordinary effect at Cedar
Creek of Sheridan's arrival and personality on the field, and among his
already defeated troops, that it is deemed proper to reproduce the
account in these pages as a positive and valuable contribution to the
life and actions of General Sheridan. The generosity of Gordon's
mentality is clearly shown in his frank and open admiration of his
whilom enemy.
*Boston Herald, August 19, 188S.

2i8 THE LIFE OF
The interview occurred at Gettysburg. In response to the remark
that had his (Gordon's) suggestions been carried out by Early, even
Sheridan could not have "saved the day" on that memorable 19th
of October, 1864, at Cedar Creek, the ex- Confederate general said,
after remarking that he was a corps commander under Early :
" Yes, the plan was mine wholly, and so "was the conduct of the
fight up to a certain point. If my plan had been carried out there
would never have been any ' Sheridan's ride.'
"We felt the vast importance of success and we started in to win it.
We had good men, and, in most respects, we were well organized and
equipped. In the Shenandoah Valley we were among as good friends
as the Southern cause could boast.
"We swept down the valley and whipped Lew Wallace on the
Monocacy, and were only a little too late for capturing Washington,
while a great career seemed opened to our army. We could not quite get
the Federal capital. As we moved off from Washington two splendid
corps were immediately put under Sheridan. We had a great deal of
confidence in ourselves, with a clear field, and the army was in good
spirits. Across the Potomac we stopped to rest and to gather forage
and food. We also did some recruiting. Sheridan attacked us at Win
chester and we were routed. It was the first battle we lost in the valley.
Indeed, before that we had not even had a check of any kind, having
been enabled to live off the country, and even to forward supplies to
Richmond. "When Sheridan came up in the valley our troops were very much
scattered. This, of course, because it was more convenient to feed
them in that way, and we had not gotten well in line when we were
plunged into the midst of battle. The Federal assault was confident
and impetuous, especially that of the Nineteenth Corps, and we were in
no condition to resist it. One division after another broke, and when
the sun went down on the evening of the 19th of September the Federal
victory was complete. We had been beaten in detail. The attack was
too sudden to enable us to consolidate our forces and use them to the
best advantage, and we were shattered and demoralized.
" Dejected and broken, we moved down the valley to Fisher's Hill,
where we had a very strong position. There we stopped and recruited,
and tried to repair the damage which had been done. Our soldiers
were very much disheartened, however. The transformation from a

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 219
hopeful and advancing army to a beaten and retreating one was too great.
Three days later we were attacked in our position and again defeated.
"For nearly a month there was a respite, and then came Cedar
Creek. For the time being we won one of the great victories of the
war. Every detail of the movement was carefully planned, and for
twelve hours it was supremely successful. I had gone the day before,
October 18th, to the top of what is called Massanutten Mountain, where
we had a signal corps stationed, and had taken observations through the
field-glasses. There was a magnificent bird's-eye view. The Shen
andoah was the silver bar between us. On the opposite side of the
river I could distinctly see the red-cuffs of the artillerists. Why, I had
so good a view that I could see the sore spots on the horses' backs in
your camp. In front of Belle Grove mansion I could see members
of Sheridan's staff coming and going. I could not imagine a better
opportunity for making out an enemy's position and strength. I could
even count the men who were there. The camp was splendidly
exposed to me. I marked the position of the guns, and the pickets
walking to and fro, and observed where the cavalry was placed.
" It flashed upon me instantly that the expectation of General Sher
idan was that we would attack him on his right, which was the only
place supposed possible for the advance of any army. His left was
protected by the Shenandoah ; at this point the mountain was very pre
cipitous, and the river ran around it. There was no road at all, and
the point was guarded only by a mere cavalry picket.
' ' I saw our opportunity in an instant, and I told the officers present
that if General Early would permit me to move my corps (I was then
commanding Ewell's corps) down to this point, I could get around the
mountain. Both sides believed this was impossible, but I felt sure that
it could be done. My plan was to dismount our cavalry, attack Sheri
dan's cavalry when dismounted, and keep them from moving. I knew
that if we could do this we would gain a great victory.
"None of my brother officers had at first much confidence in the
plan. When I was on Massanutten, the members of General Early's
staff who were with me were utterly incredulous. I told them that if I
was allowed to carry out my plan we could annihilate Sheridan's army
and drive him pell-mell out of the valley, and raise the spirits of our
people beyond measure."
In explaining the details, General Gordon says: "There was a
back road running from our position on Fisher's Hill to the Federal

220 THE LIFE OF
right, where the cavalry was posted. I expected to deceive the Fed
erals by Lomax' attack. It would be dark still, and they could not
distinguish our dismounted cavalry from infantry, and would believe
that our main attack was there on their right. This would leave us
free to operate around their left.
" General Early acted promptly after he understood the project.
The plan was submitted, talked over, and finally substantially agreed
upon. I took my command, having ordered them to leave their can
teens, sabres, and everything that could make a noise behind. I knew
that our only dependence was in absolute secrecy, and in a complete
surprise. After inspecting things with my staff, I found I could get my
men around the mountain by putting them in single file. I discovered
still another place where the horses could be led, although the venture
would be exceedingly dangerous. Still, the expedition was essentially
one of great peril, and more or less danger was of little consequence.
" Sharp men often leave a loop-hole ; and as Sheridan, or Wright, of
the Sixth Corps, who was in actual command, had never through their
scouts discovered this narrow, country road, or did not deem it possible
to move an army by it, we were left to complete our surprise unmo
lested. The event was taking things as they were, not only possible
but actual, and we did what none of your people for a moment dreamed
of as possible. Early in the night I began to move my men around the
mountain. My object was to have them already for an attack before
daylight in the morning. The movement took all night. All through
the hours of darkness the silent figures moved to their position near the
sleeping enemy. An entire brigade of cavalry was moved in this
way, and reached the point in about one and a half hours in advance
of the men. I instructed the cavalry that as soon as I got ready to
move they were to proceed in my front, rush across the river, open on
the cavalry pickets, and capture them if possible. If they could not
do this, they were to put their horses to full speed, ride right through
the Federal camp, firing their pistols to the right and to the left as they
passed through, and make directly for Sheridan's headquarters and
capture him.
" At that time I did not know that Sheridan was absent and Wright
in command. I had selected his house from the flags which floated from
it and the couriers who were constantly going in and out. My orders
were : ' Go right through the Federal camp with your command before
daylight and directly to General Sheridan's headquarters. Capture

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 221
him ! ' I told them not to try to take any prisoners, not to mind anything,
but every mounted man was to press straight toward Belle Grove.
We, with the infantry, would take care of what was behind. I knevf
very well that the little fighting or capturing they could do would be of
little account compared with the prize they were expected to get. In
order to guard against a premature onset at some point, we compared
watches and arranged the times of attack. In fact, the actual demon
stration was made in full accordance with my plan of action.
" My signal was obeyed exactly. On the morning ofthe 19th, just
about daylight, we fired three or four shots. Away the Federal pickets
went, with our cavalry brigade after them. I rushed across, wading
the river with my whole corps of infantry. We went with a rush and
double-quick. Before starting I had selected the house on the road
at which the head of my column should stop. It was a white house at
the turn of the road, farther down toward the river, and was on the
flank of the enemy's line. As soon as I got there I was in position and
I had nothing to do but to close up in front and move. Dashing for
ward with one brigade, we plunged into the enemy's camp and found
the men asleep. Many of them never awoke in this world. We went
right through them and shot every one in flight. The cavalry had
reached the headquarters and General Wright barely escaped, leaving
his papers behind him, and they fell into our hands. We killed and
wounded between seven and eight thousand of the panic-stricken and
bewildered Federals, and broke two corps entirely to pieces. The loss
in my command was only about two hundred. By sunrise we occupied
the breast-works. The enemy's cavalry was forced to retreat before
Rosser, although superior to him in numbers. We did not press our
advance. The enemy still had the Sixth Corps in reserve, but we
drove it back and captured a few of its pieces. That was the battle of
Cedar Creek, and it was a complete victory.
"To show that this was true, let me remind you that the Eighth
Corps was scattered to the winds, the Nineteenth Corps, after hard
fighting, was routed and driven entirely out of their works, and we
had possession of the entire Federal position except a part of that held
by the Sixth Corps. This corps had filed out by the left toward the
pike, and we had driven them back and forced them to a ridge just
west of Middletown. We had the pike away along up to the edge of
Middletown, and our position was admirable every way.
" What was the real cause of the halt in our progress? There has
been a great deal of misunderstanding on this point. I saw that the

222 THE LIFE OF
enemy had a strong position, but that it was the last one they could hold.
We had one of the finest positions for posting artillery I ever saw —
right on the highest point of the pike south of Middletown, and east
and above Sheridan's headquarters. I called for Colonel Carter, the
chief of artillery, and wanted thirty guns planted right there, and we
would have battered that Federal line all to pieces, demoralized an
already beaten army, and sent it in utter panic down the valley. Let
me tell you the real cause of our failure to get the artillery effectually
at work. We did get a few guns — enough to break the line — but
herein comes the lamentable feature of that day's business. You know
Early says that the final defeat was caused by the demoralization of his
own men in plundering the Federal camp and in gorging on sutlers'
supplies there captured. There isn't a word of truth in it. There
never was less straggling or plundering among any troops than there
was in our army that morning. I had them well in hand, and had
issued the strictest orders that any soldier falling out for plunder should
be shot instantly.
" That whole statement is false. The real trouble was here. I
was making every effort to get a mass of artillery in position when
General Early rode up. He was wild with joy. I exclaimed ' Gen
eral Early, give me thirty pieces of artillery right here and we will
destroy that army and send its fragments over the Potomac' I knew
that the supreme moment had come.
"'No, no,' he said. 'We've won a great victory; we've done
enough for one day; we will stop here.'
" ' But,' I said, ' let us finish the job. It is true we have won a
great victory ; let us complete it. We can do it in an hour, and so
destroy that army that it will never show its head in the valley again.'
"But General Early said no; that the men had seen fighting
enough, and that we had won glory enough for one day.
" ' Very well, sir,' I replied ; ' then I will return to my command.'
" Until then I had had charge ofthe entire movement on the right.
I did return to my corps, and Early carried on the battle. We
followed up the Federals as they retreated. Our men were too much
elated with their victory.
As to Early's own conduct on the field, General Gordon permitted
himself to say nothing. He describes vividly how the battle changed :
" Every body knows about how Sheridan reached the field in the
nick of time, and how he came thundering down from Winchester.

GEN. PHIL H. SHERIDAN.

223

He found his men
scattered along
the road in terror-
stricken confu
sion, and he com
pelled them to
turn about and
follow him. He
was a fury on
horseback, dash
ing here and there
among the flying
soldiers and beat
ing them back to
the field of death
which they had
quitted. Mean
while, the men
who werejretreat-
ing from the front
had been brought
to some sort of
order. Then fol
lowed one of the most extraordinary reversals in the history of any
war. As soon as Sheridan reached the field he re-formed his line and
practiced upon us precisely the same movement which had demoralized
his own forces in the morning. He just moved around our flank,
swept down it, and whipped us out of existence. He broke our line
all to fragments, and routed the whole army most absolutely. It was
as thorough a defeat as I ever saw. The day had dawned upon victory
and exultation. It closed upon utter disaster and dejection. Two dis
tinct battles had been fought, and in the last we lost all that we had
gained in the first one, and all that we had before. The reaction was
dramatic in its suddenness and completeness, and when we left the field
that evening, the Confederacy had retired from the Shenandoah. It
was our last real fight in the valley."
In regard to the number of killed and wounded on the Union side
General Gordon overstates the facts a little. We fought four great
battles and won each one of them, with the loss, in killed of but 1,938,

GEN. EBEN J. FARNSWORTH,

A DARING CAVALRY OFFICER, KILLED AT GETTYSBURG.

224 THE LIFE OF
and of wounded 11,893. The missing numbered 3,121; in all 16,-
952. These figures include all skirmishes and cavalry fights during a
period of seven months. It was, therefore, impossible that our loss
could be as great. As a matter of fact, it was less in the morning rout by
nearly one-half of our loss at Winchester or Opequan Ford.
General Gordon's statement is, however, a most noteworthy one.
The character of its author is a clear guarantee of its truthfulness, so
far as he was able to know the facts in their completeness.
The roster of the Confederate army serving under General Early, at
the date of Sheridan's arrival in the valley, was as follows :
ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY OF THE VALLEY DISTRICT, ON
SEPTEMBER 30, 1864.
Lieutenant-General Jubal Early, Commanding.
RHODES DIVISION.
Major-General S. D. Ramseur, Commanding.
Grimes' Brigade. — Brigadier-General Bryan Grimes : Thirty-second North
Carolina, Colonel D. G. Cowand ; Forty-third North Carolina, Colonel J. R.
Winston; Forty-fifth North Carolina, Colonel J. R. Winston; Fifty-third North
Carolina, Colonel D. G. Cowand; Second North Carolina Battalion, Colonel
D. G. Cowand.
Cook's Brigade. — Brigadier-General Phil Cook : Fourth Georgia, Lieutenant-
Colonel W. H. Willis; Twelfth Georgia, Captain James Everett; Twenty-first
Georgia, Captain H. J. Battle; Forty-fourth Georgia, Lieutenant-Colonel J. W.
Beck. Cox's Brigade. — Brigadier-General W. R. Cox : First North Carolina, Cap
tain W. H. Thompson ; Second North Carolina, Captain T. B. Beall ; Third
North Carolina, Captain W. H. Thompson ; Fourth North Carolina, Colonel
Ed. A. Osborn ; Fourteenth North Carolina, Captain Joseph Jones ; Thirtieth
North Carolina, Captain J. C. McMillan.
Battle's Brigade. — Brigadier-General C. A. Battle : Third Alabama, Colonel
Charles Forsyth ; Fifth Alabama, Lieutenant-Colonel E. L. Hobson ; Sixth
Alabama, Captain J. Green; Twelfth Alabama, Captain P. D. Rose; Sixty-first
Alabama, Major W. E. Pinckard. GORDON'S DIVISION.
Major-General John B. Gordon, Commanding.
Hay's Brigade. — Colonel Wm. Monaghan : Fifth Louisiana, Major A. Hart;
Sixth Louisiana, Lieutenant-Colonel J. Hanlon ; Seventh Louisiana, Lieutenant-

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 22^
Colonel T. M. Ferry; Eighth Louisiana, Captain L. Prados ; Ninth Louisiana
Colonel Wm. R. Peck.
Stafford's Brigade. — Colonel Eugene Waggaman : First Louisiana, Captain
Joseph Taylor; Second Louisiana, Lieutenant-Colonel M. A. Grogan; Tenth
Louisiana, Lieutenant-Colonel H. D. Monier; Fourteenth Louisiana, Lieuten
ant-Colonel David Zable ; Fifteenth Louisiana, Captain H. J. Egan.
Evan's Brigade. — Colonel E. N. Atkinson (October 30th, Brigadier-General
C. A. Evans): Thirteenth Georgia, Colonel John H. Baker; Twenty-sixth
Georgia, Lieutenant-Colonel James S. Blain ; Thirty-first Georgia, Colonel
John H. Lowe; Thirty-eighth Georgia, Major Thomas H. Bomar; Sixtieth
Georgia, Captain Milton Russell; Sixty-first Georgia, Captain E. F. Sharpe;
Twelfth Georgia Battalion, Captain J. W. Anderson.
Terry's Brigade. — Brigadier-General William Terry: Stonewall Brigade,
Colonel J. H. S. Frink (October 30th, Colonel A. Spangler) : Second Virginia,
Fourth Virginia, Fifth Virginia, Twenty-seventh Virginia, Thirty-third Vir
ginia; J. M. Jones Brigade, Colonel R. H. Dungan (October 30th, Colonel
W. A. Whitcher) : Twenty-first Virginia, Twenty-fifth Virginia, Forty-second
Virginia, Forty-fourth Virginia, Forty-eighth Virginia, Fiftieth Virginia; G.
H. Steuart's Brigade, Lieutenant-Colonel S. H. Saunders (October 30th, Lieu
tenant-Colonel Martz) : Tenth Virginia, Twenty-third Virginia, Thirty-seventh
Virginia. EARLY'S DIVISION.
Brigadier-General John Pegram, Commanding.
Pegram's Brigade. — Colonel John S. Hoffman : Thirteenth Virginia, Captain
Felix Herskell ; Thirty-first Virginia, Lieutenant-Colonel J. S. K. McCutchen ;
Forty-ninth Virginia, Captain John G. Lobban; Fifty-second Virginia, Captain
J. M. Humphreys; Fifty-eighth Virginia, Captain L. C. James.
Johnston's Brigade.— Brigadier-General Robert D.Johnston: Fifth North
Carolina, Colonel John W. Lea; Twelfth North Carolina, Colonel Henry E.
Coleman ; Twenty-ninth North Carolina, Colonel T. F. Toon ; Twenty-third
North Carolina, Colonel C. C. Blacknall.
Godwin's Brigade. — Lieutenant-Colonel W. T. Davis : Sixth North Carolina,
Lieuteuant-Colonel S. McD. Tate; Twenty-first North Carolina, Major W. I.
Pfohl ; Fifty-fourth North Carolina, Captain A. H. Martin ; Fifty-seventh North,
Carolina, Captain M. H. Hunter; First North Carolina Battalion, Captain R. E.
Wilson. WHARTON'S DIVISION.
Brigadier-General G. C. Wharton, Commanding.
Echol's Brigade. — Captain Edmund S. Read: Twenty-second Virginia,
Captain Henry S. Dickerson ; Twenty-third Virginia, Captain John M. Pratt ;
Twenty-sixth Virginia, Captain Frank S. Burdett.
15

226 THE LIFE OF
Wharton's Brigade. — Captain R. H. Logan: Forty-fifth Virginia, Major
Alexander M. Davis; Fifty-first Virginia, Colonel August Fosberg; Thirtieth
Virginia Battalion, Lieutenant-Colonel J. Lyle Clark.
Smith's Brigade. — ColonelThomas Smith : Thirty-sixth Virginia, Lieutenant .
Jackson Vin ; Sixtieth Virginia, Captain A. G. P. George; Forty-fifth Virginia
Battalion, Captain W. B. Hensly; Thomas Legion, Lieutenant-Colonel J. R.
Lowe. KERSHAW'S DIVISION.
Major-General J. B. Kershaw, Commanding.
Wofford's Brigade. — Colonel C. C. Sanders : Sixteenth Georgia, Major
J. S. Cholston; Eighteenth Georgia, Colonel Joseph Armstrong; Twenty-
fourth Georgia, Colonel C. C. Sanders; Third Georgia Battalion, Lieutenant-
Colonel N. L. Hutchins; Cobb's Legion, Lieutenant-Colonel L. J. Glenn;
Phillip's Legion, Lieutenant-Colonel J. Hamilton.
Kershaw's Brigade. — Brigadier-General Conner: Second South Carolina,
Colonel J. D. Kennedy; Third South Carolina, Colonel W. D. Rutherford;
Seventh South Carolina, Captain E. J. Goggans ; Eighth South Carolina, Colo
nel J. W. Henagan; Fifteenth South Carolina, Colonel J. B. Davis; Twentieth
South Carolina, Col. S. M. Boykin ; Third South Carolina Battalion, Lieuten
ant [Colonel] W. G. Rice.
Humphreys' Brigade. — Brigadier-General B. G. Humphreys : Thirteenth
Mississippi, Lieutenant-Colonel A. G. O'Brien ; Seventeenth Mississippi, Cap
tain J. C. Cockran ; Eighteenth Mississippi, Colonel T. M. Griffin ; Twenty-first
Mississippi, Colonel D. N. Moody.
Bryan's Brigade. — Brigadier-General Goode Bryan: Tenth Georgia, Colo
nel W C. Holt; Fiftieth Georgia, Colonel P. McGloshan ; Fifty-first Georgia,
Colonel E. Ball; Fifty-third Georgia, Colonel J. P. Simms.
ARTILLERY DIVISION.
Colonel T. H. Carter, Commanding.
Braxton's Battalion. — Lieutenant-Colonel C. M. Braxton : Alleghany Artil
lery, Virginia, Captain J. C. Carpenter; Stafford Artillery, Virginia, Captain
W. P. Cooper; Lee Battery, Virginia, Lieutenant W. W. Hardwick.
Cutsha-w's Battalion. — Major W. E. Cutshaw : Orange Artillery, Virginia,
Captain C. W. Fry; Staunton Artillery, Virginia, Captain A. W. Garber;
Courtney Battery, Virginia, L. F. Jones.
McLaughlin' s Battalion. — Major William McLaughlin : Bryan's Virginia
Battery; Chapman's Virginia Battery ; Lowry's Virginia Battery.
Nelson's Battalion. — Lieutenant-Colonel William Nelson : Amherst Artillery,
Virginia, Captain T. J. Kirkpatrick; Fluvanna Artillery, Virginia, Captain J.
L. Massic; Milledge's Artillery, Georgia, Captain John Milledge.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

227

CAVALRY FORCES.
LOMAX' DIVISION.
Major-General J. J. Lomax.
McCausland's Brigade. — Brigadier-General J. McCausland : Fourteenth Vir
ginia; Sixteenth Virginia; Seventeenth Virginia ; Twenty-Fifth Virginia; Thirty-
seventh Virginia Battalion.
Johnson's Brigade. — Brigadier-General B. T. Johnson: Eighth Virginia;
Twenty-first Virginia; Twenty-second Virginia ; Thirty-fourth Virginia Battery ;
Thirty-sixth Virginia Battery.
Jackson's Brigade. — Brigadier-General H. B. Davidson : First Maryland;
Nineteenth Virginia ; Twentieth Virginia ; Forty-sixth Virginia Battalion ; Forty-
seventh Virginia Battalion.
Imboden's Brigade. — Colonel George H. Smith: Eighteenth Virginia;
Twenty-third Virginia; Sixty-second Mounted Infantry.
LEE'S DIVISION.
Wickham 's Brigade. — Brigadier-General W. C. Wickham : First Virginia,
Colonel Carter; Second Virginia, Colonel Mumford ; Third Virginia, Colonel
Owen; Fourth Virginia, Colonel Payne.
Lomax' Brigade. — Brigadier-General L. L. Lomax : Fifth Virginia, Colonel
H. Clay Pate; Sixth Virginia, Colonel Julien Harrison; Fifteenth Virginia,
Colonel C. R. Collins.
Rosser 's Brigade. — Brigadier-General Thomas L. Rosser : Seventh Virginia,
Colonel R. H. Dulany; Eleventh Virginia, Colonel O. R. Funsten; Twelfth
Virginia, Colonel A. W. Harman; Thirty-fifth Virginia Battalion, Lieutenant-
Colonel E. V. White.

SHERIDAN'S RIDE.
* But there is a road from Winchester town, I A steed as black as the steeds of night,
A good, broad highway leading down ; i ^ Was seen to pass, as with eagle flight."
And there, through the flush ofthe morning light, I *
[From an Original Painting by Copeiand, of Boston.]

Chapter XIX.

SHERIDAN'S RIDE.
J the dash to cedar creek — how the ride was made — sheridan's war-
horse — A DESPERATE SITUATION — THE TIDE OF BATTLE RUNNING
AGAINST THE UNION TROOPS — A FRESH INSPIRATION FOR THE ARMY —
HOW THE STORY OF IT CAME TO BE WRITTEN — HOW T. BUCHANAN READ
GOT HIS INSPIRATION".
Between Winchester and Cedar Creek sixteen to eighteen miles of
turnpike stretched away up the beautiful valley that had been made
desolate by the torch and tramp of armies. As that charming region,
clad in the garb of summer, lay between the mountains, its bright
colors reflected in the rays of a mellow sunshine, it was but a sad
reminder of the once great granary that for more than three years of
conflict had furnished untold supplies to the Confederate Army.
Sheridan had laid it waste.
He had clinched with and beaten Early at Winchester, and now
he was hurrying with all speed back to the scenes of strife, where the
tide of battle was ebbing and flowing upon a new field, and the fate
of the day hung trembling in the balance.
For several weary, doubtful hours the two armies had been in deadly
conflict. When Sheridan arrived at Winchester, the roar of artillery
and the roll of musketry could be distinctly heard from the field of
carnage along Cedar Creek. Down the valley came the awful din,
echoing louder and louder through the still summer air, as the battle
grew fiercer. There was but short delay at Winchester, the chief
town in the lower valley.
There Sheridan mounted his favorite war-horse, — a large, beautiful,
sinewy, black charger, who had borne his master through the heat of
many conflicts. He is dead now, and his body has been preserved,
that men yet to corne may see the animal whose endurance has been
recorded in enduring verse. Through the town and out over the turn
pike which leads up the Shertandoah, Sheridan rode.

230 THE LIFE OF
Who, knowing the quality of the man, cannot picture the restless
rider urging his horse to his utmost speed to reach the field where the
fate of his army was still pending in the hazard of war. He had only
covered a few miles, when the moving mass of .debris which always
surges at the rear of a battle-field when the conflict is severe and doubt
ful, met his trained eye, and told more plainly than words what was
going on in front. It was a signal of distress, and none knew it better
than he. The sight fired his heart anew, and only added fresh impetus
to his foaming horse. He reached the field after a sleepless night and
a terrific journey, and the battle of Cedar Creek was won. Both poet
and painter took up the theme of the ride and made it famous.
" I was not with Sheridan at this time," said James E. Murdoch,
" but was at the headquarters of the Arm}' of the Cumberland. Soon
after the battle of Cedar Creek, I came up to Cincinnati and was visit
ing Mr. Cyrus Garrett, whom we called ' Old Cyclops.' He was
T. Buchanan Read's brother-in-law, and with him the poet made his
home. The ladies of Cincinnati had arranged to give me a reception
that finally turned into an ovation. I had given many readings to raise
funds to assist their Soldiers' Aid Society, and they were going to pre
sent me with a silk flag. Pike's Opera House had been secured, the
largest place of amusement in the city, and they had made every arrange
ment to have the reception a very dramatic event. The morning of the
day it was to take place. Read and I were, as usual, taking our break
fast late. We had just finished, but were still sitting at the table
chatting. " Mr. Garrett, the brother-in-law, a business man and guided by
business habits, came in while we were thus lounging. He wore an air
of impatience, and carried a paper in his hand. He walked directly up
to Read, unfolded a copy of Harper's Weekly and held it up before the
man so singularly gifted as both poet and painter. The whole front
ofthe paper was covered with a striking picture representing Sheridan,
seated on his black horse, just emerging from a cloud of dust that rolled
up from! the highway as he dashed along, followed by a few troopers.
"'There,' said Mr. Garrett, addressing Read, w see what you have
missed. You ought to have drawn that picture yourself and gotten the
credit of it ; it is just in your line. The first thing you know somebody
will write a poem on that event, and you will be beaten all round.'
"Read looked at the picture rather quizzically — a look which I
interrupted by saying :

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

231

'"Old Cy
clops is right,
Read, the subject
and the circum
stance are worth
a poem.'
'"Oh no,'
said Read, 'that
theme has been
written to death.
There is " Paul
Revere' s Ride,"
" Lochinvar,"
Tom Hood's
"Wild Steed of
the Plains," and
half a dozen
other poems of
like character.'
"Filled with
the idea that this
was a good
chance for the
gifted man, I
said :
" ' Read, you
are losing a great
opportunity. If
I had such a

GEN. JUBAL EARLY,
SHERIDAN'S ANTAGONIST AT WINCHESTER.
[From a Photograph taken since ihe War.]

poem to read at my reception to-night, it would make a great hit.'
" ' But, Murdoch, you can't order a poem as you would a coat. I
can't write anything in a few hours that will do either you or me any
credit,' he replied rather sharply.
" I turned to him, and said :
" ' Read, two or three thousand of the warmest hearts in Cincinnati
will be in Pike's Opera House to-night at that presentation. It will be
a very significant affair. Now, you go and give me anything in rhyme,
and I will give it a deliverance before that splendid audience, and you
can then revise and polish it before it goes into print.'
" This view seemed to strike him favorably, and he finally said :
" ' Well ! Well ! We'll see what can be done,' and he went upstairs

232 THE LIFE OF
to his room. A half hour later, Hattie, his wife, a brilliant woman,
who is now residing in Philadelphia, came down and said :
" ' He wants a pot of strong tea. He told me to get it for him, and
then he would lock the door and must not be disturbed unless the house
was afire.'
' ' Time wore on, and in our talk on other matters in the family circle
we had almost forgotten the poet at work upstairs. Dinner had been
announced, and we were about to sit down, when Read came in and
beckoned to me. When I reached the room, he said :
" ' Murdoch, I think I have about what you want.'
" He read it to me, and with an enthusiasm that surprised him, I
said, ' It is just the thing.'
" We dined, and at the proper time, Read and I, with the family,
went to Pike's Opera House. The building was crowded in every
part. Upon the stage were sitting 200 maimed soldiers, each with an
arm or a leg off. General Joe Hooker was to present me with the
flag the ladies had made, and at the time appointed we marched down
the stage toward the footlights, General Hooker bearing the flag, and I
with my arm in his. Such a storm of applause as greeted the appear
ance I never heard before or since. Behind and on each side of us were
the rows of crippled soldiers, — in front the vast audience, cheering to
the echo. Hooker quailed before the warm reception, and growing ner
vous, said to me in an undertone :
" ' I can stand the storm of battle, but this is too much for me.'
" ' Leave it to me,' said I, ' I am an old hand behind the footlights
and will divert the strain from you.' So quickly I dropped upon my
knee, took a fold of the silken flag and pressed it to my lips. This
by-play created a fresh storm of enthusiasm, but it steadied Hooker, and
he presented the flag very gracefully. I accepted it in fitting words.
" I then drew the poem Read had written from my pocket, and
with proper introduction, began reading it to the audience. The vast
assemblage became as still as, a church during prayer-time, and I read
the three verses without a pause, and then the fourth :
" ' Under his spurning feet the road
Like an arrowy Alpine river flowed,
And the landscape sped away behind
Like an ocean flying before the wind,
And the steed, like a bark fed with furnace ire,
Swept on, with his wild eyes full of fire.
But lo ! he is nearing his heart's desire ;
He is snuffing the smoke of the roaring fray,
With Sheridan only five miles away.'

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 233
" As this verse was finished the audience broke into a tumult of
applause. Then I read with all the spirit I could command :
" ' The first that the general saw were the groups
Of stragglers, and then the retreating troops.
What was done? what to do? a glance told him both ;
Then striking his spurs, with a terrible oath,
He dashed down the line, 'mid a storm of huzzas,
And the wave of retreat checked its course there, because
The sight of the master compelled it to pause.
With foam and with dust the black charger was gray ;
By the flash of his eye, and his red nostrils' play,
He seemed to the whole great army to say,
" I have brought you Sheridan all the way
From Winchester, down to save the day." '
"The sound of my voice uttering the last word had not died away,
when cheer after cheer went up from the great concourse that shook
the building to its very foundation. Ladies waved their handkerchiefs
and men their hats, until worn out with the fervor of the hour. They
then demanded the author's name, and I pointed to Read, who was
sitting in a box, and he acknowledged the verses.
"In such a setting and upon such an occasion as I have been able
only faintly to describe to you, the poem of Sheridan's ride "was given
to the world. It was written in about three hours, and not a word was
ever changed after I read it from the manuscript, except by the addition
of the third verse, which records the fifteen-mile stage of the ride :
" ' But there is a road from Winchester town,
A good, broad highway leading down ;
And there, through the flush of the morning light,
A steed as black as the steeds of night
Was seen to pass, as with eagle flight,
As if he knew the terrible need ;
He stretched away with the utmost speed ;
Hills rose and fell ; but his heart was gay,
With Sheridan fifteen miles away.'
" This Mr. Read wrote while on his way, shortly after I first read the
poem, to attend a birthday reception to William Cullen Bryant. Mr.
Read read the poem, thus completed, at Mr. Bryant's birthday party.
The great old man listened to every line of it, and then, taking the
younger poet by the hand, said, with great warmth, ' That poem will
live as long as " Lochinvar." ' "

234 THE LIFE OF
The heroic verse in which Mr. Read so graphically describes General
Sheridan's wonderful ride is here quoted in full :

SHERIDAN'S RIDE.

Up from the south at break of day,
Bringing to Winchester fresh dismay,
The affrighted air with a shudder bore,
Like a herald in haste, to the chieftain's dqor,
The terrible grumble, and rumble, and roar,
Telling the battle was on once more,
And Sheridan twenty miles away.
And wider still those billows of war
Thundered along the horizon's bar ;
And louder yet into Winchester rolled
The roar of that red sea uncontrolled,
Making the blood of the listener cold,
As he thought of the stake in that fiery fray,
And Sheridan twenty miles away.
But there is a road from Winchester town,
A good, broad highway leading down ;
And there, through the flush of the morning light,
A steed as black as the steeds of night,
Was seen to pass, as with eagle flight,
As if he knew the terrible need ;
He stretched away with his utmost speed ;
Hills rose and fell ; but his heart was gay,
With Sheridan fifteen miles away.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. ' 235
Still sprung from those swift hoofs, thundering south,
The dust, like smoke from the cannon's mouth ;
Or the trail of a comet, sweeping faster and faster,
Foreboding to traitors the doom of disaster.
The heart of the steed, and the heart of the master,
Were beating like prisoners assaulting their walls,
Impatient to be where the battle-field calls ;
Every nerve of the charger was strained to full play,
With Sheridan only ten miles away.
Under his spurning feet the road
Like an arrowy Alpine river flowed,
And 'the landscape sped away behind
Like an ocean flying before the wind,
And the steed, like a bark fed with furnace ire, ,
Swept on, with his wild eye full of fire.
But lo ! he is nearing his heart's desire ;
He is snuffing the smoke of the roaring fray,
With Sheridan only five miles away.
The first that the general saw were the groups
Of stragglers, and then the retreating troops.
What was done ? what to do ? a glance told him both ;
Then striking his spurs, with a terrible oath,
He dashed down the line, 'mid a storm of huzzas,
And the wave of retreat checked its course there, because
The sight of the master compelled it to pause.
With foam and with dust the black charger was gray ;
By the flash of his eye, and his red nostrils' play,
He seemed to the whole great army to say,
' I have brought you Sheridan all the way
From Winchester, down to save the day."

236 GEN. PHIL H. SHERIDAN.
Hurrah ! hurrah for Sheridan !
Hurrah ! hurrah for horse and man !
And when their statues are placed on high,
Under the dome of the Union sky,
The American soldiers' Temple of Fame ;
There with the glorious general's name,
Be it said, in letters both bold and bright,
" Here is the steed that saved the day,
By carrying Sheridan into the fight,
From Winchester, twenty miles away ! "

GENERAL SHERIDAN'S HEADQUARTERS AT
WINCHESTER.
THE RESIDENCE OF LLOYD LOGAN, ESQ.

Chapter XX.

THE UNION CAVALRY AND ITS COM
MANDERS.
HOW OUR CAVALRY BECAME EFFECTIVE — MOUNTED INFANTRY AND ITS USES —
SHERIDAN AND CAVALRY REORGANIZATION — HOW THE COMMANDERS WERE
BRED — THE BATTLE OF TOM'S RUN, AND THE "WOODSTOCK RACES" — A
GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF BATTLE — CUSTER, THE EMBODIMENT OF WAR —
STORIES OF THE YELLOW-HAIRED CAVALRYMAN — SKETCHES OF OTHER COM
MANDERS — THE VALUE OF CAVALRY — DESTROYING RAILROADS.
When the Civil War began, Lieutenant-General Scott, then in com
mand of the army, was quite hostile to the organization of a large cav
alry force. The men ofthe West, especially, were anxious for mounted
service. Naturally they desired this, for outside the cities and towns —
both smaller, and the towns not so numerous as now — the young men of
America were all horsemen. They may not have had the " cavalry seat,"
but they all knew how to ride. It was this fact that made the transfer so
easy in the West of large bodies of infantry into a very efficient cavalry
army. And in that fact may be seen another, and that is, that our
mounted force did a large proportion of its serious fighting on foot.
The utility of the service was in its celerity and activity. The cavalry
soldier, properly handled, is the eye and hand of an army. He should
be the embodiment of the perceptive faculties, used by the reason to
base action upon. The value of cavalry in all modern warfare has been
greatly enhanced by the large experiences earned in the slave-holders'
rebellion. The Southern military authorities were open from the out
set to the value of the mounted soldier. They made of the service a
special feature, by requiring the cavalryman to furnish his own horse.
From the first, then, the Confederates outnumbered us in that direction.
It took two years of actual warfare to make our War Department see the
great need of this special service. And it was under Sheridan's fight
ing quality that it received the first marked impetus. The Booneville
battle, and raid on the Mobile and Ohio railroad were the first marked

238 THE LIFE OF
incidents of that character on our side. The utility of cavalry in the
destruction of communications, as "well as in developing an enemy's
movements, was then made apparent. Rosecrans was first among
Union generals to improvise a cavalry force — mounted infantry, under
the dashing Wilder, being first employed in the Army of the Cumber
land, after the battle of Stone River. Generals Stanley, St. George
Cooke, and Stoneman, of the regular army, had already made very
efficient the small force of volunteer cavalry which red tape and techni
cal theories had allowed to be recruited and organized. Out of these
regiments came some of the most capable and brilliant commanders of
the war, especially of those who under Grant and Sheridan were
enabled, during its last year of daring deeds and tremendous conflicts,
to accomplish so much in and with the Army of the Potomac for the
closing triumph of the Union cause.
Another force that tended, when the war was well underway and
sweeping in its fulness over the vast continental field of its action, was
the fact that so large an area was embraced within the border states,
divided as they were between the two camps. Bush-whacking by Con
federate partisans in Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and
elsewhere, rendered necessary resisting organization as active as that
of the guerrillas, who, mounted, were here and there as if in a flash, and
being well informed by their neighborhood allies, were able to make
of partisan fighters like Moseby in Virginia, Morgan and Duke in
Tennessee and Kentucky, and even Quantrell in Missouri, a most
formidable obstacle to Union success. As a consequence of this, the
enrolled Union militia of the border states soon became in large pro
portion, a mounted force, trained to fight as infantry, but moving as
cavalry. A notable example of this was seen in the fall of 1864, when
Sterling Price, with some eighteen thousand mounted men, invaded
Missouri and the Kansas borders, increasing his force to some thirty
thousand, and was met, defeated, and driven out by the mounted forces,
never over eight thousand in action, and usually not more than five
thousand, ofthe Departments of Kansas and Missouri, commanded by
Generals Alfred Pleasonton, James G. Blunt, Moonlight, Winslow, C. H.
Blair, Phelps, Cloud, and others. The same lesson was learned when
Morgan and Duke crossed the Ohio River and invaded parts of Indiana
and Ohio. It was the mounted forces that poured upon them in their
retreat through Kentucky, — that pounded their reeling lines into shat
tered fragments. It was the cavalry under that sturdy trooper, General
Grierson, that utterly destroyed the Mobile and Ohio railroad with its

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

239

adj uncts.
It was Sher
man's cav-
airy, or
rather his
"bum
mers"- — the
adventurous spirit
o£thatgreatarmywhich could not be
restrained,
and risked
all to see
and know
more than
their fel
lows on the
"march
t'o the
sea," and
" through
the Caro-
linas"— that so suc-
cessful ly
proved the
Confedera
cy to be " a
hollow shell," by destroying all the means of communication and trans
portation they could reach. It was General James H. Wilson, trained
in Virginia under Sheridan, whose splendid execution of the last great
cavalry raid in the Central South, beginning at Limestone, in Northern
Alabama, and closing in Georgia with the capture of Jefferson Davis
by Michigan and Wisconsin cavalrymen, under Colonels Pritchard and
La Grange, that effectually destroyed the possibility of further Confed-
¦ erate resistance after Appomattox, within the Cotton and Gulf States
at least. s
The cavalry service bred commanders, it seems. On our side there

GEN. JAMES H. WILSON,

ONE OF SHERIDAN'S FAMOUS GENERALS. HE CONDUCTED THE LAST GREAT
RAID IN WHICH JEFFERSON DAVIS WAS CAPTURED.

240 THE LIFE OF
may at a glance be named, McClellan, Franklin, Thomas, Reynolds,
Granger, Stanley, Sykes, Sturgis, Frederick Steele, McPherson,
Philip St. George Cooke, Kautz, Ord, Crook, Kilpatrick, Pleas
onton, Burnside, Merritt, Torbett, Wilson, Averill, Custer, Grierson,
and many another who graduated at West Point and entered the cav
alry arm of the service before and during the Civil War.
There is a marvelous fascination in it. The wondrous activity, the
ceaseless daring, the constant danger, the perpetual adventure, the free-
doin of motion, the companionship of man and horse, the open-air life,
the responsibility, also, — all combined to give to the cavalryman's life
a keener zest, and a large place in the administration of an army. "The
tented field", soon became a myth to the Union soldier on horseback.
He might or might not carry a shelter tent ; but all he wanted was on
his horse. The wagon train was gradually replaced, especially in the
western cavalry, by pack-mules. The call to "boots and saddle"
found them always ready, and the clear, resonant notes of the "charge "
tightened every rein, steeled every nerve, and made every man and
horse part of a terrible machine of war, and yet an individuality that
was full of character and freedom. It was the constant chance of per
sonal freedom of action that gave to our cavalrymen such aplomb and
dash. It was in 1864, however, under Grant, and commanded in person by
Sheridan, that the cavalry gained such high renown, proving itself to
be of the greatest consequence. What a consociation of brain and
will, of courage and power, of physique and character, was wrought
into the cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomac. Kilpatrick and
Pleasonton, notable and noted men — the latter, especially, a fine organ
izer ; the first a skillful, ambitious, and audacious fighter. Farns-
worth, Lowell, Putnam, Dahlgren, Russell, among many as worthy,
are names that flow to one's pen as types of the earlier cavaliers of the
Union, fighting in Virginia.
When Sheridan assumed command, on the 4th of May, 1864, ofthe
cavalry ofthe Army ofthe Potomac, he found himself at the head of three
divisions, reporting something over ten thousand effectives for duty.
Its organization had been perfected under Stoneman and Pleasonton,
and it had done some most excellent service, but neither of its earlier
leaders had succeeded in impressing himself sufficiently upon the army
or its commanding generals, to secure that independent administration
N and care for the cavalry necessary to make it a prime factor in the cam
paigns which had taken place. It had the preponderance of numbers

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 241
and a decided advantage in equipment, but the Confederate cavalry
had a higher morale, and had so far counted for much more in the
operations ofthe army to which it belonged. Indeed, notwithstanding
the gallant deeds of Bayard, Kilpatrick, Gregg, and of many junior
officers, our cavalry was not in military eyes " a thing of beauty and
a joy forever." General Hooker once perpetrated the cruel joke of
declaring he would offer a reward for a dead cavalryman, and Meade
himself told Sheridan it was no use talking of Stuart, as he would do
as he pleased anyhow — a statement which a short time later, the little
commander reversed by defeating the Confederate cavalry and leaving
its leader dead on the field.
There was incapacity somewhere. It certainly was not all with
the cavalry, for the same men were plumed with success when led by
the master. Sheridan found over half the cavalry on picket duty, with
a line of vedettes covering the army within sight of the infantry pickets
and of each other, and extending from left to right nearly fifty miles.
Such service had been exacted all winter. This is sufficient to prove
that the bad condition of the corps was not altogether the fault of its
officers. His first measure was to reduce the picket line, call in the
detachments, get extra duty men returned to their regiments, secure
remounts, new equipments and arms, and bend every energy to repair
damages and put the command in condition to take the field with the
rest of the army. In just one month from the day he took command
the army crossed the Rapidan, and from that time onward there was
never a word of censure for the cavalry corps. It covered the army's
front, flank, and rear wherever and whenever it moved, but it was no
longer broken up into detachments or strung out on useless picket lines.
It became at once a compact fighting corps, and as such inflicted con
stant and irreparable injury upon the enemy. Fighting on foot, it
assaulted and carried the enemy's intrenched positions, or held its own,
whenever occasion required it. Mounted and moving rapidly, it seized
strategic positions, or threw itself upon the enemy's flanks and rear,
broke his communications, destroyed his transportation, burned his
supplies, threatened his capital, and finally at Yellow Tavern met and
overthrew his cavalry, and killed J. E. B. Stuart, its most competent
and daring leader.
No cavalry corps ever did harder or better work than Sheridan's
command from the first of May till the end of July, 1864. It scarcely
ever rested by daylight from marching or fighting, and, what is still
more curious, its efficiency and spirit constantly grew, till it came to

242 THE LIFE OF
regard itself as invincible. Whether by night or by day, it was always
ready, and responded promptly and cheerfully to every demand made
upon it. Whatever despondency was elsewhere felt, there was never
a day till the war ended when Sheridan's cavalry did not go forth cheer
fully, even gaily, to its appointed tasks. This was doubtless due in
part to the greater freedom of action allowed it by General Grant,
but it is simple justice to add also, that a much greater part of it was
due to the untiring industry, the unflinching courage, the watchful
care, and, above all, to the cheerful alacrity with which General Sheri
dan performed his own duties, and inspired every officer and man in
his command to perform theirs.
Sheridan was, at the time he commanded the cavalry corps of the
Army ofthe Potomac, in his thirty-third year. He weighed about one
hundred and thirty pounds, but was as hardy and wiry as a wild Indian.
Always neatly but never foppishly dressed, indeed, scarcely ever dressed
in the regulation uniform of his rank, he was as natty and attractive a
figure as could be found in the whole army. With a clear and flashing
eye, a bronzed and open countenance, an alert and active carriage, he
appeared " at all times and under all conditions a bright and cheerful
figure, ready for any undertaking which might fall to his lot. He was
the prince of subordinate commanders, and by his unfailing alacrity
won his way straight to the confidence of those in authority over him.
Knowing well how to obey, he was able also to command.
The solid men were around and with Sheridan. Their work in
the Valley of the Shenandoah proved this. General Averill, as chief
of staff, established his reputation in administration, as well as fighting.
The disposal of the somewhat vaunted Rosser illustrates the mettle of
our troopers. The typical cavalry fighting of the valley was had after
Early's defeat at Fisher's Hill. Rosser, however, could not be
restrained. His force was greatly outnumbered, but the feelings of
himself and men were excited to a terrible pitch of fury by the awful,
if necessary destruction which Sheridan spread all over the Valley of
Virginia. Kershaw's division of cavalry, from Lee's army, arrived at
Early's headquarters, just as Sheridan commenced a leisurely return,
after Fisher's Hill and its subsequent pursuit down the valley, to his
own base of operations.
It gave new hope to the defeated rebels, and new fury to Rosser's
determination. The Confederate cavalry followed us down the valley,
watching, like enraged hawks, for an occasion to swoop upon our rear.
They made constant attacks, not dangerous in results, but annoying in

GEN. PHIL H.. SHERIDAN. 243
character. The sturdy Wesley Merritt was watched and struck at
when possible, by Lomax and Johnson, while Rosser marked the
golden-haired Custer for his quarry, striking, however uselessly, with
vindictive tenacity. Sheridan at last decided to halt one day and make
an end of "this new cavalry commander." There was a grim humor
in this announcement, like all of his dispatches of the period.
The first night of the march, Rosser fell on Custer's camp at Turkey-
town, near Brook's Gap. He was handsomely repulsed. All the next
day, as Custer moved leisurely to Columbia Furnace, his rear guard
was fighting Rosser's advance. The main body, in column of fours,
moved in the road. To the right and left detached parties burned every
barn and haystack to be seen. The rear guard followed at a slow w#lk,
the greater part deployed as skirmishers. When the enemy pressed
too close the men would halt and face about, and a brisk fusilade would
last some minutes, till the advancing "gray-backs" were repulsed.
Trotting onward, our rear guard would halt on the next hill or belt of
woods, to repeat the operation.
The rear guard did its constant fighting under the brilliant eyes of
its debonair and dashing commander, Custer, whose gay uniform and
that of his staff, with the bright, brazen instruments of the field band,
and the dark bronze of the bugles borne in his group of orderlies and
attendants, made a constant figure in the landscape, lurid with smoke,
bright with autumnal foliage, and lovely in its wonderful picturesque
ness. Custer's band was always a feature of his movements. They
might not be the best of players, but they could blow "Yankee Doodle,"
" Rally Round the Flag, Boys," and " Glory, Glory, Hallelujah," with
a martial vim, amid showers of whistling lead, that gave heart to the
fighters, if it did not win the plaudits of hypercritical musicians. The
scarlet necktie and golden locks of Custer were always followed by his
band and buglers, all of whom showed their ability at times to both
give blows as well as to "blow their own horns." Rosser's men fell
back when Custer galloped towards the rear. That 7th of October was
full of annoyance. Custer was outnumbered, Rosser having 3,500
to our 2,500 men. Merritt' s. column was allowed by Lomax and John
son to move on its work with but little molestation. He had about
twenty-five hundred effectives. General Powell, with 2,000 men, was
off to the right, following the Luray Valley, and separated from the
main command by hills and gaps. On the 8th, General Torbett, com
manding the division, determined to relieve Custer of the constant strain
of Rosser's pushing: One of Merritt's brigades was sent forward a mile
or so to develop Lomax.

244 THE LIFE OF
The experience ot three days had encouraged the confident Rosser.
Custer had been steadily falling back in the face of a superior force,
who fancied they were driving him. The arrival of Merritt's brigade
checked Rosser, after some severe fighting, which ceased at dark, when
Merritt withdrew to his own camp. That night " Little Phil" came
up to see how things were going. His orders were brief. " He must
get a lesson," was what he said of Rosser.
General Torbett's report says : " Qn the night of the 8th, I received
orders from Major-General Sheridan to start at daylight and whip the
rebel cavalry, or get whipped myself." Our infantry was concentrated
at Strasburg ; the cavalry was to the south, in front of that place.
Merritt was ordered forward with three: brigades, one on the pike,
and two to the left of it, and to get into communication with Custer.
The movement begun at break o'day has since been known as the
"Woodstock Races." Both commands were nearly equal, a slight
advantage being on our side. Custer had chafed under his position.
Now, side by side, he and Merritt — honorable rivals for honors, com
rades in a common cause — swept out together to attack Rosser and
Lomax. Rosser was Custer's classmate at West Point. The Michigander
swooped onward against the Virginian. On the pike moved that steady
old reserve brigade — " the regulars." Next to them was the Second
(Deven's brigade), with " Old Tommy," or the " Old War Horse," as
he was called, at its head. Then the Michigan men (Custer's First
Brigade) connected Merritt's line with that of their former division.
The Union line was perfect, and all were anxious to pay off the enemy.
On the other side of Tom's Run — a little stream easily passed — our
boys found Rosser and Lomax in line of battle and eager for the fray.
The Confederates were elated and overconfident. Their main position
was well chosen, occupying a low but abrupt range of hills on the
south side ofthe little run. . His dismounted men were strongly posted
behind stone fences at the base of the ridge he occupied. On the
crown was a line of extemporized works, where, with six guns, he
waited the coming attack, and had the advantage of seeing all of Cus
ter's movements. Both sides deployed within plain view of each other,
and the skirmishers opened with their carbines. Long lines of horse
men trotted on, loading as they went. Batteries galloped up, unlim-
bering on the first little knoll that presented itself, opening fire,
and mingling their crashing reports with the sharp crack of the repeat
ing rifles.
Custer rode from his staff out between the lines, and taking off his
sombrero, made a profound bow to his antagonist and shouted :

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 24^
"Let's have a fair fight, boys ; no malice."
Rosser said to his men :
" You see that Yank down there bowing? Well, that's Custer that
the Yanks are so proud of, and I'm going to give him the best whip
ping he ever got, — see if I don't ! "
Again Custer's hat was lifted, and the fight began. The rebel guns
opened furiously at short range. The hail of lead became heavier.
The trot in our lines turned into a gallop. Sabres were drawn. The
gray steel flashed in the October sun. The bugles blared their
brazen clangor. A loud shout pealed forth, every throat joining in
the hoarse outgoing. Away sped our lines. Apparently they were
but a whirling confusion of groups, dashing in isolation and without
order, on stone walls, made alive by curling lines of blue smoke,
as the crack, crack of cavalry carbines mingled with the roar of field
guns above and behind our forward, dashing, roaring lines. The
charge was a success : — Custer's dashes always were. The column
deployed in order — one regiment to the front, one to the right, and the
other to the left. " Forward the line ! " Sabres swinging, away they
went, striking right at the centre and curling round Rosser's flanks, as
if in a moment. Before he knew what had happened, his position was
inclosed in a semicircle of charging horses and flashing sabres. The
Confederates became demoralized at once. In spite of Rosser's every
effort, his "whole line broke and fled in the wildest confusion, running
for two miles, until, in very shame, one brigade turned at Rosser's fran
tic appeals, and succeeded in staying in an orderly retreat, what but a
few moments before had been an utterly beaten rabble. A battery was
got into position. Custer's advance, flushed and careless with victory,
was rudely halted by its fire and driven into momentary confusion.
Seizing the moment, Rosser charged with his remaining brigade and
forced Custer back half a mile. Then a battery of four guns made its
appearance, and again checked Rosser. Disappointed in his charge,
Rosser trusted to a defensive battle, while Custer re-formed his three
brigades for a second grand charge, and once more advanced.
It fared ill with Rosser and his men that they received this charge
at a halt, and trusted to a heavy fire for their defense. It did not stop
the Union advance for a second. Through the dust and confusion of
its charge was seen, far in advance, another cloud of dust out of which
shone the glittering horseshoes, as the rebel squadrons fled. Behind
them was nothing but an open field as far as Mount Jackson, twenty-
six miles away. Every gun opposite Custer was taken, and only one

246 THE LIFE OF
of Lomax' escaped. It was no longer a fight. The "Woodstock
Races" had begun. All the way to Mount Jackson the Confederates
flew before the Union soldiers like frightened sheep. The battle was
over, Custer was ahead, first and last. There was always a little con
tention between Merritt and Custer about it, but the men never
doubted. The Confederate cavalry commander, Rosser, was. undoubtedly a
brave and efficient officer. He was never known, however, to accept
defeat gracefully. To this day he has remained bitter, as the follow
ing, dated the 4th of May, 1887, and written to Major Holmes Con
rad, of Winchester, Virginia, will show :
My Dear Major : I have seen it reported recently in the news
papers that General P. ' H. Sheridan, United States Army, contem
plates, at an early day, another ride up the Shenandoah Valley. I had
hoped that our beautiful valley would never again be desecrated by his
footprints. Cold, cruel, and brutal must be the character of this soldier
who fondly cherishes memories of the wild, wanton waste and desola
tion which his barbarous torch spread through the valley, laying in
ashes the beautiful and happy homes of innocent women, young and
helpless children, and aged men, and who over these ruins boasted that
" now a crow cannot fly over this valley without carrying its rations."
General Sheridan has done nothing since the war to atone for his bar
barism during the war. We have not forgotten that during his reign
in New Orleans he asked that our fellow-citizens of Louisiana might
be proclaimed banditti in order that he might set the dogs of war on
them. I have forgiven the brave men ofthe Union armies whom I met
in honorable battle, and who finally triumphed over us in the great
struggle. Among them I can now name many of my warmest and
truest and most-prized friends. They are good and true to me, and
think none the less of us for having fought them. Indeed, they esteem
him highest among us who fought them the hardest. Sheridan is not
one of this kind, and he never accorded to us that peace which Grant
proclaimed. I now say to you, my dear major, and to our gallant
comrades who are now in the valley, that I hope you will allow this
man to make his triumphant ride up the valley in peace, but have him
go like the miserable crow, carrying his rations with him.
Yours truly, Thos. L. Rosser.
This letter caused a great sensation, as it was written at the very
time when Massachusetts soldiers were being entertained in Richmond,
and was a rare instance of a Southern man of high standing waving the
bloody shirt. The leading newspapers North and South denounced
General Rosser's letter. General Sheridan had only this to say of it :
" Rosser has not forgotten the whaling I gave him in the valley,
and I am not surprised that he loses his temper when he recalls it.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 247
Occasionally Rosser would come across small detachments of our
troops and would swoop down on them. Finally it was reported to me
that General Rosser had captured my pack train.' This made me mad.
Halting the entire army right in the road, I galloped to the rear, deter
mined to settle Rosser. I found the train was not captured, but was
coming in considerably scattered and broken up. I told Torbett I
wanted Rosser cleaned out, and that if he could not do it I would take
his division and do it myself. I concluded that I would remain and see
the work performed, and so informed Torbett. The following morn
ing Torbett went after Rosser, whose brigade was struck with an im
petuosity that caused it to scatter. We stripped the enemy of everything
they had captured ; all their guns except one, which subsequently fell
into our hands, and all their baggage, including the personal effects of
Rosser. It was a regular frolic for our boys. Torbett pursued Rosser
a distance of twenty-five miles. He did not trouble me further."
George Armstrong' Custer was an embodied apotheosis of war —
the very representative of a cavalry fighter. Like Sheridan, Sherman,
and Grant, he was from Ohio. But he went to West Point from
Michigan. He was born in 1839, and died at Rosebud, Dakota, in 1876,
in his thirty-seventh year, slain in battle by the .Sioux Indians. When
the Rebellion began, Custer was twenty-one, and in his last year at the
military academy. His was the class advanced a year in its graduation.
Six feet in height, finely proportioned, small hands and feet, narrow'
hips and broad shoulders, thoroughly abstemious in habits, a blonde of
the viking type, with handsome face and fine life-full eyes, Lieutenant
Custer, when sent for service in the field to McClellan's army, was the
beau ideal of a soldier. He weighed in the vigor of his service but
170 pounds. His head and face were long; his face was always sun
tanned, the eyes were' blue, and the hair and mustache a deep gold.
A man of immense powers of endurance, mental, as well as physical,
he had always in hand all his powers. In '62 he was made captain.
In '63 a brevet brigadier, and in '64 he was made a brigadier-general of
volunteers. He was then in his twenty-fourth year. Before he was
twenty-five he was made major-general. After the war he was made
lieutenant-colonel of the Seventh Cavalry. In June, '63, he assumed
command of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade, commanding it at Gettys
burg. He was wounded at Culpepper. In Sheridan's raid around Rich
mond, May, 1864, he showed especial capacity and courage. In Sheri
dan's second raid, the Michigan brigade, under Custer, made a splendid
fight at Trevilian Station. He was brevetted colonel in the regular

248 THE LIFE OF
army, September 19, 1864, for his gallantry at Winchester, and for that
and the Fisher's Hill battles he was, October 19th, brevetted major-gen
eral of volunteers. On the 30th of September, 1864, Custer assumed
command of his famous division, and with it fought on the 9th of Octo
ber, against his classmate, General Rosser, the brilliant battle of Wood
stock. He was first in the attack at Cedar Creek. In the decisive
movements of the next year, Custer's division fought and won the
battle of Waynesboro'. He was brevetted brigadier-general in the reg
ular army for services at Five Forks and Dinwiddie. What he was as
a cavalry commander may be seen by the congratulatory order fo his
troops, dated Appomattox Court House, April 9, 1865, in which he
congratulates them on having, during six months of continuous fighting,
often against great odds, captured in open battle, 1 1 1 field guns, sixty-
five battle-flags, and upwards of ten thousand prisoners, including
seven general officers. He wrote : " You have never lost a gun, never
lost a color, and never been defeated," and " have captured every piece
of artillery which the enemy has dared to open upon you." Custer
was a fine. writer, and a man of varied resources. The stories told ot
him are interesting. How he attracted men can be seen in the follow
ing incident, which brought him to McClellan's notice :
On the 22d of May, 1862, McClellan's army had arrived at the banks'
of the Chickahominy, some seven miles north of Richmond. No one
knew anything of the river's depth. General Barnard, chief engineer,
started off at once to reconnoitre. Custer being off staff duty, hap
pened to be around, and not knowing who he was, Barnard beckoned
him to come along. When they got through the swamps along the
shore, and came to the river, General Barnard said to the subordinate :
" Jump in." The order was instantly obeyed, and Custer forded the
stream, expecting every minute to be fired upon by the enemy's pickets
on the other side. All around was quite unknown, and he had drawn
his revolver and held it up over his head (he was up to his arm-pits in
the water), ready for anything. The general, in his report, called it
"firm bottom," but as he did not wade in himself, it was not very
technical. Custer got over to the other side, and hunted through the
bushes, and all along the beach, until Barnard, becoming nervous, made
signals for him to return. They were ignored until the lieutenant
satisfied himself there was no enemy around. He then forded back.
Barnard was so pleased that he ordered Custer to attend him to head
quarters. The lieutenant had been in Washington the winter before,
and spent all his money. He was shabbily clothed — indeed, rags were

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.. 249
to be seen — and, muddy and dripping, made a poor figure among the
showy ones of the little Napoleon's staff. The stuff that was in him
put all that aside. McClellan questioned the growing soldier, and ended
by asking him to accept a position on his staff. Till the day of his-
death, McClellan was first in Custer's affections.
In a very short time he received his appointment, and became Cap
tain Custer. He now begged to be allowed to take over some men
and capture the pickets on the other bank of the river. At the time
appointed, in the gray of the morning, he found his detail waiting, and
rode down to the Chickahominy. As the light grew stronger, he sud
denly heard some one say: "Well, I want to know! Ain't that
Custer? " " Why, by gracious, it's Armstrong ! How are you, Arm
strong? Give us your fist, old fellow.'' He had by a strange chance
fallen into the midst of Company A, Fourth Michigan Infantry, a
company raised at Monroe, his own home, and composed of all his old
schoolmates. " Well, boys, I am glad to see you ; you don't know how glad. But
I'll tell you I'm too busy to talk now, except to say this : All Mon
roe boys follow me. Stick to me and I'll stick to you ! Come ! "
And he rode into the water, followed by cries of " That's us, Arm
strong," "You bet we'll follow." And they did — and Custer captured
that morning the first Confederate battle-flag taken by a force of the
Army of the Potomac.
During one of the movements across the Rappahannock, Custer,
commanding the Michigan brigade, found himself suddenly cut off
from the main command by a body of 5,000 " gray -backs." Custer
looked at them for a few seconds with his peculiar planning glance,
and then shouted, rising in his stirrups and waving his hat above his-
head :
" Boys of Michigan, there are some people between us and home.
I'm going home ! who else goes? "
They all went, of course, following Custer's yellow locks, cleaving
a clear path right through the enemy. When they came "out of the
woods," Kilpatrick, the division commander, rode up and asked : " Cus
ter, what ails you?" " Oh, nothing," said Custer; "only we want
to cook our coffee on the Yank side of the Rappahannock, and not at
Libby and Andersonville."
When, on the nth of May, 1864, the Union cavalry corps was-
within four miles of Richmond on the Brook's pike, Custer was in the
advance. It was in this campaign that Sheridan or Torbett commenced

2^0 THE LIFE OF
the practice of giving Custer the advance, knowing he would not fail
them. The fight was soon on, and hotly, too. Stuart was in Sheri
dan's front, determined to stay his advance. It was in the engagement
that swiftly ensued that the Confederate cavalry leader was slain.
Here is the story :
On reaching some woods to his front, Custer ordered Colonel
Alger, of Michigan, to establish the Fifth and Sixth Michigan Cavalry
upon a line near the skirt of the woods, and hold his position till fur
ther orders. Being so ordered, Alger, with his Fifth Michigan, drove
the enemy through the timber to the opening. Then the order was
given to cease firing. Just at that instant, a Confederate officer, who
afterward proved to be General J. E. B. Stuart, rode up with his staff
to within four hundred yards of the line, when a man ofthe Fifth fired
at him. John A. Huff, of Company A, remarked : " Tom, you fired
too low " ; and turning to Colonel Alger, who stood near, he said :
" Colonel, I can fetch that man."
"Try him," said Alger.
Huff took steady aim over a fence, and fired. The officer fell.
Huff turned to the colonel, and coolly said : "There's a spread eagle
for you." Huff was killed a month later at Cold Harbor.
A volume. might easily be filled with similar stories. Custer stands
in history as the ideal American cavalryman, and for that reason this
description has been written, not with the idea of slighting the others,
gallant, able, and true, who were his comrades. But it were invid
ious still, not to mention the men who made the Union cavalry so fa
mous, as well as so important an arm of the service, teaching thereby
new lessons in the art of war.
Major-General Crook deserves especial mention, for though he
gained honorable renown as a corps commander, he was then as he
still is, essentially a cavalry leader. A classmate and intimate of Sher
idan himself, it was good fortune for both that brought them together
again in the closing year of the war. Crook has won, by sheer service
and hard fighting, the highest rank now known to the American Army.
He comes, next to Sheridan himself, to the beau ideal of a regular
soldier. He is now, as in the Civil War, simple, untiring, energetic,
full of resources, and of the most rock-bound stubbornness of courage.
Since the war closed, as an Indian fighter he has had more than his
•share of hard service and fighting. His experiences with the Apaches,
both in fighting and using them as soldiers, have been among the most
remarkable of any army officer. George Crook is in his fifty-eighth

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 2ji
year ; a man just above middle stature, of remarkably compact, mus
cular frame, and without superfluous flesh. He is a gray blonde, with
long and broad head, a long face, with Roman nose, strong but not
heavy jaw, of few words, and possessed of a pair of the keenest and
clearest of gray eyes.
Colonel J. W. Forsyth, Brevet Brigadier-General, United States
Army, of the Seventh Cavalry, is another of Sheridan's " boys." He
was a classmate of his old commander, and was his intimate friend
-and staff officer for years. Forsyth is a great contrast in figure and
height to General Sheridan, but no two men ever supplemented each
other more closely. Forsyth is a splendid trooper. His brother, G. S.
Forsyth, known far and wide as " Sandy," was a young staff officer in
the valley, and a dashing one, also. He proved, during Sheridan's
Indian campaign of 1868, the stuff of which he was composed by his
remarkable fight on the open prairie, with a very few companions,
against a large force of hostile Indians. Captain Forsyth,- with another
¦officer and their orderlies, was cut off from the main command. Sur
rounded on all sides, without water, they made a double rifle-pit with
their swords and bayonets, and successfully beat off the savage Kiowas
for over two days. Some of the party at least were killed ; all were
¦severely wounded, but the remainder were rescued alive, and recov
ered. General James H. Wilson, a young West Pointer when the Civil
War began, was fortunate to be upon the staff of Major-General Grant
.at the siege of Vicksburg, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He
was early detailed to duties of importance, requiring the individual
judgment, generally in engineer work, and planning or superintend
ing constructions. In the Chattanooga he was sent to Knoxville to give
Burnside a clear view of the situation, and was accompanied on his
¦dangerous trip by Charles A. Dana, Assistant Secretary of War, who
volunteered for the service. He was, on Grant's transfer to the East,
made a brigadier-general, and under Sheridan commanded a division
of cavalry. Grant always had confidence in his judgment, coolness,
and courage. His military history up to the fall of 1864, was part of
that of the Army of the Potomac and its cavalry corps. There was
then a necessity to organize extensive raids in the Central South. By
October of that year the pounding and breaking process had to be
made more effectual in that section. Wilson was sent to Thomas, with
•orders to remount and reorganize 10,000 dismounted cavalrymen. He
speedily made them effectives, and was in the field until his troopers

252 THE LIFE OF
captured Jefferson Davis himself, in the latter part of April, 1865.
No more capable leader was to be found in the Union Army than Gen
eral Wilson. He was not as brilliantly sensational as Custer, or as
stubbornly indifferent in the field as the Pennsylvanian, General Gregg,
but he was a thoroughly competent and fully trained soldier, who grew
to the measure of every occasion. He showed decided ability for inde
pendent command in his operations through the Central South.
General McKenzie, the youngest officer of commanding rank now
in the regular army, rose into great prominence both as a cavalry
division and corps commander with the Army ofthe James, especially
so in the closing war raids and campaign in Virginia. Grant paid
him what is a very remarkable tribute, considering that at the period
whereof he writes, General McKenzie could not have been over twenty-
four years of age — younger, even, than Custer : "I regarded McKen
zie as the most promising young officer of the war. Graduating at.
West Point, as he did, during the second year of the war, he had won
his way up to the command of a corps before its close. This he did
upon his own merit and without influence."* Not all the dashing and
competent cavalrymen were from the regular army, though. A con-
. siderable number came from the city, as well as the farm ; from civil
life, as well as West Point. There was Russell A. Alger, of Michigan,
who looks like one of Napoleon's marshals. Colonel Briggs, of the
same state, is another, whose reputation as regimental commander is
among the first. General David McM. Gregg, of Pennsylvania, who
stepped from civil life into the command of a regiment, and almost
immediately of a brigade, proved himself to be one of the best of cav
alry commanders. " Old Steady " was his nickname, and he showed
his cool Scotch blood at every turn. Another civilian who proved
that he had the making of a fine soldier, is Colonel Benjamin R.
Grierson, now commanding a regular cavalry regiment, whose great
raid on the Mobile and Ohio railroad, in 1863, had so advantageous
an influence on the Vicksburg campaign of General Grant.
The names and memories flock to the brain, and are flowing to the
pen. Averill, gallant soldier, who had the early disadvantage of being
associated with the first defeats of the peninsula and under Sigel,
Fremont, and Hunter in the Shenandoah, but who fully proved his
capacity when rightly directed. Torbett, too, commander of Sheridan's
first division when the Army of the Potomac moved across the Rapidan ;
* Memoirs, Vol. II., p. 541.

GEN. PHIL H. SHERIDAN. 29
his chief of cavalry in the valley and on the march to City Point by way
of Charlottesville, against Lee. Sturdy Wesley Merritt, swinging
always to the front, never failing in any emergency ; chief of cavalry
on the final campaign, contesting all honors with Custer, and proving
his capacity in all positions. Brigadier-General Merritt has fully won
and deservedly wears his star in the regular army. There were " Old
Tommy "Deven and Davies, both West Pointers, and, as it were,
born into the army. The canvas crowds with names : Lowell, the
young and gallant son of New England ; Putnam, adding lustre to an
honored name ; General Duffle, of " Little Rhody," the dashing, gal
lant, and handsome Franco- American, who so gallantly served his adopted
country and state. He proved himself a fine cavalryman, and in the
earlier years of the war was quite conspicuous. Major McClellan, of
Stuart's staff', in his life of that Confederate commander, reports a severe
fight in which Colonel A. N. Duffie, then commanding the First Rhode
Island Cavalry, in 1862, was engaged. ¦ Colonel Duffie moved out with
orders for an extended scout on the left flank of General Gregg's
division, crossing the Bull Run Mountain by way of Thoroughfare Gap.
His command was to encamp at Middleburg on the same night, but at
4 p. m. encountered Stuart's pickets, and at once became engaged in a
severe fight. The pickets were followed so sharply as to cause Stuart
to fall back on Rector's cross-road. Had Duffie been well informed
of what was in his front, he could have inflicted considerable damage
and got away safely. He dispatched to Kilpatrick for aid, and held on,
fighting fiercely for three hours, till he was attacked by Robertson's
brigade ; retreated, and was met and struck by Chambers. The won
der is, says the Confederate writer, who gives Colonel Duffie great
credit here and elsewhere for military skill, as well as courage, that he
got away at all. The regiment lost 200 men, mostly as prisoners, but
the colonel and some other officers, with the balance, cut their way
through and escaped. Placed in command, Duffie was afterwards
taken prisoner, exchanged, returned to the field, and was killed in
battle. One of the saddest episodes in one of these Virginian raids was the
death of young Ulric Dahlgren. The rebel press sought at the time
to fasten the odium on him and his command of an attempt to exe
cute unmilitary orders. Dahlgren was killed within the environs of
Richmond, and his body, taken by the Confederates, was treated with
gross indignities. It was asserted that papers were found on him
ordering the burning of Richmond and the killing'of Mr. Davis, with

254 THE LIFE OF
other acts claimed as outside the laws of war. The following is the
Southern statement as to Colonel Dahlgren's reputed designs :
"Upon the body of Colonel Dahlgren were found papers which
disclosed the objects of his expedition. An address which was to be
delivered to his troops, and which was signed with his official signa
ture, directed that the city of Richmond should be burned and destroyed,
and that President Davis and his Cabinet should be killed. Another
paper containing special orders and instructions, but without signature,
made provision for the same course of conduct. Photographic copies
of these papers were transmitted under flag of truce by General Lee to
General Meade, and the inquiry was made whether the United States
Government or Colonel Dahlgren's superior officers approved or sanc
tioned such orders."
In his reply, General Meade denied that the United States Govern-
men, himself, or General Kilpatrick had authorized, sanctioned, or
approved the burning of the city of Richmond and the killing of Mr.
Davis and Cabinet, or any other act not required by military necessity
and in accordance with the usages of war. General Kilpatrick further
stated that the officers of Colonel Dahlgren's command all testify that
he issued no address whatever. General Kilpatrick added :
" Colonel Dahlgren, one hour before we separated at my head
quarters, handed me an address that he intended to read to his com
mand. The paper was endorsed in red ink ' approved ' over my
official signature . The photographic papers referred to are true copies
of the papers approved by me, save so far as they speak of exhorting
the prisoners to destroy and burn the hateful city, and kill -the traitor
Davis and his Cabinet, and in this, that they do not contain the endorse
ment referred to as having been placed by me on Colonel Dahlgren's
papers. The colonel received no orders from me to pillage, burn, and
kill, nor were any such instructions given me by my superiors."
It was expected or hoped that Dahlgren's command might reach
Libby Prison, Castle Thunder, and Belle Isle. The real address was
prepared in expectation of the colonel's having the power to send it in
by spies and other means. The denied portions thereof were undoubt
edly interpolated in order to re-fire the " Southern heart" and arouse
hostility to the Union in the North. It was a ruse that failed, however.
An idea of the service and of the importance it held may be seen in
the service rendered chiefly by the cavalry. The importance of the
cavalry in destroying lines of railroad communication was first sharply
demonstrated by Sheridan himself at Booneville, Mississippi. It was

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 25$
really an enlarged use of this branch of an army. Grierson came next,
and his raid was of greater importance. On the Confederate side,
Forrest, Wheeler, Morgan, and Duke were giving evidence of de
structive capacity. Sheridan followed again, and then Sherman's
forces demonstrated their power. Grant describes the process of rail
road destruction as follows, while speaking chiefly of Sherman's move
ments :
" Soldiers to do this rapidly would form a line along side of the
road with crowbars and poles, place these under the rails and ties, and,
hoisting all at once, turn over many rods of road at one time. The
ties would then be placed in piles, and the rails as they would be
loosened, would be carried and put across these log heaps. When
a sufficient number of rails were placed upon a pile of ties it would be
set on fire. This would heat the rails very much more in the middle,.
that being over the main part of the fire, than at the ends, so that they
would naturally bend of their own weight ; but the soldiers, to
increase the damage would take tongs, and one or two men at each
end ofthe rail, carry it with force against the nearest tree and twist it
around. All this work went on at the same time," as a rule.
" Some piled the logs and built the, fire ; while others would bend the
rails that were sufficiently heated ; so that, by the time the last bit of
road was torn up, that it was destined to destroy at a certain place, the
rails previously taken up were already destroyed." *
So we might go on describing and illustrating. Some one should
write the story in full of the cavalry service of the United States. In
these pages the endeavor is made to give a glimpse, at least, of the
"troopers" who served with " Little Phil," as well as of the general
himself. The early technical soldierly advantages were at first with the
Confederates in the cavalry organization. The Union side presented
its quality more slowly, but its technique, courage, capacity, and endur
ance were superb when it swung into action. And to it all, as the
scenes rise at Memory's command, may it not be said with Shakespeare :
"Oh, farewell!
Farewell the neighing steed and the shrill trump,
The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife,
The royal banner; and all quality,
Piide, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war.
And O, you mortal engines, whose rude throats
The immortal Jove's dread clamors counterfeit,
Farewell." * Grant's Memoirs, Vol. II., p. 362.

GEN. JOHN B. IMBODEN,
A DISTINGUISHED CONFEDERATE GENERAL, OF VIRGINIA

wmm

GEN. W. W. AVERILL,
A FAMOUS CAVALRY GENERAL UNDER STONEMAN,
PLEASONTON, AND SHERIDAN

Chapter XXI.

FROM THE VALLEY TO CITY POINT.
HOW SHERIDAN WENT BACK TO GRANT  CLEARING THE LOUDOUN AND LURAY
VALLEYS  GREAT IMPORTANCE OF SHERIDAN'S NEW ORDERS  GRANT
PREPARING FOR THE LAST FIGHTS — THE UPPER SHENANDOAH LEFT FREE
OF A FOE — CUSTER'S BOLD FIGHT FOR ROCKFORD GAP — EARLY' S ROUT AND
DISAPPEARANCE  SURRENDER OF CHARLOTTESVILLE ^— DESTRUCTION OF
THE JAMES RIVER CANAL  BURNING BRIDGES  BLOWING UP LOCKS  DE
STROYING RAILROADS  PANIC IN RICHMOND — CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT
READY TO TAKE HORSE-BACK  AT CITY POINT — GRANT'S ORDERS — SHERI
DAN'S DESIRE TO " END THE BUSINESS RIGHT HERE" — THE WAY TO FIVE
FORKS.
The winter came on apace after Rosser was disposed of. Early,
whirling down the valley, obtained no delay by Rosser's aid. The
chill days were, however, made warm enough to horse and man by the
constant activity the Confederate cavalry steadily displayed. Sheridan
had disposed of a major part of his infantry. Wright and the Sixth Corps
were returned to the army around Petersburg. The. Ninth was sent to
other duty. Crook, with the Nineteenth Corps, was kept in the Shen
andoah Valley. The men -thereof were nearly all; West Virginians.
Averill' s fine cavalry division was of the same material, and remained
with Crook.
The Valley of the Shenandoah runs from Harper's Ferry, on the
Potomac, south by west, to the extreme corner of the Old Dominion,
in that direction. Its west flank is the Shenandoah and Alleghany
Mountains proper, and its eastern flank is made from the Blue Ridge
range, on the east side of which are the rich fields of the Loudoun Val
ley, and the more picturesque one of Luray. The whole of Sheridan's
fighting occurred in the upper valley, until after Early's last defeat at
Strasburg and beyond. Lynchburg lies about eighty miles south by
east of Winchester. It is about sixty miles west, by ten south, of Rich
mond. Topographically, it lies about ten miles east of the southern
spurs of the Blue Ridge.
On the 24th of November, 1864, Sheridan started General Wesley
17

2^8 THE LIFE OF
Merritt on an extended raid, for the purpose of destroying supplies,
and preventing the concentration of any rebel forces to the east. He
left Winchester on the 28th, and moved east through Ashby's Gap, in
the Blue Ridge, towards Fairfax Court House, and thence to Centre-
ville, Manassas, and other points easterly and north, attacking and
driving Moseby's force, who made this region their chief field of oper
ations, returning to Winchester by the 3d of December, through the
Snicker Gap, and by way of Berryville.
On the 19th of December General Torbett's division, in two col
umns, passed eastward by Stormy Point and Chester Gap, sweeping a
large circle, by way of Front Royal on its northern arc, and Madison
Court House on its southern, and uniting at Gordonsville, below the
famous battle-field of Spottsylvania. They reached that point on the
23d, and returning, marched northward to Culpepper and Warrenton.
The division again took different routes, one column returning by way
of Salem to Winchester, and the other by White Plains and Middle-
bury to Paris, and thence to headquarters. A glance at the map of
Virginia will show the object of these expeditions, which were with
out any serious fighting, but damaging to the enemy, nevertheless.
Over a month passed in the valley without raids or expeditions of
any import on either side. Grant — drawing tighter the huge meshes
of the great net that slowly gathered about Richmond, the mouth of
which he himself held on the James River, at Petersburg and Bermuda
Hundred, while Sherman was slowly but surely compressing the
southern folds, being about to make his notable Christmas gift to the
Nation in the capture of Savannah, Georgia, — grew more anxious to
complete the necessary work of isolating destruction which remained
to be done to the immediate west of Richmond.
General Grant, in his Memoirs,* shows the importance of Sheridan's
position and impending action by the following review of the general
situation and the orders to the commander of the Middle Department :
" By the first of February all preparations were completed for the
final march (Sherman's), Columbia, South Carolina, being the first
objective ; Fayetteville, North Carolina, the second ; and Goldsboro',
or neighborhood, the final one, unless something further should be
determined upon. The right wing went from Pocotaligo, and the left
from Hardeeville on the Savannah River, both columns taking a pretty
direct route for Columbia. The cavalry, however, was to threaten
Charleston on the right, and Augusta on the left.
•Vol. II., pp. 4089.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 2^9
" On the 15th of January, Fort Fisher had fallen, news of which
Sherman had received before starting out on his march. We already
had New Bern, and soon had Wilmington, whose fall followed that of
Fort Fisher ; as did other points on the sea coast, where the national
troops were in readiness to cooperate with Sherman's advance when
he had passed Fayetteville.
" On the 18th of January, I ordered Canby, in command at New
Orleans, to move against Mobile, Montgomery, and Selma, Alabama,
for the purpose of destroying roads, machine shops, etc."
The cavalry leaders, Kilpatrick and Grierson, were already in the
field and at work, destroying and capturing; while General James H.
Wilson, of the Army of the Potomac, had been sent with his cavalry
division to move in conjunction with these great operations, through
and across the Central South. General Grant continues :
" On the 8th of February, I ordered Sheridan, who was in the Val
ley of Virginia, to push forward as soon as the weather would permit
and strike the canal west of Richmond at or about Lynchburg ; and on
the 20th I made the order to go to Lynchburg as soon as the roads
would permit, saying :
" ' As soon as it is possible to travel, I think you will have no diffi
culty about reaching Lynchburg with a cavalry force alone. From
there you could destroy the railroad and canal in every direction, so as
to be of no further use to the rebellion. . . . This additional raid,
with one starting from East Tennessee under Stoneman, numbering
from four to five thousand cavalry ; one from Eastport, Mississippi, ten
thousand cavalry ; Canby, from Mobile Bay, with about eighteen thou
sand mixed troops — these three latter pushing for Tuscaloosa, Selma,
and Montgomery ; and Sherman with a large army eating out the vitals
of South Carolina — is all that is wanted to leave nothing for the rebel
lion to stand upon. I would advise you to overcome great obstacles to
accomplish this. Charleston was evacuated on Tuesday last.' "
In preparation for the move on Lynchburg direct, or by the James
canal, back to City Point, Sheridan sent out his scouts, with detach
ments from the cavalry regiments to scour the country for guerrillas,
who were harassing our lines. This force marched 160 miles in fifty-
five hours, and brought in as captive the noted guerrilla, Colonel Harry
Gilmore, and twenty of his followers, with about one hundred horses,
besides having given a severe drubbing to the balance of the Confed
erate partisans.

260 THE LIFE OF
Winter quarters in the valley had been, on the whole, of an attractive
character for our cavalry. The six weeks of needed rest preceding
this, the last of Sheridan's extended raids, had been spent in the crisp,
cold winter days of that delightful region. Veteran troopers still
speak of their last winter in that field with pleasurable associations.
Men and horses were alike in good condition, both well fed, and the
men well clothed, and prepared for a severe campaign. The fine,
clear cold of a Virginia mid-winter vanished before the buglers'
" boots and saddles," and it was a cheerless and chilly morning, with
a cold, mizzling rain, that greeted the column when Sheridan moved
out of Winchester on the 27th of February, 1865. His force consisted
of the First Cavalry Division, under Merritt, the Third, under Custer,
and a brigade from Averill's division, consisting of three West Vir
ginia regiments, under Colonel Capehart. General Merritt serving
Sheridan as chief of staff, his division passed under the command
of General " Tommy " Deven. The small army was in light march
ing order, with only four days' rations of bread and meat stuffs, and a
larger supply of coffee, etc., and ammunition.
The Union columns inarched steadily up the romantic valley, passing
scores of little villages without halting, leaving their destination in
doubt to the curious residents, whether unfriendly or otherwise. Their
first objective point was Charlottesville, some sixty miles south by east
of Winchester. Moving by way of Staunton, they crossed the Blue
Ridge by Rockford Gap, at Mount Crawford. On the middle fork of
the Shenandoah River, just above Staunton, the Confederate Rosser
was encountered, prepared with a small force to dispute the passage of
the mountain stream. By a swift dash Colonel Capehart secured the
bridge, driving Rosser across in great confusion. The column moved
on to Staunton, and Custer was thrown forward in advance to seize
Rockford Gap.
At Waynesboro', on the west side of the ridge, Early was found
strongly intrenched with a force of 2,500 men. He had ostentatiously
boasted that Sheridan should never be permitted to pass through Rock
ford Gap. But Custer was in his front, sweeping all before him, and
without waiting for supports, the golden-maned trooper fell upon
Early's lines. This was on the' 2d of March. Early's intrenchments
were strong, but Custer was soon inside them. Some fierce fighting
ensued, the Union troopers charging boldly up to the earthworks and
leaping their horses over them. The Confederates met them as boldly,
with bayonet and clubbed rifles, but the invincible Michiganders and

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 261
others of Custer's following, swept onward, actually wiping out Early's
command. There' remained 1,600 prisoners in our hands, with eleven
field guns, seventeen battle-flags, and a train of 200 loaded wagons.
Early had been acting for ten weeks or so as the commissary guard of
Richmond and Lee. It was on this raid that Custer captured the gun
which some rebel wag had marked in this wise : " For General Phil.
H. Sheridan, U. S.A., care of General Jubal A. Early, C. S. A."
This defeat of Early finished his career as a military commander, which,
however, was, on the whole, a creditable one. Custer moved forward
at once, until he was in possession of the disputed gap. It is estimated
that at least a million dollars in military stores found at Waynesboro',
were destroyed by our forces. The region round about and eastward
of the gap had been almost entirely free from our raids. All grain
and forage supplies were destroyed, and the cattle were driven off
or killed. The author of Sabre and Spurs says : " The enemy fled. This
was the last seen of Rosser and his cavalry of which he had boasted so
much when he came into the valley the preceding autumn ' to clean
Phil. Sheridan up.' The destruction so systematically accomplished by
Sheridan was not unrecognized in its true character. Those who were
Union citizens had to suffer with the rest, for, as one of these said, ' If
you do not burn my grain the rebels will take it when they come this
way ; and I will help you.' At the same time he lit a match and set fire
to the only stack of wheat he had, and had depended upon to feed
himself and family."
The Union 'column moved across the Blue Ridge on the night of
the 3d of March, amid a cold and drenching rain, through which the
vedettes could barely see a dozen yards in advance of them. The road
was rugged and quite precipitous. There was reason to anticipate
resistance at some point as we moved forward. But none came, and the
morning broke with the splendid little army under Sheridan on the
east of the ridge, at a point considerably south of any that our troopers
had heretofore penetrated. The ammunition and pontoon trains were
left behind to be brought over more leisurely, while Sheridan pushed
rapidly toward Charlottesville, which place he occupied at 2 p. m. of
the 4th, the authorities meeting him in advance of his entrance and
surrendering without resistance. The two days occupied in waiting ,
for the heavy trains were employed by our troops in destroying all sup
plies, the railroad bridges, depots, factories, and other valuable works
useful to the Confederates. The railroad was rendered entirely useless .
for eight miles in the direction of Lynchburg.

262 THE LIFE OF
Information received through his scouts, coupled with the heavy
rains which had so swollen the streams as to render his pontoons use
less — they not making a bridge of more than half the length required
— made Sheridan decide not to attack Lynchburg, which, indeed, was
known to be too strongly garrisoned for his small force to risk an
assault upon. He decided, therefore, to divide his command and push
rapidly for the James River. One column, under General Deven, was
pressed to Scottsville, in Albemarle County, and the other through Lov-
ingston, to the same stream at New Market, in Nelson County. Cus
ter's column then proceeded along the canal to Duguidsville, hoping
there to find a bridge, and cross the James, but the Confederates
burned it. They also destroyed one at Hardwicksville.
pontoons could not span the river at either point. He was thus1
pelled to choose whether to return to Winchester, or to pass behind
Lee's army to White House, and thence to the Army of the James,
on Grant's right and to the north of his main position. Sheridan
chose the latter course, and proceeding eastward, destroyed the James
River canal as he went. It was then the chief channel of- supplies for
Richmond. The banks of the canal were blown up, and the locks
destroyed as far as Columbia. All the canal bridges were burned.
In a dispatch, dated March ioth, Sheridan said : " Everybody is
bewildered by our movements."
He did not know it then, but his operations were again producing the
greatest consternation in " Richmond on the James." The Confederate
government prepared itself for a sudden and rapid departure. The
records, treasure, etc., were all prepared for removal, great care being
taken in the manufacture of boxes, etc. , to prevent the facts being known,
so as to avoid a panic. The families of officials packed for a southward
journey. Lee hastened to Richmond from Petersburg, to hold close con
sultations with Davis and the Confederate Cabinet. His own family, who
were living on Franklin Square, not far from the capital, also made prepa
rations foran early departure. Chief Clerk Jones, ofthe Confederate State
Department, in noting these facts in his valuable diary, under date of
March 7th, says : " A large per cent, of the population would behold
the exodus with pleasure !" Again he says, that on the night after
Sheridan's arrival at Columbia, the government was so frightened
by a rumor that the bold trooper was at the outer fortifications of the
city, that " Secretary Mallory and Postmaster-General Reagan were in
the saddle, and rumor says that the President and remainder of the
Cabinet had their horses saddled in readiness for flight." The rebel

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

263

Congress was very
nervous. Davis
persuaded them not
to adjourn, as the
members wished,
in order to fly, on
the plea ' ' that pub-
lic necessity re
quired them to
remain as long as
pAsib^^^
I Kg in Co
lumbia for a day,
during which,
however, the canal
was. destroyed east
ward, as far as
Goochland, not
over, ten miles from
Richmond, Sheri
dan turned north
east with his whole
command, striking
the Virginia Cen
tral railroad, at
Tolersville. This
important line was utterly destroyed for fifteen miles, and as far south as
Beaver Dam Station. Custer in one direction, and Deven in another,
made complete destruction ofthe railway, its culverts and bridges. They
destroyed all supplies in the rear of Lee's army, thus inflicting another
fatal blow upon the Confederacy. General Sheridan having done his
work thoroughly, swept around by the Pamunkey River and White"
House, and joined the besieging army on the 26th of March. His
command had swept out of existence the Confederate power in Vir
ginia to the north of Richmond. He had disabled full two hundred
miles of railroad, destroyed all their bridges, and great quantities of
stores, inflicting a loss of many millions of dollars upon the already
weakened foe. His campaign was most potential in demoralizing the
Confederate soldiers, and disheartening the whole Southern people.
In his report of this raid General Sheridan said : "The first and

GEN. THOMAS C. DEVEN,
THE GALLANT COMMANDER OF THE SECOND BRIGADE, FIRST DIVISION,
SHERIDAN'S CAVALRY CORPS.

264 THE LIFE OF
second cavalry division, which belonged to the Army of the Shenan
doah had marched in midwinter over three hundred miles, in constant
rains, over almost impassable roads, and swollen streams, to participate
in the campaign, and were rewarded by the honor of having the flag of
the Army of Northern Virginia presented to them on the morning of
the surrender. . . . There perhaps never was a march where
nature offered such impediments and shrouded herself in such gloom :
incessant rain, deep and almost impassable streams, swamps and mud,
— all overcome with constant cheerfulness on the part of the troops.
Officers and men were buoyed up by the thought that we had com
pleted our work in the Shenandoah Valley, and were on our way to
help our brothers in arms in front of Petersburg in the final struggle."
The results of the campaign were, "besides the destruction of the
canal, bridges, etc. : prisoners, 1,603 i horses and mules, 2,154 i battle-
flags, 16 ; pieces of artillery, 17; small arms, 2,010. Our loss from
Winchester to White House did not exceed one hundred men, and some
of these we left by the wayside, unable to bear the fatigues of the march.
The host of negroes that came into our lines was sent by steamer to
Washington." The entire operations ofthe Shenandoah Army between
August 1, 1864, and March 1, 1865, resulted in the capture from the Con
federates of 13,000 prisoners, 101 field guns, twenty-four Union guns
recaptured, and forty-nine battle-flags, with many thousand small arms.
Our losses were: Killed, 1,938; wounded, 19,893: missing, 3,421.
We have no account ofthe Confederate killed, wounded, and missing.
In the Memoirs, Grant, after speaking of the Waynesboro' fight,
says :
" On the 1 2th of March I heard from him [Sheridan] again. He
had turned east to come to White House. He could not go to
Lynchburg, as ordered, because the rains had been so very heavy, and
the streams were so very much swollen. He had a pontoon train with
him, but it would not reach half way across some of the streams, at
their then stage of water, which he would have to get over, in going
south, as first ordered."
Again he wrote that " Sheridan had about ten thousand cavalry
with him, divided into two divisions," and " moved very light, carrying
only four days' provisions with him, with a larger supply of coffee,
salt, and other small rations, and very little else besides ammunition.
They stopped at Charlottesville, and commenced tearing up the rail
road, back towards Lynchburg. He also sent a division along the
James River canal, to destroy locks, culverts, etc. All mills and fac
tories along the line of inarch of his troops were destroyed also.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 265;
" Sheridan had in this way consumed so much time that his making
a march to White House was. now somewhat hazardous. He deter
mined, therefore, to fight his way along the railroad and canal till he
was as near to Richmond as it was possible to get, or until attacked.
On the 10th he was at Columbia. Negroes had joined his column to
the number of two thousand or more, and they assisted considerably
in the work of destroying the railroads and the canal. His cavalry
was in as fine a condition as when he started, because he had been able
to find plenty of forage. He had captured most of Early's horses, and
picked up a good many others on the road. When he reached Ash
land he was assailed by the enemy in force. He resisted their assault
with part of his command, and then moved quickly across the South
and North Anna, going north, and reached White House safely on
the 19th."
General Badeau says: "Sheridan's loss during the campaign did
not exceed one hundred soldiers, and many of these were the men
unable to bear the fatigues of the march. Incessant rain, deep and
impassable streams, swamps, mud, and gloom, were the impediments
offered by nature to his advance. Seventeen pieces of artillery, and
sixteen hundred prisoners of war were captured. Forty-six canal
locks, five aqueducts, forty canal and road bridges, twenty-three rail
road bridges, one foundry, one machine shop, twenty-seven ware
houses, forty-one miles of railroad, fourteen mills, and immense quan
tities of ammunition, gray cloth, saddles, horses, grain, and other
supplies were destroyed.
" Sheridan's cavalry had annihilated whatever was useful to the
enemy between Richmond and Lynchburg, and, having completed its
work in the Valley of the Shenandoah, he was once more ready to join
the Army of the Potomac in the struggle which it had shared the year
before. Hancock was placed in command of the Middle Military
Division, while Sheridan resumed his old command close to Grant, an
arrangement welcome to both soldiers, and destined to prove as for
tunate for the reputation of the chief as of the subordinate."
It was this raid and its results that made Grant decide on the final
movements, ending in the capture of Richmond and the surrender of
Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia. The effect of Sheridan's
arrival and cheery presence was felt at City Point and on Grant him
self. Movements at once began.
Between the 19th of March (the day of Sheridan's arrival at the
White House from his raid) and the 29th thereof (the day on which

266 THE LIFE OF
President Lincoln bid General Grant good-bye at City Point, as the
latter with his staff took the train for the front) , there had been a good
deal of fighting about Petersburg, including the desperate Confederate
sortie on Fort Steadman and its vigorous repulse. This occurred on the
25th of March. Sheridan was steadily on the alert, for Grant had been
in constant fear for a month before, that Lee might suddenly pull out
from his intrenchments and fall back to Lynchburg, taking advantage
of the unbroken railroad line into North Carolina, where General Joe
Johnston was operating against Sherman's advance. Such a movement
might have proved disastrous to Sherman if successfully carried out.
Both armies, in fact, were got in condition " for a fight or a foot race."
Sheridan and his cavalry were the eye and arm of the Union army.
and his thorough comprehension of the topographical and military
situation, gained by unceasing vigilance, soon gave a fresh impetus to
all efforts. In a conversation with John Russell Young, had in 1880, while on
the Chinese Sea, * the general told of his orders to Sheridan for the
final movement that began at Five Forks and ended at Appomattox
Court House, and of the manner in which Sheridan received his orders.
The incident is so characteristic of both men, as narrated by the senior
of them, that it is worthy of reproduction here. Grant said :
" I was only waiting for Sheridan to finish his raid around Lee, to
make final movements. When Sheridan arrived from that raid, I asked
him to take a walk. As we were walking, I took out his orders and
gave them to him. They were orders to move on the left and attack
Lee. If the movement succeeded, he was to advance. If it failed, he
was to make his way into North Carolina and join Sherman. When
Sheridan read this part, he was, I saw, disappointed. His countenance
fell. He had just made a long march, a severe march, and the idea of
another march into North Carolina would disconcert any commander,
even Sheridan. He, however, said nothing. I remarked :
" ' Sheridan, although I have provided for your retreat into North
Carolina in the event of a failure, I have no idea you will fail — no idea
that you will go to Carolina. I mean to end this business right here.'
" Sheridan's eyes lit up, and he said with enthusiasm :
" 'That's the talk. Let'us end the business right here.'
" But of course I had to think of the loyal North, and if we failed in
striking Lee, it would have satisfied the North for Sheridan to. go to
* Around the World with General Grant. Vol. II., page 357.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 267
the Carolinas. The movement, however, succeeded, and my next news.
from Sheridan was the battle of Five Forks — one of the finest battles
in the war."
The movements indicated began at once. Grant took the field,
leaving City Point. Badeau says :
" The final movement against Petersburg had no success for several
days. A great many advised Grant to return — he himself was gloomy.
But one dark, rainy morning Sheridan came riding into camp and
talked so cheeringly, so confidently, and so intelligently of what he could
do, that his mood was contagious."
The staff' took the great trooper in to Grant, who was in his tent, and
when Grant perceived Sheridan's spirit, he felt that the time h^d come.
Of this interview Grant wrote the following : *
" One day, after the movement I am about to describe had com
menced [i. e., the closing campaign], and when his cavalry was on
our extreme left and far to the rear, south, Sheridan rode up to where
my headquarters was then established at Dabney's Mill. He met some
of my staff officers outside, and was highly jubilant over the prospect
of success, giving reasons why he believed this would prove the final
and successful effort. Although my chief of staff had urged very strongly
that we return to our position about City Point and in the lines around
Petersburg, he asked Sheridan to come in to see me and say to me what
he had been saying to them. Sheridan felt a little modest about giv
ing his advice where it had not been asked ; so one of my staff came in
and told me Sheridan" had what they considered important news, and
suggested that I send f(5r him. I did sd, and was glad to see the spirit
of confidence with which he was inspired. Knowing as I did from
experience of what great value that feeling of confidence by a com
mander was, I determined to make a movement at once."
The movement was made, with Sheridan in command. The battle
of Five Forks which followed, Grant always acknowledged, " made
possible the final assault on Petersburg, and opened the way for the
Appomattox campaign, in which Sheridan led the terrible pursuit,
fought Saylor's Creek, and out-marched Lee. In all these movements
he sent back suggestions daily, almost hourly, to Grant, every one of
which Grant accepted." Memoirs, Vol. II., p. 438.

SHERIDAN ON THE ROAD TO FIVE FORKS.
TAKING H|S BEABjNGS FROM THE " RELIABLE CONTRABAND,"
\frotn a War-Tiwe Sketch by J. -E. Taylor ,~\

Chapter XXII.

SHERIDAN'S PURSUIT OF LEE.
A MASTERLY MILITARY ACHIEVEMENT  THE BATTLE OF FIVE FORKS  HOW
GENERAL LEE WAS OUT-MANCEUVERF.D — THE BATTLE-FIELD AS A STRATEGET
ICAL POINT — THE CORPS AND SOLDIERS ENGAGED — YOUNG CHAMBERLAIN'S
SPLENDID FIGHT — FOR "THE HONOR OF THE FIFTH CORPS"  SHERI
DAN'S GRAND TACTICS — USING HIS CAVALRY AS A SCREEN — A ..BATTLE OF
GIANTS  SAVAGE FIGHTING ALL DAY — SHERIDAN SELDOM OUT OF FIRE —
CUSTER'S YF.LLOW LOCKS AT THE FRONT — THE " BARN DOOR " MOVEMENT
AND HOW IT WORKED — GALLOPING DOWN THE LINES — MOUNTING
THE CONFEDERATE BREASTWORKS  GENERAL WINT*HROP'S DEATH —
"STRAIGHTEN THAT LINE" — -VICTORY- — CAPTURES  SURRENDER  THE
SOLEMN NIGHT SCENE AT GRAVELLY RUN.
The battle of Five Forks was perhaps the most ingeniously con
ceived and most skillfully executed engagement that was ever fought on
this continent. It matched in secretiveness and shrewdness the clever
est efforts of Napoleon, and shows also much of that soldier's broadness
of intellect and capacity for great occasions.
Sheridan had scarcely time to change his horse's shoes after Lee
started south from Petersburg before he was off, and after him much of
Grant's infantry also moved to the left. They passed the ancient
breastworks at Hatcher's Run, and extended their lines southwestward
till they touched Dinwiddie Court House, thirty miles from City Point.
The Confederates fell back wjth but little skirmishing until the Union
force faced northward and reached out toward their idolized South Side
railway. Then they grew uneasy, and as a hint of their opposition,
fought the sharp battle of Quaker road on Thursday. Still Grant
reached farther and farther, marveling to find that, with his depleted
army, Lee always overmatched him at every point of attack ; but on
Friday the Union forces quitted the intrenchments on the Boydton
plank road, and made a bold push for the White Oak road. This is
one of the series of parallel public ways running east and west, south
of the Southside, the Vaughan road being the first, the Boydton
plank road the second, and the old Court House road the third. It
became evident to the Confederates that Grant had two direct objects
in view : the severing of their most important railway, and the occupa
tion of the "Five Forks."

ki.

270 . THE LIFE OF
The latter is a magnificent strategic point. Five good roads meet in
the edge of a dry, high, well-watered forest, three of them radiating
to the railway, and their tributaries unlocking all the country. Farther
south the Confederate defenses had been paltry, but they fortified this*
empty solitude as if it had been their capital. Upon its principal road
— the White Oak afore-named — they had a ditched breastworks with
embrasures of logs and earth, reaching east and west three miles. This
was covered eastward and southeastward by rifle-pits, masked works,
and felled timber. The bridges approaching it were broken. All the
roads were well picketed, and a desperate resolve to hold to it averred.
This point of Five Forks is about eight miles from Dinwiddie
Court House, four from the Southside road, and eighteen from Hum
phrey's, the nearest of our military railway stations. A crooked stream,
called Gravelly Run, which, with Hatcher's, forms Rowanty Creek and
goes off to feed the Chowan in North Carolina, rises near Five Forks,
and gives the name of Gravelly Run Church to a little Methodist
meeting-house built in the forest a mile distant. That meeting-house
was a hospital, running blood, while a victor's battle-flags were flying
at Five Forks.
The Fifth Army Corps under General Warren had all of the flank
fighting of the week to do. It lost five or six hundred men in its vic
tory of Thursday, and on Friday rested along the Boydton plank road,
at the house of one Butler, which is about seven miles from Five Forks.
On Friday morning, April ist, General Ayres took the advance
with one of its divisions, and marched three-quarters of a mile be
yond the plank road, through a woody country, following the road,
but crossing the ubiquitous Gravelly Run, till he struck the enemy in
strong force a mile and a half below White Oak road. They lay in
the edge of a wood, with a thick curtain of timber in their front, a
battery of field' pieces to the right, mounted in a bastioned earthwork,
and on the left the woods drew near, encircling a little farm-land and
some negro buildings.
General Ayres' skirmish line being fired upon, did not stand, but
fell back, upon his main column, which advanced at the order. Straight
way the enemy charged headlong, while their battery opened a cross
fire, and their skirmishers on the left, creeping down through the woods,
picked the Union men off in flank. Then they charged with a whole
division, giving a memorable yell, and soon doubled up Ayres' line of
battle, so that it was forced in tolerable disorder back upon General
Crawford, who commanded the next division.
His men do not seem to have retrieved the character of their prede-

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 271
^cessors, but made a feint to go in, and falling by dozens beneath the
murderous fire, gave up the ground. Griffin's division, past which the
fugitives ran, halted awhile before taking the doubtful way, and the
whole corps was now back to the Boydton plank road, and nothing
had been done to anybody's credit.
General Griffin rode up to General Chamberlain in this extremity.
Chamberlain was a young and anxious officer, who resigned the pro
fessorship of modern languages in Bowdoin College to embrace a sol
dier's career. He had been wounded the day before, but was zealous
to try death again.
" Chambprlain," said Griffin, " can't you save the honor of the
Fifth Corps?"
The young general formed his men at once, — the One Hundred
and Eighty-fifth New York and the One Hundred and Ninety-eighth
Pennsylvania : they had tasted powder before. Down they went into
the creek, waist deep, up the slope, and into the clearing, — muskets to
the left of them, muskets in front of them, cannon to the right of them.
But their pace was swift, like their resolve. Many of them were cut
down, yet they kept ahead, and the Confederates, who seemed aston
ished at their own success, drew off and gave up the field.
Almost two hours had elapsed between the loss and the recovery of
the ground. The battle might be called Daney's Farm, or, more gen
erally, the fight of Gravelly Run. The brigades of Generals Bartlett
and Gregory rendered material assistance in the pleasanter finale of
the day.
An order was soon issued to hasten the burial of the dead and quit
the spot, but Chamberlain petitioned for leave to charge the enemy's
earthwork in the rear, and the enthusiasm of his brigade bore down
General Warren's more prudent doubt. In brief, Griffin's division
charged the fort, drove the Confederates out of it, and took position on
the White Oak road, far east of Five Forks.
While Griffin's division must be credited with this result, it may be
said that their luck was due as much to the time as the manner of
their appearance. The Confederate divisions of Pickett and Bushrod
Johnson were, in the main, by the time Griffin came up, on their way
eastward to attack Sheridan's cavalry. Ayres and Crawford had
charged as one to four, but the forces were quite equalized when
Chamberlain pushed on. The corps probably lost twelve hundred men.
In this action the Confederates, for the first time for many weeks,
exhibited all their traditional irresistibility and confidence ; but a ter
rible retribution remained for them in the succeeding day's decrees.

272 THE LIFE OF
Concentrating at Dinwiddie Court House, Sheridan proceeded to
scour so much of the country that he almost baffled conjecture as to
where his headquarters really were, as many thousand cavalry as
constituted his powerful force seem magnified to an incredible number
when mounted and ever moving here and there.
The Court House, where he remained fittingly for a couple of days,
is a cross-roads patch, numbering about twelve scattered buildings,
with a delightful prospect on every side of sterile .and monotonous
pines. This is the largest village in the district, though Dinwiddie
stands fourth in population among Virginia counties. At the time,
there was almost as great a population underground as the ancient
county carried on its census.
From Dinwiddie fields Sheridan's men went galloping, by the aid
of maps and cross-examination, into every by-road ; but it was soon
apparent that the Confederate infantry meant to give them a push.
This came about on Friday, with a foretaste on Thursday.
Little Five Forks is a cross-road not far from Dinwiddie Court
House, in the direction of Petersburg. Big Five Forks, which, it must
be borne in mind, gives name to the great battle of Saturday, is farther
out by several miles, and did not lie within our lines. But, if the left
of the army be at Dinwiddie, and the right at Petersburg, Little Five
Forks will be on the front line, though when Sheridan fought there, it
was neutral ground, picketed, but not possessed.
Very early in the week, when the Confederates became aware of
the extension of our lines, they added at least a division of troops to
the regular force which encamped upon our flank line. These were
directed to avoid an infantry fight, but to seek out the cavalry, and, by
getting it at disadvantage, rid the region both of the harmfulness of
Sheridan, and that prestige of his name so terrifying to the Virginia
housewife. So long as Sheridan remained upon the far left, the South
Side road was unsafe, and the rapidity with which his command could
be transferred from point to point rendered it a formidable balance of
power. The Confederates knew the country well, and the peculiar
course of the highways gave them every advantage.
The cavalry of Sheridan's army proper was divided into two divis
ions commanded by Generals Deven and Custer, General Merritt
commanding ; the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac was handled
by General Crook ; McKenzie led the cavalry of the James. On Fri
day these were under separate orders, and the result was confusion.
The infantry was beaten at Gravelly Run, and the cavalry, met in flank

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 273
and front by overwhelming numbers, executed some movements not
laid down in the manual. The centre of the battle was Little Five
Forks, though the Confederates struck Sheridan closer to Dinwiddie
Court House, and drove his forces pell-mell up the road into the woods,
and out the old Court House road to Gravelly Run. The Union men
rallied several times, and charged them into the woods, but they, con
cealed in copses, could go where sabres were useless.
The plan of this battle-field will show a series of irregular advances
to puzzle anybody but a cavalryman. The full divisions of Bushrod
Johnson and General Pickett were developed against the Federal
troops, with spare brigades from other corps. The Union cavalry loss
during the day was 800 in killed and wounded ; but the Confederates
were pushed so hard that they gave up the field, falling back toward
Big Five Forks. Two thousand men comprise the Union losses of
Friday in Warren's corps and Sheridan's command, including many
valuable officers. Under a single guidance, splendid results were next
day obtained with half the sacrifice.
On Friday night General Grant, dissatisfied, like most observers,
with the day's business, placed General Sheridan in the supreme com
mand of the whole of Warren's corps and all the cavalry. General
Warren reported to him at nightfall, and the little army was thus com
posed : General Sheridan's Forces, Saturday, April i, 1865.
Three divisions of infantry, under Generals Griffin, Ayres, and
Crawford. Two divisions of cavalry, formerly constituting the Army of the
Shenandoah, now commanded by General Merritt, under Generals
Deven and Custer.
One division cavalry of the Army of the Potomac under General
Crook. Brigade or more cavalry, Army of the James, under General Mc
Kenzie. In this composition the infantry was to the cavalry in the propor
tion of about two to one, and the entire force a considerable army.
Sheridan was absolute. He visited every part of his line, though it
stretched from Dinwiddie Court House to the Quaker road, along the
Boydton plank and its adjuncts.
At daybreak on Saturday he fired four signal guns, to admonish
18

274 THE LIFE OF
Warren that he was off; and his cavalry, by diverging roads, struck
their camps. Just south is a certain Stony Creek, the tributaries to
which wind northward and control the roads. Over Stony Creek
went Crook, making the longest detour. Custer took the bottom of
Chamberlain's bed, and Deven advanced from Little Five Forks, the
whole driving the Confederates toward the left of their works on White
Oak road.
The Union men outnumbered their opponents. The latter were
widely separated from their comrades before Petersburg, and the adjust
ment of our infantry, as well as the great movable force at Sheridan's
disposal, rendered it doubtful that they could have returned. At any
rate they did not do so, whether from choice or necessity, and it was
a part of Sheridan's scheme to push them back into their intrench-
ments. This work was delegated to the cavalry entirely, but when
the horsemen were close up to the Confederates, they were dismounted,
and to all intents used as infantry.
A portion of them, under Gregg and McKenzie, still adhered to the
saddle, that they might be put in rapid motion for flanking and charg
ing purposes ; but fully five thousand dismounted men, who had seen
service in the Shenandoah and elsewhere, were formed in line of battle
on foot, and by charge and deploy essayed the difficult work of press
ing back the entire Confederate column.
This they were to do so evenly and ingeniously that the Confeder
ates should go no farther than their works, either to escape eastward,
or to discover the whereabouts of Warren's forces, which were already
forming. Had they espied the latter they might have become so dis
couraged as to break and take to the woods ; and Sheridan's object was
to capture them as well as to rout them.
All the afternoon the cavalry pushed them hard, and the strife went
on uninterruptedly and terrifically. The battle was fought at so close
quarters that the Union carbines were never out of range ; had this
been otherwise, the long rifles of the enemy would have given them
every advantage.
With their horses within call, the cavalrymen, in line of battle,
stood together like walls of stone, swelling onward like those gradual
elevating ridges of which Lyell speaks. Now and then a detachment
of Confederates would charge down, swaying the Union lines and
threatening to annihilate them, for at no part of the action, till its
crisis, did the Southern men exhibit either doubt or dismay, but fought

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 275;
up to the standard, here and there showing some of those wonderful
feats of individual courage which were the miracles of the time.
A colonel with a shattered regiment came down on a desperate
charge. The bayonets were fixed ; the men advanced with a yell ;
their gray uniforms seemed black amidst the smoke ; their preserved
colors, torn by grape and ball, waved yet defiantly ; twice they halted
and poured in volleys, but came on again like the surge from the fog,
depleted, but determined. Yet in the hot faces of the carbineers they
read a purpose as resolute but more calm, and while they pressed
along, swept all the while by scathing volleys, a group of horsemen
took them in flank. It was an awful instant ; the horses recoiled, the
charging column trembled, but at once the Confederates, with rare or
ganization, fell into a hollow square, and with solid sheets of steel
defied our centaurs. The horsemen rode around them in vain ; no
charge could break the shining squares until our dismounted carbi
neers poured in their volleys fresh, making gaps in the spent ranks, and
then in their wavering time the cavalry thundered down. The Confed
erates could stand no more ; they reeled and swayed, and tell back,
broken and beaten. And on the ground their colonel lay, sealing his
devotion with his life.
Through wood and brake and swamp, across field and trench, the
fighting defenders "were steadily pushed. For a part of the time
Sheridan himself was there, short, and broad, and active, waving his hat,
giving orders, seldom out of fire, but never stationary, and close by fell
the long, yellow locks of Custer, sabre extended, fighting like a viking,
though he was worn and haggard with much work. At 4 o'clock the
enemy were behind their wooden walls at Five Forks, and still the cav
alry prdssed them hard, in feint rather than solemn effort, while a
battalion, dismounted, charged squarely upon the face of their breast
works, which lay in the main on the north side of the White Oak road.
Then, while the cavalry worked round toward the rear, the infantry of
Warren, though commanded by Sheridan, prepared to take part in the
battle. / The genius of Sheridan's movement lay in his disposition of the
infantry. The skill with which he arranged it, and the difficult
manoeuvres he projected and so well executed, should place him as high
in infantry tactics as he has many times shown himself superior in cav
alry. The infantry, which had marched at 2.30 p. m. from the house of
Boisseau, on the Boydton plank road, was drawn up in four battle
lines a mile or more in length, and in the beginning facing the White

276 THE LIFE OF
Oak road obliquely ; the left or pivot was the division of General
Ayres ; Crawford had the centre, and Griffin the right. These ad
vanced from the Boydton plank road at io o'clock, while Sheridan was
thundering away with the cavalry, mounted and dismounted, and delud
ing his enemy with the idea that he was the sole attacking party. They
lay concealed in the woods behind Gravelly Run Meeting-house, but
their left was not a half mile distant from the Confederate works, though
their right reached so far off that a novice would have criticised the
position sharply. Little by little, Sheridan extended his lines, drove
the whole defending force into their breastworks ; then he dismounted
the mass of his cavalry and charged the works straight in the front, still
thundering on their flank. At last, every Confederate was safe behind
his intrench men ts. Then the signal was given, and the concealed
infantry, many thousand strong, sprang up and advanced by echelon to
the right. Imagine, as Sheridan himself described it, a great barn
door shutting to, and you have the movement, if you can also imagine
the door itself, hinge and all, moving forward also. This was the
•door :
Ayres. Crawford. Griffin.
Stick a pin through Ayres and turn Griffin and Crawford forward
as you would a spoke in a wheel, but move your pin up also a very little.
In this way Ayres will advance, say half a mile, and Griffin, to describe
a quarter revolution, will move through a radius of four miles. But
to complicate this movement by echelon, we must imagine the right,
when halfway advanced, cutting across the centre and re-forming, while
Crawford became the right and Griffin the middle of the line of battle.
Warren was with Crawford on this march. Gregory commanded the
skirmishers. Ayers was so close to the Confederate left that he might
be said to hinge upon it ; and at 8 o'clock the whole corps column
oame crash upon the full flank of the astonished rebels. Now came the
pitch ofthe battle.
Sheridan was already on the Confederate right in force, and thinly
in their rear. His carbineers were making feint to charge in direct
front, and the Union infantry, four deep, hemmed in their entire left.
All this they did not for an instant note : and so far from giving up,
concentrated all their energy and fought like fiends. They had a bat
tery in position which belched incessantly, and over the breastworks
their musketry made one unbroken roll ; while against Sheridan's
prowlers on their left, by skirmish and sortie, they stuck to their sink-

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

277

ing fortunes so as
to win unwilling ap
plause from mouths
of wisest censure.
It was just at the
coming up of the
infantry that Sheri
dan's little band was
pushed the hardest.
At one time, indeed,
they seemed about to
undergo extermina
tion ; — not that they
wavered, but that
they were so vastly
overpowered. It
will remain to the
latest time a matter
of marvel how so
paltry a cavalry force
could press back
16,000 infantry ; but
when the infantry
blew like a great
barn door — the
simile best appli
cable — upon the enemy's left, the victory that was to come had
passed the region of strategy and resolved to an affair of personal cour
age. Every officer fought as if he were the forlorn hope. Mounted
on his black horse — the same which he rode at Winchester — Sheridan
galloped everywhere, his flushed face all the redder, and his small,
nervous . figure all the more ubiquitous. He galloped once straight
down the Confederate front with but a handful of his staff. A dozen
bullets whistled for him together ; one grazed his arm, at which a faith
ful orderly rode ; the black charger leaped high, in fright, and Sheridan
was untouched — but the orderly lay dead in the field, and the saddle
dashed afar, empty. General Warren rode with Crawford most of the
afternoon, mounted likewise, and having two or three narrow escapes.
He was as dark, dashing, and individual as ever, but was relieved of
his command after the battle, and Griffin succeeded to his place.

GEN. GEORGE D. BAYARD,
ONE OF THE YOUNGEST GENERALS IN THE ARMY, KILLED AT
FREDERICKSBURG, DECEMBER 18, 1862.

278 THE LIFE OF
Ayers fought like a lion in this pitch of battle, making all the fairit-
hearted around him ashamed to do ill with such an example contig
uous. General Bartlett, keen-faced and active, like a fiery scimeter,
was leading his division as if he were an immortal. He was close at
hand in the most gallant episodes, and held at nightfall a bundle of
captured battle-flags. But Griffin, tall and slight, led the charge on
the flank, and was the first to mount the parapet with his horse, riding
over the gunners as May did at Cerro Gordo, and cutting them down.
Bartlett's brigade, behind him, finished the business, and the last can
non was fired for the day against the. conquering Federals. General
Crawford fulfilled his full share of duties throughout the day, amply
sustained by such splendid brigade commanders as Baxter, Coulter,
and Kellogg, while Gwin and Bowery man were at hand in the division
of General Ayres — not to omit the fallen Winthrop, who died to save
a friend and win a new laurel. Chamberlain, having been the hero of
both Quaker road and Gravelly Run, in the action of Five Forks
made the air ring with the applauding huzzas of his soldiers.
The fight, as Sheridan closed upon the Confederates, was singularly
free from great losses on our side, though desperate as any contest ever
fought on the continent. One prolonged roar of rifles shook the after
noon ; and the Confederate artillery, until its capture, raked the Union
men like an irrepressible demon, and at every foot of the intrenchments
a true man fought both in front and behind. The birds of the forest
fled afar ; the smoke ascended to heaven ; locked in so mad frenzy, none
saw the sequel of the closing day. Now Richmond rocked in her
high towers to watch the impending issue. But soon the day began to
look gray, and a pale moon came tremulously out to watch the meeting
squadrons. Imagine along a line of a full mile, 30,000 men strug
gling for life and prestige, the woods gathering about them — but
yesterday the home of hermit hawks and chipmunks — now ablaze
with bursting shells, and showing in the dusk the curl of flames in the
tangled grass, and rising up the boles of the pine trees, the scaling,
scorching tongues. Seven hours this terrible spectacle had been en
acted, but the finale of it had almost come.
It was, by all accounts, in this hour of victory when the modest and
brave General Winthrop, of the First Brigade, Ayers' division, was
mortally wounded. He was riding along the breastworks, and while
in the act of saving a friend's life, was shot through the left lung. He
fell at once, and his men, who loved him, gathered around and took
him tenderly to the rear, where he died before the stretcher on which

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 279
he lay could be deposited beside the meeting-house door. On the way
from the field to the hospital he wandered in mind at times, crying
out: ' ' Captain Weaver, how is that line ? Has the attack succeeded ? " etc.
When he had been resuscitated for a pause, he said :
"Doctor, I am done for." His last words were :
" Straighten the line !" and he died peacefully.
He was a cousin of Major Winthrop, the author of Cecil Dreeme,
and was twenty-seven years of age.
General Griffin said : " This victory is not worth Winthi>op's life."
Winthrop went into the service as a simple color-bearer. He died
a brevet-brigadier. It was 7 o'clock before the Confederates came to the conclusion
that they were outflanked and whipped. They had been so busily
engaged that they were a long time finding out how desperate were
their circumstances ; but now, wearied with persistent assaults in front,
they fell back to the left, only to see four lines of battle waiting to
drive them across the field, decimated. At the right, the horsemen
charged them in their vain attempt to fight "out," and in the rear,
straggling foot and cavalry began also to assemble ; slant fire, cross fire,
and direct fire, by file and volley, rolled in perpetually, cutting down
their bravest officers, and strewing the fields with bleeding men ; groans
resounded in the intervals of exploding powder, and to add to their
terror and despair, their own artillery, captured from them, threw into
their own ranks from its old position, ungrateful grape ancl canister,
enfilading their breastworks, whizzing and plunging by air line and
ricochet ; and at last bodies of cavalry fairly mounted their intrench-
ments and charged down the parapet, slashing and trampling them, and
producing inexplicable confusion. They had no commanders — at
least no orders — and looked in vain for some guiding hand to lead
them out of a toil into which they had fallen so bravely and so blindly.
A few more volleys, — a new and irresistible charge, — a shrill and
warning command to die or surrender, and with a sullen and tearful
impulse, five thousand muskets were flung upon the ground, and five
thousand exhausted and impotent men were Sheridan's prisoners of
war. Acting with his usual decision, Sheridan placed his captives in care
of a provost-guard, and sent them at once to the rear. Those which
escaped he ordered the fiery Custer to pursue with brand and vengeance,
and they were pressed far into the desolate forest, spent and hungry,

280 GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.
many falling by the way of wounds or exhaustion, many pressed down
by hoof or sabre-stroke, and many picked up in mercy and sent
back to rejoin their brethren in bonds.
Thus ended the splendid victory of Five Forks, the least bloody to
the Union troops, but the most successful, proportionate to numbers
engaged, that was fought during the war. One man out of every three
engaged took a prisoner. Sheridan captured four cannon, an ambu
lance train and baggage teams, eight thousand muskets, and twenty-
eight battle-flags. Sheridan's loss only reached eight hundred.
This victory was almost entirely due to Sheridan. It was won by
his strategy and persistence. The happy distribution of duties between
cavalry and infantry excited a fine rivalry, and the consciousness of
Sheridan's guidance inspired confidence. The enemy lost three thou
sand in killed and wounded.
The scene at Gravelly Run Meeting-house at 8 and at 10 o'clock on
Saturday night was one of the solemn contrasts of the war. A little
frame church, planted among the pines, and painted white, with cool,
green window-shutters, held at its foot a gallery for the negroes, and
at the head a varnished pulpit. Blood ran in little rills across the
planks, and human feet treading in them, made indelible prints in every
direction. The pulpit lamps were doing duty, not to shed holy light
upon holy pages, but to show the pale and dusty faces of the beseech
ing ; and as they moved in and out, the groans and curses of the suffering
replaced the gush of peaceful hymns and the deep responses to the
preacher's prayers. Federal and Confederate lay together, the bitter
ness of noon assuaged in the common tribulation of the night, and all
the while came in the dripping stretchers,' to place in this Golgotha
new recruits for death and sorrow. Over the portal, the scenes within
were reiterated, except that the greatness of a starry night replaced the
close and terrible arena of the church. Beneath the trees, where the
Methodist circuit-rider had tied his horse, and the urchins, during class-
meeting, had wandered away to cast stones at the squirrels, and measure
strength at vaulting and running, the gashed and fevered lay irregularly,
some soul going out at each whiff of the breeze in the fir-tops ; and the
teams and surgeons, and straggling soldiers, and galloping orderlies,
passed all the night beneath the old and gibbous moon and the hushed
stars, and by trickle of Gravelly Run, stealing off, afeared. But the
wounded had no thought that night ; the victory absorbed all hearts.

Chapter XXIII.

SHERIDAN AT THE SURRENDER.
THE FIVE FORKS ENVIRONMENT — STRIKING AT APPOMATTOX  FIGHTING
BEFORE DAYBREAK — STANDING TO HORSE ALL NIGHT — RAPID CAVALRY
MOVEMENTS — OVERRIDING MEADE — SURROUNDING LEE — SHERIDAN'S
DISTRUST — THE TRUCE — GORDON AND THE SHARPSHOOTER — GRANT AND
SHERIDAN MEET  THE SURRENDER OF LEE — " CARRYING THE WORLD" ON
THEIR SHOULDERS.
The night of March 29, 1865, found Sheridan with his cavalry,
pressing, watching, keenly alert, looking into the night and southward,
as he held, at Dinwiddie Court House, the extreme left of our investing
lines about Richmond and Petersburg. The end was near, and by
the way at the flank of which Sheridan watched like an eagle ready
to pounce upon its prey, must Lee get clear, if at all, of the fiercely
elaborate environment which for ten months past Grant had so sternly
and steadily forged about him. In a semicircle or arc of at least
thirty-five miles, the army of investment was swinging steadily for
ward. Weitzel on the far right with a part of the Army ofthe James,
was near to Richmond. Warren was below and behind Sheridan,
holding the extreme left with his stern, unflinching veterans. Between
them, and next to Warren was Humphrey, then Ord and the balance
of the Army of the James, and Wright with the Sixth Corps, holding
our works in front of Petersburg. Grant's headquarters were that
night in the centre, south of the Vaughan road and close to Gravelly
Run. To understand clearly the wonderful part that Sheridan played in
the next few days, the position of Lee must be fully comprehended.
Richmond was half starved. Petersburg was a demoralized camp.
Many of the soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia were negatively
hostile to a continuance of the struggle for the Confederate cause and
its government. General Lee they worshiped and they would follow
him. The corps and divisions were held by their leaders and the men's
admiration in them. This indifference or semi-hostility was never

282 THE LIFE OF
openly expressed. But it was felt, nevertheless. There was only one
way out for Lee : a retreat to the southwest, by the line of the Rich
mond and Danville railroad. Looking at the conditions then existing,
it may well be doubted if Lee had any real expectation of escaping
from Grant with his half-fed and semi-naked troops. If so, it could
have been only to commence a desultory, semi-detached warfare which
must have very speedily degenerated into a partisan, guerrilla struggle,
sure to have made far more difficult, with each recurring day's action,
any liberal settlement of the terrible dispute which had put, first and
last, over three million men under arms.
It may be well to indicate the troops with which this great task in
its final phases, was to be accomplished. With Sheridan, fighting the
battle of Five Forks, and serving, too, as the fighting advanced, in all
subsequent operations, the roster of March 31st shows the following
commands, as engaged in the final movements. In the field and at
Five Forks were the FIFTH ARMY CORPS.
Major-General Gouverneur K. Warren.
first division.
Brigadier-General Charles Griffin.
First Brigade. — Brigadier-General Joshua L. Chamberlain.
Second Brigade. — Colonel Edgar M. Gregory.
Third Brigade. — Brigadier-General Joseph J. Bartlett.
SECOND DIVISION.
Brigadier-General Romlyn B. Ayers.
First Brigade. — Colonel Frederick Winthrop.
Second Brigade. — Colonel Andrew W. Denneson.
Third Brigade. — Colonel James Gwyn.
THIRD DIVISION.
Brigadier-General Samuel W. Crawford.
First Brigade. — Colonel John A. Kellogg.
Second Brigade. — Brigadier-General Henry Baxter.
Third Brigade. — Colonel Richard Coulter. .
Artillery Brigade. — Colonel Charles S. Wainwright.
The cavalry, Sheridan's own command, consisted of four divisions,
all under Major-General Torbett, as chief of cavalry, two of which,
under Merritt and Custer, were from the Shenandoah Valley, one

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 283
under Crook, of the Army of the Potomac proper, and the fourth under
McKenzie, was from the Army of the James. The roster shows the
following commands :
Major-General Torbett, Chief of Cavalry, Commanding.
ARMY OF THE SHENANDOAH.
Brigadier General Wesley Merritt.
first division.
Brigadier-General Thomas C. Deven.
First Brigade. — Colonel Peter Stagg.
Second Brigade. — Colonel Charles T. Fitzhugh.
Third Brigade. — Brigadier-General Alfred Gibbs.
THIRD DIVISION.
Brigadier-General George A. Custer.
First Brigade. — -Colonel Alexander C. M. Pennington.
Second Brigade. — Colonel William Wells.
Third Brigade. — Colonel Henry Capehart.
second division (army of the potomac.)
Major-General George Crook.
, First Brigade. — Brigadier-General H. E. Davies.
Second Brigade. — Colonel J. Irvin Gregg.
Third Brigade. — Colonel Charles H. Smith.

ARMY OF THE JAMES.
CAVALRY DIVISION.
Brigadier-General Ranald S. McKenzie.
First Brigade. — Colonel Robert M. West.
Second Brigade. — Colonel Samuel P. Spear.
In the subsequent pursuit of Lee that culminated at Appomattox,
the following corps were also associated with General Sheridan :

ARMY OF THE JAMES.
[Major-General Edward O. C. Ord.
GENERAL HEADQUARTERS AND UNATTACHED COMPANIES.
Signal Corps. — Captain T. B. Norton.
Engineers. — • Colonel James F. Hall.

284 THE LIFE OF
Cavalry. — Colonel Francis Washburn, Colonel Edwin V. Sumner, Colonel
Charles F. Adams, Jr.

TWENTY-FOURTH ARMY CORPS.
Major-General John Gibbon.
first division.
Brigadier-General Robert S. Foster.
First Brigade.- — Colonel Thomas O. Osborn.
Third Brigade. — Colonel George B. Dandy.
Fourth Brigade. — Colonel Harrison S. Fairchild.
third division.
Brigadier-General Charles Devens.
First Brigade. — Colonel Edward H. Ripley.
Second Brigade. — Colonel Michael T. Donohue.
Third Brigade. — Colonel Samuel H. Robert.
ARTILLERY.
Captain James R. Angel.
Of the Army of the Potomac were the following organizations :
SECOND ARMY CORPS.
Major-General Andrew A. Humphreys.
FIRST DIVISION.
Brigadier-General Nelson A. Miles.
First Brigade. — Colonel George W. Scott.
Second Brigade. — Colonel Robert Nugent.
Third Brigade. — Colonel Henry J. Madill.
Fourth Brigade. — Colonel John Ramsey.
SECOND DIVISION.
Brigadier-General William Hays.
First Brigade. — Colonel William A. Olmstead.
Second Brigade. — Colonel James P. Mclvor.
Third Brigade. — Brigadier-General Thomas A. Smyth.
third division.
Brigadier General Gershom Mott.
First Brigade. — Brigadier-General Regis De Tobriand.
Second Brigade. — Brigadier-General Byron R. Pierce.
Third Brigade. — Colonel Robert McAllister.
Artillery Brigade. — Major John G. Hazard.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 285
SIXTH ARMY CORPS.
Major-General Horatio G. Wright.
first division.
Brigadier-General Frank Wheaton.
First Brigade. — Colonel William H. Penrose.
Second Brigade. — Colonel Joseph E. Hamblin.
Third Brigade. — Colonel Oliver Edwards.
SECOND DIVISION.
Brigadier-General George W. Getty.
First Brigade. — Colonel James N. Warner.
Second Brigade. — Brigadier-General Lewis A. Grant.
Third Brigade. — Colonel Thomas W. Hyde.
THIRD DIVISION.
Brigadier-General Truman Seymour.
First Brigade. — Colonel William S. Truex.
Second Brigade. — Colonel J. Warren Keifer.
Artillery Brigade. — Captain Andrew Cowan.
Upon Sheridan's vigilance, however, largely depended the consum
mation of Lee's necessity — the desperate venture of a great soldier's
despair. That last night in March was a dismal one. It rained until
the roads became sheets of water, and almost impassable. The men
began to feel as if they had really gone through Virginia in a number
of places. It seemed as if the waters themselves might knock the
bottom out of the Confederacy.
Just above Dinwiddie Court House, at least thirty-five miles south
of Richmond, was the important strategetical position of Five Forks
which Lee had seized and begun to fortify. In his later raid, after
reaching City Point from Winchester, Sheridan had succeeded in
destroying part of the Richmond and Danville railroad. Hence,
Lee's escape from Richmond must be over the country roads. Pickett
was at Five Forks, to protect Lee's right, with nearly all the Con
federate cavalry and a large body of infantry; The rain held on all of
the 30th, the morning upon which Grant gave Sheridan orders to "go
in." It was to prevent Lee's holding this strategetical position that the
great movement and battle of Five Forks was fought and won. The
last of March was, said Sheridan to General Horace Porter, of Grant's
staff, "one of the liveliest days in his experience." He had fought
infantry and cavalry, and had only his troopers to do it with. The

286 THE LIFE OF
result was that he asked for the Sixth Corps, which had been under
him in the Shenandoah Valley. Wright was too far off, however, and
Warren was therefore ordered up with the Fifth Corps, which reached
Dinwiddie by daylight.
This was the opening of the great " barn door " movement, graphi
cally presented in a preceding chapter. General Porter describes
Sheridan's manner at one period of that momentous ist of April :
" The Fifth Corps had borne the brunt of the infantry fighting ever
since the army had moved out on the 29th, and the gallant men who
composed it were eager once more to cross bayonets with their old
antagonists. But the movement was slow, the required formation seemed
tQ drag, and Sheridan, chafing with impatience and consumed with
anxiety, became as restive^ as a racer when he nears the line, and is
struggling to make the start. He made every possible appeal for
promptness ; he dismounted from his horse, paced up and down, struck
the clenched fist of one hand into the palm of the other, and fretted like
a caged tiger." *
The same authority declares that Five Forks was " one of the most
interesting technical battles of the war, almost perfect in conception,
brilliant in execution, strikingly dramatic in its incidents, and produc
tive of immensely important results." And this is the way the news
of the victory was carried back, and received by Grant and his staff.
General Porter says in the same article that he was with Sheridan all
day :
"About half-past seven, I started for general headquarters. The
roads in places were corduroyed with captured muskets; ammunition
trains and ambulances were still struggling forward for miles ; team
sters, prisoners, stragglers, and wounded were choking the roadway ;
the ' coffee-boilers ' had kindled their fires ; cheers were resounding on
all sides, and everybody was riotous over the victory. A horseman
had to pick his way through this jubilant condition of things as best
he could, as he did not have the right of way by any means. As I
galloped past a group of men on the Boydton plank, my orderly called
out to them the news of the victory. The only response he got was
from one of them who raised his open hand to his face, put his thumb
to his nose, and yelled : ' No you don't — April fool ! ' I then realized
that it was the ist of April. I had ridden so rapidly that I reached
headquarters at Dabney's Mill before the arrival of the last courier
Century, November, 1887. " Grant's Last Campaign."

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 287
I had dispatched. General Grant was sitting with most of his staff
about him, before a blazing camp-fire. He wore his blue cavalry over
coat, and the ever-present cigar was in his. mouth. I began shouting
the good news as soon as I got in sight, and in a moment all but the
imperturbable general-in-chief were on their feet, giving vent to
wild demonstrations of joy. For some minutes there was a bewilder
ing state of excitement, grasping of hands, tossing up of hats, and
slapping each other on the backs. It meant the beginning of the end ;
the reaching of the ' last ditch.' It pointed to peace and home. . . .
After having listened attentively to the description of Sheridan's day's
work, the general, with scarcely a word, walked into his tent, and by
the light of a flickering candle, took up his ' manifold writer,' a small
book which retained a copy of the matter written, and after finishing
several dispatches, handed them to an orderly to be sent over the field
wires, came out and joined our group at the camp-fire, and said as
coolly as if remarking upon the state of the weather : ' I have ordered
an immediate assault along the lines.' This was about 9 o'clock."
Next morning at the earliest streak of gray, the men in blue were in.
Before sunrise Wright had carried the lines in his front, and was
pushing into Petersburg. Parke's dispatch came next, announcing that
he had taken the outer works in his front, and captured twelve guns
and eight hundred prisoners. Ord's came next with "I have broken
through their intrenchments " and Humphrey kept hard and • s«iccess-
fully at the foe in his front. Prisoners by the thousand were passed
to the rear. Grant ordered Meade and Ord, commanding the two
armies of the Potomac and the James, to face towards the east and close
up on the inner lines which covered Petersburg. Up to this point the
completeness of the assault had prevented Lee from attempting the
recovery of any of his lost ground. But he turned on Parke's corps,
threatening his left and the Petersburg bridge across the Appomattox,
and, of course, his line of retreat. Parke resisted and repulsed these
fierce attacks. The struggle went on all clay, without an actual decis
ion, Grant refusing to permit a general assault. He felt certain that
Petersburg would be evacuated that night, and would not allow the
sacrifice of life involved in taking it by storm. His view of it was sus
tained by the fact that before five in the morning, Parke had pierced the
lines, and the city had surrendered. Lee was out of it before three in
the morning. In the final assault on Petersburg by the famous Ninth
Corps of the Army of the Potomac, its roster showed the following
commands :

288 THE LIFE OF
NINTH ARMY CORPS.
Major-General John G. Parke.
FIRST DIVISION.
Brigadier-General Orlando B. Willcox.
First Brigade. — Colonel Samuel Harriman.
Second Brigade. — Lieutenant-Colonel Ralph Ely.
Third Brigade. — Lieutenant-Colonel Gilbert P. Robinson.
SECOND DIVISION.
Brigadier-General Robert B. Potter.
First Brigade. — Colonel John I. Curtin.
Second Brigade. — Brigadier-General Simon G. Griffin.
Major-General Meade received orders to press the whole of his
available force in pursuit of Lee, and to follow himself, while Grant
remained to receive Mr. Lincoln, who had telegraphed that he was on
the way to see him. Richmond was also taken at 8.15, on the same
morning, though the news was not received by Grant till late in the
afternoon, several hours after he had joined the troops pursuing Lee.
The Twenty-fifth Army Corps ofthe Army of the James, under Major-
General Godfrey Weitzel, to whom was assigned the task of entering
and^occupying Richmond, reported its roster as follows :
first division.
Brigadier General August V. Kautz.
First Brigade. — Colonel Alonzo G. Draper.
Second Brigade. — -Brigadier-General Edward A. Wild.
Attached Brigade. — Colonel Charles S. Russell.
second division.
Brigadier-General William Birney.
First Brigade. — Colonel James Shaw, Jr.
Seeond Brigade. — Colonel Ulysses Doublebay.
Third Brigade.— Colonel W. W. Woodward.
Artillery Brigade. — Captain Loomis L. Langdon.
Sheridan was far ahead and pushing fiercely to cut off Lee's retreat
southward. Grant himself was somewhat alarmed for his safety, and
urged Meade forward with the infantry corps as rapidly as was possible.
As always, much depended upon the qualities and characters of the
corps commanders, who in these circumstances proved equal to all cir
cumstances, aiding and reinforcing Sheridan at all opportune periods.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 289
On the evening of April 5th, one of Sheridan's scouts in Confederate
uniform, was brought to Grant, or seen and recognized by his staff while
being arrested. He brought, wrapped in tinfoil and concealed in his
mouth, Sheridan's famous dispatch describing the situation at Jeters-
ville, and ending with the suggestive remark " I wish you were here
yourself." Jetersville is a station on the Richmond and Danville road,
about thirty miles south by west of Richmond. The infantry, General
Ord in advance, was swinging by the left flank a little further south,
and were beyond Nottoway Station. Sheridan and the cavalry had struck
directly north by west from Dinwiddie and Five Forks, after the battle,
to intercept Lee as he moved south from Petersburg and Richmond.
Grant's great anxiety was that Lee should not escape and precipitate
himself on Sherman. He ordered Miles' division to swing around to the
White Oak road, and join Sheridan. The furious bombardment at
Petersburg was also kept up till morning. Miles reported at daybreak.
He was ordered to attack the enemy at the intersection of the White
Oak and Claiborne roads. They were found in force and position, and
Sheridan followed Miles immediately with two divisions of the Fifth
Corps. Driven from their position, the Confederates were pursued by
Miles across Hatcher's Run and towards the Southside railroad.
Humphrey soon arrived with the balance of his corps, and reassumed
full command. Sheridan then returned to Five Forks with the Fifth
Corps. He sent Merritt westward across Hatcher's Run to break up
the rebel cavalry, which had reassembled north of the stream. They,
however, would not fight, and were pursued by Merritt in a northerly
direction to the Appomattox River. Sheridan then, with the Fifth
Corps, crossed Hatcher's Run, and struck the Southside railroad, north
of Five Forks. Meeting no opposition, they marched rapidly, and came
up in flank and rear ofthe enemy, opposing Miles. During this interval
Miles had gained a signal victory, and when Sheridan arrived the rebels
were in a precipitate flight. Sheridan overtook them on the main road
along the Appomattox River, and the cavalry and Crawford's division
attacked them at nightfall. In the darkness, however, they escaped.
West of the rebel centre all had now been driven beyond the Appo
mattox by Sheridan, who was directed by Grant to cross the river
west of Lee's army, with the Fifth Corps and his cavalry. " You may
cross where you please," said Grant. " The position and movements
of the enemy will dictate your movements after you cross. All we
want is to capture or beat the enemy." Sheridan, anticipating the
evacuation of Petersburg, had commenced moving west. The cavalry
19

290 THE LIFE OF
advanced and pressed the enemy's trains. Sheridan designed to reach
the Danville road as rapidly as possible. Grant telegraphed him :
" It is understood that the enemy will make a stand at Amelia Court
House. . . . The first object will be to intercept Lee's army ;
the second to secure Burksville."
Sheridan moved in accord with orders. Soon after breaking camp
there was some skirmishing on Merritt's front, but no serious fighting
occurred until Deep Creek was reached. At this place a strong body
of infantry was encountered. Merritt attacked with spirit, driving the
enemy from the ford, and pushing vigorously on the opposite side.
The Fifth Corps followed rapidly, and picked up many prisoners, as
well as five abandoned field guns. But there was no fighting this day,
except by our cavalry. At night, Sheridan had 1,300 prisoners.
The cavalry encamped at Deep Creek. By daylight, on the 4th, our
troopers "were again in motion ; Merritt moving towards the Appo
mattox, and following the force he had driven from Deep Creek
the day before, while Crook was ordered to strike the Danville road,
between Jetersville and Burkeville, and then move up to Jetersville.
The Fifth Corps moved rapidly in the same direction. During this day
Grant sent a dispatch to Sheridan, stating that two railroad trains,
loaded with supplies, were on the way from Danville, for Lee's army,
and had been up the road to Farm ville.
"It was understood," he said, "that Lee was to accompany his
troops, and that he was bound for Danville, by way of Farmville.
Unless you have more positive information of the movements of 'the
enemy, push on with all dispatch to Farmville, and try to intercept the
enemy there."
Sheridan, however, was again in Lee's front. At 5 o'clock the
head of the Fifth Corps arrived at Jetersville, after a march of sixteen
miles. Here a message was captured from Lee, ordering 200,000
rations immediately from Danville, to feed his army. The dispatch
had not yet gone over the wires, but Sheridan gave it to a scout to take
to Burkeville, and have it telegraphed from there, in the hope that the
rations might be forwarded within the Union lines. The scout suc
ceeded in sending the message, but other news traveled quite as fast,
and the rations went on to Farmville, where they were captured.
Discovering that Lee and his army were at Amelia, Sheridan ordered
Griffin (Fifth Corps) to intrench across the railroad, until he could be
reinforced. That command went into position, throwing up breast
works as it arrived, and Sheridan at once sent word back to Grant that

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 291
he had intercepted Lee. He also sent an aide-de-camp to Meade at
Deep Creek, a long day's march from Jetersville. It was well into
the night when the messenger arrived, and although Meade was un
well, and in bed, he roused himself at the stirring news, and issued an
order to march at 3 o'clock in the morning. Meade was the senior
of Sheridan, in rank and service, but he sent him word :
" The Second and Sixth corps will be with you as soon as possible.
In the meantime your wishes or suggestions as to any movement other
than the simple one of overtaking you, will be promptly acceded to by
me, regardless of any other consideration than the vital one of destroy
ing the Army of Northern Virginia."
Sheridan had meanwhile recalled Merritt and McKenzie from the
right, and the head of Meade's command encountered the cavalry
marching in the darkness. The double column crowded the road, and
the infantry was delayed until Merritt's troopers had passed.
Everything was quiet that night at Jetersville. In the morning the
enemy made no demonstration. Sheridan sent a brigade under Davies
as far to the left as Paine's cross-roads, five miles northwest, to ascer
tain if Lee was making attempts to escape in that direction. Davies
soon discovered that Sheridan's suspicions were correct. Lee was
already moving a train of wagons towards Painesville, escorted by a
considerable body of cavalry. Davies at once attacked, and defeated
this cavalry, burned 180 wagons, and captured five cannons and several
hundred prisoners. A force of rebel infantry was sent to cut him off.
Two brigades of Crook's were pushed to his assistance, and a heavy
fight ensued, in which the rebels were severely repelled. At 2
o'clock Meade arrived at Jetersville in advance of the Second Corps,
which came up an hour later.* Meade was still unwell, and requested
* The forces at General Meade's headquarters consisted of the following
commands : Provost Guard. — Colonel George N. Macy.
Engineer Brigade. — Brigadier-General Henry W. Benham.
Battalion United States Engineers. — Captain Franklin'Harwood.
Artillery.— Brigadier-General Henry J. Hunt.
Siege Train. — Colonel Henry L. Abbot.
Headquarters Guard.— Captain Richard G. Lay.
Quartermaster's Guard. — Colonel R. N. Batchelder.
Signal Corps.— Captain Charles N. Davis.
Independent Brigade. — Colonel Charles H. T. Collis.

292 THE LIFE OF
Sheridan to put the Army of the Potomac into position as it arrived.
Sheridan placed two divisions of Humphreys onthe. left of the Fifth
Corps, and one on the right, and Merritt, who had now come up, was
placed on the left of the infantry. The vigorous movement against
Crook on the left led Sheridan to believe the enemy to be escaping in
that direction. He was anxious to attack with the force in hand — his
cavalry and two corps of infantry ; but at this juncture, Meade felt him
self well enough to come out and assume command, and, much to
Sheridan's mortification, he decided not to attack until the arrival of
the Sixth Corps. Meade was the senior, and his wishes prevailed ; the
attack was delayed. A captured letter from a rebel officer to his mother,
describing the condition ofthe Confederate forces, was just then brought
to Sheridan, who sent it to Grant with the following dispatch :
Jetersville, 3 p. m.
I send you the enclosed letter, which will give you an idea of the
condition of the enemy and their whereabouts. I sent General Davies'
brigade this morning around on my left flank. He captured at Paine's
cross-roads five pieces of artillery, about two hundred wagons, and
eight or nine battle-flags, and a number of prisoners. The Second
Army Corps is now coming up.' 1 -wish you -were here yourself. I
feel confident of capturing the Army of NorthernVirginia, if ive exert
ourselves. I see no escape for Lee. I will put all my cavalry out on
our left flank, except McKenzie, who is pn the right.
Immediately on receipt of Sheridan's dispatch, Grant determined
to join his cavalry commander. A ride of twenty miles, with an escort
of only fourteen men, skirting close to the enemy's lines a portion of
the time, brought Grant to Sheridan's bivouac at twelve minutes past
ten. This was on the 5th of April.
The Sixth Corps had arrived at 6 o'clock, and was placed by
Meade on the right of the army, but no arrangement had been made to
The following other commands were also engaged at various points on the
great arc of our operations :
• INDEPENDENT DIVISION OF THE ARMY OF THE JAMES.
Brigadier-General John W. Turner.
First Brigade. — Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Potter.
Second Brigade. — Colonel William B. Curtis.
Third Brigade. — Colonel Thomas M. Harris.
DEFENSES OF BERMUDA HUNDRED.
Major-General George L. Hartsuff.
Pontoniers. — Lieutenant-Colonel Peter S. Michil.
Separate Brigade. — Brigadier-General Joseph B. Carr.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

293

advance before
morning. Sheri
dan was convinced
that Lee would not
remain to be at
tacked, and Grant
coincided with
him. He deter
mined to forestall
Lee's design. After
midnight Grant
visited Meade,
whom he found in
bed and still ailing.
Meade explained
his views to Grant,
but failed to con
vince him, and the
general took a pen
cil and wrote in
structions for the
movement of the
entire army, revers
ing Meade's plan,
directing the whole
force to move towards the left flank at daylight. Sheridan with the
cavalry was dispatched in the direction of Deatonsville, about five
miles west ofthe railroad.
The movement of General Lee was a self-evident one. Leaving
Amelia Court House, he pushed south by west towards Danville. It
was not his purpose to fight our army except as necessary to make
secure his retreat. Other troops were stationed to the south, and sup
plies were more abundant. It was necessary that our pursuit should be
hot and determined. On the 6th, Sheridan and Ord followed closely on
the heels of Lee, and the fierce battle of Saylor's Creek was fought
against the rebel rear. It was a hot fight, and our cavalry, especially
under Custer and Merritt, performed prodigies of valor. Six general
officers, 7,000 prisoners, and a large number of flags and guns were
captured. Lee's wagon train and headquarters wagons were captured.
Sheridan had ordered General Crook to strike another of the Con
federate wagon trains then being escorted on his left by a heavy force

GEN. J. IRVIN GREGG,
M DISTINGUISHED BRIGADE COMMANDER IN SHERIDAN'S CORPS.

294 THE LIFE OF
of cavalry. In this attack the Federals were repulsed, but General
Custer, who had pressed far in advance of Crook, had arrived at Saylor's
Creek, a tributary of the Appomattox, and was intrenched across the
path of the Confederates. Two divisions, those of Crook and Deven,
now pressed up to his support, and the Confederate line was pierced
and 400 wagons, sixteen guns, and man)' prisoners were captured.
Ewell's corps was thus cutoff from the main body of Confederates,
and being attacked by overwhelming forces, after the most desperate
fighting fell back to Saylor's Creek. This position was held until the '
Federals were reinforced by Wheaton's division, and after stubborn
fighting Ewell's veterans surrendered. The fighting began again early
in the morning, and the pursuit was resumed by the Second Corps, which
came up with the Confederates under General Mahone, at High Bridge,
where a spirited engagement took place, resulting in victory to the
Federals. Generally the Confederates felt that the "crack o' doom"
was near.
Sheridan always appeared to anticipate Grant's plans and wishes.
On that last pursuit, after the fight at Saylor's Creek, the general
thought it was necessary to extend the cavalry pursuit further to the
west, in order to intercept the fugitives and to capture any scattered
forces that might slough off from Lee's main army. Sheridan had
already taken steps. He was endeavoring to capture the trains of pro
visions which had been sent Lee from Danville or Lynchburg. He
proposed to capture them and he did it. This tremendous activity of
Sheridan had its effect on the enemy. Says a Southern writer :
" And so the retreat rolls on. We are passing abandoned cannon,
and wrecked and overturned wagons, and their now useless contents
belonging to the quartermasters ; horses and mules dead or dying in
the mud. At night our march is lighted by the fires of burning wagons ;
and the hoarse roar of cannon and the rattle of small arms before,
behind, and £>n our flanks are ever in our ears. The constant march
ing and fighting without food or sleep is rapidly thinning the ranks of
this grand old army. Men who have stood by their flags since the
beginning of the war now fall out of the ranks and are captured, sim
ply because it is beyond their power of physical endurance to go any
further." But one hope remained to Lee. Ruefully aware that Sheridan had
intercepted his flight, he presumed his way blocked by cavalry alone,
and at once ordered a charge of infantry. Sheridan was with his cav
alry near the Court House when the Army of Virginia made its last
charge. By his order, his troopers, who were in line of battle, dis-

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 29^
mounted, gave ground gradually, while showing a steady front, so as
to allow our weary infantry time to form and take position. This
effected, the horsemen moved swiftly to the right and mounted, reveal
ing lines of solid infantry in battle array, before whdse wall of gleam
ing bayonets the astonished enemy recoiled in blank despair, as Sheri
dan and his troopers, passing briskly around the rebel left, prepared to
charge the confused, reeling masses. A white flag was now waved by
the enemy before General Custer, who held our cavalry advance, with
the information that they had concluded to surrender. Riding over to
Appomattox Court House, Sheridan was met by General Gordon, who
requested a suspension of hostilities, with the assurance that negotia
tions were then pending between Grant and Lee for a capitulation.
It was an all night vigil on the 8th of April. The day had been
one ot hard fighting, exciting events, forced marches. Sheridan had
placed his cavalry across the lines of Lee's retreat. The troopers stood
to horse all that long, chill night. The commands of Ord, of the Army
of the James, and of Griffin and Gibbon, of the Army of the Potomac,
were being hurried to position behind the cavalry screen.- The end
was near, and every one worked hard and earnestly. Morning came,
and its gray shadows were not lifted when orders came to move forward.
The " Spencers" ofthe cavalrymen were at once brought into effective
use. We were on the higher ground, and looking over the plain, below
it could be seen that Lee's army was hemmed in and cut off. The
Seventh Michigan Cavalry held the advance directly to the south.
" Oh ! for Sheridan, now," was the ejaculation of its gallant commander,
Colonel Briggs. Towards the west Custer's column was seen advanc
ing. Informed of the condition of affairs, Custer immediately pre
pared for a charge, and said to Colonel Briggs, " Show me the way."
" Custer's command on this occasion presented a most striking and
beautiful effect in color, as also in concentrated power for action. Fol
lowing the general and his staff, and thrown to the morning breeze,
floated not less than twenty-five rebel battle-flags captured from the
enemy within ten days. These, with division, brigade, and regimental
colors of the command, the red neckties of the men, and the blue and
yellow of their uniforms, made a picture, as with flashing sabres
they moved into view, at once thrilling and beautiful."*
Just as the lines were formed, and the buglers waited an order to
charge, there suddenly emerged from out a piece of woods in the left
front three or four horsemen, the leader of whom waved something
white over his head. It was Lee's famous flag of truce. They rode
—
* Life and Deeds of General U. S. Grant, p. 64, by Frank A. Burr, Philadelphia.

296 THE LIFE OF
up to Colonel Briggs, who had moved forward to meet them, and asked
for the " general commanding."
Custer was pointed out, and the Confederates rode rapidly towards
him. A few moments' parley, and then they returned, Brigadier-
General Whittaker, Custer's chief of staff, riding with them. All
this, brief as the time was, the whole line saw, and the word passed
that Lee was to surrender. Colonel Briggs was permitted to ride
with the returning party, and it is from his narrative that this account
is abridged. The party rode to Lee's headquarters. General Whit
taker entered with the flag-bearer. Colonel Briggs, remaining with
out, was quickly interrogated as to the object of the flag of truce. On
suggesting that it probably related to terms of surrender, many of the
Confederate officers grew indignant. One officer felt especially insulted
and had to be suppressed by his associates. The conversation within
lasted twenty minutes, and then the party moved away.
General Whittaker tells the story of the flag negotiations more in
detail. When the bearer rode up, and presenting General Lee's com
pliments, asked for a cessation of hostilities, pending a reply from
General Grant as to surrender, General Custer replied :
"I am not in sole command upon this field, but will report the
request to General Sheridan, and I can only stop the charge upon an
announcement of an unconditional surrender."
Custer turned to his chief of staff, saying :
" Whittaker, return with this officer, and say to General Lee that I
cannot suspend hostilities or stay this charge . without the assurance
that his army is here to be unconditionally surrendered ; and get me
his answer as soon as possible."
The mission was undertaken and made. On arrival at Lee's
headquarters, it was learned that he had gone in search of General
Grant. Generals Longstreet and Gordon were found, and their assur
ances were received, that an unconditional surrender of the Army of
Northern Virginia was intended. General Whittaker then started to
return to Custer. Lee's army was found, during the ride through it, to
be ready for battle. Grant was not aware then that- Sheridan had built
his wall of infantry across Lee's path, and the latter desired to make
terms before this knowledge should reach the general. Our lines were
moving, as Whittaker dashed into the centre, waving the flag of truce
above his head. This, by the way, was a towel obtained from a vil
lager. After its important use was over, General Whittaker cut off a
corner of it, handing the towel itself to General Custer as a memento
of the historical occasion. It is now in Mrs. Custer's possession.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 297
A writer in the Blue and Gray describes some of that morning's
scenes as follows :
" Had it been only Sheridan that barred the way the surrender
would not have occurred at Appomattox ; but Gordon only drove back
the cavalry to find himself confronted by the Army of the James, and
their bayonets could now be seen advancing through the trees, and the
road was blocked with ten times his number.
" It was then that the flag of truce was raised by an agreement
with Sheridan and Gordon.
" Presently a Federal cavalry officer' was observed coming down
the road toward our forces ; he wore his hair very long, and it was of
a light or reddish color. In his hand he carried a white handkerchief,
which he constantly waved up and down. He inquired for General
Lee, and was directed to General Longstreet upon the hill. Upon
approaching the general he dismounted and said : ' General Long-
street, in the name of General Sheridan and myself I demand the sur-
' render of this army. I am General Custer.'
" General Longstreet replied : ' I am not in command of this army.
General Lee is, and he has gone back to meet General Grant in regard
to a surrender.'
" ' Well,' said Custer, ' no matter about General Grant ; we demand
the surrender be made to us. If you do not do so, we will renew hos
tilities, and any bloodshed will be upon your head !'
" ' Oh, well,' said Longstreet, ' if you do that I will do my best to
meet you.' Then turning to his staff, he said : ' Colonel Manning,
please order General Johnston to move his division to the front, to the
right of General Gordon. Colonel Latrobe, please order General
Pickett forward to General Gordon's left. Do it at once ! ' Custer
listened with surprise depicted upon his countenance ; he had not
thought so many of our troops were at hand with Longstreet. He,
cooling off immediately, said :
" ' General, probably we had better wait until we hear from Grant
and Lee. I will speak to General Sheridan about it ; don't move your
troops yet.'
" And he mounted and withdrew in a much more quiet style than in
his approach.
"As he passed out of hearing, Longstreet said quietly, with that
peculiar chuckle of his :
' ' ' Ha ! ha ! that young man has never learned to play the game of
"brag."' The divisions of Johnston and Pickett were only a myth,
and had no existence whatever after the fight at Five Forks."

298 THE LIFE OF
Lieutenant-General J. B. Gordon, now with General Joseph E.
Johnston, the most distinguished of living Confederate officers, told to
Colonel F. A. Burr the following interesting incidents of th£ surrender
at Appomattox :
" A cavalry officer came to me from Sheridan with a flag of truce.
He was a handsome fellow and very polite. Saluting, he said :
" ' Is this General Gordon? I am the bearer of General Sheridan's
compliments, and he demands your unconditional surrender.'
" 'Well, colonel,' (or whatever I saw his rank was), I answered,
'you will please return my compliments to General Sheridan, and say
that I shall not surrender.'
" ' Then,' he said, ' you will be annihilated in half an hour. We
have you completely surrounded.'
" ' Very well, sir,' I replied. ' I am probably as well aware of my
situation as you are, but that is my answer.'
" ' You 'don't mean that ! ' he exclaimed.
" ' Yes I do, sir,' I said ; ' the only thing I propose to say is what I
have already said through my staff officer — that a flag of truce is in
existence between General Lee and General Grant.' I was not going
to surrender, because I knew it was coming. I was not going to let
Sheridan capture me in that way.
" ' Then you will be annihilated,' he said, and rode away.
"While I had been sitting there waiting, the firing had almost
ceased. The infantry on my flanks had not changed their position
much, as they had been moving up very slowly. I was firing artillery
at the time, so as to check them. In a few minutes Sheridan himself
came up with his staff. He was riding an immense black horse. I
will never forget how he looked with his short legs sticking out on
either side. We had very much the same sort 'of parley as had occurred
between the other officer and myself. Indeed, the language was almost
a literal repetition. Finally I said to him : ' General, I hardly think
that it is worth while for us to parley. I have made up my mind not
to surrender, and I shall accept any consequences which may follow
this determination. I wish simply to give you the information which
was sent me by General Lee. All I know is that there is a flag of
truce in existence, and I only know the bare fact.'
" ' Did you say that you have a letter from General Lee? ' he asked.
" I handed him the letter.
" He looked it over and said : ' I suppose, then, that the only thing
we can do is to cease firing.'
" ' I think so,' I replied.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 299
" He then said to me : ' If you will withdraw your forces to a cer
tain place, I will withdraw mine, and wait to see what happens.'
" We got down off our horses, and taking a seat on the grass talked
there for some time. In the meantime I had forgotten that early in
the morning I had detached a force to go back and over on a brow of a
hill to prevent the cavalry from coming around between Longstreet and
•myself. While we were sitting on the grass I heard a roll of musketry,
and looking over to where the force had been placed saw it firing into
some cayalry that had ridden down in that direction.
" ' H — 1, sir, what does this mean?' cried Sheridan.
'"I am very sorry about it,' I replied, as I explained the circum
stances, and he and I each sent an officer over to the hill to stop the
firing. "T saved Sheridan's life that morning beyond question. One of
my sharpshooters was a sour sort of fellow, and his only idea was that
when he saw a blue-coat it was his duty to shoot at it. I had the
sharpshooters around me when Sheridan came up with the flag of truce,
and I saw this fellow draw his gun. 'What dp you mean?' I cried,
' this is a flag of truce.' He did not pay the slightest attention to me,
and was just about firing when I knocked up his gun and it went off,
over Sheridan's head. ' Let him stay on his own side, general,' he
muttered. " General Sheridan and I sat on the ground, close to the brick house
where Lee and Grant met, in the orchard. I had passed the house in
the morning. We chaffed each other a little in the course of the conver
sation, Sheridan saying : ' I believe I have had the pleasure of meeting
you before.' I replied that we had had some little acquaintance in the
Valley of Virginia. He turned the thread of conversation to some guns
he had received in the valley. Sheridan had captured nearly all of
Early's artillery, and some more had been sent to him from Richmond.
Some wag had written with chalk on one of these guns : ' Respectfully
consigned to Major-General Sheridan through General Early.' Sheri
dan had heard of this, and he was very much amused at it ; but whether
he ever saw such words upon a gun I do not know. When he was
through with his story I suggested that I also had two guns which I
could consign to him, and with the more grace beicause they had come
from him that very morning.
' ' Sheridan came with a full staff and remained with me about an
hour and a half. My recollection is that we stayed at that place until
we received information that General Lee and General Grant had
agreed." * * From Col. F. A. Burr's Life and Deeds of General U. S. Grant.

300 THE LIFE OF
It was high noon of the 7th of April, 1865, when Grant with his
staff, was at the little Farmville hotel. The village is south of the
Appomattox, and is famous because Grant opened from there the sur
render correspondence with Lee. The latter was making a bold stand,
north of the river, and Crook with his cavalry was being roughly
handled. Humphreys' corps was also on the north side, and bearing
the brunt of Lee's whole army. The Sixth Corps was hurried over
that night. Sheridan was to the south, still moving by that terrible left
flank with the rest of his cavalry. Lee was confronted again by
Grant's fatal semi-circle. He could only break up and flee to the
Appalachians at the west — sure destruction — or he could risk all on a
final battle. General Grant offered another alternative, and asked for
his surrender, on the afternoon of the 7th of April. Sheridan had
sent word that he would probably capture Lee's supply train, which
had nearly reached Appomattox Court House. Lee received the
demand of Grant, and asked for terms, to which Grant returned in
substance — peace only !
Everybody was in the lightest marching order, and it was made
evident, also, that the Confederate army was also marching away —
that is, crumbling to pieces. Next morning the end was reached. It
would be superfluous to attempt to describe the scenes at the famous
surrender. Our hero, Sheridan, barred the way ofthe rebel command.
Lee realized this. He was so closely pressed that he had sent dupli
cates of his letter of surrender to Meade and Sheridan alike, as well
as the original forwarded to Grant. The latter did not reach Appomat
tox till 1 p. m.
The little Virginian village, of half a dozen houses, stands on some
rising ground. Beyond it there is a broad valley to the south and west.
Our cavalry was holding the high ridge to the west, and with a portion
of Ord's troops, held the west and south. As Grant came up with his
staff, Sheridan and Ord were seen in the road. As they met, Grant
said :
" How are you, Sheridan?"
" First rate, thank you. How are you ? "
His manner and tone indicated quite plainly that he was satisfied at
least with the position of things.
" Is Lee over there?" asked General Grant.
" Yes ; he is in that brick house," was Sheridan's reply.
"Well, then, we'll go over." And Grant rode on, followed by
Sheridan, Ord, and some others. Grant went into the residence of
Wilbur McLean, the others remaining in the front yard for a while,

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 301
out of consideration for Lee. Shortly after, General Grant sent a
request for them to come in. And in that room the terms of surrender
were signed. Colonel Marshall, of Lee's staff, leaned his back against
the mantel of the broad, open fireplace. In front of him sat General
Lee. At the table fronting him was General Grant. Back of the table,
and leaning against the wall, were Colonel Babcock and General Seth
Williams, of the staff. Near by, and behind Grant, standing with his
sheathed sabre resting across his left arm, was General Sheridan.
Next to him were Generals Ingalls and Barnard. Directly behind
Grant's chair stood his chief of staff, General Rawlins, with* other
members of the staff near by. General Ord was seated near the table.
The others present were Colonels Badeau, Eli Parker, T. S. Bowers,
Frederick T. Dent, and Horace Porter.
Sheridan was as marked a figure, in face, pose, expression, dress,
as was Lee himself. The Confederate commander was in full uni
form, with sword and equipment, all of which were nearly or quite
new. The condition of General Lee's and Colonel Marshall's clothing .
was explained by the fact that the activity of Sheridan's cavalry in
attacking their baggage train had compelled officers to select the
most needed articles and leave the rest to be destroyed, rather than
have them fall into our hands. Sheridan had fallen unconsciously, as
the generals conversed, into a strikingly dramatic attitude. The others
sat or lounged, with quiet if intense interest. Sheridan's attitude was
that of the soldier who expected to be called suddenly to action. It
was that of his mood, for during the whole marvelous pursuit in
which he had led the attack and the advance he had been wrought up
to the loftiest pitch of endurance, courage, foresight, and vital move
ment. Indeed, he could have almost stood as a model of Fate, so alert
and unyielding was his attitude. Cavalry boots, rusty and soiled,
covered half his short, sturdy limbs. He wore the full uniform of his
rank, with sash, belt, and sword. His short, broad, sturdy form
stood posed in strength. The head and face were remarkable. Beard
less, except a close, dark mustache, its striking form and lines were seen
most clearly. The expression was that of set, fixed force and deter
mination. There was a tremendous degree of vitality in the notable
figure — a great amount of intellectual reserve in the lined countenance.
With close-cropped head and beardless face, the depth, height, and
breadth of the general's remarkable cranium were felt by all. The
jaw, strong and well defined, was not heavy. There was not a gross
line fo be seen. The arched brows dipped strongly to the interior,
and were drawn close by the set, stern look habitual to him in the

302 THE LIFE OF
field. The Irish gray eyes followed searchingly every facial movement
ofthe Confederate leader. That the brain behind that fixed, impassive
sternness was at work could be understood by one glance. Standing
" at attention," with his heavy sheathed cavalry sabre l'esting on his left
arm, Sheridan was indeed the embodied vigilance ofthe Union army.
That morning found ample cause for vigilance. The bold, ardent,
ceaseless pursuit which had followed Five Forks, and especially
marked the advance from Jetersville, had been rewarded by the secur
ing ofthe west ridge beyond Lee's position and by the rapid'alignment
of infantry across the only road by which Lee could move. The
Confederates were enmeshed and knew it. The work of disabling
guns and destroying military property was going on. Custer in the
advance was as usual aching to attack and capture more guns. His
division secured the last taken by actual combat in Virginia. It was a
wonderfully picturesque sight, for the topographical features permitted
a full display of our strengthening and encircling lines, as well as the
hurried movements of the gallant enemy within the fateful circles form
ing about them. Lieutenant-General Gordon with his corps faced Sheri
dan and Ord, fretting with the impatience of valor. It was his desire
to cut his way through, and the veterans behind him would at his word
have tried it. Lee knew, however, that such sacrifice was useless, and
took pains to forward to General Sheridan a copy of his letter to Grant,
calling for a conference to arrange the terms of surrender. Sheridan
received this at least an hour before Grant did, with information, also, of
the short truce allowed by Meade, whose army was steadily pressed
to its position. Sheridan at once rode down to meet Gordon, accom
panied by Custer, Merritt, Deven, and others.
How the news was received can be faintly seen by the following
incident : Captain A. J. Ricks, of Major-General J. D. Cox's staff,
was with that officer when the dispatch announcing Lee's surrender
was read. The cheering frightened his horse, which dashed off at full
speed, heading to an approaching column of the army. The thought
flashed through the rider's mind that this was an opportunity to carry
the news through the whole army, so giving free rein to the excited
horse, he-rode on. The battalions opened for the horse and rider, and
he shouted out the news as he sped onward. Captain Ricks narrates:
" In one of the regiments, as I was sweeping through the ranks, I
caught the bright face of a soldier leaning out from the lines as far as
possible into the road, to catch the message that fell from my lips.
'What is it? What is it?' he anxiously shouted. 'Lee has sur-

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.' 303
rendered his whole army to Grant,' was the reply. Clear and loud,
above all the voices, and quick as the message fell upon his ear, was
his answer : ' Great God ! you're the man I've been looking for for the
last four years.' "
A little incident occurred which deserves mention, and it is given
here in the words of General Horace Porter. After the formal terms
of surrender were signed, and the staff of General Grant had been intro
duced, General Lee took the initiative in bringing the conference to
business again, and said :
" ' I have a thousand or more of your men as prisoners, General
Grant, a number of them officers, whom we have required to march
along with us for several days. I shall be glad to send them into your
lines as soon as it can be arranged, for I have no provisions for them.
I have, indeed, nothing for my own men. They have been living for
the last few days principally upon parched corn, and we are badly in
need of both rations and forage. I telegraphed to Lynchburg, directing
several train loads of rations to be sent on by rail from there, and when
they arrive I should be glad to have the present wants of my men sup
plied from them.'
"At this remark, all eyes turned towards Sheridan, for he had
captured these trains with his cavalry the night before, near Appomattox
Station." The incident shows how complete was the Union environment, and
how hopeless would have been any further struggle on the part of the
Army of Northern Virginia. It is another evidence of Sheridan's
ubiquity. The cavalry was always there — -wherever that might be.
Sheridan shared with the other officers, after Lee had ridden away,
the desire to secure some relic of the memorable occasion in which he
had been so stalwart an actor. But his desire took a generous turn,
for paying McLean twenty dollars in gold for the little table on which
Lee had signed the terms of surrender, he at once made a present of it
to Mrs. Custer — through her husband. Porter says that Custer
" started off to camp bearing it upon his shoulder, and looking like
Atlas carrying the world." And for the time being they were — these
men of high valor — " carrying the world " on their shoulders. It was
a memorable event. The accessories were simple enough, as always
on really great occasions. But no field in human history has held
higher hopes, and none have ever witnessed a larger magnanimity, a
grander generosity.

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE CONFEDERATE CAVALRYMEN.

THE SOUTHERN ADVANTAGE AT FIRST . — CAVALRY OFFICERS MAKING FINE
COMMANDERS — PLANTER AND FARMER FINDING THEIR HORSES AS TROOP
ERS — THE WADE HAMPTON AND ASHEY LEGIONS — THE LEES — HOW
GENERAL LEE LEFT THE UNION SERVICE — "JEB" STUART THEIR BEST
COMMANDER — SOUTHWESTERN LEADERS ALSO — ROSSER — MOSEBY — WHAT
GRANT SAID OF THE VIRGINIAN PARTISAN — HIS SERVICES TO THE CON
FEDERACY — WHAT LEE SAID OF HIS USEFULNESS — THE " BOYS " ARE
MARCHING HOME AGAIN — NOT ALL OF THEM.

; "j

The cavalry of the Confeder
acy was a famous and, terrible
weapon in the hands of its lead-^
ers for more than the first half
of the war period. The con
tempt of our organizers for this
arm of the service brought to the
people who deserved it not, a
good deal of severe punishment.
It is recalled as an illustration
of how little men, set in their
ways, can unlearn, even by expe
rience, that as late as the fall of
1864, and during the rapid retreat from Missouri of General Sterling
Price and his army, mostly mounted, that Rosecrans, commanding the
Department of Missouri, coming up on the tail of the pursuit, sneered
audibly at General Curtis, commanding the Department of Kansas,
for pressing the enemy with the mounted forces under his control,
which comprised only about half his command, and was much less in
numbers than Price's beaten army. General Rosecrans remarked to
the officer in command of an engineer party, that Curtis " could not
keep it up." Our marches were then some thirty miles a day when
not fighting. "You'll see; I'll have to come up at last with my

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.' 30^
infantry." As a matter of fact, in that pursuit " Rosy's " infantry never
got within fifty miles of a battle-field, and Price was three times routed,
and driven finally across the Arkansas River, 200 miles below where
the infantry was to " come up," if at all.
The Southern leaders, certainly at first, understood the logistics of
the situation better than our own authorities. One reason of that is per-
"haps to be found in the fact that so many of the Confederate command
ers — those from the regular service especially — had been in the
cavalry service. Jefferson Davis himself evidently appreciated this
arm, as he took especial pains while Secretary of War, under Pierce,
in organizing four additional regiments to the regular army, to procure
the legislation necessary to equip them as cavalry, and then to officer
them with those who, it seemed to him, would best serve the South in
the contingencies that were likely to arise. The ex-cavalrymen among
commanding and laading generals of the Confederacy, can be named
by the score.
It was in the eastern division of our vast field of war that the
cavalry seivice was after all brought to its highest perfection. And
it was in that field, also, that the Confederacy aggregated of necessity
some of its most useful cavalry commanders. It had the advantage in
some degree of securing there the most experienced of the old army
dragoons. Lee himself, J. E. B. Stuart, Fitzhugh Lee, Ewell, Hill,,
Anderson, Sibley, Joseph E.Johnston, Steele, Hood, Jordan, Albert
Sidney Johnston, and a hundred others who could be named, might
be properly selected from our ante bellum army as the fittest men
to organize a cavalry force. The Confederates were not, also, with
out most gallant cavalry soldiers and leaders whose sabres carved their
way from civil life to martial eminence. Among those still living are
such men as Wade Hampton, Wheeler, Chalmers, and Moseby. Gen
eral Gordon himself has shown all the finest qualities of a cavalry com
mander. Of those who have passed away may be named with respect
for soldierly qualities at least, Stuart, Forrest, Cleburne, Wickham,
Gilmore, Ashby, Van Dorn, Ben. McCullough, and many others.
Still, as at first in our own army, the engineer officers, like Beaure
gard, were made prominent. The exigencies of field service, however,
soon put the trained cavalry commanders to the fore. The excellence
of our West Point training was well illustrated there, in that it showed
how easily its graduates could pass from one arm of the service to
another, especially in the three active ones — infantry, cavalry, and
artillery. 20

306 THE LIFE OF ¦
The planter was necessarily a horseman. His work of supervision
in the main was done in the saddle. As a slave-holder, owning many
or few human chattels, he was more of a man on the back of his saddle-
horse in the eyes of his slaves, than when on foot like any ordinary
person. He knew how to both ride and shoot. He was master, too,
in more senses than one. Besides, this was the slave-holders' war, and
there were barely more than sufficient of their class to hold the offices
and commissions incidental to a great war. It cannot be denied, either,
that in the South the men whose teachings were directed to secession
were among the first to volunteer for the fight that ensued.
What gave the Confederate cavalry, then, its first form and useful
ness was the rule adopted of requiring each recruit to mount himself.
Equipments were sometimes or in part provided, sufficient to give some
uniformity. The munificent sum of forty cents per day was allowed
each trooper for the use of his horse. He was required, however, to
remount himself. The endeavor to achieve this necessity was the
source of much of the activity shown by Moseby, Morgan, Duke, and
other partisan leaders, in different parts of the large field of border
operations. Such a condition applied to the raising of cavalry could
only be made in an agricultural country. It was at first peculiarly
adapted to the conditions of the South. The rich slave-holding planters,
like Wade Hampton ; the ambitious and dashing leaders, like Wheeler
and Chalmers, then lawyers and planters with careers before them ; the
born horsemen like Forrest, Morgan, Moseby, the Ashby§, and others,
were able to bring together a mounted yeomanry, accustomed to their
horses, and used, in the rude atmosphere of slavery, to command.
The early usefulness of the Confederate cavalry was due not alone to
the character of the men who, by reason of the rule requiring them to
furnish their own horses, enlisted in the service, but to the fact that the
South had up to the Civil War, paid more attention than the North
did to the breeding and training of fine saddle-horses. Besides that
was the fact that the Southern trooper almost necessarily knew the
country in which he was operating. Probably, also, two-fifths of the
male effectives of the Confederate States were constant riders, owned
their own stock, or were so related as to be able to procure their mount.
Yet, as it turned out, given time and occasion, the loyal states were
able, in the long run, to mould and make a better cavalry force, to
mount it far more effectively, and handle it more efficiently for final
victory. Wade Hampton, of South Carolina — one ofthe richest planters in

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 307
the whole South, of revolutionary family, of high education and fine
talents — was foremost in raising these troops. At the first Bull Run
battle, Hampton's Legion was among the most notable of Confederate
commands. With Ashby and the Virginian's " Black Horse" troop,
the imaginations of our disordered and retreating soldiery were at that
period most vividly filled. Hampton, shortly after the death of Stuart
at Yellow Tavern, was made a lieutenant-general, and placed in com
mand of Lee's cavalry. He possessed many of the qualities of a fine
commander. He was cool in action, knew all about horses, had a way
of winning his men, though without the hearty rollicksomeness of
Stuart, or the headlong dash of Custer, while he was as remarkable as
Sheridan in gathering accurate ideas of the topography through which
he was moving. If he lacked anywhere, it was in a sort of immo
bility that prevented as much dash as cavalry demands.
The Lees all appear to have become troopers, as if born to the
saddle. " Fitz-Hugh," " Fitz-Lee," and "Rooney"were far more
than ordinary horsemen and commanders. It .was doubtless natural
that this should be so, for their famous commander, and the head of
their house, also, was himself a trained and thoroughly competent
cavalry commander. At the time of his entrance into the Confederate
service he was lieutenant-colonel of the Second Regiment of United
States Cavalry. His headquarters were in the Indian Territory, within
the western part of the Chickasaw country, probably at what is now
known as Fort Sill, and were, fortunately for th'e Union cause, under
command of Major George H. Thomas, the noble Virginian soldier
who did so much to honor his name by great service in the field to the
Union cause. Albert Sidney Johnston, who fell at Shiloh, command
ing on the Confederate side, was its colonel. Lee was in Texas, en
route to Washington, when Major-General Twiggs, United States
Army, commanding that department, surrendered his command to the
secession authorities of the Lone Star State. It is recorded that Lee then
declared that he should resign on arriving home, and retire to his farm
at Arlington, taking no part in the conflict on either side. This was in
December, i860. He left San Antonio in January, 1861, to return to
Washington, and was on duty with General Scott until after Mr. Lin
coln was inaugurated. The governor of Virginia had raised a so-called
state army of 20,000 men, the command of which was tendered to Lee.
He was also offered the position of senior major-general in the Union
Army and with it the command of all the troops. He dallied with both
offers, not idly, it is certain, but in the grave agony and doubt of a

308 THE LIFE OF
strong man who thought he saw before him the parting ways of a
divided duty. He chose to go with his state, and his resignation was
offered on the 20th of April, 1861. On the 22d instant, at Arling
ton, Lee received commissioners from the State Constitutional Conven
tion, then in session at Richmond, and in its name and that of Gov
ernor Letcher, was offered the command of the state troops,with the rank
of major-general. Having accepted this offer, that evening Lee left for
Richmond with his family. On the 23d, he was received by the state
convention. Up to that date Virginia had not actually seceded. It is
properly claimed by Union writers and critics that Lee's action did
very much to put the state into actual rebellion. No Federal force of
any kind had entered the Old Dominion during the controversy. Not
until it was actually known at army headquarters that Colonel Lee had
not waited for the formal acceptance of his resignation before entering
an hostile army was there any movement made in the direction of his
arrest. It has been charged that technically General Lee was a deserter,
as an officer who offers his resignation is presumed to be still in the
army, but under waiting orders. However that may be, General Lee
was the hero of the Confederate Army. History has managed, by reason
of his strong, rounded character, dignity, and personality, to impress
him in a remarkable degree upon the burning pages of that period.
In an interesting after-the-war volume,* a Southern writer describes Lee,
as he appeared in the Peninsula Campaign. It was just before the
battle of Gaines Mills. His headquarters were at Hogan's house,
six and one-half miles to the northeast of Richmond. It had been used
by our commanders, but as they retreated, Lee, with Longstreet, used it
as a post of observation. It also bore the evidences of hospital use.
General Lee, says the writer quoted, " sat in the south portico, absorbed
in thought. Dressed in a dark uniform, buttoned to the throat, his
calm, open countenance and gray hair would have tempted an artist to
sketch him in this thoughtful attitude. Longstreet sat in an old garden
chair, at the foot of the steps. With his feet thrown against a tree, he
presented a true type of the hardy campaigner ; his once gray uniform
had changed to brown, and many a button was missing ; his riding-boots
were dusty and worn ; but his pistols and sabre had a bright polish, by
his side, while his charger stood near, anxiously looking for orders or
recognition." An English officer who was visiting the Confederate
army, described General Lee as " almost without exception one of
* Southern Generals, William Parker Snow, p. 61.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 309
the handsomest of men." At that time he " was fifty-six years old,
tall, broad shouldered, very well made, well set up — a thorough
soldier in appearance — with manners most courteous and full of
dignity." His costume, according to the same authority, was " a well-
worn, long gray jacket, a high, black felt hat," and with his trousers
" tucked into his Wellington boots." These realistic touches bring the
man home to us. It is not a matter to wonder at, then, that the Confed
erate cavalry service received his watchful care. The estimation in
which Stuart - — selected by Lee to command his cavalry — was held, is
stated by General Longstreet, who in a Century article — " Our march
Against Pope " — writes that " ' Jeb' Stuart was a very daring fellow and
the best cavalryman America ever produced. At the second Manassas,
soon after we heard of the advance of McDowell and Porter, Stuart
came up and made a report to General Lee. When he had done so
General Lee said he had no orders at that moment, but he requested
Stuart to wait awhile. Thereupon he turned in his tracks, lay down
on the ground, put a stone under his head, and instantly fell asleep.
General Lee rode away, and in an hour returned. Stuart was still sleep
ing. Lee asked for him, and Stuart sprang to his feet and said : ' Here
I am, general.'
" General Lee replied : ' I want you to send a message to your troops
on the left to send a few more cavalry over to the right.'
" ' I would better go myself,' said Stuart, and with that he swung
himself into the saddle and rode off at a rapid gallop, singing as loud
as he could, ' Jine the Cavalry.' "
To the gallant Stuart — whom we may admire as a soldier, without
accepting Longstreet's eulogy of him — is due the credit of inaugurating
the first extensive raiding expedition of the war. The daring and
dashing raid made by his command around McClellan's army after the
battle of Seven Pines, must take rank as the initiative of similar bold
operations that followed rapidly on both sides. " Boots and paddles,"
was sounded, says Colonel W. T. Robins,* amid the delight of the men
and officers. Nominally, the command started for Northern Virginia,
but in reality, they were to flank the right wing of the Federal army
near Ashland, and moving around its rear, cross the Chickahominy at
near Sycamore Ford, in New Kent County, march to the James River,
and return to Lee's army, near Deep Bottom, Henrico County — ground
which was afterwards marked by the dashing raids of Kilpatrick, arid
later by the more seriously destructive ones of Sheridan.
Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Century Company, Vol. II., pp. 271-2.

310 THE LIFE OF
This expedition displayed Stuart's capacity for surprise in an
admirable manner. Fires were not allowed at bivouacs ; the bugles
were unused ; the marches were begun early and made swiftly.
Hanover Court House saw the first Union troopers — a small detach
ment which left incontinently. A fight occurred at Hawes' shop, where
subsequently Custer's command had a brilliant rencontre and won a
victory. The Union squadron was swiftly repulsed by a charge of
Colonel W. H. F. Lee's regiment. They fell back swiftly on their
main body, commanded by Brigadier-General Philip St. George Cooke,
the father-in-law of Stuart, and himself a loyal Virginian. The fight
was a sharp one, the pursuit was hot, and the conflict was again renewed
at Old Church, where the Nationals had encamped. It all resulted in
a Confederate victory. Stuart pushed on. McClellan's army was
between him and Richmond. The Union cavalry was believed to be
in Stuart's rear. Very little fighting occurred. An attempt was made
at the York River railroad (in McClellan's possession), near Funstall's
Station, to capture a train of troops. The engineer put on steam and
broke through the obstructions, while the Confederates fired into the cars,
wounding and killing a number of our men. In general, the raid was
a huge picnic, during which Stuart's troopers secured many horses,
arms, especially revolvers, raided several sutler stores, and got an unusual
number, for them, of good things to eat. In their whole excursion they
lost one man killed, several wounded, and no prisoners. General Stuart
reported the capture of 165 prisoners, 260 horses and mules, and a
quantity of small arms. It reads small by the side ofthe larger opera
tions that marked Sheridan's movements in the last year of the war,
but it was a fortunate movement on the Confederates' part, and inspired
their troopers with greater dash and self-reliance. In the Central
South, however, men like Wheeler, Cheatham, Chalmers, Forrest,
and Morgan, had already taught the Union commanders the power
of the mounted soldier. No such cavalry forces had been raised in
Virginia as, under Forrest and Wheeler, were then and later assailing
Halleck's lines of operations, or the movements of Buell and Rosecrans.
It was in the Central South and west of the Mississippi that the
Confederates made their most extensive and important use of cavalry.
Neither Stuart nor Wade Hampton ever commanded over ten thousand
cavalrymen, Generals Forrest and Wheeler during several periods of
their active campaigning, had larger forces. Morgan and Duke were as
much partisan leaders as Moseby, yet the latter seldom had over twenty
men with him, and probably never commanded over one hundred

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

311

troopers in any one
engagement or
raid. The topo
graphical features
of the different
fields made neces
sary the differences
of the commands.
General Stuart
showed confidence
in the material he
handled by discard-
ing, ex-regular
though he was, the
traditions of the
United States Ar
my, which held
that it took three
years of service to
make an effective
cavalryman out of
a raw recruit. The
Union cavalry in
the Peninsula Cam-

GEN. WADE HAMPTON,

A FAMOUS CONFEDERATE CAVRLRY OFFICER. SINCE THE WAR A
UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM SOUTH CAROLINA.

paign, from and
around whom he
seemed to so easily run, as well as fight, consisted of fourteen regiments
and two independent squadrons. Major-General George A. Stone-
man, recently governor of California, was in command, with Briga
dier-General Cooke in command of the reserve. Colonels Emory and
Grier (" old Billy," ofthe regulars, as he was called) were among the
efficient, with Averill, Torbett, and others, moulders and commanders
of the cavalry ofthe Army ofthe Potomac. Custer was a staff officer
with McClellan. Kilpatrick was then a major. Buford was on Stone-
man's staff"; and the names of our other gallant heroes were, like the
better known Confederate cavalrymen, just beginning to be " sounded
in the ear of fame." Averill had preceded Stuart's exploit of riding
round the peninsula army by a raid, on a smaller scale, from Manassas
to Fredericksburg. It was the peninsula fighting that made the Union
cavalry effective, just as it also inspired that of the Army of Virginia.

312 THE LIFE OF
" Jeb " Stuart, judging by the anecdotes told of him, was the un"-
questioned idol of the Virginian cavalry. The ex-partisan leader,
Moseby, in the charming little book of Reminiscences,* thus sketches
Stuart, with whom he first enlisted in the First Virginia Cavalry, as
follows :
' ' He was just twenty-eight years of age — one year older than my
self — strongly built, with blue eyes, ruddy complexion, and reddish
beard. He wore a blouse and foraging cap with a linen cover, called
a havelock, as a protection against the sun. His personal appearance
indicated the distinguishing traits of his character — dash, great
strength of will, and indomitable energy. Stuart soon showed that he
possessed all the qualities of a great leader of cavalry — a sound judg
ment, a quick intelligence to penetrate the designs of an enemy,
mingled with the brilliant courage of a Rupert. His good humor,
readiness, and courtesy seem to have been unfailing qualities. It is
told that during the week of battles in front of Washington, following
the second Bull Run, that General Bayard went forward, under a
flag of truce,. to meet and confer with his old comrade in arms. Less
than two years previously ' Jeb ' was first lieutenant and Bayard
second lieutenant in the same company ; now ' Jeb ' was a major-gen
eral on the wrong side, and Bayard a brigadier on the right one.
During tSfe interview a wounded soldier lying near was groaning and
asking for water.
" ' Here, "Jeb," ' said Bayard — old-time recollections making him
familiar — as he tossed his bridle to a Confederate officer, ' hold my
horse a minute while I fetch that poor fellow some water.' 'Jeb'
held the bridle. Bayard went to a stream and brought the wounded
man some water. As Bayard mounted his horse, 'Jeb' remarked
that he had not for some time ' played orderly to a Union general.'
Poor Bayard went gallantly to his grave some time before his friend did,
but Stuart also fell at Yellow Tavern. Another little episode is told
pending the Cedar Run field, in 1862. An eye-witness say's : ' On a
fallen gum tree — the slain stretched around them — sat the officers of
the parley ; upon one side the Confederate cavalry leaders, Stuart and
General Early ; upon the other Generals Hartsuff and Roberts. Stuart
was lythe, gray-eyed, and tall, of an intense countenance, nervous, im
pulsive manner, and clad in gray, with a soft black hat. He wore,
curiously enough, United States buttons, and his sword which he
*Moseby's War Reminiscences, pp 11-12.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 313
exhibited, was made in Philadelphia. Early was a quiet, severe North
Carolinian, who wore a home-spun civil suit, with a brigadier's star on
his shoulder bar. General Hartsuff "was burly and good-natured ;
Roberts silent and sage, with white beard and distrustful eye. The.
former had been a classmate of the cavalryman, and he said, ' Stuart,
old boy, how d'ye do ? ' ' God bless my soul, Hartsuff,' said the other,
' it warms my heart to see you,' and they took a turn arm-in-arm."
Stuart's earlier rival in the affections of the Virginia troopers was
the farmer-soldier of Loudoun County, Colonel Turner Ashby, who at
his own cost recruited an independent command at the very outset of
the Civil War. There was a good deal of feeling displayed, when, the
organization of cavalry commencing in earnest, Captain J. E. B.
Stuart, formerly of the old regular army, was made colonel over the
head, as it were, of Turner Ashby, who was then, as General Imboden
has since written, " the idol of all the troopers in the field, as well he
might be, for a more brave and chivalrous officer never rode at the
head of well-mounted troopers." He was, however, soon placed in
command of a regiment of bis own people, and maintained his repu
tation for bravery and dash on the field until he fell in one of the
cavalry skirmishes that preceded the battle of Winchester in 1864.
General Jackson, a prominent ex-Confederate officer, says that :
"As a partisan officer I never knew his superior ; his daring was
proverbial ; his powers of endurance almost incredible ; his tone of
character heroic, and his sagacity almost intuitive in divining the pur
pose and movements of the enemy."
Strong praise, but characteristic of the Southern judgment which
made of every fighter an Hector, and of every leader an Achilles.
Another ofthe competent, but still over- rated men of "brawn and
pluck" who served their cause, is the ex-cavalry commander, Thomas
L. Rosser, who failed to thrash Custer as he promised, and almost pur
sued Sheridan even to the grave. There is no doubt, however, that
Rosser "was a brave and dashing cavalry leader, even if a bit of a
braggart. There is a little story told in Blue and Gray, which illus
trates him, and will bear repeating. During the last campaign, Rosser,
in a fight with a portion of Crook's cavalry division sent to destroy the
high bridge near Farmville, captured some eight hundred prison
ers. The narrator of the incident says, hearing a voice asking for
General Longstreet, that he turned in his saddle to find General Rosser
near by, mounted on a superb black horse. Inquiring the news, he
replied: "Oh! we have captured those people who were going to

314 THE LIFE OF
destroy the bridge — took them all in ; but Jim Dearing is mortally
wounded. He had a hand-to-hand fight with the commanding officer
of the Federals, General Read, and cut him down from his horse,
killing him ; but Read's orderly shot Dearing through the body, and
then he, too, was shot. It was a gallant fight. This is Read's horse,
and this his sabre. Both beauties, aren't they ? But I must see Long-
street." Rosser was wounded in the arm, but made light of his
" scratch." Longstreet hunted up, Rosser reported. There was evi
dently more gratification at the captures he made, than pain or surprise
at the terrible position in which the army he belonged to was placed.
It is not unrefreshing to read over the old rosters, — so many names
and memories are brought to light again. In the Army of Virginia
cavalry there are embalmed some names that have grown somewhat
since those days. At a glance the eye recalls Hampton and Butler,
both in the United States Senate ; Fitzhugh Lee, Governor of Vir
ginia ; Percy M. B. Young, of Georgia ; ex-Congressman Magruder,
relative of the dashing and emblazoned artillerist, who surrendered in
Texas as major-general ; Wickham, ex-Senator from Virginia ; Thomas
F. Goode, brother of the Congressman ; Brigadier-General W. E.
Jones, formerly of the regular army ; Imboden, dashing and able,
whose virile pen is still giving the country some valuable papers on the
Civil War. But one of the most remarkable of Confederate cavalrymen
is never named in these rosters. Yet he held, having won it fairly,
the commission of colonel. John L. Moseby, the partisan leader of
Northern Virginia, deserves a place in any reference to the doings and
deeds of the Confederate troopers. He deserves it because he is a man
of character enough to win the respect of his foe, and since the war
closed to have induced General Grant to write of him as follows, after
having appointed him consul to Hong Kong : " Since the close ofthe
war I have come to know Moseby personally, and somewhat intimately.
He is a different man entirely from what I supposed. He is slender,
not tall, wiry, and looks as if he could endure any amount of physical
exercise. He is able, and thoroughly honest and truthful. There were
probably but few men in the South who could have commanded suc
cessfully a separate detachment in the rear of an opposing army, and
so near the borders of hostilities, as long as he did without losing his
entire command." *
Perhaps nothing will illustrate Moseby's intelligence as a soldier and
* Memoirs, Vol. II., p. 143.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 315
the amount that he accomplished, better than his own statement of the
theory upon which he acted as a partisan leader, and the recognition
of his services in that capacity which he received from his superiors.
Of the first, Colonel Moseby says that he was never a spy, and that his
warfare was always such as the laws of war allow. He epitomizes
his theory of action as follows : ' 'As a line is only as strong as its weak
est point, it was necessary for it to be stronger than I was at every
point in order to resist my attacks. . . . To destroy supply trains,
to break up the means of conveying intelligence, and thus isolating an
army from its base, as well as its different corps from each other, to
confuse plans by capturing dispatches,-are the objects of partisan war
fare. . . . The military value of a partisan's work is not measured
by the amount of property destroyed, or the number of men killed or
captured, but by the number he keeps watching. Every soldier with
drawn from the front to guard the rear of an army is so much taken
from its fighting strength." What he accomplished may be seen in
part by the following, which is a copy of General Lee's indorsement on
Lieutenant-Colonel Moseby's report of his operations from the ist of
March to the nth of September, 1864 :
Headquarters, Army Northern Virginia, )
September 19th, 1864. j
Respectfully forwarded to the Adjutant and Inspector-General for
the information of the department. Attention is invited to the activity
and skill of Colonel Moseby, and the intelligence and courage of the
officers and men of his command, as displayed in this report.
With the loss of little more than twenty men, he has killed,
wounded, and captured during the period embraced in this report about
twelve hundred of the enemy, and taken more than sixteen hundred
horses and mules,. 230 beef cattle, and eighty-five wagons and ambu
lances, without counting many smaller operations. The services ren
dered by Colonel Moseby and his command in watching and reporting
the enemy's movements have also been of great value. His operations
have been highly creditable to himself and his command.
(Signed) R. E. Lee, General.
Official, John Blair Hoge, Major and Assistant Adjutant- General.
Discipline was not as strict in the Confederate as in the Union army,
at least with the cavalry. Privates and officers were more familiar —
a necessary result of their methods of recruiting for that service. The
methods of cooking and of camp fare were also dissimilar to our boys'.
They took " pot luck" more frequently, and did not receive the same
abundance or quality in rations. One bane of a soldier's life was camp

316 GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN,
guard. They never minded doing sentinel duty on the out-posts. The
picket line was a place of horror, of danger, and responsibility, yet
there was something inspiring and soldier-like in guarding the front.
But camp guard, compelling them to stand and watch over a pile of
corn, or a lot of half starved army mules, or some equally uninteresting
object — it was then that the iron entered the so'ul, and many were the
devices practiced by " old soldiers" to be relieved of this duty.
Here let us pause. The years have passed, summer and winter.
Each season in its appointed time has held in its embrace the north
land and the south land alike. The shell-shattered tree, the cannon-
rifted earth, the torn bastions, the fields ploughed by " war's dread
enginery " have ' all changed their rude, sad features. The tender
touch of nature has shrouded in moss, creeper, and verdure, the riven
tree. The broken earth has been brought by industry into smiling
places of plenty. The wild flowers bloom where the deadly missiles
hurtled fast and furious. Dear nature has kissed alike the graves of
Union and Confederate, and her robes of verdure or of snow are the
proofs of loving impartiality. But memories live. The "boys" came
home again, North and South — but alas ! not all of them. As Francis
A. Durivage so simply and pathetically sings :
" There hangs a sabre, and there a rein,
With rusty buckle and green curb chain ;
A pair of spurs on the old gray wall,
And a moldy saddle, — well, that is all.
" Come out to the stable ; it is not far,
The moss-grown door is hanging ajar ;
Look within ! There's an empty stall,
Where once stood a charger, — and that is all.
" The good black steed came riderless home,
Flecked with the blood-drops, as well as foam.
Do you see that mound, where the dead leaves fall?
The good black horse pined to death — that's all.
"All? O God ! it is all I can speak,
Question me not, — I am old and weak.
His saddle and sabre hang on the wall,
And his horse pined to death — I have told you all."

CHAPTER XXV.

A WARNING ON THE RIO GRANDE.
SHERIDAN IS SENT TO TEXAS — GRANT'S LOVE FOR "LITTLE PHIL " — AFTER
THE GRAND REVIEW  LOGAN, REYNOLDS, BLUNT, POPE, AND WEITZEL.
ORGANIZING — WHAT WAS DESIGNED FOR MEXICO — ESCABEDO AND COR-
TINAS ON THE LOWER GRANDE — HOW THE IMPERIALIST MEJIA FELT
THEIR POWER  ABANDONED UNITED STATES MATERIAL OBTAINED BY
MEXICO — JAUREZ AT PASO DEL NORTE — THE OLD CHURCH — OUR CALI
FORNIA CAVALRYMEN  HOW THE MEXICAN REPUBLICANS WERE AIDED BY
THE UNION  DIFFICULT TASK TO MAINTAIN ORDER IN TEXAS.
The surrender of Lee with the chief army of the Confederacy at
Appomattox, the capture of Richmond also, and the flight of the Con
federate President and of his Cabinet, promised, but did not quite
insure, that peace for which the leaders of the Union armies had been so
long laboring. Sherman was well into North Carolina when Grant
told the men of Lee's army to take their horses and go home to plough,,
accepting unhesitatingly the paroles of men who had been under arms
four years for the purpose of dissevering our National Union, that
thereafter they would become and remain faithful and peaceful citizens
of the land they had sought to disrupture with such courage and vigor
as compel one to mourn that the splendid qualities they so lavishly
displayed had not been expended in a better cause than that of making
"African slavery" the "corner-stone" of a confederacy, which could
not exist except upon the ruins of our Federal Union. The military
situation, however, concerns the victorious commanders more than the
political consequences that directly follow their victories. Still, Grant
could not be quite regardless of these.
The assassination of Mr. Lincoln, so soon after Appomattox, ter
ribly complicated affairs by its rapid creation of a public opinion
bitterly hostile to all elements in the fallen Confederacy. We now see
how little the Southern people had to do with the atrocious acts of
Wilkes Booth and his small band of conspirators ; but at that date we
knew it not. Then came the Sherman-Johnston compact, under the

318 THE LIFE OF
pretense of an armistice. With all his genius, Sherman lacked the
marvelous equipoise which made Grant so supremely sagacious in war,
and in all its operations and consequences. He could not and did not
resist the trap into which he was led at Raleigh, under the hope of
solving seriously the problems of permanent peace, found in the rela
tions of the states to each other. It needed Grant's faith in his great
lieutenant and the public confidence in himself to arrange the North
Carolina affair, without leaving anything but some sharp personal feel
ing behind it.
But there was serious work for Sheridan to do. As Adam Badeau
shows, there was on Grant's part a genuine love for, as well as confi
dence felt in Sheridan by his commanding officer and those about
him. Badeau says :
"Without Sheridan, Grant's triumph would not have been so com
plete ; for it was Sheridan, who by rapid marches and incessant blows
secured the enveloping, and thus the surrender of Lee. After this
Grant fairly loved Sheridan. The affection was founded on admiration ;
the intimacy grew out of achievement. While Grant was sick and
dying, Sheridan wrote : ' It is unnecessary for me to use words to
express my attachment to General Grant and his family. I have not
gone to see him, as I could only bring additional distress to them, and
I want to remember him as I knew him in good health.'
"At the close of the war, on the very day of the grand review at
Washington, Grant dispatched Sheridan with secret orders to the Rio
Grande to watch the frontier. He was told to be ready for any emer
gency. He performed his part, as usual, well, and when the French
were withdrawn Grant placed him in command at New Orleans."
The interest thus manifested by General Grant in the Republic of
Mexico, and the condition of affairs on the Rio Grande are forcibly
illustrated in the following letter, written a little later by the conqueror
of Lee. Grant had a great dislike to William H. Seward, and in this
letter indirectly exhibits this feeling. The letter reads :
Washington, June 19th, 1865.
His Excellency A. Johnson,
President of the United States.
The great interest which I feel in securing an honorable and per
manent peace whilst we still have in service a force sufficient to insure
it, induces me to lay my views before you in an official form.
In the first place, I regard the act of attempting to establish a mon
archical government on this continent in Mexico by foreign bayonets,

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 319
as an act of hostility against the government of the United States. If
allowed to go on until such a government is established I see nothing
before us but a long, expensive, and bloody war ; one in which the
enemies of this country will be joined by tens of thousands of disciplined
soldiers, embittered against their government by the experiences of the
last four years.
As a justification for open resistance to the establishment of Maxi
milian's government in Mexico, I would give the following reasons :
First — The act of attempting to establish a monarchy on this con
tinent was an act of known hostility to the government of the United
States ; was protested against at the time, and would not have been
undertaken but for the great war which was raging, and which it was
supposed by all the great powers of Europe, except, possibly, Russia,
would result in the dismemberment of the country, and the overthrow
of republican institutions.
Second — Every act of the empire of Maximilian has been hostile to
the government of the United States. Matamoras and the whole Rio
Grande under his control, has been an open port to those in rebellion
against this government. It is notorious that every article held by the
rebels for export was permitted to cross the Rio Grande, and from
there go unmolested to all parts of the world ; and they received in re
turn, all articles, arms, munitions of war, etc., they desired. Rebels in
arms have been allowed to. take refuge on Mexican soil, protected by
French bayonets. French soldiers have fired on our men from the
south side of the river in aid of the rebellion. Officers acting under
the authority of the would-be empire, have received arms, munitions,
and other public property from the rebels after the same has become
the property of the United States. It is now reported, and I think
there is no doubt of the truth of the report, that large, organized, and
armed bodies of rebels have gone to Mexico to join the Imperialists.
It is further reported, and too we will find the report confirmed,
that a contract or agreement has been entered into with Duke Gwin, a
traitor to his country, to invite into Mexico armed immigrants for the
purpose of wrenching from the rightful government of that country
states never controlled by the Imperialists. It will not do to remain
quiet and theorize that by showing a strict neutrality all foreign force
will be compelled to leave Mexican soil. Rebel immigrants will go to
Mexico with arms in their hands. They will not be a burden upon
the states, but, on the contrary, will become producers, always ready.
when emergency arises, to take up their arms in defence of the cause
they espouse.
That their leaders will espouse the cause of the empire purely
out of hostility to this government, I feel there is no doubt. There
is a hope that the rank and file may take the opposite side if any
influence is allowed to work upon their reason, but if a neutrality
is to be observed which allows armed rebels to go to Mexico, and
which keeps out all other immigrants, and which also denies to the
Liberals of Mexico belligerent rights — the right to buy arms and

320 THE LIFE OF
munition in foreign markets and to transport them through friendly
territory to their homes, I see no chance for such influence to be
brought to bear.
What I would propose would be a solemn protest against the estab
lishment of a monarchical government in Mexico by the aid of foreign
bayonets. If the French have a just claim against Mexico, I would
regard them as having triumphed, and would guarantee them suitable
award for their grievance. Mexico would, no doubt, admit 'their
claim if it did not affect their territory or right as a free people. The
United States could take such pledges as would secure her against loss.1
How all this could be done without bringing on an armed conflict,
others who have studied such matters could tell better than I.
If this course cannot be agreed upon, then I would recognize equal
belligerent rights to both parties. I would interpose no obstacle to the
passage into Mexico of emigrants to that country. I would allow
either party to buy arms, or anything else we have to sell, and inter
pose no obstacle to their transit.
These views have been hastily drawn up, and contain but little of
what might be said on the subject treated of. If, however, they serve
to bring the matter under discussion, they will have accomplished all
that is desired.
U. S. Grant, Lieutenant- General.
West of the Appalachian ranges there still remained, even at the
time of the grand review at Washington, some considerable Confed
erate forces in the field. They were not moving actively, it was true,
but sufficient remained for a possible nucleus of any projected irreg
ular operations. Certainly, west of the Mississippi, in Northern Louis
iana, Sduthern Arkansas, and Indian Territory, and in the whole of
Texas, Kirby Smith, Dick Taylor, and Sterling Price remained in
command of a considerable army. The army under the latter had,
it was true, been thoroughly defeated and disorganized the preceding
fall by our "Army of the Border," under Generals S. R. Curtis
and James G. Blunt, commanding the troops of Kansas and Missouri.
But Texas was rich in supplies. Her people had grown rich from the
necessities of the Confederacy. It was a serious problem for the Fed
eral authorities to consider, and Sheridan was the one commander to
be intrusted with a task that also involved the possibility of a foreign
war. To subdue Kirby Smith and destroy the last remnants of Con
federate resistance was an easy job to set before the young soldier
who had harried the Shenandoah Valley, fought the battle of Five
Forks, and at Appomattox secured all chances of Lee's retreat in
his vice-like grip. But there was a deliberate intention, not publicly
expressed at the time, but.felt by the loyal nation, to see to it that the

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. ?21
Republic of Mexico was again established, and that the invaders and
usurpers thereof should be compelled to withdraw. Sheridan was sent
to the performance of this difficult task. The selection of his lieuten
ants was left to his judgment.
# A few days after the occupation of Richmond, which occurred
before Appomattox, Major-General Godfrey Weitzel, of the Army of
the James, by whom the Confederate capital was taken, was ordered
to Washington. On arrival, and upon reporting to the War Depart
ment, he was informed by Secretary Stanton ofthe intended movement
to the Rio Grande and of its probable character. With this informa
tion he was offered the second command, under General Sheridan as
department commander. Troops to the number of 53,000 were
already detailed for the new field operations, and General Weitzel was
expected to proceed at once to Brownsville, Texas. Weitzel and his
staff were on the ground before the grand review was over at the
National Capital.
Steps were quickly taken in preparation of any work that might
have to be done. General John A. Logan with his famous Fourteenth
Army Corps— the men who bore through so many campaigns and
battles, the significant badge of a cartridge-box and forty rounds —
was sent from Washington to Little Rock, Arkansas. The forces in
the Department of Louisiana were sent forward towards Shreveport.
Major-General J. J. Reynolds, commanding the Department of Arkan-

LAS CRUCES, VALLEY OF MESILA, NEW MEXICO.
HEADQUARTERS OF THE CALIFORNIA BRIGADE.

31

^22

THE LIFE OF

sas and the Seventh Army Corps, was at Little Rock. Majdr-Gen-
eral James G. Blunt, of Kansas, had been ordered from Fort Leaven
worth to Fort Gibson, on the Arkansas and within the Cherokee
country, where he was to actively equip the Indians in the Union ser
vice (three regiments) , several regiments of colored infantry also, with
a sufficient force of volunteer cavalry to make a mounted column of
at least ten thousand men. This force was to enter Northern Texas
and push towards the Rio Grande, in the neighborhood of El Paso, or,
as it was then known, the frontier village of Franklin. Major-General
John A. Pope, who, after the second battle of Bull Run, was placed
in command of the Department of the Northwest, had been relieved
by Major-General S. R. Curtis and ordered to the command of the
military division of the Missouri, with headquarters at St. Louis;
General Sheridan went first to New Orleans, and soon after to
Brownsville, at the mouth of the Rio Grande, where General Weitzel's
headquarters were already established. The Gulf coast was in our
possession. Heavy reinforcements were also sent there. Matamoras
on the opposite side of the river was the headquarters of the Confede-
' rate spies, blockade runners, and others of similar character. An im
mense quantity of military stores and other goods, "contraband of
war," had been received through this place for the Confederacy. A
strong garrison was maintained by the Austrian-French invaders and
their Mexican associates. A considerable number of prominent Con
federates was daily passing over the Rio Grande border. Altogether,
and to all appearances, at the outset it was a lively field of operations
on which Sheridan now made his advent.
It was feared at first by the military authorities that detached bodies
of Confederate soldiery might succeed in crossing the Mississippi in
numbers sufficient to prolong the struggle. • It was anticipated as a
necessary consequence of this, that we should defeat and drive them
westward upon Mexico, and in that way, possibly, bring on the hoped-
for collision with Maximilian and his ally, Marshal Bazaine. But it
was decided that the French must leave Mexico. The surrender of
Kirby Smith on the eighteenth day of May to General Pope at Shreve
port, Louisiana, put an end to the prospect of any further Confederate
campaigning. That surrender was the last act of war in the great four-
years struggle. The last brush between troops of the two armies
occurred, however, a few days later, when a Texas infantry colonel,
under the pretense that he had not known of the surrender, brought on
a short, sharp fight with a body of colored soldiers. This little ebul
lition was of no importance.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 323
Sheridan remained in command until, in fact, the invaders had left
Mexico, Maximilian had been shot at Queretaro, and Jaurez, the great
Indian president and liberator, was once more established in the city of
Mexico. The French Emperor, as our State Department reports show
in the correspondence they contain, fully understood what was meant
by the ordering of Sheridan to the Rio Grande and the rapid concen
tration in the Southwest of so large a force. Mr. Seward succeeded in
making our determination quite plain to the crafty schemer of the
Tuileries. The withdrawal of Bazaine by Louis Napoleon's order, was
the signal for the downfall of his puppet — the Austrian archduke who
played emperor for about four years. Sheridan was near the Rio
Grande until the end. He had a great deal of interesting work to
attend to, and some repressive measures to rigidly enforce, amid a rest
less and still hostile population. It is unnecessary to say that his work
was well done.
The story of Mexico and our relations to the struggling republic, is
one of great interest. It has never been told. Probably it never will
be, for diplomats are statecraft detectives who believe in secrecy ; and
so many who knew since these events have " crossed the river." Sew
ard, Jaurez, Grant, Louis Napoleon, Maximilian, Slidell, Gwin, and
Mason, might have given, each in his place, the whole story. -Even
now Romero, the astute, yet honest Mexican representative, could out
line the whole matter. It is probable, however, that, like the presence
of a Russian fleet on the Pacific coast during our Civil War period, and
the subsequent purchase of Alaska from Russia, the truth about the
relations between the United States and Mexico during the same period
will only be hinted at and never fully explained. What is known,
however, is worthy o"f recital, especially as it remained an instrument
in Sheridan's hands while on observation upon the Rio Grande.
The manner in which the Mexican Republic was aided in many
directions, as well as the internal questions involved in the maintenance
of order within our own borders for the* two years following the
advent of Generals Sheridan and Weitzel, would form, if it could be
fully and fairly told, one of the most interesting chapters of the war and
reconstruction periods. At Brownsville the Union commander had
his hands full in both directions. General Mejia, the leading Mexican
commander in the service of Maximilian, had his headquarters at
Matamoras. The Republican General Escabedo was operating against
the Imperialists in the lower part of what is now known as the Mexi
can Free Zone. Cortinas, the notorious partisan leader, was fighting

324 GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.
for the Republic, and made himself a continued thorn in the side of
Mejia and the Matamoras Imperialists. The state of feeling at that
place towards the Federal troops and their cause may be seen in an
incident that occurred but a few evenings before General Weitzel
arrived at Brownsville. A mock funeral was held of Abraham Lincoln,
the news of whose assassination had just arrived. It was done in
derision. Tapers were lighted; masses parodied and intoned, and at the
close a bottle of wine was opened and flung over the mask that was sup
posed to represent the dead American President.
The Imperialist Mejia sought eagerly, however, to gain the good
graces of the Union commander. But Weitzel, under orders, acted
with a cold reserve that quickly made the renegade Mexican and his
allies understand the nature of the feeling with which he and they
were regarded on this side of Rio Grande Bravo del Norte. As quickly,
too, did the Republicans learn the sentiment and expectations held on
our side. The staff officers and others were tacitly encouraged in
making friends with the Mexicans. Cortinasand Escabedo were early
and frequently in communication with our headquarters. A staff
officer of General Weitzel, now a practicing physician in Providence,
Dr. Graves, has given some interesting details of the condition of the
Mexican camps and troops. At the first visit made to General Corti-
nas' camp (on leave, and privately as a guest, and not as an American
officer) it was found that one thousand men were present. No two
arms were of the same pattern, and in the whole command there were
but eight hundred cartridges, of which no half dozen were of the same
number or pattern. Escabedo's camp was in but a little better condition.
Neither command possessed a quartermaster or commissary depart
ment ; and they were both "entirely without surgeons, medical stores,
drugs, or hospital service of any kind. It is true that they possessed_
the Indian-Mexicans' wonderful knowledge of simples and herbs, of
that remarkable pharmacopia of nature which the woods, shrubs, and
plants of Mexico offer in abundance to those who know their secrets.
But it soon became evident to the Imperialists that the Republicans
were rapidly becoming better equipped, especially in arms and ord
nance stores. They could readily guess the source of supply, but did
not dare make their knowledge a cause of complaint.
About that time it is probable that the records of the War Depart
ment will show an extraordinary shipment of arms and munitions of
war, of quartermaster's supplies, of artillery and equipments, and of
commissariat and medical stores, to the Gulf of Mexico and Browns-

PSiiii

"¦tea

wn^^M

^whS

THE PLAZA AND CHURCH OF PASO DEL NORTE, CHIHUAHUA,
MEXICO.
THE OLD CHURCH HELD AS A FORTRESS BY THE MEXICAN REPUBLICANS.

326 THE LIFE OF
ville. Enough material of war was forwarded to the Southwest to
well equip and furnish a moderate sized army, in addition to what was
actually needed for the Union troops stationed in Sheridan's department.
Another fact that would be found is the extraordinary amount of
such material that was condemned and ordered to be abandoned. And
it was abandoned, but always in very lonely parts of the Rio Grande
Valley, long distances above Brownsville, contiguous to and upon the
river bank. Somehow these well-guarded trains of condemned and
abandoned army stores and munitions were always left at night-fall
without escort. Is it any wonder, then, that Cortinas or some other of
the Republican leaders, always contrived to cross the Rio Grande in
their bullock-hide boats and before morning to remove to their own side
these valuable munitions which some lucky fate had left at their dis
posal? There was, also, another act in this interesting drama which
will bear telling.
El Paso, now a well-known centre of railroad and commercial
activity, in 1865 was a frontier village, with more swagger, crime,
treason, and murder to the square foot, according to inhabitants, than
any other place upon the North American Continent. It had been
famous before as the starting point of military operations at the time
ofthe first Mexican War. Doniphan's Missouri command, after its
march across the plains and into New Mexico, was sent by General Phil
Kearney to the village of Franklin (El Paso) to hold it as an important
observation point upon the extreme northeast frontier of Chihuahua.
When the slave-holders' rebellion had begun and ended, El Paso still
remained in Confederate hands. It was soon after occupied by our
California volunteers. A post of the United States now stands a couple
of miles above the city, ensconced on a small plateau, just overlooking
the narrow Rio Grande Valley, and embraced almost roughly by the
mountain ranges crowding it in on either side. It is a wild, rough
region, weird even to ugliness, with its gray grass, its brown mountain
and mesa sides — often so grotesque in their eroded forms ; its stunted
trees and hideous cacti — the very hobgoblin of the vegetable world.
Its human occupants are less lovely, as a rule, than even its natural
aspects. But it is beautiful, also, beyond the poet's dream to describe, or
the painter's genius- and skill to depict. A marvelous atmosphere
clothes it in wondrous radiance. Even when, at mid-day, the earth lies
bald and naked beneath its translucent blue, the wondrous clearness of
the arching sky lends enchantment to the vast outlook. But it is at
night ancl morning — at dawn and sundown — that the glory of the wild

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 327
region becomes so marvelous that one's pen may well falter in an
attempt to describe it. The rainbow's colors are but as idle shadows
beside those that the atmosphere paints along the Rio Grande to wel
come the sunrise or bid the moon and stars to their constant charming.
The chasms, rough and jagged on mountain sides, are draped in the
deepest, richest purple. The saw-toothed crests are all golden in the
river of sunshine. The red, rugged mesa becomes a lake of beauteous ¦
hues. Far and near, all outlines grow tender and soft. In the morning
the scene is one of radiant glory. In the evening it becomes a land
scape of mystical softness and bewildering enchantment, so lovely are
the shadows, and so wonderful the changes wrought by the magical
touch of the arid atmosphere.
Across the shallow boundary river lies the Mexican village of Paso
Del Norte, with its dirty, straggling adobe dwellings, its uncouth plaza,
and ugly if historical church building. For a thousand years, it is proba
ble, has this been the site of human dwellings and activity. It is the ex
treme northeasterly point of Mexican territory. Its inhabitants (the
Pueblo extends for several miles down the river) are nearly all of the
indigenous Indian stock of Northern Mexico. They are the most patri
otic of Mexicans, and the story of the republic almost begins in this
frontier village ; nay, it almost ended there, just before the period of Sher
idan's appearance in the Southwest. It was in the village of Paso Del
Norte that the adherents of th.e patriot-priest, Hidalgo, made their last
stand against their Spanish oppressors, while the liberator was being
executed at the city of Chihuahua. It was here, too, that Jaurez and
his representatives maintained for nearly two years one of their last ter
ritorial footholds on the eastern side of the Sierra Madre.
The Mexican people understood from the beginning the character
of our Civil War. This is seen by the fact that early in 1862 — it was
in May — the Mexican Congress passed in secret, session, and without
opposition, a joint resolution permitting the authorities of the United
States to land troops from California at Guaymas, Sonora, on the Gulf
of California, and march the same overland through Mexican territory,
to the Rio Grande, Texas. What greater proof of sympathetic alli
ance could be given ? It is also understood that had it been necessary,
the troops of the friendly republic would then have been used in our
behalf. The permission of Mexico was never taken advantage of, owing
to the fact that the Confederate General Sibley, who invaded New Mex
ico byway of the Rio Grande in the winter of 186 1-2, was driven out
completely by the Mexican volunteers of New Mexico and the First

328 THE LIFE OF
Colorado Volunteer Cavalry, under Colonel Slough. Sibley and Baylor
both acted in their invasions of the Southwest in the interest of a Con
federate plan to conquer California. In this Sibley's intimates now
assert that they were to have the assistance of Mexico, the northern
states of which were to be sold to the Confederacy. So far as the
Mexican Republicans were concerned, the rebel leaders " reckoned
without their host." There was a cessation of recruiting efforts for
a while in California, but in the fall of 1862, a brigade of cavalry,
under Carlton and West, both West Pointers, started from Drum Bar
racks, Wilmington, Southern California, on a long overland march
of nearly twelve hundred miles, passing across the Colorado desert,
and entering Arizona at Yuma, marched up the Gila Valley, driving
back the Apache marauders as they moved. They reoccupied Tucson,
which had been held by Confederate guerrillas, and then they
advanced over the Chiricuhua Mountains, meeting and defeating the
Apaches, into New Mexico. In the early spring of 1863, they watered
their horses in the Rio Grande, occupying the valley of Mesila, and
establishing brigade headquarters at Las Cruces, forty miles above
El Paso and the Mexican frontier. General Carlton was assigned
to the command of the department, and West, promoted as brigadier-
general, was placed in charge of the Californians. There "was consid
erable active service against Apaches and Navajo, and an occasional
Confederate guerrilla raid. But the great duty performed by the
California troops was that of holding and protecting the Republic
of Mexico, almost in extremis, at the^ village of Paso Del Norte. The
homely church structure of that place was turned into a rude fortress,
which was armed with two Parrott guns and several hundred repeat
ing rifles. This armament found its way to Paso Del Norte across the
frontier of the United States. It was placed there by General West's
knowledge, and with the approval of Mr. Seward, as well as the War
Department. For the next two years it was the California volunteers
who always appeared on furlough at the Mexican village when the
French troops occupying Chihuahua, came nearer to the northern fron
tier than was usual with them.
The Californians were kept at Las Cruces to protect the Mexican
Republicans at Paso Del Norte. And it was from this point that a
cavalry column of Sheridan's would have entered Mexico, in 1865, had
it become necessary to overthrow the bastard empire by the employment
of our forces. The brave Mexicans were able to work out their own
freedom, but the United States stood ready to assist. The moral

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 329
force of that fact, felt at Paris, Vienna, and Queretaro, finally and visibly
aided to crumble the usurpation to pieces.
But the indirect and diplomatic service Sheridan's troops were ren
dering to Mexico comprised but a small portion of the complex and
perplexing duties that devolved upon the department administration.
When General Weitzel, his second in command, arrived at Browns-
ville, in the latter part of April, 1865, he found a hostile Confederate
army, under Kirby Smith and Sterling Price, still in the field. That
was the smaller factor in the problem. It speedily solved itself by the
surrender at Shreveport. The real trouble was in Texas. Here Con
federates not only considered themselves as having never been " subju
gated " by the "Yankee hirelings" they affected to despise, but the
state began at once to swarm with the more desperate and reckless of
the minor Confederate leaders and soldiers, who, penniless and full of
dangerous despair, had made their way into the Lone Star State from
the Southern armies that were dissolving away east of the Mississippi
River. A great many of them would have rejoiced, in impotent hos
tility, of the chance to swell the forces of Maximilian, provided they
could have seen the opportunity of a collision with the Federal forces
once more. Others there were — and their number was by no means
insignificant — who would gladly have availed themselves of such an
occasion to have entered the armies of the republic.
But these men were there, by the thousands, desperate and penni
less. Grafted on the usual population of Texas, at that date exceed
ingly hostile, the problem of maintaining order was one of a peculiarly
responsible character. General Weitzel set an early example of a
needed sternness. The week before his arrival there, fourteen assas
sinations occurred on the streets of the town. In the week after his
arrival General Weitzel tried and condemned a number of the assassins,
executing four of them on one gallows. As a further illustration, an
incident is recalled that occurred months later, when an ex-Confederate
officer who had.ranged himself on the side of Union law and order, was
severely wounded in Northern Texas while defending the Union flag
from a party of Texas sympathizers with Mr. Johnson. This officer
had passed unscathed through the war.
Sheridan's duties in Texas then covered a vast range. They were
met as promptly as they rose. Texas was gradually brought into line
with law and order. As the years roll on, it will be seen that the
acrid medicine of Sheridan's unyielding administration was doubtless
the only potion that could at the time have been administered.

CHAPTER XXVI.

SHERIDAN IN RECONSTRUCTION DAYS.
CONDITIONS PRECEDING AND ATTENDING RECONSTRUCTION — COMMANDING IN
THE GULF STATES  NEW ORLEANS  ANDREW JOHNSON'S INTERFERENCE —
MECHANICS HALL MASSACRE  RECONSTRUCTION LEGISLATION — • SHERIDAN'S
SERVICE UNDER IT  SHOWS EXCELLENT EXECUTIVE ABILITY  EJECTING A
GOVERNOR  HIS BANDIT DELIVERANCE  HE GIVES THE PRESIDENT THE
"LIE DIRECT"— ABLE BUT THANKLESS SERVICE — APPOINTMENT OF
GENERAL HANCOCK.
Major-General Sheridan left Washington for the Rio Grande
early in May, 1865. What he was sent there to do has already been
suggested. He was placed in command of the Department of the Gulf,
which in June following Grant extended to cover Louisiana and
Florida, as Well as Texas, with headquarters at New Orleans. This
was done because a strong hand and firm will was particularly required
at that point.. Indications were not wanting to Grant's sagacious
observation of the growth of that wide divergence of opinion between
President Andrew Johnson and the leaders of the party which had
been in power throughout the Rebellion, and were therefore responsible
for the legislation of the land, and mainly, also, for its administration.
These wide, even fundamental divergencies of opinion and action
between the President who constitutionally succeeded after the assas
sination ofthe beloved Lincoln, were to place the soldiers of the Union
in a terrible dilemma when Congress came to impose upon them the
execution of civic duties, requirements, and authority ,v in the ex-Con
federate States. General Sheridan was placed, of all who were so
assigned, in the most embarrassing position, for he certainly had not
only the more turbulent population to deal with, but the conditions
surrounding him were of an extremely complex character. That he con
ducted himself wisely, even if he dealt sternly and severely with those
whom he truthfully deemed "banditti," enleagued for the oppression
and even murder of others on account of political differences, is seen
in the fact that the representatives of the same communities, more

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN, 331
than twenty years after the events referred to in this chapter, while
holding the same political opinions that largely governed the action of
those Sheridan in the line of duty felt compelled to suppress, have
openly declared their judgment to be, that this American soldier was
governed only by his best and highest convictions, and that in no sense,
did he ever seek knowingly to unduly interfere with civil liberty or
personal rights. The acknowledgment thus made on the floor of Sen
ate and House, as well as in the party press, always opposed to the
reconstruction policy, is a striking proof of how fast and far we have
traveled towards that state of feeling which enables us to discuss the
past with little of personal asperity, or to make up judgments, even
while differing, with but a modicum of partisan bitterness. The admis
sions thus made as to motives in this matter, are among the finest tributes
yet paid to the fame and character of Philip Henry Sheridan.
In order to place Sheridan's policy and actions in the right perspec
tive and relations, it will be necessary to outline the political-social
conditions that followed the collapse of the Southern' Confederacy, but
more especially the "special events that influenced the situation in Louis
iana. As a powerful commercial state, having within its borders the
lower part of the "Father of Waters " — the Mississippi — and the
largest city of the South, the Pelican State had, at the beginning ofthe
secession movement, a considerable Union sentiment among its influen
tial and wealthier citizens. It possessed a unique free colored popula
tion, of considerable wealth and education, generally Creoles in descent,
by the fact of their having a male parent of French or Spanish birth or
ancestry. The existence of this people was in itself a guarantee of more
intelligence among the slaves wherever their influence extended, even
though the Creole class held themselves aloof and in some instances were
also slave-holders. These conditions are mentioned to show how, after
Farragut and Butler captured New Orleans and the power of the Union
began to be felt once more in the lower river parishes, and gradually there
from into the other portions of the state, as the Confederate forces were
slowly driven out, the demand became urgent to establish civil govern
ment in due relations with the Union.
Under General Banks, in 1864 a constitutional convention was con
vened, and the anti-secession constitution and state was set up, with J.
Madison Wells as governor. He was a well-known planter and law
yer, who claimed to have remained faithful to the Union in sentiment.
In this movement the colored Unionists were not included, neither
public policy nor sentiment having definitely reached the point of
their inclusion. '

332 THE LIFE OF
The convention of 1864 sought to perpetuate itself by providing in a
schedule attached to the constitution they framed, for their being recon
vened at the call of their president, Judge Durell. It was the attempt
to exercise this questionable power — not by Judge Durell, but by Judge
Howell, afterwards United States Senator from Louisiana, who claimed
on Durell's retirement from the convention presidency to be his suc
cessor — that brought about the terrible tragedy at Mechanics Hall in
New. Orleans during the summer of 1866, an event which first brought
Sheridan prominently forward in connection with Southern affairs, and
finally was the immediate cause of the famous reconstruction legisla
tion of Congress.
It is not proposed to enter into the right or wrong, politically speak
ing, of that legislation, or to discuss the constitutional interpretations
that, fro and con, were raised thereon. But it is necessary to state the
plain historical facts as they appear from the Union stand-point. Pres
ident Johnson was a Tennesseean, whose fidelity to the Union cause
during the secession movements and in the civil war that followed,
justly excited for him the regard of the loyal North. He was made a
brigadier-general, and assigned to duty as military governor of Tennessee
— a state in which the powerful Union element had been at first dra
gooned into helplessness by Confederate agencies and forces. It was a
necessary condition of war politics that in such states as Louisiana,
Tennessee, Missouri, as well as later, Arkansas, also, the Union element,
should be protected in the reorganizing of their state governments on
Union lines. It was this policy of Mr. Lincoln's administration that
afforded the only basis for the subsequent attempts of Mr. Johnson to
"restore," not "reconstruct," the ex-Confederate States — an attempt
on his part which produced the bitter controversy between the Executive
and Congress that raged until General Grant was first elected President,
in 1868. There was a wide difference in this matter between Lincoln
and Johnson. Mr. Lincoln had the full confidence ofthe country, and
in all such matters as are under discussion acted in general upon the lines
of approving legislation. In other matters he was within the orbit of
his powers under the war necessities. The Union state governments
named were set in motion to aid the army movement as much, or even
more, than they were to inaugurate loyal civil government. Mr. John
son was in a very different position. The war .was over, and the mili
tary army of the Union was to be used only to keep order and aid in the
final reestablishment of the Federal government. Congress was in
full possession of its constitutional initiative. It waS no longer the rule

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 333
that in war the law was silent. From the Union stand-point — that from
which the war was fought — Mr. Johnson's deliberate attempt, in the
summer and fall of 1865, to forestall the possible action of Congress,
and by executive -order to settle the whole question in advance of the
current relations of the ex-Confederate States to the Nation they had
attempted to destroy, and the Union they sought by war to disrupture,
was to be regarded as doubtful and dangerous in character, if not,
indeed, a deliberate usurpation on his part. His first act in this direc
tion — that of amnesty — while founded on a constitutional power, was
made so broad, and yet so craftily worded, as to arouse well-founded
alarm. In the thirteen classes of formerly active rebels who could only
secure pardon by direct application to the President, if he so willed,
were to be found the representative men of the various social and
ruling classes into which the forces of chattelism had divided the slave-
owning South. Mr. Johnson was thus able to personally reach, by the
exercise of his privilege of amnesty, each of these controlling forces.
Following this peculiar exercise of the pardoning power came a bolder
policy, in the recognition of the de facto civil power remaining over
in several states from the military collapse, as possessing the de juro
right to inaugurate a new and complete civil structure within the states
where such fragments of government were found. Thus Mr. John
son's policy of "restoration" was initiated.
The Republicans in control of Congress, who as Unionists had
chosen and elected Mr. Johnson as Vice-President, and necessarily sus
tained his entrance on the executive powers and duties after Mr.
Lincoln's assassination, could not see that it was their duty to consent
to such a course as Mr. Johnson was pursuing, or to regard its pro
mulgation as within his constitutional right. The exigencies of the war
had brought to the victors the powers of a triumphant belligerent.
They had also placed in their hands the future condition of a race
emancipated as a war measure. More than either consideration, was
the constitutional power to initiate legislation, which certainly does not
rest with the American Executive. Legislation was necessary. Presi
dential orders and proclamations were not laws. Mr. Johnson acted as
if they were. So did his Southern allies, growing turbulent with the
encouragement they received. Congress began the long and fierce dis
cussion of reconstruction days in its session of 1865-6. Johnson
denounced its conduct as usurpation and its leaders as revolutionists,
raising thereby the hopes of the ex-Confederate politicians and people,
not in the direction of separation from, but of domination by the South,

334 THE LIFE OF
as of old, within the Union. They also showed very clearly what
treatment the freed people might expect at their hands. The laws
proposed in the so-called legislatures of South Carolina, Mississippi,
Florida, and other states, sought to make of the emancipated a per
manently dependent class, whose children, under a forced apprentice
ship system, were to be made serfs and would be eventually reduced
again to personal bondage. The adults were to be placed by these pro
posed codes at the mercy of the whites, to be compelled to make con
tracts to labor or to be sold as paupers, not to be allowed to move about
at free will, to have their occupations and trades unduly taxed, not to
carry arms, and in a hundred ways to be placed in the position of serf
dom. These attempts aroused the strongest indignation at the North,
and it also excited counter-efforts at the South, which in Louisiana, at
least, brought on the first of the bloody collisions of reconstruction
days, involving Sheridan's name and administration in their progress
and o.utcome.
In Louisiana the citizens in sympathy with the Johnson policy soon
became the most active, as the returning Confederate soldiery of that
state settled down again. Without the colored men, free or freed, the
Unionists were in a decided minority. With them they would be a
large majority unless prevented from the exercise of the franchise by
violence. This was the state of affairs in the summer of 1866. Governor
Wells was almost helpless. The lieutenant-governor, Voorhees, was
an ex-Confederate soldier, as was the attorney-general. The mayor
of New Orleans, J. T. Munroe, was notorious for his dislike of
Unionism. He had been compelled to leave the city by Butler. His
chief of police was an ex-Confederate officer, and the police were nearly
all ex-rebel soldiers. In calling the constitutional convention together,
the " radicals" declared their purpose to be the enfranchisement of the
colored Unionists, and the exclusion from the ballot-box, for a time at
least, ofthe ex-rebel citizens. This created bitter hostility and anger.
Judge Abell, ofthe city criminal court, who had been a member ofthe
original convention, charged the grand jury 'against its lawfulness
after Judge Howell had issued the call to reconvene and Governor
Wells' proclamation for an election to fill vacancies. Lieutenant-Gov
ernor Voorhees set himself, with the state machinery behind him, to
oppose the governor, and with the mayor decided to disperse the con
vention if it should meet. In other words it was decided, if the mili
tary did not protect them, to kill off the whole body. Abell's opinion
and the grand jury's indictments were to be the legal pretexts.

GEN. PHIL. H.. SHERIDAN. 33^
General Sheridan was not in New Orleans when the movement
began. It is safe to assert that if he had been the convention would
not have met, or that it would have been protected if it had done so.
Major-General Absolom Baird, now inspector-general of the United
States Army, was department commander.
Judge R. K. Howell's proclamation was issued July 7, 1866. The
governor's election order was issued on the 27th. The convention
was to assemble on the fifth Monday (30th) in July. On the night of
the 27th the radicals held an open-air meeting, at which it was charged
inflammatory speeches were made. Any expression was accounted
such that favored the colored people and did not then agree with the
ex-Confederates and their wishes.^
The Mechanics Hall tragedy occurred just before noon on Monday,
the 30th of July. It began on the street in an attack on a small pro
cession, and was continued in the hall. The New Orleans police sur
rounded and entered the building, shooting, wounding, and killing
indiscriminately. The governor's office was in the building. That
they did not enter. General Baird had troops in readiness, but had
decided not to interfere for or against the convention. This was
before the attack. General Baird sent an aide to learn when the body
would meet. He was told that they had met and adjourned until 6
p. m. The assault was made after the aide had left. The hall doors
were forced open and the police fired indiscriminately into the room.
The members, many wounded, drove the police back and barricaded the
doors with settees, only to have them forced open three several times
and the firing renewed. There were reported that day some thirty-
seven killed and one hundred and forty-six wounded. A Congressional
committee of inquiry afterwards declared the affair to have been pre
arranged, and charged that the state officers engaged with the mayor
and chief of police were responsible for the crimes committed. Governor
Wells did not take any part. The President encouraged the assailants
by a dispatch stating that the military were to "sustain and not to
obstruct or interfere with the proceedings of the court." At the same
time General Baird's dispatches were given to the Johnson press v
without the knowledge of either Grant or the War Department.
Sheridan's testimony taken by the Congressional committee will
illustrate his position. After stating that he was not in the city on the
30th and did not arrive till the evening of the 31st ; that he was at the
mouth of the river when he received dispatches announcing the riot,
and also stating that there still remained great excitement and that

336 THE#LIFE OF
martial law had been proclaimed, he proceeded to testify that "I
found a very high state of excitement, and a very large proportion of
the people were armed. There had been quite an extensive sale from
the different stores having arms for sale, and this continued . . .
until I finally closed the stores. I found quite a state of excitement among
the freedmen of the city, but no desire on their part to create a disturb
ance." He then gave in detail the measures taken to suppress disor
der and quiet alarms. He was in command, by the President's order,
of Texas, Florida, and Louisiana, each of which states was a sepa
rate department. To General Baird, in command of Louisiana, Sheri
dan testified that the orders given, were :
" That he was not to allow the military to become involved in any
political discussion or matters of that kind ; that he was not to allow
the military to be used for the support or objects of either party, for
there were two parties here (Louisiana) bitterly antagonistic. The
military were not to be used, except in case of a breach of the peace,
in which case I considered the condition of the country to be such
that the life and property of the citizens depended upon the military,
and not upon the civil authority. He was, therefore, if necessity re
quired, to use the military to preserve the peace, but not to allow him
self to be involved unless the peace was broken."
Certainly, these are orders that show a sensitive regard, all things
considered, to the forms as well as the spirit of civil law. General
Sheridan considered' the police as quite competent to have maintained
peace on the day of the riot. Twenty policemen, he declared, would
have " been sufficient to have arrested the convention without violence."
Pie further testified that there could have been no object, except "to
have prevented the police perpetrating a massacre," to have had the
military present when the convention met. In a dispatch to General
Grant, Sheridan expressed his opinion, under date of August 2d, as
follows :
"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 by the police, which was not excelled in murderous cruelty
by that of Fort Pillow. It was a murder which the mayor and police
of this city perpetrated without the shadow of a necessity. Further
more, I believe it was premeditated, and every indication points to this."
To the Congressional committee he declared " I have no reason to
change the statement I made." This is plain speaking — direct character
ization ; but that was Sheridan's way, no matter whom he offended or

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 337
what hostility was raised in his path. His dispatch of the ist of August,
1866, to General Grant still further emphasizes his clear vision and
direct methods, as well as presents a lucid summing up ofthe atrocious
crimes, which, under raging political passions, had been so horribly
committed : New Orleans, August i, 1866.
General :
You are doubtless aware of the serious riot which occurred in this
city on the 30th. A political body, styling itself the convention of
1864, met on the 30th, as it is alleged, for the purpose of remodelling
the present constitution of the state. The leaders were political agita
tors and revolutionary men, and the action ofthe convention was liable
to produce breaches of the public peace.
I had made up my mind to arrest the head men, if the proceed
ings of the convention were calculated to disturb the tranquility of the
department, but I had no cause for action until they committed the overt
act. In the meantime, official duty called me to Texas, and the mayor
of the city, during my absence, suppressed the convention by the use
of. the police force, and in so doing attacked the members of the con
vention and a party of 200 negroes, and with fire-arms, clubs, and
knives, in a manner so unnecessary and atrocious, as to compel me to
declare that it was murder. ... I believe that the sentiment of
the general community is great regret at this unnecessary cruelty, and
the police could have made any arrests they saw fit without sacrificing
lives.
P. H. Sheridan,
Major- General Commanding.
All of this dispatch, showing the character of the riot, when given
out at the White House to a favorite correspondent, was suppressed
and withheld. General Sheridan's positive course and testimony did
not please Mr. Johnson any more than it did those whom he forcibly
and justly stigmatized as " murderers," and as willing participants in an
unwarranted massacre.
The story of the New Orleans massacre, and the report thereon by
the Shellabarger committee, as well as the positive denunciation of it
to which Sheridan gave utterance, had the effect in Congress, after a
winter of most remarkable discussion, of bringing about the passage ot
the original reconstruction act, in which the ex-Confederate States were
by its terms divided into five military districts, the commanders of
which were to direct and enforce the provisions of the act. Under it
a registration of voters was to be had, the freedmen being made citi
zens and voters by its terms. All who had held office and sworn
allegiance to the United States before they entered the rebellion in
23

338 THE LIFE OF
favor of the Confederacy were to be excluded from the registration.
The military commanders were to have the power to remove all de
facto civil officials who created disorder, refused to obey, or impeded
the recpnstruction acts. The genesis of this law was found in an act
of 1S64, by which the President was authorized to appoint a provisional
governor for any state in rebellion, to have the rank of a brigadier-
general, when he should deem it necessary. Judge Shellabarger for
the New Orleans committee, had offered a bill for the provisional gov
ernment of Louisiana. This was made over into a general bill. The
long debate arose over the extension of suffrage to the negro, the put
ting of Southern States under long probation, with provisional govern
ments, or the speedy doing away of the ad interim conditions. The
same act required that these states before being admitted to Congres
sional representation, should exhibit clean bills of political health, in
the form of constitutions prohibiting secession, declaring the Union per
manent, enacting full political and civil rights for the colored people,
providing free schools, and forbidding payment of any rebel debts. A
registration was to be taken immediately, and the first vote had was to
be in each state for or against a state constitutional convention.
These statements illustrate broadly the distinctions between the
President's "restoration" and the "reconstruction" of Congress.
Neither policy recognized the destructibility of any state, but that of
Congress was framed upon the constitutional duty of seeing that each
state was possessed with a " republican form of government." Con
gress exercised the right of saying what was such a form. The Presi
dent attempted to " restore " without any guarantee whatever. After
four years of armed rebellion those who participated therein wished to
walk in and take possession of their old seats. An act of war having
emancipated, they could not directly repossess their old chattels, but
they sought to control them for their own advantage, indirectly, at least.
It was no wonder that true soldiers like Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, and
Thomas, with others, should at once range themselves with Congress.
General Sheridan was appointed on the 28th of March, 1867,
military commander of the Fifth Reconstruction District, consisting of
the states of Louisiana and Texas. The latter had an appointee of
Mr. Johnson, as provisional governor — Mr. Throckmorton. Louis
iana was still organized under the constitution of 1864, and J. Madison
Wells was serving as governor. There was no uncertainty in General
Sheridan's order assuming command. He declared the law would be
executed without fear or favor, but pending that, no one would be removed

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 339
from office except for cause, as already stated. Next day, March 29th,
not having forgotten the victims of the Mechanics Hall massacre,
General Sheridan, by order, removed from office Judge E. Abell of the
criminal court, Andrew S.' Herrpn, Attorney-General, and J. T.
Munroe, Mayor of New Orleans. The first was charged with using
his court to bring about the massacre by making it appear that no one
would be tried therein for the deeds done in it. The second was
accused of trying to punish the victims, not the murderers, and the
last was charged with practically inciting the massacre.
This vigorous action was the key-note of General Sheridan's admin
istration. He issued orders for registration to begin May ist and end
June 30th. Here came one of his earliest collisions with the President,
who, through the adjutant-general, directed it be continued one month
longer. Sheridan announced obedience, but protested in very plain
language. He declared that the interpretation of the reconstruction
laws by Attorney-General Stanberry was " a precipitate opening of a
broad, macadamized road to perjury," and asked Grant plainly' if he
should obey them. As they were not promulgated in the forms
required by army regulations and military law, General Grant told
Sheridan to follow his own interpretation. Shortly after, Congress
passed a supplementary act placing reconstruction wholly under Gen
eral Grant's direction, and requiring military commanders to follow
their own interpretations of said laws.
These things did not make the friction less, but more. Sheridan
kept on his own way, however. A notable act of his administration
was the removal of Governor Throckmorton. One of his mostpositive
acts, making an amusing episode in the dreary virulence of political
violence and crime, was that of his summary removal of Governor
Wells from his office.
In the winter preceding, the so-called state legislature passed a
bill for repairing the levees and providing for issuing bonds to the
amount of $4,000,000. Afterwards the governor and legislature quar
reled, evidently as to their shares of the plunder. Sheridan stopped
that summarily, by dismissing both from any control, and appointing a
commission himself to execute the law. The Secretary of War afterwards
{June 3d) suspended the commission and ordered Sheridan to dismiss
Governor Wells. ..The office was offered to a most estimable and able
Louisiana lawyer, then residing in Washington, Mr. Thomas J. Durant.
He declined, and Benjamin J. Flanders accepted the appointment.

340 THE LIFE OF
Wells declined to vacate, and at last Sheridan growing disgusted, sent
the following very unequivocal and contemptuous order :
Headquarters Fifth Military District,
New Orleans, June 7, 1867.
Sir :
General Flanders has just informed me that he has made an official
demand on you for the records of the office which you have hitherto
held as governor of Louisiana, ancl that you have declined to turn them
over to him, disputing the right to remove from office by me, which
right you have acknowledged and urged upon me up to the time of
your removal. I therefore send Brevet Brigadier-General James W.
Forsyth, of my staff, to notify you he is sent by me to eject you from
the governor's room forcibly, unless you consider this notification as
equivalent to ejection.
This same Governor Wells Sheridan declared to be "a political
trickster and a dishonest man." He was full, he said, of "subterfuge
and political chicanery." In these remarks the soldier was unquestion
ably right. His dispatches, letters, and reports of this period afford
the raciest of reading. He minced no words, and met every accusation
or attack in the most positive manner. It was the hot, ugly, murderous
period of the Ku-Klux Klan and of the beginnings of the White League.
conspiracy and its tragedies. All these acts and proceedings Sheridan
roundly denounced, and he stung their supporters in Louisiana and
Texas, whom he declared in a famous letter to have murdered 3,500
citizens because of differences of political opinion and of color. He
denounced them as " political banditti," and asked for authority to deal
with them as such. General Sheridan conducted the first registration,
and supervised the first election under the reconstruction acts in Louis
iana and Texas. In Louisiana the registration aggregated 127,639, of
whom 82,907 were the new colored voters. At the election for or
against a constitutional convention, 75,083 votes were cast for, to 4,006
against. It has been estimated that 40,000 whites were disfranchised in
that state alone, but this is a greatly exaggerated statement. On the ist
of August, 1867, Sheridan removed the aldermen and other New Or
leans officials for impeding reconstruction, and on the 17th the President
relieved him. In the final report of his operations in the Fifth Military
District, General Sheridan declared that the difficult situation in which
he had been placed had been rendered more difficult by the open sym
pathies the President expressed towards those who had been removed.
He added significantly : "I have been charged by the highest authority

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 341
ofthe Nation with being tyrannical and a partisan, and I am not afraid
to say that when such charges are made against me, I feel in my heart
they are untruthful."
He did not return to New Orleans until 1875, when the operations
of the White League were dangerous and murderous enough to induce
President Grant to send Sheridan down there. His presence was
enough to cause a sullen submission at least. It was, taken altogether,
a strange chapter in a soldier's career. The needs of the hour proved
him capable, and time has certainly justified both his motives and his
judgment. From this date onward, until his> death, Sheridan remained clear of
all political entanglements. His position in the army made this the
only proper course, if policy alone had guided his actions, but it was
also the course which his own convictions of duty dictated. No one
who could have had the right to know of General Sheridan's opinions
on public affairs, would have long been in doubt of his personal atti
tude towards them and the party divisions into which they were neces
sarily divided. He was, like Grant and Sherman, in sympathy with
the Republican party, in its historic attitude towards the Union, and in
its relations to the economic problems that are a part of its principles,
purposes, and policy. Of this there can be no question.
But General Sheridan was no politician. As an American citizen
he held sternly to his convictions of public duty. As a soldier he was
honorably and properly a non-partisan, serving the whole people
whose defender he was, and keeping true watch and ward over all in
terests intrusted to him. But he always felt keenly over the reconstruc
tion period and the severe responsibilities which it thrust upon him in
larger degree than on any other one of the soldiers who were called to
the execution of trusts so repugnant to the general cast of a soldier's life
and duty. He felt then that he was right in the course he had pur
sued. He knew afterwards that results fully vindicated his acts.

GEN. WILLIAM T. SHERMAN,

SHERIDAN'S PREDECESSOR AS GENERAL OF THE ARMY - HERO OF THE MARCH TO THE SEA,
AND ONE OF THE THREE GREAT CAPTAINS UNDER WHOM THE WAR WAS
BROUGHT TO A SUCCESSFUL CLOSE.

CHAPTER XXVII.

IN COMMAND AT FORT LEAVENWORTH
AND CHICAGO.
COMMANDING THE DEPARTMENT OF MISSOURI — INDIAN WARS AND DISTURB
ANCES — SERIOUS MILITARY OPERATIONS NECESSITATED — REMOVING TRIBES
FROM THE GREAT PLAINS — "CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE KIOWAS, COMANCHE S,
AND CHEYENNES — MADE A LIEUTENANT-GENERAL — WHERE AND HOW THE
NEWS WAS RECEIVED — HEADQUARTERS IN CHICAGO — VISIT TO EUROPE —
SHERIDAN AT SEDAN — HOB-NOBBING WITH BISMARCK — THE GREAT FIRE
— MARRIAGE AND REMOVAL TO WASHINGTON.
Major-General Sheridan was assigned by the general-in-chief,
on the 12th of September, 1867, to the command ofthe Department of
the Missouri. It was a grateful relief from the terrible strain of recon
struction responsibilities, ably borne though they were. It was also a
command of considerable military importance, involving as it did
heavy conflicts with the Indian tribes of the region, as well as the
execution of a policy Qf concentration and removal which was designed
to clear the central portion of our western region from the hindrances
to settlement and railroad progress which the presence therein of
strong Indian tribes necessarily created. The recognition of Sheridan
for this command was in the line of Grant's course towards him.
Sherman as the senior and ranking officer, was relieved largely of
severe departmental service, and was then engaged as a member of the
Indian Peace Commission in the inquiries and negotiations that were
needed to achieve the policy indicated.
Sheridan's new headquarters were at Fort Leavenworth — the post
which had become the most important in what might have been termed
the frontier West. He found there his old comrade ofthe regular army,
and of the Army of the Cumberland, General Elliott, who suc
ceeded to the command of Sheridan's old division on his transfer to the
Potomac. The department included the Indian Territory, Kansas,
Colorado, Nebraska, and that portion of Dakota now known as the
Territory of Wyoming. This region was more or less disturbed by
Indian hostility when Sheridan took command at Fort Leavenworth.

344 THE LIFE OF
The Indian Territory had not quite settled from its war divisions,
and constant watchfulness was needed to prevent disorders which might
readily have grown serious. The great problem involved in Sheridan's
department administration was mainly confined, however, to the terri
tory lying between the Platte in Nebraska and the Canadian River in
the western portion of the Indian Territory, and of the southern line of
Kansas, further east. It extended as far west as the Rocky Mountains.
In that region the Utes were restless, but not openly hostile.
In the region to which Sheridan's main efforts and operations were
directed there was a considerable body of Indians. In the Missouri
Valley itself was a number of semi-civilized tribes, nearly all of
whom have since been removed to the Indian Territory or become
incorporated in the general body politic. In Nebraska were the Otoes
and other tribal remnants ; in Eastern Kansas were the Delawares,
Kickapoos, Shawnees, Peorias, Weas, Pinkeshaws, Osages, Pottawat-
omies, and Kaw or Kansas Indians, numbering in all between six and
seven thousand souls. The Nebraska bands were not removed. About
eighty per cent, of all the Kansas Indians have been removed and settled
again, where the semi-civilized bodies all form part of the Cherokee
nation, so far as organized civic action on their part is concerned. The
work of removal was begun under Sheridan's department administration.
West of Fort Riley, serious work was before him and the troops under
his command, which included besides regular white and colored regi
ments and batteries, at least two regiments of Kansas volunteers, the
Seventeenth and Eighteenth, raised for Indian service. These regi
ments were commanded by veteran soldiers, ex-Governor S. J.
Crawford, formerly colonel of the Eighty-third, United States Colored
Troops, and Thomas J. Moonlight, ex-colonel of the Fourteenth
Kansas Volunteers (cavalry), and now governor of Wyoming Terri
tory, being the colonels respectively of these organizations. In what is
now known as Wyoming, the Cheyennes, Blackfeet, Northern Coman-
ches, and some Sioux bands required constant watching. In Southwest
Nebraska the Pawnees were restless. But in Western Kansas, the
Kiowas, Arapahoes, Comanches, Apaches ofthe Plains, and the Chey
ennes, the latter the most warlike and valorous of all Indians on the
plains, were openly hostile in feeling, and from the outset more or less
actively so.
These Indians, the Kiowas especially, during the last year of the
Civil War kept the feeble frontier settlements in continual danger.
They were unquestionably influenced in this hostility by old traders

. GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 34c;
and " squaw men," who were generally in sympathy with the South at
the time. It is also known that the Confederate military authorities
¦endeavored to organize their hostility to the whites as a direct menace
to the Union cause in that vast and sparsely protected region. The
activity of the Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico military authorities
prevented these intrigues from making any great headway. But the
infamous affair at Sand Creek, Southern Colorado, where, in the early
fall of 1864, Colonel Chivington with a regiment of Colorado ioo-day
men attacked and slew the inmates of a Kiowa camp under Black Kettle,
an Indian chief who had always been esteemed by frontiers-men as
friendly to the whites, caused a general irruption of this tribe and the
¦other Indians of the plains against the settlers of Western Kansas, in
September and October of that year. The raiders were met and driven
back by a force under General J. G. Blunt. Next year they were
checked by volunteers and regulars under Crawford, Moonlight, Elliott,
and others. General Hancock was in command and had a severe
fight in 1866, before he was ordered by President Johnson to supersede
Sheridan. When the latter assumed his new command, as Grant had
foreseen, he found his work already cut out for him.
The Indians against whom he had especially to direct his forces
numbered in all about eleven thousand persons. The Comanches
were a warlike tribe, who generally roamed over the head waters of the
Red and Canadian rivers and across the staked plains of Texas as far
south as the Rio Grande. The Kiowas and Arapahoes hunted and
lived about the Upper Arkansas and as far north as the Smoky Hill
branch of the Kansas River. The Cheyennes roamed and hunted
through the whole of Kansas, west ofthe iooth meridian of west longi
tude. They were unyielding foes, and the bands known as Dog-
Soldiers, then under Mo-ke-ta-ve-tah, had not been at peace for at least
twenty years preceding Sheridan's operations. The last terrible drub
bing they received before the new commander annihilated them, was
given by the gallant Colonel Summer, who with the Fifth Cavalry in the
late summer of 1857 took up their trail from Fort Riley, and never left
it until he had reached their camp and defeated them in a terrible fight,
utterly routing and killing a considerable proportion ofthe tribe. During
the war they recovered their old strength and spirit, and once more be
came a terror to the growing settlements. The progress of railroad con
struction increased their hostility, and necessitated increasing vigilance
and activity against them. When the Civil War closed there was not
a single mile of railroad north of Jefferson City and west of the Missouri

346 THE LIFE OF
River : certainly, not outside of California. When General Sheridan was
transferred to Leavenworth, the Union and Central Pacific roads were
nearing their junction in Utah, and hundreds of miles of other roads, as
the Kansas Pacific, Pacific, and others, were already in local operation.
The duties of a military commander in a region so active with the van
guard forces of civilization, and so hostile with the expiring assaults of
aboriginal savagery, were of the most diverse and exacting character.
Railroad construction at times and in part, assumed a semi-military
character. Their advance also brought together the criminal scum of
our western life, and trains had continually to be protected against it by
military detachments. All this work was in addition to the compre
hensive and exacting demands that were imposed by Indian hostility and
subjugation. As in the work of reconstruction, Sheridan's new duties
involved not only the subduing of disorder and the prevention of out
breaks, but it required that the work to be done should proceed upon
plans that looked to a final solution of the whole question at issue. It
was the necessity of the situation that the Indians must be wholly
removed from the Plains region.
The Indian outbreak and subsequent campaign of 1868-9, gave the
untiring department commander the opportunity to accomplish in full
the policy of removal, or at least to compel Indian submission thereto,
and the easy inauguration, therefore, of steps to complete this purpose.
In October, 1868, the valleys of the Smoky Hill, Solomon, and
Saline rivers were the scenes of a series of Indian atrocities as hor- '
rible as any that have marked the bloody progress of our frontier
growth. The Cheyenne Dog soldiers were especially fiendish, and
made the Saline and Solomon valleys the scenes of outrages too terri
ble to narrate. Sheridan was at Fort Leavenworth. Before the day
had closed on which the news was received, he was with his staff on
the road to Fort Hays, upon the Smoky Hill River, and the then ter
minus of the Kansas Pacific, to which a rapid concentration and forward
ing of troops was ordered. It was the best place for a movement
against the savages, who were struck heavily on the flank as they
rapidly fell back. A winter campaign was inaugurated at once, and
pushed under his own command with the same untiring and remorse
less activity that was exhibited in the Shenandoah Valley in the over
throw and pursuit of Early. The campaign proved a bewildering one
to the Indian enemy. It was a surprise to the settlers. On arrival at
Fort Hays, Sheridan sent out strong detachments of cavalry in all the
directions required for pursuit, with orders to follow to the utmost

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 347
He then massed a considerable force, and formed depots of supplies at
various points. All this was done with such great celerity that it
remains among the older settlers and frontiers-men a subject of admira
tion to this day. They had never seen before the spirit of a great
soldier carried into the work of protecting their homes and ranches,
united as well, with that of permanently subduing a savage foe.
The severe task Sheridan set himself was magnificently performed.
To those who criticise only from the stand-point of war among civilized
peoples it may seem that the overthrow of not over ten thousand half-
naked and half-armed Indians, men, women, and children, was an easy
piece of work in comparison with what our soldier had previously
performed. This would not be a correct judgment. All things con
sidered, the warrior Indians were more than equal, at first, to double-
their number of ordinary troopers. This advantage was lost to them
under the untiring pursuit that Sheridan instituted — such a pursuit as-
must always be destructive to aborigines, whose staying qualities are
never as great as those civilized troops develop, especially such hardy
troopers as Sheridan commanded. In that memorable winter cam
paign the Indians were beaten in all engagements, followed to all their
lairs, and routed in every direction. Their villages were taken and
destroyed. Their ponies were in large part killed or captured. Their
supplies were cut off. Hundreds of their fighting men were slain.
The unyielding Cheyenne Dog soldiers, with their chief, were actually
annihilated, only one warrior, a minor chief, escaping. Their women
and children were afterwards divided among other bands — so that the
formidable Dog soldiers were literally " wiped out."
Before the campaign closed Sheridan received the surrender of
nearly ten thousand Indians, whom he placed under strong military
guard on the territory they are still occupying in the upper valleys of
the Wichita River, near the mouths of Medicene and Cache creeks,
and within the limits of the Indian Territory. The Cherokee Nation
had sold this section to the United States government by the treaty
of 1866, for the express purpose of concentrating and settling thereon
these and other tribes of a similar character. Sheridan's captives in
cluded a large proportion of the tribes by whom the proposed occupa
tion was to be made. They are still settled there, and are now pros
perous communities of cattle raisers and farmers.
Ulysses S. Grant had been elected President of the United States.
The close of Sheridan's successful Indian campaign was almost cotem-
poraneous with the inauguration ofthe new President. The influence

348 THE LIFE OF
•of Grant had already secured from Congress the legislative power neces
sary to enable him to make the first appointments given in his new po
sition. The commission of general held by Grant expired with his
resignation thereof. Sherman had been named, as was Grant when
made general, in the acts which authorized his appointment as lieu*
tenant-general. Legislation was therefore necessary. It had been ob
tained. Grant's first act as President after taking the oath of office,
reading his inaugural, and calling the Senate together in executive ses
sion, was to nominate William Tecumseh Sherman as General, and
Philip Henry Sheridan as Lieutenant-General in the Army of the
United States. The nominations were immediately confirmed.
Sheridan, two thousand miles westward, was moving east with his
wearied escort, consisting of a detachment of the Tenth Cavalry,
accompanied by Colonels Lebo and Schuyler Crosby, Major J. W.
Clous, and Colonel McGonigle. They were returning to Fort Hays.
Between the middle of February and March 6th, a march of over three
hundred miles had been made. Sheridan had left the camp ofthe cap
tured Indians, on the head waters of the Wichita River, after a remark
able talk to such of their head men as were left, in which he had
firmly, but without anger or the arrogance of power, told them what
they could expect from the "Great Father." His little command was
but twenty miles from Fort Hay.s on the Smoky Hill. The long
shadows of the afternoon sun were descending as a military courier
was seen fleetly riding towards the advancing command. The vedettes
and their commander were proudly saluted, but the courier drew no
rein. It was evident that whatever was the news, he was proud of
being its carrier. But in his haste he rode by the general, and an
orderly was sent to inform the rider that he was at the head of the little
column. Turning his horse swiftly, the messenger drew a yellow
envelope from his pocket, and rode up furiously, reining his horse
almost back upon his haunches, and standing in his stirrups, as he
touched his hat in a military salute, exclaimed while handing over the
dispatch :
"I have the honor of saluting the Lieutenant-General of the Army
of the United States."
The bronzed, flushed face of the trooper was all aglow with pride
and pleasure, as at once he became a rigid and martial statue "at
attention." The cry was heard, and even before the gallant little soldier to whom
the dispatch was addressed could open it, the soldiers all, officers and
men, shouted "To the Lieutenant-General ! "

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 349
General Sheridan's face, says an eye-witness, was flushed with
mingled sensations of pride and emotion. His hand trembled with
feeling as he opened the packet. It was a telegram from General
Sherman substantially in these words :
" Grant has been inaugurated. He has just nominated me for Gen
eral and you for Lieutenant-General."
" To the Lieutenant-General ! " went up in shouts along the little
column of officers and troopers which broke the solitudes of the Smoky
Hill; " To the Lieutenant-General! " again and again in rounds of
cheers. And then the bugle gave the order "trot," and shortly the
little command was briskly galloping toward Fort Hays. The next
day, March 7th, General Sheridan, with two aides, left for Wash
ington. They arrived in the middle of March. Sheridan was the
recipient of the most marked social attention. After a short rest he
was assigned to the Military Division of the Missouri, embracing all
the territory north and south from the'Gulf to the British line, and from
the Missouri River west to the Rocky Mountains. His headquarters
were fixed in Chicago. Four departments, each commanded by a well-
known soldier, were included within this great division.
One unaccustomed to the routine of army life and administration
would naturally suppose that the lieutenant-general was now to have
a "very easy time. In this, however, the critic would be mistaken.
The duties of an American army commander, even in peace, are exact
ing enough to fill the working ambition of any man competent to per
form them. As already seen, in the conduct of the Department of Mis
souri the Indian troubles were serious and absorbing. The conditions
imposed by the earlier days of railroad construction and traffic enjoined
serious responsibilities on the military. Besides these things, there
were to be foreseen and met the inevitable changes in frontier army
administration that the new highways and the settlements which accom
panied them rendered so necessary. Of these matters, Sheridan in his
new position was at the fore. He prepared him to live comfortably.
In Chicago, from the outset, the general became, for his personal
qualities, as well as his distinguished position, a great social favorite.
It is a feeling which grew with his years, and became a deep admira
tion when, during the great fire, he was able to perform signal service
for a people so terriblly stricken.
But he had hardly .got his business office and personal belongings
into good shape, when the thunder of war came floating over the
Atlantic. France and Prussia declared war, and the latter, sustained by

3$o THE LIFE OF
the whole of Germany, commenced her terribly aggressive war on her
•old enemy. As customary with our government, it was determined at
once to send a distinguished American officer to observe the progress
of the war. The lieutenant-general was selected to represent us.
Accompanied by Brigadier-General J. W. Forsyth, now colonel ofthe
famous Seventh Cavalry, United States Army, which has been com
manded since 'the Rebellion by Generals Sturgis and Custer, Sheridan
sailed for Europe. Forsyth was a member of the staff, serving with
the lieutenant-general from 1863 till 1878, and rejoining him in 1880.
He received six-months leave of absence, with permission to go beyond
the sea. Like Major-General Schofield, who succeeds to the duties
of General commanding the Army, he was a classmate of Sheridan's
at West Point. They both graduated, however, a year before he did,
¦owing to the fact that his conflict with Cadet-Sergeant Terrell set the
little Ohio soldier back a year in his class.
Lieutenant-General Sheridan was ordered to Washington on the
10th of July, 1870. His orders made him special commissioner ofthe
United States at the theatre of military operations. He was to observe
the methods of the French and Prussian governments in the conduct of
war. On his return he was to make a report on the cavalry, infantry,
and artillery of each, and also upon the arms, tactics, and discipline of
each army.
General Sheridan sailed at once, and from London addressed to
both the French and Prussian governments a formal official request
for permission to accompany their armies. The French responded
with a brusque refusal ; the Germans with a direct royal approval. He
is announced as leaving for the Continent on the 8th of August. On
the 1 2th he left Berlin for Prussian headquarters. He was cheerfully
given all the facilities needed. He was, in fact, treated as a royal
guest on his arrival at King William's headquarters at Pont-a-Mousson.
Lieutenant-General Sheridan was obliged to select the German
armies as his field of observation, because the French Emperor refused
to allow his armies to be accompanied by foreign officers. As the
Germans were the invading and attacking force, and also from the fact
of their high reputation for military science, skill, discipline, drill, and
mechanism, Sheridan was fortunate in his military hosts. The distin
guished soldier was received with the honors and courtesy due his rank
and high reputation. He was attached as a guest to the headquarters
of Prince Bismarck, and was present as a critical observer at the battles
of Gravelock, Beaumont, and Sedan, at the latter witnessing personally
the surrender of Louis Napoleon.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 351
At the battle of Sedan, Sheridan was on the field from the first
movement at 6 a. m., on the ist of September, until the surrender of
Louis Napoleon at 5.15 p. m. The Sedan correspondence of George
W. Smalley, the well-known journalist, who was with the German
Army also, is replete with reference to General Sheridan's opinions and .
comments. There was very heavy musketry firing at noon. Mr.
Smalley says :
" General Sheridan, by whose side I was standing at the time, told
me that he did not remember ever to have heard so well sustained a
fire of small arms. It made itself heard above the roar of the bat
teries at our feet. ... At 1 o'clock the French batteries on the
edge of the wood towards Torcy, and above it, opened a vigorous fire
on the advancing Prussian column of the Third Corps, whose evident
intention it was to storm the hill northwest of La Garenne, and so
gain the key of the position on that side. At 1.05 another French
battery near the wood opened on the Prussian columns, which were
compelled to keep shifting their ground till ready for their final rush at
the hills, in order to avoid offering so good a mark to the French shells.
Shortly after we saw the first Prussian skirmishers on the crest of the
La Garenne hills above Torcy. They did not seem to be in strength,
and General Sheridan, standing behind me, exclaimed :
" ' Ah ! the beggars are too weak ; they can never hold that position
against all those French.'
" The general's prophecy soon proved correct, for the French
•advanced at least six to one, and the Prussians were forced to retreat
down the hill to seek reinforcements from their columns which were
hurrying to their support. In five minutes they came back again, this
time in greater force, but still terribly inferior to those huge French
masses: " ' Good heavens ! The French cuirassiers are going to charge
them,' cried General Sheridan. And sure enough the regiment of
cuirassiers, their helmets and breastplates flashing in the September
sun, formed in sections of squadrons and dashed down on the scattered
Prussian skirmishers, without deigning to form a line. Squares are
never used by the Prussians, and the infantry received the cuirassiers
with a crushing ' quick fire ' at about one hundred yards' distance, load
ing and firing with extreme rapidity, and shooting with unfailing pre
cision into the dense French squadrons. The effect was startling.
Over went horses and men in numbers, in masses, in hundreds ; and
the regiment of proud French cuirassiers went hurriedly back in dis-

352 THE LIFE OF '
order ; went back faster than it came ; went back scarcely a regiment
in strength, and not at all a regiment in form.
"The great object of the Prussians was gained, since they were
not driven from the crest of the hill they sought to hold.
" ' There will be a devil of a fight for that crest before it is won or
lost,' said Sheridan, straining his eyes through his field-glass at the. hill
which was not over three miles from us."
Several charges of a similar character by the French cavalry, fol
lowed the one which has been briefly described, each ending as the
first one did. After the last desperate charge of the French cavalry,
General Sheridan remarked to Mr. Smalley that he never saw anything
so reckless, so utterly foolish, as that last charge. " It was sheer mur
der," he added, emphatically.
"At 2.05 in the afternoon the French totally abandoned the hill
between Torcy and Sedan, and fell back on the faubourg of Caval, just
outside the ramparts of the town.
" ' Now the battle is lost for the French,' said General Sheridan, to-
the delight of the Prussian officers. One would almost have imagined
that the French had heard his words : they had hardly been uttered
when there came a lull in the firing all along the line.
" At 6.30 the King received Napoleon's letter of surrender, and sat
down to write a note to the Emperor. While the King was writing "
this note, Count Bismarck came up to Generals Sheridan and Forsyth
and Mr. Smalley, and heartily shook our hands.
"'Let me congratulate you most sincerely, couht,' said General
Sheridan. ' I can only compare the surrender of Napoleon to that of
General Lee at Appomattox Court House.' "
General Adam Badeau has recently caused to be published' the
following letter, which for its frank, unrestrained freedom, written in
the confidence of personal friendship, possesses a peculiar value in
this relation : Rheims, France, Sept. 13, 1870.
My Dear General Grant : The capture ofthe Emperor Napoleon;
and McMahon's army at Sedan on the ist of September has thrown
France into a chaos which even embarrasses the Prussian authorities.
It seems to a quiet observer as though Prussia had done too much.
Whom to negotiate with, whom to hold responsible in the final settle
ment, are becoming grave questions, and one cannot see what will be
the result. I was present at the battles of Beaumont, Gravelotte, and
Sedan, and have had my imagination clipped, in seeing these battles,

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 353
of many of the errors it had run into in its conception of what might
be expected of the trained troops of Europe.
There was about the same percentage of sneaks or runaways,
and the general conditions of the battles were about the same as our
own. One thing was especially noticeable — the scattered condition of
the men in going into battle, and their scattered condition while en
gaged. At Gravelotte, Beaumont, and Sedan, the men engaged on
both sides were so scattered that it looked like thousands of men en
gaged in a deadly skirmish without any regard to lines or formation.
These battles were of this style of fighting, commencing at longrange,
and might be called progressive fighting, closing at night by the French
always giving up their position or being driven from it in this way by
the Prussians. The latter had their own strategy up to the Moselle,
and it was good and successful. After that river was reached, the
French made the strategy for the Prussians, and it was more successful
than their own. The Prussian soldiers are very good, brave fellows,
all young, scarcely a man over twenty-seven in the first levies. They
had gone into each battle with the determination to win. It is especially
noticeable, also, that the Prussians have attacked the French wherever
they have found them, let the numbers be great or small, and, so far as
I have been able to see, though the grand tactics of bringing on the
engagements have been good, yet the battles have been won by the
good square fighting of the men and junior officers. It is true the
Prussians have been two to one, except in one of the battles before
Metz — that of the 16th of August; still the French have had the ad
vantage of very strong positions.
Generally speaking, the French soldiers have not fought well.
It may be because the poor fellows had been discouraged by the trap
into which their commander had led them, but I must confess to having
seen some of the "tallest" running at Sedan I have ever witnessed,
especially on the left of the French position — all attempts to make the
men stand seemed to be unavailing. So disgraceful was this that it caused
the French cavalry to make three or four gallant but foolish charges, as
if it were to show that there was at least some manhood left in a
mounted French soldier.
I am disgusted ; all my boyhood's fancies of the soldiers of the
great Napoleon have been dissipated, or else the soldiers of the " Little
Corporal " have lost their elan in the pampered parade soldiers of the
" Man of Destiny."
The Prussians will settle, I think, by making the line of the

354 THE LIFE OF
Moselle the German line, taking in Metz and Strasburg, and the ex
penses of the war.
I have been most kindly received by the King and Count Bis
marck and all the officers at the headquarters of the Prussian Army —
have seen much of great interest, and especially have been able to
observe the difference between the European battles and those of our
own country. I have not found the difference very great, but that
difference is to the credit of our own country. There is nothing to he
learned here professionally, and it is a satisfaction to learn that such is
the case.
There is much, however, which Europeans could learn from us,
— the use of rifle-pits — the use of cavalry, which they do not use well ;
for instance, there is a line of communication from here to Germany
exposed to the whole ofthe south of France, with scarcely a soldier on
the whole line, and it has never been touched. There are a hundred
things in which they are behind us. The staff departments are poorly
organized; the quartermaster's department very wretched, etc., etc.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
P. H. Sheridan, Lieutenant- General.
P. S. — We go to-morrow with the headquarters of the King to
a point about twenty miles from Paris. P. H. S.
Letters received at Chicago from General Sheridan during this
period, and while he was still at Prussian headquarters, stated that he
had witnessed all the battles from the beginning of the war, and that
he was present at the surrender of Napoleon. General Sheridan
reported that the Prussian Army is well organized and equipped ; but
he expressed a positive opinion that neither the French nor the Prus
sian soldiers are equal to our own in point of intelligence, skill, and
arms. Sheridan was with Bismarck when the great statesman sprang
from his carriage with a pistol in each hand and cleared the streets of
the village of Garge. He was also with him when he dismounted
abreast of the carriage of the defeated Napoleon. Sheridan's descrip
tions of these events are very interesting and graphic. He says Bis
marck saluted the Emperor " in a quick, brusque way which seemed to
startle him."
Sheridan accompanied the German armies to Paris, witnessing all
the operations ofthe siege. General Forsyth is reported as saying that
" his fame had reached France in advance, where the people, from his
vim and dash, had already likened him tb and placed him on the same

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 3 5^5-
high pedestal of fame as the great Corsican. When they saw him (for
the general had a truly Napoleonic head) they nearly went wild with
enthusiasm." It is quite safe to assert that the German Army had no
closer or keener critic, nor was he in any way unobservant of the fine
qualities of the French soldiers. He was reported at the time by a
newspaper correspondent as expressing great admiration of the manner
in which, under Gambetta's dictatorship at Tours, the French people
and army showed their recuperative power. It is also recorded that
he declared that in spite of the magnificent machinery and administra
tive perfection of the German Army, they would never know what real
fighting was until they should meet in a popular war, American or
British soldiers. General Butterfield recalls being in Italy with Gen
eral Sheridan after the Franco-Prussian War had closed its fateful prog
ress. He was full of life and animation, cheery with good humor,
and interested his companions with an endless variety of stories and
incidents of camp and field, of march and fight.
Returning after a year of travel, full of interest, professional and
general, the lieutenant-general resumed command of his division, and
once more occupied his attractive residence on Michigan Arenue. He
was home but a few months when the great fire broke out which
devastated and destroyed the larger part ofthe " City of the Lakes."
The historic cow that upset the old Irish woman and her kerosene
lamp caused the greatest conflagration of modern, if not, indeed, of
ancient history, also. The terrible fire swept on its path of ruin,.
bringing not destruction to property and life alone, but demoralizing-
the entire people, and proving the incompetency of the civic authorities
to fulfil reasonably any ofthe onerous duties that fell upon them.
General Sheridan was appealed to, and not in vain. On the ioth
of October, 1871, the Secretary of War, General John A. Rawlins,
directed him, upon receipt of advices from the burning city, to use all
his available troops as a guard and for the suppression of all disorder
and criminals. He also authorized, at General Sheridan's request, the
issuing of 100,000 rations. This was done, says the order, " to help pro
tect what property is left and to try and get homes for the homeless."
The lieutenant-general found it necessary to bring order out of the fiery
chaos, and, to suppress the increasing hordes of scoundrels who were
drawn hither for purposes of plunder, to proclaim martial law. The
fire was subdued by the 12th instant. The soldier patrols were making
safe the blackened streets, and the terrified survivors were coming back
to where their stores and homes had once stood. The mayor issued an

356 THE LIFE OF
order to all persons against committing acts endangering life or property,
and declaring that " with the help of God and General Sheridan I will
preserve order at all hazards." By the general's orders 800 tents were
issued to the homeless that evening. All the resources at the command
of his headquarters were fully drawn upon, his chief quartermaster,
General Rucker, meeting all possible requirements. He forwarded to
the mayor the following letter :
Headquarters of Military Division of the West, j
Chicago, October 12th, 1871. j
To his Honor the Mayor:
The preservation of the peace and good order of this city having
been entrusted to me by your Honor, I am happy to state that no case
of outbreak or disorder has been reported.
The people are calm and well disposed. The force at my com
mand is ample to maintain order.
Still I would suggest that the citizens do not relax their vigilance
until the smoldering fires are entirely extinguished.
P. H. Sheridan, Lieutenant-General.
In every stage of the relief movements, as well as those for the main
tenance of order and to prevent the revival of the conflagration in any
direction, General Sheridan was consulted. The mayor announced, for
example, on the 16th of October, that, after advising with General
Sheridan, all matters relating to the distribution of supplies would be
turned over to the relief society which had already been formed. On the
18th instant, through the Associated Press, General Sheridan appealed
to the curious not to come to Chicago, simply to see. He said :
" Thousands of this class are here now, without shelter or accom
modations, and they must be fed and cared for the same as the suffer
ers." There are many anecdotes characteristic of Sheridan told in relation
to this period. One will be sufficient to illustrate his direct modes of
dealing. A certain hotel which had escaped the flames, was reported
as charging exorbitant rates. Sheridan asked the price of board. The
reply was $6.00 per day. " How much before the fire?" The answer
was $2.50.
"All right," was the general's reply, "I'll Tun this hotel myself
for $2.50 a day," and he at once put an orderly in charge, and kept it
full till martial law was removed.
" Owing to a misunderstanding, Colonel Grosvenor, United States
Army, was, on the 26th of October, shot by the police. There was a

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 3J7
great deal of ungrateful jealousy exhibited, which was fanned by a few
lawyers and politicians like General Palmer, who saw the fabric of
American liberty crumbling to pieces at their feet because, in response
to a demand by the municipal authorities, the soldiery of the United
States had, in a savage crisis, been used to maintain order, protect a
homeless people, and to feed those who were suffering from hunger.
Idle stories of a mischievous nature were set afoot. One of the current
dailies tells the following after the fire and panic was over :
A reporter thought that as there was no murder there was no fun
or excitement: So one day during the fire, he determined to start
something ofthe kind, and dispatched to New York :
" Seven incendiaries have just been shot down in the act of kindling
fires." Only seven, growled the public, there must be more than that ; the
fire was a large one. The next day, he with his pen, hung Barney
Aaron to a lamp-post and shot another fellow named Tracey. . Next
day a telegram was sent to General Sheridan asking him " if it would
not be possible to put out the fire with gore ? "
Sheridan answered, " No disturbance of any kind here."
" Ah," said this reporter, " Sheridan is so used to blood! This
is nothing to him. To a man who swam his horse through it in the
Shenandoah, a mere street full is nothing."
This story is not a joke, but the truth, and the falsifying reporter is still
a well-known correspondent. But the citizens of Chicago knew better.
Sheridan's services in their behalf have been gratefully and substantially
acknowledged. The Washington house in which he has resided since his
transfer thereto in 1884, was purchased for $44,000 by Chicago admir
ers, who have also endowed "Little Phil, Jr.," with a valuable legacy
in the shape of telephone stock, held for his benefit and in his name.
General Sheridan liked Chicago as a residence. He took a decided
interest there in social affairs. It is the city of his marriage. He was
an active member of several, and an honorary member of all the Chi
cago clubs, and interested himself in racing stock and fishing. He loved to
watch a good race to the finish. A capital angler, he was, says a member
of the Point Pelee Club, the only man who could fish all day without
getting a bite and yet never complain. On his leaving Chicago a
dinner was tendered him by the Commercial Club, at which one of
its leading members, Mr. J. W. Doane, said :
" Chicago can never forget General Sheridan. When the city was in
flames, when men's hearts failed them, and ruin and desolation stared

358 THE LIFE OF
us in the face, all eyes were turned to him whom we honor here this
evening. It was his cool brain and prompt and ready courage that
greatly helped to check the devouring fire. It is a matter of record
that when every moment was precious, without waiting to -consult the
authorities at Washington he took it upon himself to order troops and
rations from neighboring cities, and thereby averted riot and bloodshed,
and helped many thousands of our people to survive the severest trials
of the hour. So successful was he in this great crisis that the mayor
publicly tendered to him the thanks of Chicago and its whole people.
Nor was that all. In 1874, when the city was threatened with a repe
tition of those calamities, General Sheridan again was largely instru
mental in saving our homes and fortunes from ruin and destruction.
And once more, in 1877? when the Communist riots (so destructive in
other places) threatened Chicago, the general, by making a rapid jour
ney of 1,000 miles, by appearing quickly upon the scene, and by his
wise and decisive action, rescued us for the third time from what might
have been a public misfortune of no ordinary kind. Believe me, gen
eral, a grateful people will embalm your memory in their innermost
hearts. Representing as we do, in some degree, the commercial inter
ests of this great city, we feel that this is a most fitting occasion to
acknowledge thus publicly and in the presence of your friends (whom
we are proud to welcome here to-night) , your constant loyalty to this,
your chosen city, a loyalty which its citizens can never forget so long
as Chicago holds her proud place among the chief cities of the Union."
General Sheridan made his chief investment in Chicago, or in enter
prises recommended to him by friends in that city. The family still own
his former residence on Michigan Avenue, and have other real estate,
without considering the Washington home and belongings.
While still in Chicago, his military career was marked with the
beginning and close of the great struggle of the Sioux Nation against
the progress of the whites in Dakota. It was also intensified by his
visit, under orders from President Grant, to New Orleans in 1875, where
he remained for a short time. His presence was rendered necessary by
the lawless actions of the White Leaguers, whose rebellious intentions
against the existing state government would doubtless have been more
determined but for the presence of the commander whom once before
they had learned to dread. His administration of the great division
assigned to his command will be noted in the history of this country as
the period in which the Indian problem came nearer to a final solution
than at any period of our history. Its extent and character is not yet

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. '359
fully realized. In Dakota alone, from the early part of 1861 , hostilities
prevailed until after the death of General Custer, on the Rosebud.
During the four years of Civil War it took an army of 12,000 men to
hold the territory against the implacable warfare carried on by the
hostile Sioux, then comprising the. major part of their tribes. General
Shelly, a regular army officer and a vigorous Indian fighter, and Gene
ral Sibley, a volunteer, who from having long been with the Sioux as a
trader, understood them well, were the commanding officers in those
campaigns. The half-breed and other traders, sheltered under the
British flag in what is now known as Manitoba, supplied the hostiles
with excellent arms. As soon as the Civil War ceased the War
Department turned its attention more closely to the Sioux troubles with
the result that in 1866 General S. R. Curtis and others were sent
as commissioners to receive the surrender of Red Cloud, Spotted Tail,
Rain-in-the-face, Big Thunder, and other chiefs, with their bands.
The formidable Teton Sioux and their war chief, Sitting Bull, were not
included in the negotiations which brought the peace that has since pre
vailed, except as to the Tetons. The progress of the Northern Pacific
railroad and the discovery and development of the precious metals in
the Black Hills region, rendered the presence of troops more neces
sary. From the date of his marriage, in 1874, for several years, Sheri
dan was kept busy watching Dakota affairs and arranging for the com
plete subjugation of the Sioux -still remaining hostile. He visited
annually the posts and camps included within his division. In 1867-8,/
he was occupied closely with affairs on the Rio Grande, which at one
time almost threatened a rupture of our friendly relations with Mexico,
The lieutenant-general took, like his senior, General Sherman, a
great interest in the higher practical instruction of army officers, and in
aiding the welfare and promotion of worthy soldiers from the rank
and file. The officers' school at Fort Leavenworth was, to all practical
intents, a conception of Sheridan's, and he never failed to keep a close
watch over its efficiency and welfare.
In 1883, General Sherman, who had passed the legal term of active
service, was, at his own request, placed on the retired list. The lieuten
ant-general was summoned to Washington by President Arthur, to
assume the duties of commanding-general. He remained there until his
• removal to Nonquit, during the first week in July of 1888. His time
there was fully occupied by the army administration. Each year he
made his annual tour of inspection, and it was during his last trip in
the early months of the year of his death that he so over-exerted him-

360 GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.
self as to bring on the heart trouble to which, on the night of Sunday,
August 5, 1888, he at last succumbed.
General Sheridan was fond of visiting Chicago during the racing
season. He sometimes acted as judge, and was president of the Wash
ington Park Club. He was always present on Derby day. His official
inspection of the garrison at the Highwood, United States Post, near
Chicago, was probably the last time that he was officially saluted by
United States troops under review. It was on May 5th.
While his fatal sickness was apparently at its height, and there then
seemed but a very slight prospect of his living even the sad two months
that followed, the Congress of the United States revived the active
grade of general, and the President appointed him thereto, while the
Senate immediately confirmed the nomination. This was on the ist of
June, sixty-six days before his death. The bill was presented and
passed the House, and was carried to the Senate, the President signing
Sheridan's nomination, and commission also, before the Senate had
acted on the bill sent them from the other branch. It was passed,
signed, and the nomination confirmed before 3 P.M. of the day on which
it was introduced. Shortly after, Senators Hawley and Manderson
carried the commission to the bedside of General Sheridan, and very
soon after its receipt he took the oath of office and issued the follow
ing general order — his first and last official act as General of the
United States Army : General Order No. J/.
Headquarters of the Army, 1
Adjutant-General's Office, Washington, D. C, June 1, 1888. j
1. The following named officers are appointed aides-de-camp. on
the staff of the General of the Arm}', with the rank of colonel, to date
from this day : Major Michael V. Sheridan, assistant adjutant-general ;
Captain Stanford C. Kellogg, Fifth Cavalry ; Captain Stanhope Blunt,
ordnance department.
2. In addition to his duties as aide-de-camp, Colonel Blunt will
continue to perform the duty of inspector of rifle practice at headquar
ters of the army. By command of General Sheridan.
R. C. Drum, Adjutant-General {Official).
J. C. Kelton, Assistant Adjutant- General.

Chapter XXVIII.

SHERIDAN'S HOME AND FAMILY LIFE.
THE GENERAL'S WASHINGTON RESIDENCE — MRS. SHERIDAN AND THE CHILDREN
— DOMESTIC CHARACTER OF HUSBAND AND FATHER — HOME INTERIORS — ¦
PARLOR AND LIBRARY — THE GENERAL'S OFFICE IN THE WAR DEPARTMENT —
HIS STAFF OFFICERS — INCIDENTS AND ASSOCIATIONS — HIS HEALTH — THE
FATAL SICKNESS — NONQUIT — LIFE CLOSES AMID NATURE'S BEAUTY.
The quiet, loving domesticity of General Sheridan's home and
inner life since his marriage at Chicago in 1874, has been a beautiful
and striking contrast with the Titanic activity of that outer and active
life upon which rests his world-wide fame. It is not for any stranger
to seek to withdraw the veil of seclusion that fitly enshrouds every *
one's private and personal existence ; especially so while grief sits in
majestic sorrow at the portals. But it will not be intrusive to draw
together and present as a complete whole the facts known of men.
A striking proof of the wholesome domesticity of the general's
character is to be seen in the fact that it has required the affectionate
interest everywhere aroused by the saddening incidents of his last sick
ness and lingering death, to draw out the charming pictures of home
life which are now associated with the Sheridan family. Living as the
general and Mrs. Sheridan have done, for the last five years of his life,
in a city and community where privacy for the public man is almost
unknown, it is certainly a tribute to the habits and wishes of General
Sheridan that the charming interiors of his Washington residence have
not heretofore been made the subject of published gossip and illustra
tion. General Sheridan was a lover of his home, a devoted husband,
and a most affectionate father. He never delighted in "functions"
like our other genial and lovable old warrior, General Sherman, but
preferred retirement, the ease of home, the loving care of his wife, the
prattle of his little ones, the quiet of his library, and the silent com
panionship of his books.
The Washington house, costing about forty-four thousand dollars,
was purchased for Sheridan by his Chicago admirers and friends. It
is a fine residence, even in a city notable for such dwellings.

362 THE LIFE OF
The Sheridan home is a roomy, picturesque, double house, on the
corner of Rhode Island Avenue and Seventeenth Street. It is directly
opposite Representative Perry Belmont's residence, to which it presents
an agreeable contrast. Mr. Belmont's dwelling is large and splendid,
but it looks neglected. The turf is not well kept, while across the
way the Sheridan terrace is clipped and watered until it looks like
green velvet. The quick-growing ivy that covers nearly one side of the
building is as well kept as the grass.
The entrance opens into a wide, roomy hall, running the whole
depth of the house, from "which a broad, easy staircase leads to the
upper floor. The hall floor has been devoted to the family and recep
tion rooms, the library and the dining-room. The usual sitting-room
is a high-ceilinged, deep saloon, furnished in rich but quiet taste. The
great bay window, deep, comfortable, and looking out on both avenue
and street, was the favorite resort of Mrs. Sheridan and of all visitors
to this delightful mansion. One feature of this room was a pretty little
mahogany table, covered with a large cloth wrought with Indian bead
work. It was sacred to the lares and penates of the household,
being covered with exquisite miniature portraits of Mrs. Sheridan and
their four children. The room behind thetamily saloon, and separated
from it only by a heavy portiere, was used as the general's library.
An attractive room it was, with a distinct individuality, telling of its
famous occupant. The old red silk papered walls were well covered
with portraits — paintings or photographs — of army friends. Sketches
of many historic events, and many striking mementoes were found here.
Half-way up the high walls, rows of handsome bookshelves held an
excellently selected general library, in which, however, works of refer7
ence and standard military authorities predominated. Many maps
hung upon a convenient stand, and a large globe showed the world's
face to the occupant's eye. The large, broad window at the rear had
before it the general's desk — a flat, rather small, mahogany library
table, with drawers on one side. There was a big crystal inkstand
upon it. A heavy blotting pad, and usually, too, a thick tablet of
heavy unruled white paper waited the convenience of the soldier owner.
He used steel pens, and they always could be found in abundance in
front of the inkstand. As a rule, at the right-hand corner of the desk
could be seen a small collection of books, kept handy for such refer
ence as the thoughtful, well-weighted man of affairs who used to sit
there, might at any moment require.
Sheridan's library was crowded with curios. The mantel over the

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deep, open fire-place, always blazing in winter with pine logs, was filled
with them. The little meerschaum smoked brown by the cadet, was
preserved by the general. His collection of swords is notable and
historic. The one prized most highly by its owner went through all
the campaigns. It is a short-service weapon, of which scabbard, blade,
and hilt alike bear the marks of severe usage and narrow escapes from
bullets whose dents are still seen. His spurs, and a little silver can
teen, pot-bellied, and of the Size of a small tumbler, given him by an
old army friend, occupied a prominent place. General' Sheridan had
a decided taste for numismatics, and owned quite a collection of old
coins, of which he knew the history. There were his medals also, a

364 THE LIFE OF
notable collection. His commissions hung — each representing a vic
tory — all framed on the crowded walls. There were also busts and
portraits of Grant, Sherman, Custer, and others. The most striking
piece of sculpture ever made relating to General Sheridan is a statuette
which represents him making that famous ride from Winchester. It
is not more than a foot and a half high, but its every atom is full of
life and action. General Sheridan gave it the place of honor on his
parlor table. It represents him on his horse, hat in hand, as he wa-wes
it furiously above his head, while the horse gallops onward. This
superb piece of plastic skill is the work of a young New York sculptor,
Mr. Kelley, who is also one of the Harper's staff of artists. Mr.
Kelley modeled the bas releivos also of the .Centennial Monmouth
battle-field monument, now at Monmouth, New Jersey. The Win
chester statuette is simply a piece of exquisite work. Sheridan's
account of the famous horse he rode is interesting. The general said of
" Rienzi," or" Winchester," as he was named after Buchanan Read
immortalized him, that "I got the horse when it was about three
years old. It was a full-blooded Black Hawk, sixteen and one-half
hands high, and I kept him for seventeen years. He was twenty years
old when he died, in 1878, and I think the primary cause of his death
was rheumatism and neuralgia. I took him with me to New Orleans,
and lent him to one of my staff officers. He brought him in one
day, covered with foam, and I had a green stable boy, who turned the
hose on him. I took good care of him, however, until he died. He
was a remarkable horse, very fine looking, and a very quick walker.
He was a present to me from Colonel Campbell, of the Second Michi
gan Cavalry. I rode him in the Mississippi campaign and then carried
him to Kentucky. I rode him in the Kentucky and Tennessee cam
paigns, and when I was transferred to the Army of the Potomac I rode
him in all the campaigns when I was in command of the cavalry. I
rode him on that ride from Winchester to Cedar Creek, and he carried
me through in a hurry. It was not twenty miles, however, but six
teen, and my own horse galloped nearly all the way. He was, I think,
in about eighty-five battles, and he was hit three times. I remember
at the battle of Chickamauga, that a shot passed under him and between
his legs. He straddled himself and would not move, and I had to get
off and get another horse."
General Sheridan was always very fond of animals, and this home
of his contained many finely mounted specimens. A gorgeous wild
turkey, from Sheridan's roost in Arizona, looked down from one of

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 365
the walls of the dining-room, and the antlers of a gigantic elk orna
mented the entrance hall. Upon the walls ofthe hall there was a tiger
rug, almost as large as a bed quilt. It hung flat against the paper with
its head downward, and is so mounted that it looks as though it might
spring upon an advancing visitor. Beneath it was a magnificent Mex
ican saddle, which General Sheridan said took one man two years to
make, and at the left of this stood a grandfather's clock, which out of an
old Dutch face ticked a solemn welcome to every incomer.
Like Generals Logan and Grant, Sheridan delighted in collecting
old arms. Among his collection are a number of costly pistols, many
of which have histories, and some of which were presented to him by
his soldier friends.
The office occupied by General Sheridan in the massive pile of
which the War Department occupies the eastern side of its great paral
lelogram, looks out on the east grounds of the White House and
Pennsylvania Avenue, takes in the gray granite pillars and walls ofthe
Treasury building, and gives a glimpse above them all of the Capitol's
white and gleaming dome. It is the northeast corner room on the
second floor of that great pile. Sheridan was found nearly every day
in the year at his desk in the room set apart for use as army headquar
ters. The general's desk stood obliquely across the outermost corner,
in such a position that as he sat behind it the light fell upon his back
and upon the faces of all visitors to the room. Two large cases are
filled with curious pottery, Indian blankets, bows and arrows, head
gear, clubs and other articles collected in the Indian country before and
since the War of the Rebellion. They stand at opposite sides of the
apartment. Upon the walls are portraits of Generals Jackson, Worth,
Zachary Taylor, Logan, Blair, Meade, and McPherson, and several
spirited illustrations of Western hunting scenes.1 0ne picture repre
sents a herd of buffalo. It was General Sheridan's favorite habit to
show this picture to childish visitors, and to delight them with a hunt
ing story. He was a hard-working man, and always acted promptly
and methodically on all business before him.
If any men know another with whom they are most intimately
associated, it should be the members of a military staff, especially under
the exigencies of vigorous campaigning. Of the three great soldiers of
the Union Army, Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan, we know that the
military families of the first and last were drawn to their chiefs, not by
admiration and respect alone, but by a love and regard which could
only be inspired by the fine as well as strong characteristics of the chiefs

366 THE LIFE OF
to whom it was paid. With Sheridan there is something more — there
is deep, enduring fraternal feeling which is unusual, even among sol
diers of the higher class.
As a rule, an officer of rank may be judged by his staff. Sheridan's
military family was composed of men trained as soldiers under his own
eye. While inflexible in matters of duty, severity was mingled with a
courtesy that greatly softened punishment, and no soldier ever felt that
he had been " snubbed" at General Sheridan's headquarters. Many
will remember his assistant adjutant-general, Major George Lee, a gal
lant soldier and courteous gentleman, early stricken down with disease,
an officer in Sheridan's confidence, and beloved by all. Then there was
his brother, Colonel Michael V. Sheridan, as he will now be known in
army records. There was Major Tom Moore, a great favorite of ' ' Little
Phil's," for whom he afterwards obtained a commission in the regular
service. In war time, and during the earlier years thereafter, the gen
eral's constant companion was Brevet Brigadier-General James W.
Forsyth, at the present time colonel of the Seventh United States
Cavalry. Forsyth was the acting assistant inspector-general on Sheridan's
staff, but it was seldom they were seen in public apart. A newspaper
writer recalls their appearance on Canal Street, New Orleans : the
short, sturdy figure of Sheridan, buttoned up with military precision
in the dress coat of a major-general — he only wore two stars then — in
his hand a short cane of ivory, made from an elephant's tusk, on his
head a cloth hat, with a stiff rim of sailor shape — the same one he wore
when on that memorable ride. Beside Sheridan walked Forsyth, his
straight, slight, soldierly form towering in its nearly six feet far above
the broad shoulders of his chief. Forsyth wore a jaunty straight-
visored forage cap and a cavalry jacket, which set off his form and
seemed to add to his stature. He remained a member of Sheridan's
staff long after the war, and left him only when promotion called him
to other fields. The soldiers were together not only at West Point,
but in early service on the Pacific coast. When Sheridan was gazetted
in May, 1861, captain in the Thirteenth Infantry, of which William
Tecumseh Sherman was made colonel, Forsyth was made a first lieu
tenant in the Eighteenth Infantry. Both were ordered East and came
by sea to Panama, crossed the Isthmus, and thence by the regular steam
ship line to New York, reaching that city October 26, 1861. Forsyth
was sent to the field and Sheridan to St. Louis, where he chafed under
administrative duty for several months.

, GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 367
Another ex-staff officer, Colonel Newhall, who served him as chief
of staff in the closing days of the Rebellion, has written one of the most
interesting war volumes on those memorable scenes.
A staff officer's position in a volunteer army is not the best one for
recognition and promotion, unless, indeed, the general with whom he
serves is just in his dealings and careful to ensure reward to merit
that he of all men can alone estimate at its proper value. Sheridan
was always both prompt and just in this direction.
General Sherman mentions some interesting points in the follow
ing: " I saw Sheridan for the last time about Christmas of 1S87, in
Washington. He was then apparently hale and hearty — the last man,
one would think, who would succumb to illness, even of such severity
as that which finally carried him away. I refrained from visiting him
at Nonquit because I thought the excitement attendant upon receiving
a call from an old comrade and talking over old times might prove too
much for his strength. I look with the greatest possible interest for
|he publication of his memoirs. While Sheridan was at no time that
I knew him what might be called a student, yet he wrote admirably.
I have many letters from him that are models for clearness and exact
ness of style. Because of this, I think his memoirs cannot fail to be
interesting to an extreme degree. He always had such a fashion of
going right to the point he was after and making it plain that I think
he will carry the same characteristic into his literary work. With the
publication the three leaders of the Federal armies will have had their
say, and the historian of the future will, I think, find the story of the
war truthfully set forth in them."
The general wrote his autobiography during the past two years
and a half, completing them in December, 1887. The manuscript was
then revised and sent to the printers some time in the following May.
This work was done in the library of the Washington residence. Its
preparation was kept a close secret until his fatal sickness came on.
General Sheridan was known by a great many persons in Washing
ton. He was seen a good deal on the streets and in the suburbs driving
with his wife and children, and everybody knew and talked about his
enjoyment of his home life. While he was constantly sought as a
guest, it was not easy to draw him away from his home. He felt a
great deal of diffidence before a large audience, and was even so in small
gatherings, unless he found that he was sure to escape lionizing. At a
dinner of the Gridiron Club, when he sat down with the Washington

368 THE LIFE OF
newspaper men and their guests, he was not urged to speak, but he fell
in with the unconventional spirit of the after-dinner exercises, and
delighted everybody by relating, in a most charming manner, several
stories of his own experience. The plan of permitting him to have
his own w'ay worked so well that he seized an opportunity, after he had
spoken and others had followed him, to get up again and beg to be
allowed to add another incident that he had recalled and regarded as too
good to keep. He had the reputation of being reticent to the press,
but it seems to have been given to him by writers who had not known
him long enough to learn that he needed to be very sure of a man's dis
cretion before becoming confidential with, or even communicative to
him. President Cleveland had learned to know Sheridan well, and to
have a strong admiration for him. The general was obliged, in the
line of his official duty, to call occasionally at the Executive Mansion.
Many have wondered at times who was the modest little man that came
puffing into the ante-rooms, breathless with the effort of climbing two
steep flights of stairs, took a back seat as if to wait, but who was
speedily invited, before all the rest, to join the President in the library.
Colonel Lamont noticed that the stair climbing was hard work for
General Sheridan, and suggested to him once or twice that he could
save himself a good deal of exertion by using the private elevators.
Sheridan, however, made light of his shortness of breath, and attributed
it to his growing weight and laziness. He was aware for some time
that his health was not good, although he had seemed to be the picture
of robust vigor up to the date of his prostration. When General
Rosser, of Virginia, indiscreetly revived the story about the Shenandoah
Valley fight, General Sheridan treated the letter humorously, and
referred to the reports of the Valley Campaign as furnishing the only
answer that he could give to what he spoke of as "a rather late resump
tion of the fight by General Rosser." Then he turned the conversation
to other subjects, dwelling upon the pleasure he had enjoyed in his
long rides through the Wind River country and the Yellowstone Park,
and recalling some incidents of his trip through the park in 1883 with
President Arthur. He admitted that he was never in such good health
as when he was on the back of a good horse and in the open country.
It was suggested that he appeared to be enjoying the most vigorous
health. ' ' Yes," he said ; ' ' everybody tells me the same thing. But, do you
know, it's a mistake. I'm a miserable dyspeptic. I have to be ex-

. GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 369
tremely cautious about everything that I eat and drink, for I find that >
many things that I once enjoyed with absolute freedom now give me
most painful distress — make me irritable and miserable and good for
nothing." He spoke of his intention to make a radical change in his
diet to see what the effect would be, but afterward laughingly admitted
that he had never quite come to the point of making the change he had
decided to be so important to his health.
Colonel Herbert E. Hill, of Somerville, Massachusetts, who was
with Sheridan in the Valley Campaign, and to whom the general sent
interesting letters after the war relative to the rally and victory of
Cedar Creek, contributes to the flood of reminiscence the following
interesting incident :
"As showing a little glimpse of Sheridan's kindly heart and the
affectionate regard in which he held all who fought with him, let me
tell a little anecdote. There now stands a memorial battery on Central
Hill, Somerville, behind the identical breastwork which the revolution
ary army threw up On the night before the battle of Bunker Hill.
There are four guns in the battery, and they are the ones which were
sent by General Grant to Fort Standish in Plymouth Harbor. When
this fort was discontinued these were returned to the Ordnance De
partment at Washington. They were just the ones I wanted to bring
to Somerville, but other parties were after them, and I was not sure of
getting them. In this dilemma I was sitting in General Sheridan's
office, chatting, and finally broached the matter of these guns. There
is a great deal of etiquette among the different departments at Wash
ington, and one does not like to interfere with another, as it mixes
things all up. I knew this, and I knew that Sheridan had nothing to
do with the Ordnance Department ; but I ventured to suggest the
matter to him. He thought of it, and then explained to me the diffi
culty he was in. He, the General of the Army, did not wish to break
over any rule of etiquette between departments, as it would at once
create a dangerous precedent. ' I will do anything else for you,' said
he, '<but I don't see how I can do this.'
" ' General,' said I, ' twenty years ago this month I remember help
ing you capture forty-eight guns from the enemy on the field of battle,
one day ; now, am I not justified in time of peace to ask you to help me
capture only four guns for memorial purposes ? '
"Instantly a change came over his face; recollections of the hot
fight at Winchester and the men who were with him then came over
him, and, turning around in his chair, he pulled out an order, and
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GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 371
before I left his office I had all the paper necessary to get those guns.
I had touched the right cord, and he realized that but for the men who
helped him twenty years before he would not then have been General
of the United States Army, and in a position to help his old soldiers."
General Sheridan's wife, Irene M. Rucker, is the daughter of Mrs.
and General Daniel Henry Rucker, retired Quartermaster-General of
the. United States Army. She is indeed, a soldier's daughter, as well
as a soldier's wife and widow. The Ruckers are a family of soldiers,
her grandfather and two brothers, as well as her father and husband,
being all distinguished officers of the American Army . General Rucker
and his wife, Mrs. Sheridan's mother, now reside in Washington.
He is a native of Belleville, New Jersey, entered the army from Mich
igan as lieutenant of dragoons in 1837, and served with distinction on
the frontiers, in the Cherokee Nation, at Fort Leavenworth, and in
Texas and Mexico. From 1853 to 1855 he was stationed at Fort Union
as depot quartermaster, and it was at this military post that Mrs. Sher
idan was born.
The first three years of Mrs. Sheridan's infant life "were passed at
that frontier fort amid the alarms of Indian wars and the discomforts of
garrison life. The following year was passed at Detroit, where her
father was stationed. From that point he was transferred to Wash
ington. There Mrs. Sheridan passed several years of her early child
hood. Upon the outbreak of the war, her father having been assigned to
duty in the field, she was placed with her younger sister Sara, who
was born at Albuquerque, New Mexico, at the Georgetown (now
West Washington) Academy of the Visitation, and remained there until
the close of the war. Her father having been ordered to Philadelphia
for duty, Miss Rucker and her sister were placed at the School of the
Convent of the Sisters of the Holy Child, of that city.
General Rucker, assigned to duty on the staff of General Sheridan
at Chicago, went to that point with his family, but his daughters, Irene
and Sara, returned to the school at Philadelphia, where they were.
graduated. The year of their leaving school, in June, 1874, witnessed
the marriage of Miss Irene M. Rucker to the lieutenant-general. Mrs.
Sheridan's father, quartermaster-general for several years, and now
retired, resides in Washington with his two daughters, Miss Louise
and Miss Sara Rucker.' Miss Louise Rucker, the eldest daughter, was
born at Fort Leavenworth and was educated at Detroit, where she lived
with her grandmother while her father, when a lieutenant, was on

372 THE LIFE OF
active duty on the frontier. Mrs. Sheridan's brother, Francis D.
Rucker, is an officer of United States Cavalry. Another brother, John
A. Rucker, an officer of the Sixth Cavalry, was drowned while rescu
ing Austin Henly, of the same regiment, who also lost his life in a
flood near Camp Supply, Arizona, in 1878.
The general and his wife first met at a wedding in army circles, where
Miss Irene M. Rucker was one of the bridesmaids. Having decided,
the general proved no laggard wooer, and the lady, a daughter and sister
of soldiers, cradled in all the romance, fervor, and passion of loyalty
and service, was not unwilling to be the bride, as their marriage proved,
of the most dashing and picturesque leader the Civil War gave to the
Nation. At the date of his marriage the lieutenant-general was thus
described :
Sheridan still looked as he did during the fighting — a soldier in every
line of his sturdy, nervous, vitalized frame. His face was florid, his
head compact and powerful in form. But the lines of his once spare,
muscular frame, which in his valley campaign weighed but one hun
dred and thirty pounds, had now begun to fill and curve with adipose.
He was not over-stout at the time of his marriage ; but there was about
him that sense of power which high responsibility gives. He had it in
such degree that it lent dignity to a figure that without the sense of
intellect and character his presence conveyed would have been other
wise awkward even to grotesqueness. In him there was more than the
oiere fighter look. The head and face always wore an unmistakable
expression of intellectual vigor. Sheridan looked like a ruler of men ;
like the man who could, as he did, make a scatterred army cohere into a
victorious phalanx and throw it like an avalanche on a coming foe.
He was less than five feet six inches in height, while the breadth of his .
shoulders and the depth of his chest were very great. His hands and feet
were small. Hisface was unmistakably Irish in expression, was slightly
oval in outline, well-knit, and marked in feature. The lower jaw was
long and powerful, coming down on each side to a square, firm chin.
The mouth draped by a mustache of moderate size, was a strong, straight,
and rather mobile feature. The nose was one of the fighting sort, small
at the root, wide at the nostrils, and slightly aquiline in form. The head
was long, moderately high, quite broad, very compact, with good back
head and base brain. The larger proportion was forward of the ears.'
Sheridan's eyes were among the best, if not the very best, features of his
remarkable face. These were of that warm, gray hue, which softens
with a wonderful kindness, or flashes with a consuming fire. The fore-

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 373
head was good, broad, not high, with the perceptives well-developed,
and the eyebrows arched into the shape which is seen in antique sculp
ture, but is so seldom visible1 in modern countenances.
The marriage was conducted by Bishop Foley, of Detroit; whose
brother acted at the general's funeral. Owing to the death, then recent,
of Mr. John Sheridan, the marriage was entirely a private one.
The children of this marriage are four : Mary, now in her eleventh
year; "Little Phil, Jr.," a boy of four years, and two girls — twins —
of six years old, named Irene and Louise. Miss Mary is slender,
slight, dark eyed, with golden-brown hair, and fine mobile features.
The twins are a pair of lovely children, so entirely alike as to be undis-
tinguishable even to their grand-parents and aunts. They are noted by
some slight difference of dress, but are always together, independent in
ways, and full of character for little ones. Philip was born in Wash
ington ; Mary and the twins in Chicago. Mrs. Sheridan is recognized
as a prudent and thoroughly careful mother, overseeing all details of
their lives and caring for their education herself. The children all
speak French as readily as their mother tongue. They are great
favorites with their child companions and playmates. In the matter of
dress, the same modest simplicity which is so striking a detail of the
Sheridan household always prevails. The children are carefully, even
artistically clothed, but laces, ribbons, sashes, silks, feathers, or elabor
ate wear of any kind are never seen on these little ones.
Mrs. Sheridan, nineteen years younger than her distinguished hus
band, was known at the time of their marriage as the "pretty Miss
Rucker." She is always referred to in Washington as the " lovely Mrs.
Sheridan." Both remarks are singularly applicable, yet her character
is granted by all admitted to her friendship to be as charming and sin
cere as her physique is lovely and attractive. The womanly dignity
and reticence, too, with which her grievous loss and the suffering it
caused, was borne, has endeared her to all. She is petite in stature and
a brunette in complexion. Since her marriage and maternity her figure
has filled and rounded, yet not disproportionately to her height. Frank
G. Carpenter, a well-known Washingtonian, thus described Mrs. Sher
idan a short time before the general's death :
" Straight, well rounded, and fine looking, her face might have been
that of an ideal portrait. Its features are regular and refined, and a
great mass of dark brown hair is rolled up on the back of her shapely
head. As wife of the General of the Army, she gives her regular
receptions to the public, and she has on some days as many as three

374 THE LIFE OF
hundred callers. Mrs. Sheridan is noted for her good sense. A friend
of hers tells me that when she first came to Washington she was sur
prised at the silly remarks made by some women at receptions, and she
decided that she would think before she spoke, and if she had nothing
to say she would remain silent. She persevered, says this lady, in this
determination, and she is one of our society ladies who always talks
well. She is a good mother and a good wife, and she takes the greatest.
care in the education of her children. She and the general are
wrapped up in their family, and the four little ones, the three girls and
'Little Phil, Jr.,' who make up the family circle, are as bright,
intelligent, and well-bred children as you will find at the capital.
. Mrs. Sheridan is one of the leading spirits in the charitable ,
enterprises of the capital, and she is a devout Catholic."*
General Sheridan used to tell with considerable gusto a story in
connection with the arrangements for the wedding, which was, of course,
a social event of importance. The newspapers were eager for all items
and incidents in connection with it, and correspondents and artists
were sent from all the great journals to Chicago. The engagement
was announced several weeks beforehand. The general's bachelor
establishment was in a large, comfortable, old-fashioned, two-storied
dwelling on Michigan Avenue, which the family still own, and which, it
is reported, will be their future home, as Mrs. Sheridan does not care
for Washington. The general's story illustrates the public curiosity at
the time :
" The newspapers, you know, had got everything but a description of
my house. Of course they could easily get the outside of that, butthey
wanted to describe the inside. I refused to let the reporter in ; I wasn't
going to have that d  d old house put in the papers. It was good
enough for me, but it wasn't fine enough for that. If it had been one
of your swell houses I don't know as I'd have cared ; but I just made
up my mind that that old shelter couldn't be described or sketched for
the public. So, when a New York fellow came one day and asked me
to let him make a picture of it, I told him, without any ceremony, that
it couldn't be done. My housekeeper was an old black woman, one of
the old-aunty, faithful-to-death order of servants. I told her not to
admit any one in my absence, and on no account to let any man enter
the house except the workmen who were doing some plumbing. They
were at work for several days, and the old woman knew them after the
* Cosmopolitan, August, 1888.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 375
first day. Well, I didn't see anything more of the New York man and
soon forgot him. One day I went home and found the old woman
crying and in great distress, scared, and nervous.
" ' Fore de Lawd, gin' rai, Ise couldn't help it ; I thought he fixin'
de pipes, and he done ketched pictures of all de rooms.'
" The fellow had got in after all. He had borrowed a suit of
plumber's clothes, concealed his sketching traps, and gone into the house.
Of course the old woman had paid no further attention than to see his
general appearance was that of one of the workmen. So he had gone
up stairs, and when she happened to go up later she saw him sitting in
my room working away with his sketch-book. He made no' apology,
and no efforts to comfort her when she began to cry, but only laughed
and said he had got all he wanted, and was much obliged. I don't
think I was ever so mad in my life. However, I consoled the poor old
woman by relieving her of all blame, and then sat down to devise a
plan to circumvent the fellow. It was a mighty smart dodge, and I
knew I'd have to be quick about it, or I'd be beaten. All at once my
eye fell on a sword that had been presented to me by the Army of the
Cumberland. It was a magnificent sword, and had had a large dia
mond in the hilt. That had disappeared some time before. I never
knew how, but supposed it ' had been stolen. Well, I took out my
pocket-knife and scratched up the gold around where the diamond had
been, and made it look as if the thing had just been taken out.
" ' Now, my young sketcher,' I said to myself, '- I'll see if I can't get
ahead of you. If I don't outgeneral you, my name isn't Phil Sheri
dan.' " I went to the chief of police and told him the story of the reporter,
and of the disappearance of the diamond. At the same time I let him
into the secret, you know. Well, the detectives turned the city upside
down in the search of the reporter disguised as a plumber who had un
doubtedly stolen the diamond. The detectives were honest enough, as
they were not posted on the real facts. It was worked in such a way
that had the reporter brought out his pictures the theft could be traced
to him. No, the old frame house did not get into the papers, by a long
shot. The fellow was spotted, as the name of the paper was given.
I presume he got away from the city as quickly as he could, and was
mighty glad to escape, too. About two years after I happened to meet
one of the editors of the paper and he referred to the affair, and said :
'Why, that man had been in our employ a long time. He was the last
one to be suspected of taking a diamond or anything else that didn't
belong to him.'

376 THE LIFE OF
" Then I explained why my old house wasn't in. his paper. I told
him it wasn't often that we got ahead of reporters. But I thought I
had succeeded pretty well with that one."
General Sheridan's last residence, and the one in which he died,
will make historic the exquisite seaside summer village in which it
stands. Nonquit stands on the shore of Buzzard's Bay, Massachusetts,
seven miles below New Bedford, the once famous whaling port ofthe
United States. It looks over that lovely summer sea, which is dotted
by Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket islands, besides other smaller .
ones, and is sheltered somewhat from the easterly wind by the sickle-
shaped peninsula of Cape Cod. To reach it one passes by the entrance
to the island-dotted waters and picturesque hilled shores of Narragansett
Bay, at whose portals stands the historic Rhode Island, and whose shores
are the famed Providence Plantations that Roger Williams founded. It
is a region as lovely as any section of our Atlantic coast, and reminds
one in petto of the beautiful St. Lawrence, and its Thousand Islands.
The Sheridans purchased land at Nonquit in 1887, and the general
at once ordered the construction of the handsome cottage residence
which he was to inhabit only in a dying state ; to and from which he
was borne dying and dead, surrounded by the loving watchfulness of
his family and the generous care of the Nation he served so well. The
bereaved family still use it as a summer residence.
The seaside hamlet of Nonquit is very small. But it is as socially
select as it is lovely in its natural aspects. Doubtless the choice of
this point as a summer residence was due to the fact that army and
Chicago friends were both interested. The little village stands on a
gentle slope almost entirely bare of trees, and is composed of cottages
situated at short distances apart, and without fences to mark the divid
ing lines. Nonquit was founded something more than fifteen years ago
by a syndicate of eastern capitalists who bought half a dozen large farms
on Buzzard's Bay shore below Paden-Aran. They built a hotel and a
number of cottages, and disposed of lots to well-known families for
building purposes. The place has thus become a favorite and some
what exclusive social summer resort. R. Swain Gifford, the artist,
has a charming home there, and Louisa M. Alcott, the author, was
also a sojourner atNonquitfor several seasons. General Sheridan went
there in the summer of 1887, rented a cottage, and took such a liking
to the place that he decided to make it his summer home, so he built
the handsome cottage to which he was carried in July, 1888. It is
roomy, very cheerful, and presents a pretty architectural effect.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

377

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CABIN OF THE UNITED STATES STEAMSHIP SWATARA,
IN WHICH SHERIDAN WAS REMOVED TO NONQUIT.
Like Mount McGregor, where Grant died, Nonquit, before un
known, will become sadly famous. It will always be recalled by the
story of that fateful August 5th, when from the window of the east
room in which he lay, Philip Henry Sheridan took that last long, lin
gering look over the summer sea that softly swelled before his eyes.
The ocean has been by many poets treated as the emblem of Eternity.
Unmastered by man, it flows on forever. Who can say what thoughts
entered the brain of the dying hero, what pictures of the past and future
were imprinted on the retina of his brain, as he gazed with wistful,
absorbing, imaginative look for the last time on the lovely marine
scene before him ?
With such sad memories freighted, Nonquit has become famous.
The old name " Barekneed " has been preserved in a charming paint
ing by the famous marine artist, R. Swain Gifford, who has placed on

378

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

his canvas the romantic cliff near the Sheridan cottage, the neighbor
ing beach, and a wide expanse of the waters that make the picturesque
stretch of Buzzard's Bay. This painting has been given the old name.
The little lyric here given was written at Nonquit, and seems to have
caught in its musical numbers the brooding calm and beauty of the
scenes amid which our hero has gone to his eternal rest :
" Soft is the swell of the musical sea,
As ripple by ripple, and wave by wave,
It rises and falls on the sandy lea,
And the high, bold rocks its waters lave.
"Nothing- is heard but the rising tide,
And the winds that sweep o'er the bay's rough breast ;
The distant ships o'er the white foam glide
And the nearer ones at anchor rest.
" Peaceful and calm is the beautiful scene,
This wave-washed spot on the sandy shore ;
Myriads of ages shall intervene,
And these waves will dash, as they dashed of yore.
" The nations will live out their fitful life ;
The swell of humanity rise and fall ;
Oblivion brood o'er the world's wild strife ;
Empires emerge from their weary thrall.
" But these waves of the bay will still roll on,
These rocks resist with defiant will ;
A thousand years will have come and gone,
But the sea shall ring out its brave notes still."

Chapter XXIX.

HIS DEATH-BED AND THE RETURN TO
WASHINGTON.
SAD SCENES AT NONOJJIT — THE GENERAL'S DEATH — GRIEF OF THE FAMILY 
WHAT THE DOCTORS SAID  A SIMPLE MILITARY FUNERAL DECIDED UPON
— SHERIDAN IN HIS CASKET — REMOVAL TO WASHINGTON — PASSAGE FROM
NEW BEDFORD TO NEW YORK — THE VETERANS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA
ROAD — IN SILENT RESPECT ALONG THE ROUTE — ARRIVAL AT WASHINGTON.
A lovely August day at Nonquit closed, ere midnight, in the pres
ence of life's mightiest tragedy — the death of a strong man in the high
meridian of life, with the loved of his heart and home bewailing their
terrible loss. That Sabbath — the fifth day of the month — was ex
quisite as it brooded peacefully over lovely Nonquit. The breast of
the summer sea was barely ruffled and rippled by the languid breath of
the summer wind. In that pretty cottage to which so much of solicit
ous hope was turned, its famous inmate lay drowsily on his cot, in
deadly weakness, at times looking from the great bay window east
ward over the unclouded waters. Yet there was hope that day. The
chief consulting physician, Dr. Pepper, had lifted the Sheridan house
hold with his cheering diagnosis of the patient's condition. As the
sun went down, the busy pens of the pressmen, and the busy fingers
of the telegrapher pressing his operating key, were telling all over the
broad land that there was " hope for Sheridan yet." The slow step of
the saddened wife and mother was a little lighter as it moved to and
fro. The children, happily, almost unconscious, except the eldest girl,
were allowed to play about the pleasant hotel. The black-robed sisters
who had so carefully nursed the dying soldier, began to indulge in a
little hope. Every one felt the effect of Dr. Pepper's cheering examina
tion. And so the sun went down. The brief twilight of the New
England coast passed into the soft and fragrant darkness of its earlier
night hours.

380 THE LIFE OF
There-came a change as the evening closed. Klien, the general's
faithful servant, who had been with him for many years, entered the
general's room, with his usual purpose of attending to the comfort of
his chief before he himself retired for the night. No one had any
serious fears, but rather the contrary.
Mrs. Sheridan was attending the children on their retiring for the
night, when Klien found the general breathing heavily. That stertorous
sound was one of grave danger. Doctors O'Reilly and Mathews, his
faithful army comrades and surgeons, were notified. What they saw
brought the gravest of anxiety. They felt the gates of death were
opening wide. Everything was done and at once. Mrs. Sheridan was
called. His brother — absent briefly at the hotel — was hastily notified
by Klien. The soldier was nearing his end. The change occurred suddenly.
When the heavy breathing was first heard, he was lying partially on
one side, and the sister who had been in constant attendance did not
notice anything wrong. It had been the practice of the physicians to
frequently apply the fingers to the pulse, and Dr. O'Reilly usually did
this. To his horror he now discovered great weakness and frequent
intermissions. The first step taken was to administer ammonia. This
stimulant was powerless to produce a change in the heart's action.
Digitalis was then injected hypodermically. Still the life . current
coursing through the artery at the wrist remained weak. Then it grew
weaker and weaker. Sinapis was applied to the chest and limbs, and
finally the galvanic battery was brought out and a current steadily
increasing in strength was directed along the spine and through the
chest of the now nearly unconscious form of the general.
The end was near, but it was peaceful. There was but little physicaj
suffering, apparently, until within the last few minutes. Mrs. Sheridan
was not greatly alarmed, and she expected a reaction from the syncope.
Quietly, like a child going to slumber, the gallant soldier fell into the
long sleep. The great heart oeased to beat, and Philip Henry Sheridan
was dead. The little children were slumbering in their beds. Only
tire wife and mother with one of the sisters was present, besides the
physicians. The scene at the bedside was impressive, but free from
striking incidents. During the first part of the attack General Sheridan
did not realize his condition. But he became aware of the impending
doom before his wife appreciated the danger. He spoke of his children
once in faint tones, and his manner impressed Mrs. Sheridan for the

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 381
first time with the fact that her husband was dying. Several family
matters were referred to, and he spoke the name of his son. " Little
Phil ! " the dying hero whispered, " Little Phil ! " He continued to
grow weaker', the pulse-beats seemed almost to -cease. Suddenly open
ing his eyes for a moment, he seemed to gather into his vision all the
faces about him, and gazing intently into the agonized one of his wife
for the last time, a sweet smile wreathed his pallid countenance. The
comrade doctors knelt in reverence with Sister Justicia, and while the
wife held the hand, joined in prayer, the brave man peacefully closed
his eyes as if going to slumber. It was the end.
The " tick," " tick " of the telegrapher's key announced the close
of the newspaper's death-watch in these brief words: "General
Sheridan died to-night of heart disease."
The death occurred exactly at 10.20 p. m., on the 5th of August,
1888. Mrs. Sheridan fell fainting to the floor when she realized that her
husband and her hero had gone forever from her presence. Almost
crazed with grief, she was taken to her room. The messages of sym
pathy and condolence which at once began to pour in upon the retired
nook where this saddest, but common human tragedy, was being
enacted, it was decided should be withheld from her while the wound
was gaping.
The night passed and the dawn, as if in tears, arose in a robe of
gray, dark mist. It covered water and land, and hid the garish sun
from the dwellers in the house of mourning.' The children, who had
retired before the last scene, had not been called. Indeed, the end
came too sudden for that. The scene in the morning was a sad one.
Mary realized the actualities of the situation in a keener degree than
her sisters, the twins, Irene and Louise;. All were extremely fond of
their father, and he petted and played with them, as well as with little
Phil, who was his heart's delight. The grief of these little ones was
pitiable. They wept as if their hearts would break. Mary sobbed by
herself in a chair, little Irene flung herself on a rug and cried aloud,
her sister Louise doing likewise, and little " Phil" wept in sympathy, not
actually understanding what it was all about. The governess endeav
ored to assuage their grief, and finally dried their eyes. Mrs. Sheridan, .
completely exhausted, and now suffering the reaction from the strain of
the anxious weeks just past, remained in her chamber. It was decided
advisable to refrain from consulting her regarding the funeral arrange-

382 THE LIFE OF
ments until the afternoon. The meals of the family were taken down
to the cottage from the hotel by the servants.
The appearance of the body as it lay in that front room was sadly
impressive. A white pall covered it, and when the upper portion was
drawn away it disclosed the face and the broad chest. The latter was
covered only by a gauze shirt. But slight emaciation was distin
guishable, save in the arms and legs ; the face was sunken a little in
the cheeks, but the broad chin and the firm lips retained the normal
characteristics in death. The chin was clean shaven, and the iron-
gray hair was brushed back from the broad, massive brow.
The day was occupied fully, however sadly, with preparations for
the interment, and in the receipt of the numerous messages which came
pouring in from all quarters. The news of this death showed how
closely the people held the memory of the heroes who, like Sheridan,
had so powerfully aided in saving the Nation. Mrs. Sheridan was left
undisturbed in the physical prostration that had so inevitably followed
the months of sorrow and tender watchfulness. The embalmer came
and performed his work. The hero's body was placed in its casket,
rich, though simple in its belongings. General Sheridan had always
expressed himself as opposed to funeral pageants, and he nad signified
a wish as to the resting-place of his body. When he commanded the
escort at John A. Logan's funeral, and laid his comrade to rest in
Arlington, he expressed his desire to be buried there also. He was a
soldier. So he had lived and wrought ; so he had died ; and so he
would lie — attended by soldiers, and buried among his dead comrades.
The regulations of the army he commanded provide for the escort
honors to be paid to one of his rank. The burial services of his church
are stately enough for any man, however renowned ; for any life, how
ever lowly.
The tributes paid to the man as well as soldier lying dead at
Nonquit were of the most remarkable character. None of them were
merely ceremonial — even those that etiquette required also bore, in the
formal word the touch of a tear or the faint sound of a sob. As if at
a sudden word, but by common impulse and with one feeling of grief,
the flag floated everywhere at half mast. Nonquit is but a little sea
side hamlet, whose owners jealously guard their domain from intru
sion by the sight-seeing horde. Their action in this regard proved
useful during the days which give to the place a sad page in American
history. Seven miles from New Bedford, without railroad communi-

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 383
cation, and having but one little wheezy steamboat to ply to and fro,
there was no pressure from the outside world.
As the senior physician and surgeon in charge, Major O'Reilly's
certificate as to the cause of death is part of this narrative. It reads
as follows :
General Sheridan died at 10.20 this evening. The immediate cause
of his death was heart failure. The remote cause was disease of the
mitral and aortic valves, the existence of which was known to his phy
sicians, to himself, and to his family, in November of last year. The
complications which have occurred have been nervous exhaustion, pul
monary anasarctions, pneumonia, pulmonary cegeria, anasarca, and
hemorrhages. The last day of his life was somewhat restless, but not
more so than he has been several times since his arrival at Nonquit.
At about 9.30 symptoms of heart failure suddenly appeared. The
remedies which had hitherto been successful were vigorously applied,
but proved ineffectual, and he sank rapidly, dying painlessly at the hour
named.
Robert M. O'Reilly,
Surgeon United States Army.
Washington Mathews,
' Assistant Surgeon United States Army.
There can be no doubt that the immediate cause of death was the
failure of the heart to act. If it were possible to reach the remote
cause of that fatal weakening, first of the valves of the heart, and then
of the walls also, in so strong and robust a man as Sheridan, it may
well be conceived that it was the result of some one of those magnifi
cent strains of his heroic nature, the results of which have made his
name so memorable among a patriot soldiery, and so great in the esti
mation of those who esteem military genius and renown. Perhaps, at
Winchester and up the valley, when he rode "to save the day," the
fierce heart throbs tore all the strong valves, and gave the first blow
which finally in the long series of activities that followed, left him cold
and lifeless at Nonquit.
Dr. Pepper gave to the public press, after the general's death, his
professional opinion of the case and its treatment. He said :
"At the time of the early attacks the heart failure was so intense
that the walls of the heart contracted very imperfectly and the cavities
became rapidly and greatly dilated. This was much increased by the
mechanical obstruction due to the organic disease of the valves of the

384 THE LIFE OF
heart, which had existed for many months. In this state some heart-
clot must have formed, and for some time very alarming attacks re
curred unexpectedly, apparently due to the sudden detachment of por
tions of clot which were carried from the right side of the heart into
the lungs. The most alarming spell was connected with the develop
ment of an extensive infraction in the lower lobe of the right lung,
followed by the development of aneurisms around it. For weeks this
was a constant source of anxiety, but gradually it cleared away, the
heart gained power, its cavities contracted better, and the spells above
mentioned grew less frequent and less serious.
' ' When the heart trouble was at its worst grave symptoms of con
gestion showed themselves everywhere. The brain suffered, the liver
and stomach were so much engorged that hemorrhages occurred arid
were almost fatal. From the shock the kidneys also suffered, as was
shown by a scanty albuminous urine and swelling of the feet. But as
the heart slowly improved all these complications subsided... This was
very gratifying, and justified the hope that gradually there would be a
return to better health if no untoward complications should occur again.
But inevitably a patient with extensive organic disease of the heart (as
in all probability existed here) , with fragments of heart-clot adhering
to the lining, is continually in danger of fatal heart failure, and of
sudden detachments of fragments of such size that if carried to the
lungs almost immediately fatal results will follow. On Sunday even
ing, at a time when all the general's symptoms were more encouraging
than at any previous period, the above occurred with such severity as
to make all efforts to sustain the heart and lungs unavailing."
While the body of their sacred dead was being arranged in the
villa by the sea for its final interment, everywhere, officially and
personally, the Nation, the states, the men of the war, the citizens who
honored and the friends who loved him, Were sending their tokens of
sympathy and their proffers of service, in behalf of his memory and to
the family Sheridan has left, for they all remembered that he had said
"Every service I ever performed for my country was due to her
from me, and if I have contributed in my humble way to her success
and glory, I am proud of it."
Among the first of these tokens came the personal words of Presi
dent Cleveland, who immediately on receipt of the news of the gen
eral's death, sent to Mrs. Sheridan the following telegram :

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN.

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THE SHERIDAN COTTAGE AT NONQUIT,
WHERE THE GENERAL DIED, AUGUST 5, IB8S.
Executive Mansion, )
Washington, August 6, 1888. }
While the Nation mourns its loss and shares your sorrow, let me
express to you my personal grief and most sincere condolence.
Grover Cleveland.
"When Congress met at noon of the 6th, the following message was
received :
To the Senate and House of Representatives :
It becomes my painful duty to announce to the Congress and to
the people of the United States the death of Philip Sheridan, General
of the Army, which occurred at a late hour last night at his summer
home in the State of Massachusetts.
The death of this valiant soldier and patriotic son of the Republic,
though his long illness has been regarded with anxiety, has, nevertheless,
shocked the country and caused universal grief.
He had established for himself a strong hold in the hearts of his
countrymen, who soon caught the true meaning and purpose of his
soldierly devotion and heroic temper. His intrepid courage, his stead
fast patriotism, and the generosity of his nature inspired with peculiar
warmth the admiration of all the people.

386 THE LIFE OF
Above his grave, affection for the man and pride in his achieve
ments will struggle for mastery, and too much honor cannot be accorded
to one who was so richly endowed with all the qualities which make
his death a national loss.
Grover Cleveland.
Executive Mansion, Washington, August 6, 1888.
The Secretary of War sent his condolence in the following dispatch :
Washington, August 6, 1888.
Dear Mrs. Sheridan : It was the most painful surprise to hear
of General Sheridan's death. Accept my heartfelt sympathy in your
overwhelming sorrow. The Nation mourns with you a great and
noble soldier, and while I feel deeply his loss to the service and the
department, yet at this moment the personal bereavement is first in my
thoughts as I recall his valuable friendship and the many delightful
memories I shall ever associate with him.
W. E. Endicott, Secretary of War.
By order of the department, as usual, " the flags will be placed at
half mast at all military posts and stations, seventeen minute guns will
be fired on the day after the receipt of this order, and the usual badge
of mourning will be "worn for thirty days."
The senior major-general of the army, commanding the Division
of the Atlantic, received the order to take charge of the burial of his
comrade, as follows :
War Department, \
Washington, August 6, 1888. j
General J. M. Schofield,
Governor's Island, New York Harbor.
The following dispatch received from Colonel Sheridan this morn
ing : "Nonquit, Mass., August 6, 1888.
" Secretary of War, Washington, D. C.
"It is Mrs. Sheridan's wish that her husband should be buried with
military honors, and that at the same time there should be no display
beyond what pertains to a strictly military funeral in proper respect to
his rank. Will you be land enough to authorize such funeral and
place matters under charge of General Schofield? The funeral will
be in Washington, but when and where I cannot yet say. Perhaps it
would be well for General Schofield to come up here.
"M. V. Sheridan."
I leave it to your discretion whether to go to Nonquit, as requested.
You are hereby directed to make the necessary arrangements in regard

GEN. PHIL H. SHERIDAN. 387
to the funeral, including the funeral train to bear the body to Washing
ton. By request of Mrs. Sheridan, her husband will be " buried with
military honors, with no display beyond what pertains to a strictly
military funeral in proper respect to his rank." This request will be
strictly complied with and the escort will conform to regulation 631,
funeral escort to general-in-chief, and you will issue orders for such
troops to assemble as may be necessary to complete this escort. You
will detail the necessary guard and bearers to go to Nonquit and
accompany the remains to Washington. Please ascertain from Mrs.
Sheridan whom she wishes to be designated in orders as pall-bearers.
Please inform me from time to time in regard to arrangements. The
place of burial and day of funeral still undecided. Your dispatch to
adjutant-general of this morning received.
William C. Endicott, Secretary of War.
The funeral escort, under regulation 631, is a regiment of infantry,
a battalion of cavalry, and two light batteries. Mrs. Sheridan in her
decision necessarily excluded all participation in the actual pageant of
the many societies and bodies that were ready, even eager, by their
active presence to do such honor as they could to their well-beloved
comrade. Her decision, however, met general approval.
Congress at once acted in sympathy with the general feeling of sor
row, by adjourning on the 6th instant in token of respect, after passing
the resolutions here given :
In the Senate Mr. Edmunds, of Vermont, offered these resoliitions :
Resolved, That the Senate has learned with profound regret of the
death of Philip H. Sheridan, late General of the Armies of the United
States. Resolved, That the Senate hereby expresses its grateful sense of
his great and patriotic services in the cause of his country, its deep
sensibility of the loss which the Nation has sustained in his death, and
its sympathy with his family in their bereavement.
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to the
family of the deceased.
Mr. Edmunds said: "It is quite unnecessary for any Senator to
submit any observation in support of these resolutions. The career of
General Sheridan has been so conspicuous, so grand, so noble, and so
patriotic that any words which I could use in respect of his memory,
or in praise of his career, would be like gilding refined gold, or paint
ing the lily. I therefore, for my part, leave them to the judgment of the
Senate without any further observation."

388 THE LIFE OF
The resolutions were adopted unanimously. Subsequently a bill
was introduced by Mr. Farwell, of Illinois, and referred to the Commit
tee on Pensions, granting a pension of $5,000 a year to Mrs. Sheridan.
This bill has been so modified in the House of Representatives as to
make the sum $3,500. In that form it will doubtless become a law.
The President's message announcing the death of General Sheridan
having been presented and read, Mr. Hawley, of Connecticut, rose and
said :
' ' Nothing that I could say, Mr. President, is needed to set forth the
loss which the country has sustained by the death of the able, brilliant,
magnificent soldier and beloved general, Philip H. Sheridan. I have
just learned of the course taken by the House, and I now send to the
desk a resolution for which I ask immediate consideration :
'•'•Resolved, That the Chair is requested to appoint a committee of
seven Senators to attend the funeral services of the late General Sher
idan." The resolution was adopted, and Senators Hawley, Connecticut,
Manderson, Nebraska, Cullom, Illinois, Stewart, Nevada, Hampton,
South Carolina, Gibson, Louisiana, and Gray, Delaware, were ap
pointed. The Senate at 1.55, adjourned.
The session of the House was opened with prayer by the Rev. W.
H. Milburn, d. D.,the chaplain. His reference to General Sheridan's
death was as follows :
O Eternal God, with the Nation we stand awestricken to-day by
the startling intelligence that the illustrious career of the General ofthe
Army is ended. The brilliant story of his achievements is written in
the annals of the country, and he has gone to the bar of history. We
commend to Thy Almighty protection and fatherhood the wife who has
been "widowed and the children who have been made fatherless.
A message from the President having been received announcing
the death of General Philip H. Sheridan, Mr. Wheeler, of Alabama,
said that this was the third time in the history of the government that
the President had announced the death of the commander of the armies
of the United States. He had prepared resolutions appropriate to the
occasion, but he was informed that the Military Committee had agreed
to a series of resolutions, and he would therefore refrain from offering
his. Representative Hooker, of Mississippi, offered these resolutions :

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 389
Resolved, That this House has learned with profound grief of the
death of General Philip Henry Sheridan, General commanding of the
armies of the United States.
Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory ofthe deceased,
this House do now adjourn.
Resolved, That the Speaker of the House is directed to transmit to
the widow of the deceased a copy of these resolutions and the assur
ance of the sympathy of the House in the loss which she has sustained
in common with the people of the Nation.
Resolved, That the Speaker of this House appoint a committee of
seven members to confer with a like committee of the Senate, and,
after consultation with the family of the deceased, to take such action
as may be appropriate in regard to the public obsequies of General
Sheridan. Mr. Hooker, of Mississippi', himself an ex-Confederate soldier, briefly
addressed the House in eulogy of the deceased soldier. Descended
from a race of people which had given to the world in the old country
and in the new the greatest commanders of any people on earth, the
career of the distinguished military man whom these resolutions were
designed to honor was a mark of the singular fact that " in this coun
try there was no position, whether in civil or in military life, that was
not within the reach of the humblest citizen of the land.
" General Sheridan inherited from his father the fire and the spirit
of that great Irish race that has so successfully fought the battles of all
countries save its own. At an early day General Sheridan graduated
from the military academy, and was assigned to duty in the army. He
obtained prominence in the late contest between the states which gave him
a position second only to that of the great leader of the Federal Army.
This Congress had, a few weeks before his death, conferred on General
Sheridan the distinguished position of General of the Armies of the
United States. It had been held by few persons, and was considered a
mark of honor and regard for General Sheridan when he yet lay on
his bed of sickness, which finally became his couch of death. The
resolutions were designed to express the universal grief and sorrow of
the Nation at the death of the commander of the armies of the United
States and to express sympathy with his bereaved family."
The governor of Ohio, in which state the general claimed citizen
ship, issued this proclamation :

390 THE LIFE OF
To the People of Ohio :
General Philip H. Sheridan is dead. He departed this life yes
terday at Nonquit, Massachusetts. He was a citizen of Ohio, but his
name and fame belong among the richest treasures of the Nation.
Next after Grant and Sherman he was the most illustrious general of
the war for the suppression of the rebellion. His. name was the
synonym of gallantry. He was the ideal field marshal. He led only
to victory. So long as the Union shall endure and human liberty be
cherished he will hold an affectionate place in the hearts of his coun
trymen. As a slight appreciation for his heroic services, the flags 6n
all civil and public buildings of the state will be displayed at half-mast
until and including the day of the funeral.
From nearly all the state executives came some form of public
sorrow and sympathy. General Rea, Commander-in-Chief of the
Grand Army of the Republic, in General Order No. ii, issued August
9th, paid a fitting and eloquent tribute to the life and services of
General Sheridan. The order says that during the year, 4,123 Grand
Army of the Republic comrades have died, among whom Sheridan
stands most conspicuous. The colors at the national and department
headquarters were ordered to be draped, and the customary badge of
mourning to be worn for thirty days.
The Loyal Legion, of which Sheridan was commander, paid its
tribute ; and the Massachusetts Commandery, as did the state, asked to
be allowed to appoint a guard of honor. This "was supplied under
orders from the War Department by a detail of two line and eight non
commissioned officers from Fort Adams, who left Newport on the 8th
instant for Nonquit. This detail, serving as a guard of honor until the
body reached Washington, consisted of Captain H. B. Anderson, in
command ; Lieutenant McCahn, Sergeants Greenhault, Company L,
Wayland Light Battery ; Buchanan, Company D ; Corporals Blake,
light battery ; Hill, Company G ; Beraske, Company E ; Day and
Halpen, of fort battery.
The Secretary of the Navy sent his expressions of sympathy and
the offer of a naval escort, in this dispatch :
I must express to you my great personal regret and sorrow, and
that of the whole naval service, at the death of General Sheridan. It is
the desire of this department to participate in all ceremonies which
may take place in recognition of his great services to his country, and
to mark the high esteem in which such services are held by his coun
trymen. The President directs me to place at your service an escort
of naval vessels if your plans should contemplate returning by water.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 391
The death of their gallant commander was announced to the sol
diers of the United States Army in the following general order, issued
the next day :
"War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, ")
" Washington, August 6, 1888. j
" With profound sorrow the Secretary of War announces to the army
that General Sheridan died last evening at Nonquit, in the State of
Massachusetts. " He was born March 6, 1831. Upon graduating from West Point
he entered the army July 1, 1853, as brevet second lieutenant of the
First Infantry. His first service was on the frontier of Texas ; then in
Oregon and California, engaged against hostile Indians in the Yakima
expedition and the defense of the Cascades. In 1861, having reached
the grade of captain in the Thirteenth Infantry, he was placed on duty
as chief quartermaster and commissary of the army under Major-Gen
eral Curtis in the Pea Ridge Campaign, and subsequently as quarter
master at Major-General Halleck's headquarters in the advance on
Corinth, Mississippi. He was appointed colonel of the Second Mich
igan Cavalry, May 25, 1862; brigadier-general of volunteers July 1,
and major-general of volunteers December 31, ofthe same year, having
participated with distinction in numerous engagements in the armies
of the Ohio and Cumberland until April 4, 1864, when he was selected
to command the cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomac, and sub
sequently the Middle Military Division and the Army of the Shenan
doah. "For the gallantry, military skill and courage displayed in the
brilliant series of victories achieved by his army in the Valley of the
Shenandoah, especially at Cedar Run, he received the thanks of Con
gress and was appointed brigadier-general of the Army of the United
States, September 20, 1864, and November 8, 1864, was promoted to
major-general United States Army ' for the personal gallantry, mili
tary skill, and just confidence in the courage and patriotism of his
troops displayed by him on the nineteenth day of October, at Cedar
Run, whereby, under the blessing of Providence, his routed army was
reorganized, a great nationaj disaster averted, and a brilliant victory
achieved over the rebels, for the third time, in pitched battle, within
thirty days.'
" In the final campaign, which resulted in the surrender of General
Lee's army, he bore a distinguished part.

392 THE LIFE OF
' ' Since the close of the war he commanded successively the Military
Division of the Southwest, the Gulf, the Fifth Military District, the
Department of the Missouri and the Division of the Missouri. He
was appointed lieutenant-general March 4, 1869, and assumed command
of the. Army of the United States, November 1, 1883. In recognition
of his military services the grade of general was revived by Congress,
to which he was appointed June 1, 1888. These achievements placed
him in the front rank of the great and successful soldiers of his time,
and are recognized and acknowledged at home and abroad. To the
army his loss is personal and irreparable, but the work that he did
and the associations that cluster about his name will be a grateful
memory to its older, and an inspiration to its younger officers."
The morning of the 8th brought to completeness the preparations for
removal to Washington. The soldier lay in his white lined, black
covered casket, with its heavy plate and handles of silver. Its only
inscription was this : Philip Henry Sheridan,
General United States Army,
Born March 6, 1831. Died August 5, 1888.
The room, in which the body lay was kept fresh and cool. The
jalousies were but partially closed. A simple vase of flowers, the only
decoration, perfumed the air. That portion of the' lid of the coffin
over the head and chest of the silent hero was laid back so as to dis
close the face and upper part of the body. Upon it lay the chapeau,
sword, belt, and sash -worn by the deceased officer as a lieutenant-gen
eral on state occasions. The uniform in which the body was clad was
that of the grade from which he was promoted during his illness. But
the epaulets carried the insignia of his latest rank — the golden shield
of state flanked on either side by a large golden star. On the white
metal scabbard of the sword were engraved the names of the many
battles in which Sheridan had taken part. They began at a point im
mediately below the hilt of the weapon and ended only at the extreme
lower end. They were one above the other, close together, forty or
more in all.
The appearance of the face was striking. There was almost a
smile upon the lips. The whole aspect was one of serene repose. A
sharp contrast was presented by the grizzled hair upon the head, the

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 393
black bushy eyebrows, and the silvery hue of the mustache and small
imperial. The entire mask was one never to be forgotten by those
who looked upon it. Only one hand was in sight. It lay across the
breast, and" between the partially closed fingers was held a curiously
carved crucifix of yellow ivory.
The morning broke clear and bright. A light northeast wind ren
dered the air cool and bracing. The cottage was outwardly as silent
as a tomb. Colonel Michael V. Sheridan, with bowed head and sor
rowful demeanor, was to be seen at times on the verandas. Colonel
Blunt and Captain S. C. Kellogg, of the general's staff, passed in and
out. The day dragged slowly. In the afternoon the steamer Mono-
hansett appeared in sight around the high casemented fort at Clark's
Point, headed toward Nonquit landing. At half-past 4 o'clock the
Monohansett was at the landing. There was a peculiar significance
attached to the selection of this steamboat to convey the body of Sher
idan to New Bedford. She was employed in the government service
during the Civil War, and was used by General Grant as his dispatch
boat. Captain Smith, who commanded her that day, was her com
mander on the James River.
A guard of honor composed of members of the Loyal. Legion,
ranged themselves in two lines near the gangway of the Monohansett
Just after five, the procession moved to the steamboat landing. With
the casket came two officers of the Grand Army, and twelve veterans,
who bore on their shoulders the coffin. The silken folds of an Ameri
can ensign draped the head of it. Mrs. Sheridan, leaning on the arm
of Colonel Michael V. Sheridan, and holding the hand of her youngest
child, little Phil, followed. Mrs. Michael V. Sheridan led Mary Sher
idan next. Then followed Sister Justicia, of the Bon Seours, hold
ing the hand of Louise, while the little twin sister, Irene, was es
corted by the good Sister Urban. Mrs. Sheridan's servant and maid
were the next in order, and they were followed by Colonel Blunt, Dr.
Mathews, and Captain S. C. Kellogg. Klien, the general's attendant,
Richard, his waiter, and Rohrback, the general's clerk, completed the
procession. Very slowly it moved toward the landing.
There was not a person to be seen on the Nonquit meadows. There
was not a single carriage to be seen, for, with remarkable delicacy, the
surrounding'population refrained from coming near. The settlement
might have been deserted so far as any signs of moving life outside the

394 THE LIFE OF
cottages and the hotel were concerned. At a quarter past 5 o'clock
the head of the cortege passed Henry B. Peirce, Secretary of State, of
Missouri, and vice-commander of the Loyal Legion, in charge of the
delegation. The members thereof present were Colonel Charles
Devens, Colonel Joseph W. Gilroy, General A. P. Martin, Colonel
Henry Stone, Major Edward Dews, Dr. J. H. Mackie, Captain A. M.
Dudley, Lieutenants F. S. Gifford and B. Penniman, and Colonel A. A.
Rand, representing the Massachusetts Commandery ; Colonel William
Broadhead, of the New York Commandery ; Captain J. M. Lewis, of
the Ohio Commandery ; Colonel Douglas, of the Rhode Island Com
mandery ; and Major Farnham Lyon and Lieutenant Stewart Draper,
of the Michigan Commandery. Colonel Dudley represented the Com
mander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, General Rae.
With uncovered heads the veterans stood and silently watched the pas
sage of the remains. The coffin was placed in the open space in front
of the ladies' cabin of the Monohansett. Mrs. Sheridan kissed little
Phil, and pressed the wondering, awestruck boy to her bosom. Then
she embraced Mary and the twin girls, and turned with faltering steps
to the Monohansett. The little ones wept piteously, and Mrs. Colonel
Sheridan, in whose charge they were left, endeavored in vain to assuage
their grief. Mrs. Sheridan, Colonel Sheridan, and the sisters went to
the ladies' cabin, where they remained in privacy.
The departure from the Monohansett was made in the same order
as that of embarkation. A special train of five cars was in waiting.
A very large, yet silent and orderly crowd was in waiting. All the
bells in the city were tolled. All flags on vessels and public buildings
were at half mast. The coffin was placed in the black-draped space in
the combination car, and rested on an elevated platform in the centre.
The mourners entered the rear sleeping coach. Colonel Blunt and the
army officers took possession of the second sleeping car and the few
representatives of the press allowed on the train were allotted the private
saloon, "Idlewild." In the make up there came first a baggage car, then
a combination car, in which the body was placed on a platform covered
with black velvet, in the baggage compartment. The floor of this
compartment was covered with black cambric, and the walls and roof
with alternate broad vertical stripes of black and white, continued into
the middle of the monitor roof in wall-tent form. On one side ofthe
car, inside, were two small flags and the motto, " We mourn our heroic
dead," all covered with semi-transparent black crape. Over the outer

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 39c;
door was a flag. The passenger compartment was hung with black,
white, and red, and the outside of the car with black. Then followed
two Pullman cars and the private car of Vice-President Thompson, of
the Pennsylvania railroad. The last car was occupied by Mrs. Sher
idan. The train was drawn to Walpole by locomotive No. 108 of the
Old Colony railroad, which was trimmed with bunches of black and
white ribbon. The train left in charge of Conductors F. M. Buzzell
and C. F. Russell, Baggage-master Clarence Wing, Engineer E. A.
Barker, and Fireman M. S. Kennedy.
It was Mrs. Sheridan's desire that the start should be near sun down,
and the speed maintained a slow one. At every station, as the train
passed, the draped flags and masses of silent, uncovered spectators,
gave eloquent though unspoken evidences of the common feeling of loss.
The people remained till late in the night at all the principal stations,
and the bells were tolled at Taunton, Mansfield, Walpole — where a
Grand Army Post was drawn up — at Putman, Willimantic, New Lon
don, New Haven, Hartford, Bridgeport, and until it reached Harlem
in the early dawn at 4.55 of the 9th. In this way the pressure of the
crowds in New York was avoided. The transfer to the waiting rail
road ferry-boat was speedily and orderly made, and at Jersey City the
precious freight was transferred to the Pennsylvania railroad with care,
kindness, and foresight, as had been arranged. A special train of four
cars was provided, manned, too, by veterans in the employ ofthe great
corporation, who had all served with " Little Phil" : — ex-cavalrymen
all, their presence was indeed a tribute of respect.
The names of these veterans deserve to be recorded. Their duties
with the train, and former position in the " service" are also given :
Engineer — "Joe" Killey, formerly captain of Company A, First
New Jersey Cavalry. Served in the army from 1861 to 1865.
Fireman—^. Rodd, formerly quartermaster-sergeant of the Sixth
New York Cavalry. Served in the army from 1861 to 1865.
Conductor — W. W- Branson, formerly second lieutenant of Com
pany C, First New Jersey Cavalry. Served in the army from 1861 to
1865. Baggage-master — H. Heberton, formerly lieutenant in the Fif
teenth Pennsylvania Cavalry. Served in the army from 1861 to 1863.

396 THE LIFE OF
Flagman — S. Craig, formerly captain of Company A, First New
York Cavalry. Served in the army from 1861 to 1865.
Silently the cortege passed by the great city. As silently it left
Jersey City, and passed on its way to the general's last resting-place.
At various points a few people gathered. Demonstration was carefully
avoided by halting outside Philadelphia, and at Baltimore by taking the
Potomac route, which, with its tunnels, enabled keeping out of sight.
The arrival at Washington was known and the people in large num
bers, in silence, and with uncovered heads, paid their tribute to him
who was well and personally known among them. It was 3.17 p. m.
when the cortege entered the Baltimore and Potomac Depot. It was
met by General Schofield, and Lieutenants Sawyer, Bliss, and Pitcher,
of his staff, a Guard of Honor from the District of Columbia Command- ,
ery, Loyal Legion, and Troop B, of the Fourth Cavalry, Captain Law-
ton in command. As the train slowed into the station eight sergeants
of the Third Artillery, under command of Lieutenant Danes, marched
up the platform and formed in line. After the departure of Mrs. Sheri
dan with her father and sister, the artillery sergeants took the casket
from the car in which it made the journey from Nonquit and bore it
to a gun caisson belonging to the Third Artillery, which was draped
with flags festooned with crape. As the caisson bearing the body left
the station, Troop B, of the Fourth Cavalry, fell into line in front and
escorted the procession up Pennsylvania Avenue to Fifteenth Street, and
to St. Matthew's Church.
Following the caisson in carriages were General Schofield and staff,
Dr. O'Rielly, Colonel Blunt, and the Guard of Honor from the local
commandery, Loyal Legion. As the body reached the church door it
was met by a procession of the clergy and the sanctuary boys singing
the "Miserere."
After the casket had been placed upon the catafalque the prelimi
nary burial service was recited, the choir singing a funeral hymn. The
services concluded, the little company immediately left the church.
Only the final services remained ! only the requiem ! only the funeral
pageant ! Then laid away among his dead — our soldier will be at rest.
Many poetical tributes have already been paid his memory, among
them being those of Walt Whitman, David Graham, Adee, and others.
But the finest of these is from the pen of Richard Watson Gilder, the
poet-editor of the Century. It was published in the Critic, and bore
the title " Grant, Sherman, Sheridan."

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 397
Quietly, like a child
That sinks in slumber mild,
No pain or troubled thought his well-earned peace to mar,
Sank into endless rest our thunderbolt of war.
Though his the power to smite,
Quick as the lightning's light —
His single arm an army, and his name a host,
Not his the love of blood, the warrior's cruel boast.
But in the battle's flame
How glorious he came ! —
Even like the white-combed wave that breaks and tears the shore,
While wreck lies strewn behind, and terror flies before.
'Twas he, — his voice, his might, —
Could stay the panic-flight,
Alone shame back the headlong, many-leagued retreat,
And turn to evening triumph morning's foul defeat.
He was our modern Mars,
Yet firm his faith that wars
Erelong would cease to vex the sad, ensanguined earth.
And peace forever reign, as at Christ's holy birth.
Blest land, in whose dark hour
Doth rise to mightiest power
No dazzler of the sword to play the tyrant's part,
But patriot-soldiers, true and pure and high of heart!
Of such our chief of all ;
And he who broke the wall
Of civil strife in twain, no more to build or mend ;
And he who hath this day made Death his faithful friend.
And now above his tomb
From out the eternal gloom
" Welcome " his chieftain's voice sounds o'er the cannon's knell;
And of the three only one stays to say " Farewell ! "

Pfjtltp iienrg £i)miran.

Nor Hing, nor peer, nor prtbilegeb i&nabe ba1)o stole
jprom Haior's acijing tfjebas its seantg insle,
©n tf)ts ittan's sbaorb a fnreling's lien bib l)olb !
No Raster's prtbe unto tlje bietor's goal,
Nor jfctateeraft's iuijim in mean or loftg role,
©o i)is brabe train gabe fire or brisf) so bolb!
ILife's fame on larger lines tijat patriot's molb,
fits 3Butg simple east in grander tnijole!
82Re l)olb all bear bai)o for our 2Enion fought,
Wit lobe tije SSrabe baljo for ILibertg ijatl) barougijt,
&nb tijis strong Jfflan baljose serbiee rose so granb,
t&ebereb brill te brijile memories turn
ILifte some elear toljite ligijt out eenturieb urn,
&s one, in trutl), batyo fenigijtln bib eommanb !
— SiieJjarb J; hinton.

PHILIP HENRY SHERIDAN.
[From a Recent Photograph.]

Chapter XXX.

SHERIDAN'S LAST RIDE.
lying in state — quaint and quiet st. matthew's  the widow's last
farewell  the decorations and catafalque  chanting the re
quiem — scenes in the church — the distinguished congregation —
altar boys and dominican monks  cardinal gibbons' sermon —
— the funeral pageant — bugler kimball sounds " tap-taps " —
"put out the lights" — "good-night" — historic arlington and
Sheridan's grave.
The Church of St. Matthew's, on the corner of Fifteenth, and H
Street Northwest, is a plain, simple, puritanical structure, at first
glance to a stranger's eye looking quite unlike a Catholic Church. It
was the centre of attraction on the ioth of August, for the body of
a beloved soldier of the Republic lay there in state, ere removal to its
final resting-place at Arlington.
Before the public was admitted, just before 8 A. m., Mrs. Sheridan,
accompanied by her father and mother, General and Mrs. Rucker, her
sisters, and Colonel M. V. Sheridan, entered the simple church build
ing. A special requiem mass was celebrated by the pastor, Father
Kervick, and then the church was left to the "wife and mother and her
sacred dead. Ere the attendant guard of honor retired, the coffin lid
was removed for the first time since leaving Nonquit, so that the face
and bust of the dead lover and husband might be seen by his devoted
companion. Who shall intrude upon that holy communion — that
sacred association of the " quick and the dead"? In solemn stillness
— alone — the sorely afflicted lady was left to such sorrow and yet such
rapture of resolve as may well be supposed to commingle over so be
loved a form. At last the father and mother stole in, and found their
dear one kneeling still over her dead. Gently they carried her away,
with that last look, that last treasured glance of h^s marble face and
noble head to be carried forever in her memory. Only once more was
the lid unfastened. That was when John Sheridan, the general's
elder brother, a veteran of the ranks, an employing printer in Ohio,
arrived from his home, and desired to once more look upon his famous

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 401
brother's face. He is a middle-aged, portly man, looking like the
father, and as he bowed over the casket the suppressed sobs of a strong
man's sorrow were heard by those in attendance.
All day the sympathizing people passed through the church and
in long lines around the coffin. It was Mrs. Sheridan's wish, and in
accord with her conception of the general's desires, that the lid was
not removed. The interior they saw was solemn and mournful in its
ensemble. The scant light through the stained glass windows and the
flickering light of a dozen wax tapers but dimly outlined the scene
about the altar, while giving added sombreness to the heavy drapings
of crape that hung from ceiling, balcony, and pillar. Immediately be
fore the altar, on high successive pedestals, forming a graceful apex,
rested the coffin. To the left, with white-gloved hands folded across
his breast, stood an artillery-man in full uniform, with short sabre swing
ing at his belt, keeping silent guard over his silent charge. On either
side of the catafalque, slender marble tables supported tall candelabra
in which burned dimly the tapers required in such church services.
At the corners and further back, were other candelabra unlighted, wait
ing for the final mass and burial. Further back stood the red throne
erected for the cardinal, and a pair of draped flags lent a background
of slight color to the dark decoration of the chancel.
Over the coffin was loosely thrown, in sash-like folds, a heavy silk
American flag, the red and white stripes falling gracefully on one side,
and the blue ground with gold stars dropping on the other. Buried in
the soft folds on the top of the casket was the dead general's sabre,
with the names of all his battles and their dates engraved along the
scabbard. The sash of his rank, woven with yellow silk and gold
thread, lay folded across the top, and the heavy gold tassels fell on one
side. The black-plumed chapeau was there, not looking new and
unused, but showing such marks of service as the general had given
it. At the head of the coffin, as one approached the altar, a tall
flagstaff rose high above, bearing the identical corps flag which Sheri
dan had used at the close of the war. This was that oriflamme of red
with a white star on one side and a white ground with a red star on the
other, which had led the way into many bloody fights and many a bril
liant victory. It was the rally flag he waved at Winchester. It swung
heavily in the smoky-laden atmosphere of the Wilderness. It was seen
in the desperate charges of Todd's Tavern ; on the field where Stuart
fell ; at Trevilian Station ; from Staunton to Charlottesville ; it rustled
angrily in the Homeric fury of Five Forks, and waved in commanding
hostility when Lee made his last effort just before the surrender. It

402 THE LIFE OF
is not an established flag, but the colors are of such design and pattern
as the commander of a corps may choose as his distinguishing mark.
Two other old flags, of designs now forgotten and out of service, were
back of the coffin. One was the blue cavalry guidon carried by
Sheridan's troops in some of his earlier cavalry raids. Now the guidon
is of yellow, not blue, and of a different pattern. The other flag held
associations of the hero's early battles, and was that of his division
headquarters at Perryville and Stone River ; in the Tullahoma campaign,
marching, fighting, and bridge building ; at the front, flaring on the
fateful field of Chickamauga, and rising in triumph up the rock-ribbed
sides of Mission Ridge, until, moving over its crest, this soiled, frayed,
ragged, battle-riven emblem became the oriflamme of victory.
The fronts of both galleries were covered with large flags caught
up at intervals with broad bands of black. Above the entrance on
the front of the organ loft were grouped regimental and cavalry flags,
fastened together by a knot of black, with black streamers. The
altar was heavily draped. The candelabra and the marble figures on
either side were draped with black. Two silk American flags hung
from the wall above the altar. The cardinal's throne on the left of
the altar was appropriately covered, and the front of the pulpit was
concealed by heavy black velvet, with deep silver fringe. A space
had been made in front of the altar by the removal of four pews on
either side of the main aisle, in the centre of which stood the cata
falque, the same that was used in the funeral obsequies of King Al-
phonso, held in this church on the death of that king, several years ago.
It is about four feet high, and rests upon a broad base, which was cov
ered with the national colors, bordered with a band of black velvet.
All these, though subdued, and with the tokens of the church services
everywhere in the foreground, still served to give the spectator the
impression of military pomp and ceremonial. The clinking of spurs
and, now and then, the stroke of a sabre as it was drawn over the tes
sellated pavement, broke the usual quiet and repose of the place.
The plain yet massive simplicity of the interior, centering as it
did on the catafalque and the casket thereon, enshrouding in its sober
garb of black and silver the remains of the dead soldier, left nothing
to mar the sad harmony of the scene. By Mrs. Sheridan's request,
the floral tributes, some of great beauty, and all in loveliness and
abundance, were grouped effectively on the altar steps. Masses of
flowers in various forms were piled up under the Virgin's altar : The
shoulder strap of a general in blue and yellow flowers ; an easel with

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 403
vines ; a white cross from the President ; palms, clustered bunches of
pond lilies, and a wreath. From Boston was sent a large piece repre
senting the "Gates Ajar," made at the order of a number of United
States Senators. In height and length it was nearly six feet, in width
it was four feet. In the centre were two large pillars, from which gates
were hung. Joining the pillars was an arch, having in the centre a
cross and a crown. Suspended from the arch was a pure white dove,
and on the top of each pillar was a large star. Through the open gate
and picket fence was a representation of the Garden of Eden, in which
flowers, roses, and ferns abounded in artistic profusion. On the right
corner stood a beautiful bouquet of roses tied with satin ribbon.
Across the front the inscription read, "Light lie the earth on thee."
Some four thousand asters, and a large number of crimson king carna
tions, crysanthemums, and roses were used in this tribute.
Mr. John W. Mackey sent an appropriate gift — a wreath of ivy
intermingled with palm branches. It was worked in artistic taste and
attracted attention from its peculiar fitness and sombre beauty. All
day on the ioth, the long line of silent spectators saw sitting on a step
of the altar a sad-faced colored man, in years beyond middle-age.
The officer in command spoke to him familiarly, but with respect.
This was Richard, who for over twenty years had been the faithful
body-servant of General Sheridan. He was the general's attendant in
health, was with him in that last desperate struggle against death, and
still on duty, sat there beside the coffin of his benefactor and much-loved
employer. The preparations for the morrow's funeral went on quietly and
steadily. It was to be strictly in accordance with military regulations,
even to the use of the artillery caisson as a bier for the hero's body.
Major-General Schofield, the senior officer in the regular army, and
who is now in command of it, was in charge of the ceremony. The
troops called for in the following were all ready :
Headojjarterrs Military Division of the Atlantic, j
Governor's Island, N. Y., Aug. 8, 1888. j
Special Order No. 160.
The following troops will compose the military escort at the funeral
of the late General Philip H. Sheridan, commanding the Army of the
United States, which is to take place in Washington, D. C, on Satur
day, Aug. 11, 1888 : A battalion of foot troops, to consist of batteries
F, First (Davis'), I, Second (Vose's), M, Third (Kobbe's), and H,
(Story's), Fourth Artillery, Fort Monroe, Va. ; batteries A (Ches-

404 THE LIFE OF
ter's), E (Lancaster's), K (Smith's), and L (Hess'), Third Artillery,
Washington Barracks, D. C. ; batteries D (Knower's) and G (Bar-
stow's), Third Artillery, Fort McHenry, Md., under command of
Colonel Horatio G. Gibson, Third Artillery.
The battalion of cavalry (troops B, Fourth, and B, Sixth regi
ments), Fort Myer, Va., Major Louis H. Carpenter, Fifth Cavalry,
commanding. Light Battery C, Third Artillery (Turnbull's) , Washington Bar
racks, D. C. Light Battery F, Fifth Artillery (Brinckle's) , Fort
Hamilton, N. Y. H.
The major-general commanding will be in command of the funeral
escort. The artillery troops designated will so time their departure from
their respective posts as to arrive in Washington on Friday morning,
the ioth inst. They will then proceed to Washington Barracks, report
ing their arrival to the commanding officer of that station. They will
take with them their camp equipage. The cavalry battalion will report
at Washington Barracks on the morning of the nth inst., in time to
take its place in the column for the march to the church and cemetery.
The Quartermaster Department will furnish all necessary arrange
ments for the transportation of these troops to and in Washington and
return to their posts.
The commanding officer at Fort Adams, R. I., is hereby directed
to send at once to New Bedford, Mass., two commissioned and eight
non-commissioned officers for duty as guard over and bearers of the
body of General Sheridan while being transferred on the afternoon
of the 8th inst. from Nonquit to Washington, D. C. The guard will
take charge of the remains on their arrival at New Bedford, and convey
them to the special train. At Washington the guard will receive fur
ther orders. The Quartermaster Department will furnish the neces
sary transportation.
The depot quartermaster, New York City, is hereby directed to
provide a special funeral train to convey the remains -of General Sheri
dan, and the attendants thereupon, from Nonquit, Mass., to Washing
ton, D. C, starting on Wednesday, p. m., August 8, 1888.
The commanding officer, Washington Barracks, will cause a cais
son to be prepared to convey the remains from the railroad depot to the
church and from the church to the cemetery.
The commanding officer, Fort Myer, will cause a troop of cavalry to
be at the railroad depot in Washington on Thursday, the 9th inst. , to
meet the remains of General Sheridan and escort them to their tem
porary resting-place. By command of Major-General Schofield.
William D. Whipple, Assistant Adjutant-General.
Official, John Pitcher, A. D. C.
The artillery command arrived at Washington on the 10th, and
the cavalry upon the morning of the nth instant. This battalion was

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 405
in command of Captain Lawton, of the famous Seventh Regiment,
whose commander, Brevet Brigadier-General James W. Forsyth, was
Sheridan's fellow cadet, his companion in arms on the Pacific coast,
and afterwards and for years his staff officer and intimate associate
and friend. Captain Lawton is a man of herculean mould and of
most striking appearance. His swarthy complexion, black hair, and
soldierly air is enhanced, as it were, by his splendid reputation as an
Indian fighter.
Speaker Carlisle appointed the following members as the represen
tatives of the House upon the joint Congressional Committee to attend
General Sheridan's funeral : Messrs. Hooker, of Mississippi ; Cutcheon,
of Michigan ; Wheeler, of Alabama ; Henderson, of Illinois ; Cox, of
New York ; Grosvenor, of Ohio, and McShane, of Nebraska. Colonel
Hooker lost an arm in the military service of the Confederacy, and
General Wheeler, of Alabama, was Sheridan's antagonist in a number
of hard-fought skirmishes and engagements in Tennessee, Alabama,
and Northern Georgia. He was the best Confederate cavalry com
mander in that section, and has often been termed, because of his
stature, his audacity, and skill " the Sheridan of the South." A con
current resolution also passed both houses of Congress to the effect that
when the members adjourned on Friday it would be to meet again on
Monday, in order to allow the members to attend the funeral. Cards
of invitation to be present at the church and cemetery were issued from
army headquarters. Engraved on note paper with a heavy black
border, they read as follows :
You are invited to be present at the funeral ceremonies in honor
of General Sheridan, which will take place at St. Matthew's Church,
Washington, at io o'clock on the morning of Saturday, the nth of
August. The invitations were accompanied by a card of admission which
contained the following :
Admit bearer to funeral ceremonies of General Sheridan at St.
Matthew's Church, at io o'clock, a. m., on Saturday, the nth of
August. Please be in the church at least ten minutes before io o'clock.
The President issued an order directing the closing of the depart
ments and public offices on the day ofthe funeral. The invitations to
attend included the President and Mrs. Cleveland, the members of
the Cabinet and the ladies of their families, the judges of the United
States Supreme Court, the judges of the local courts, the members of
the Diplomatic Corps, the members of the Senate and House of Rep-

406 THE LIFE OF
resentatives, and the elective officers of both houses, all the members of
the Catholic clergy in Washington, all officers ofthe Army, Navy, and
Marine Corps stationed in Washington, twenty-five to the Grand Army
of the Republic, twenty-five to the Loyal Legion, eighty to the members
of the press, and a large number to personal friends of the family.
The total number of invitations issued was 1,500, and no person was
admitted to the church without a card of admission.
Colonel John M. Wilson, Commissioner of Public Buildings and
Grounds, was selected to take charge of the seating arrangements at
the church. He appointed the following officers to assist him in seat
ing those invited : Army — Major Thomas Ward, Assistant Adjutant-
General ; Captain John G. Bourke, Third Cavalry ; Lieutenant W. P.
Duvall, Fifth Artillery ; Lieutenant Thomas G. Knox, First Cavalry ;
Lieutenant C. Mc D. Townsend, ofthe Engineer Corps. Navy —
Lieutenant George L. Dyer, Lieutenant William H. Schuetze, Past
Assistant-Engineer F. C. Bieg, Past Assistant-Engineer H. P. Nor
ton, and Lieutenant Randolph Dickens, United States Marine Corps.
The pall-bearers were announced early in the day as follows :
General Sherman ; Marshal Field, of Chicago ; General Hawley, of
the United States Senate ; Speaker Carlisle ; Vice-President Frank
Thompson, ofthe Pennsylvania railroad ; General Wesley Merritt, United
States Army ; the senior officer ofthe Grand Arm)* of the Republic in
the District of Columbia ; Secretary Whitnev ; General MacFeeley,
United States Army ; General Joseph Fullerton, of St. Louis ; Secretary
Endicott, and G. W. Childs. The following officers of General Sheri
dan's staff were especially invited to attend the funeral : General J. W.
Forsyth, Colonel Fred. D. Grant, Colonel James F. Gregory, Colonel
George W. Davis, General J. W. and Colonel George S. Forsyth,
United States Army.
Brevet Brigadier-General Tompkins, commanding the. Second
United States Cavalry, was placed in command of the escort.
General Sheridan commanded at the funeral of his comrade, John
A. Logan, who, at his own request, was buried at Arlington. The
general then expressed the desire to find his last resting-place in the
same historic ground. In accordance with this wish, on the day pre
ceding the burial, General Rucker (Mrs. Sheridan's father), accom
panied by General Mac Feeley, Commissary General, and Major
Lydecker, of the Engineer Corps, visited Arlington and made choice of
the commanding spot in which our gallant leader is now laid at rest.
The consecration of the grave was appropriately performed by the

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 407
bishop-elect of Detroit, the Right Rev. Thomas Foley, whose brother
it was, as Bishop of Detroit, who performed the ceremony at the
marriage of Philip Henry Sheridan and Irene M. Rucker, fourteen years
before this sad occasion.
The heat of the season compelled the pastor of St. Matthew's to
limit the musical part of the ceremony to the singing of a single requiem
mass. Before the service, the choir of clergy, of whom there were over
twenty in attendance, chanted the "Miserere," and at the close of the
service the " Benedictus " and " Libera Me." The services in the
church then did not occupy more than an hour and a half.
The morning broke with a clear, unclouded sky, burning with all the
fervor of an August day in Washington.
It was on the stroke of nine when with military promptness the
three doors of St. Matthew's Church were opened, groups of epauleted
officers received friends and mourners, and escorted them to their seats.
There was no confusion and hurry — white tickets to the body of the
church, red tickets up-stairs. The rusty, well-worn, old-fashioned
pews had been marked off into sections or groups, and for an hour
they slowly, noiselessly filled up : — on the right side near the Virgin's
altar, the diplomatic representatives, not more than thirty, and only
the military attaches in uniform. On the other side the committees of
the Senate and House, with sashes and rosettes, were quietly marshaled
into place by Mr. Christie, Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate.
Famous people, statesmen, soldiers, sailors, illustrious men, with names
of world-wide celebrity, were escorted to the pews by the martial
ushers. Ingalls, with his keen, rather Voltaire-looking face, sat, as presiding
officer, to the front and right of the Senators. There were noted among
others, Allison, Morgan, Evarts, Dolph, West, Hoar, Dawes, and
Edmunds. The Representatives likewise clustered in masses.
A voluntary, which came from the organ like a wail, and all eyes
turned toward a small company, slowly led up the centre aisle : Colo
nel Michael V. Sheridan, with the widow ofthe general leaning on his
arm ; John Sheridan, another brother, with a striking resemblance to
the deceased, portly, spectacled ; General and Mrs. Rucker, with
other members of the family, all in deep mourning. In front of the
coffin were three velvet chairs and prie-dieus. In the centre, Mrs.
Sheridan, with a brother on each side, knelt in prayer. Then another
group — what might be called the general's military family, his aides
and companions: General J. W. Forsyth — "Tony" Forsyth, as the

408 THE LIFE OF
army affectionately calls him — classmate, aide, and life-long friend,
his hair silken and white ; Colonel Frederick D. Grant, with the almost
startling resemblance to his father ; Schuyler Crosby, in deepest sor
row ; Alger, of Michigan, with a military, well-knit, keen, French
face, who carried Sheridan his first field commission ; Colonel James
F. Gregory, Colonel G. W. Davis, and George S. Forsyth, whom the
army knows as " Sandy," famous in Indian and other wars, and dear
to the dead commander.
Priests, acolytes, groups of boys, with purple and scarlet trim
mings above their white gowns, clustered around the altar. The church
began its sacred offices of repose and intercession. The tall candles
around the bier were lighted, and burned freely in the gentle breeze
which escaped from the sultry, drowsy sun. The chancel swarmed with
clergymen in various stages of authority, and all knelt as, following an
uplifted cross, the spare form of Cardinal Gibbons, robed in scarlet,
wearing the beretta, slowly moved from the sacristy, knelt at the
altar, and was escorted to the episcopal throne.
As the cardinal bent in prayer there was a rustle of interest as
another group moved up the aisle under military escort — the President,
Mrs. Cleveland, and Mrs. Folsom. Special chairs had been pro
vided, but the President paused a moment, looked at the ostenta
tious curules, and seated himself in the modest pew behind, beside Sec
retaries Fairchild and Vilas. In the rear sat Secretaries Bayard and
Dickinson. The pall-bearers slowly marched up the further aisle. At
the head was Sherman — tall, erect, in full uniform, his fine, brave
face compressed in evident emotion — the last of the heroes of our great
est days. At his side Speaker Carlisle, with thin, cultured, intellectual
face, and clear, penetrating eye ; Hawley, Augur, Endicott and Whit
ney from the Cabinet ; George W. Childs, General MacFeeley,
Wesley Merritt, Mr. Lincoln, of the Grand Army, and Marshal
Field, of Chicago — close friends or dear comrades of the dead com
mander, all of them.
Suddenly, the full, sweet, sad resonance of the organ's wailing
notes pealed through and filled the church. The altar boys emerged
from the sacristy and ranged themselves around the bier, while the
sanctuary filled up with the clergy.
The Dominican Brothers chanted the "Miserere." As the solemn
and melancholy notes struck on the ears ofthe bereaved widow, she was
visibly affected, and rested still harder on Colonel Sheridan's arm,
whfch was supporting her. But a few minutes lasted this peal of

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 409
anguish for a lost soul, and then the organ gave forth a burst of stately
music as the procession of clergy entered. Two altar boys bearing
lighted candles led the way, then came the pastors of the various city
churches, next Father J. F. Mackin, the celebrant, Father T. J. Ker-
vick, the deacon, and Father S. F. Ryan, the sub-deacon, and lastly
Cardinal Gibbons, wearing the red beretta, the insignia of his office,
and the purple archiepiscopal cape. The officiating clergymen wore
black robes elaborately embroidered with gold. Softly the organ played
as the prelates knelt in silent adoration, and every one in the congre
gation, Catholic and Protestant, Jew and Gentile, bowed the head in
prayer. It was a notable gathering. The tall wax candles on the altar cast
a soft light on the upturned features of the highest dignitary of the
Catholic Church in America. Directly in front was the President of the
/United States and his wife and Cabinet. To the right was the family
of the dead soldier. To the left were the pall-bearers and prominent
military men, headed by General Sherman in the full uniform of a gen
eral of the United States Army. On the other side were the Congres
sional committees ; behind them Senators, Representatives, and the
judges. Here were gathered together every branch of the government
and the highest officers of the government.
The cardinal took his place at the foot of the coffin and read the
prayers of the church in Latin and then in English. The whole
assembly listened in sympathy, as with singularly sweet, sincere voice
the priest commended to God the soul of "Our dear brother Philip
Henry," praying that the angels would guide him into Paradise and
give him everlasting rest. The President, who sat almost at the side
of the cardinal, bent his head reverently during the prayers, and the
priests who had formed into line along the aisle chanted the responses.
And then by one of those odd phenomena in nature — out of which
faith and perhaps fancy might draw an omen of consolation — at this
moment the hazy, sultry summer air suddenly flushed with sunshine
— clear, lucid sunshine — for there came through an oval window over
the altar a sudden burst of light, illuminating the chancel, paling the
candle gleams, suffusing the scarlet decorations of the episcopal throne
with a deeper hue ; a strange, striking effect, causing a manifest
movement among the congregation, for it seemed as if the consenting
heavens were answering in very truth, the prayer of the church, and
sending a glow of light and hope and peace over the proud manes of
Sheridan.

410 THE LIFE OF
And while the sweet, entreating voice intoned the offices of the
dead, and from the trained company of priests and musicians came
the answering entreaty that God would be with the dead and have
mercy forevermore, through the windows came a quick sound of
command, the bugle note, the tramp of armed men moving into col
umn, the crash ofthe muskets as they came heavily to the ground. It
was a strange unison — peace and war, repose and action. The church
and the state seemed to blend and to combine to do honor to the memory
of the dead. At the conclusion of the mass the cardinal descended
from his red-covered throne, and delivered the following discourse in a
calm, impressive manner:
"And Jonathan and Simon took Judas their brother, and buried him
in the sepulchre of their fathers, in the city of Modin. And all the
people of Israel bewailed him with great lamentation ; and they mourned
for him many days, and said : How is the mighty fallen that saved
the people of Israel. — i Mach. ix., 19-21.
" Well might the children of Israel bewail their great captain who
led them so often to battle and to victory. And well may this Nation
grieve for the loss of the mighty chieftain whose . mortal remains now
lie before us. In every city and town and village of the country, from
the Atlantic to the Pacific, his name is uttered with sorrow, and his
great deeds recorded with admiration.
"There is one consoling feature that distinguishes the obsequies of
our illustrious hero from those of the great Hebrew leader. He was
buried in the midst of war, amid the clashing of arms, and surrounded
by the armed hosts of the enemy. Our captain, thank God, is buried
amid profound peace, while we are enjoying the blessings of domestic
tranquility, and are in friendship with all the world.
"The death of General Sheridan will be lamented not only by the
North, but also by the South. I know the Southern people ; I know
their chivalry ; I know their magnanimity, their warm and affectionate
nature ; and I am sure that the sons of the South, and especially those
who fought in the late war, will join in the national lamentation and
will lay a garland of mourning on the bier of the great general. They
recognize the fact that the Nation's general is dead, and that his death is
the Nation's loss.
" And this universal sympathy, coming from all sections of the coun
try, irrespective of party lines, is easily accounted for when we consider
that under an overruling Providence the war in which General Sheri-

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 411
dan took such a conspicuous part has resulted in increased blessings to
every state of our common country.
" ' There's a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will.'
" And this is true of nations, as well as of individuals.
"What constitutes the great difference between the wars of antiquity
and our recent war ? The war of the olden time was followed by sub
jugation and bondage : — in the train of our great struggle came recon
ciliation and freedom. Alexander the Great waded through the blood
of his fellow-man. By the sword he conquered, and by the sword he
kept the vanquished in bondage. Scarcely was he cold in death when
his vassals shook off the yoke and his empire was dismembered into
fragments. ' ' The effect of the late war has been to weld together the Nation still
more closely into one cohesive body. It has removed once for all,
slavery, the great apple of discord ; it has broken down the wall of
separation which divided section from section, and exhibits us more
strikingly as one nation, one family, with the same aims and the same
aspirations. The humanity exhibited in our late struggle contrasted
with the cruelties exercised toward the vanquished of former times, is
an eloquent tribute to the blessings of Christian civilization.
" In surveying the life of General Sheridan it seems to me that these
were his prominent features and the salient points in his character •
undaunted heroism, combined with gentleness of disposition ; strong
as a lion in war, gentle as a child in peace ; bold, daring, fearless,
undaunted, unhesitating, his courage rising with the danger ; ever fer
tile in resources, ever prompt in execution, his rapid movements never
impelled by a blind impulse, but ever prompted bya calculating mind.
" I have neither the time nor the ability to dwell upon his military
career from the time he left West Point till the close of the war. Let
me select one incident which reveals to us his quickness of conception
and readiness of execution. I refer to his famous ride in the Valley of
Virginia. As he is advancing along the road he sees his routed army
rushing pell-mell toward him. Quick as thought — by the glance of
his eye, by the power of his word, by the strength of his will — he
hurls back that living stream on the enemy and snatches victory from
the jaws of defeat. How bold in war, how gentle in peace. On
some few occasions in Washington I had the pleasure of meeting Gen
eral Sheridan socially in private circles. I was forcibly struck by his

412 THE LIFE OF
gentle disposition, his amiable manner, his unassuming deportment,
his eye beaming with good nature, and his voice scarcely raised above a
whisper. I said to myself, ' Is this bashful man and retiring citizen
the great General of the American Army ? Is this the hero of so many
battles ? '
" It is true General Sheridan has been charged with being sometimes
unnecessarily severe toward the enemy. My conversations with him
-strongly impressed me with the groundlessness of a charge which could
in nowise be reconciled with the abhorrence which he expressed for the
atrocities of war, with his natural aversion to bloodshed, and with the
hope he uttered that he would never again be obliged to draw his sword
against an enemy. I am persuaded that the sentiments of humanity
ever found a congenial home, a secure lodgment, in the breast of Gen
eral Sheridan. Those who are best acquainted with his military
career unite in saying that he never needlessly sacrificed human life, and
that he loved and cared for his soldiers as a father loves and cares for his
children. ' ' But we must not forget that if the departed hero was a soldier, he
was, too, a citizen, and if we wish to know how a man stands as a citi
zen we must ask ourselves how he stands as a son, a husband, and a
father. The parent is the source of the family ; the family is the source
ofthe nation. Social life is the reflex pf the family life. The stream
does not rise above its source. Those who were admitted into the
inner circle of General Sheridan's home need not to be told that it was a
peaceful and happy one. He was a fond husband and an affectionate
father, lovingly devoted to his wife and children. I hope I am not tres
passing upon the sacred privacy of domestic life when I state that the
general's sickness was accelerated, if not aggravated, by a fatiguing
journey which he made in order to be home in time to assist at a
domestic celebration in which one of his children was the central
figure. " Above all, General Sheridan was a Christian. He died fortified by
the consolations of religion, having his trust in the saving mercies of
our Redeemer, and a humble hope in a blessed immortality.
" What is life without the hope of immortality ? What is life that is
bounded by the horizon of the tomb? Sure, it is not worth living.
What is the life even of the patriarchs but like the mist which is dis
pelled by the morning sun ? What would it profit this illustrious hero
to go down to his honored grave covered with earthly glory, if he had
no hope in the eternal glory to come ? It is the hope of eternal life that
constitutes at once our dignity and our moral responsibility.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 413
" God has planted in the human breast an irresistible desire for im
mortality. It is born with us, and lives and moves with us. It inspires
our best and holiest actions. Now, God would not have given us this
desire if He did not intend that it should be fully satisfied. He would
not have given us this thirst for infinite happiness if He had not intended
to assuage it. He never created anything in vain.
" Thanks to God, this universal yearning ofthe human heart is sanc
tioned and vindicated by the voice of revelation.
' ' The inspired Word of God not only proclaims the immortality of
tne soul, but also the future resurrection of the body. ' I know,' says
the prophet Job, ' that my Redeemer liveth, and that on the last day I
shall rise out of the earth and in my flesh I shall see my God.' ' Won
der not at this,' says our Saviour, ' for the hour cometh when all that
are in their graves shall hear the, voice of the Son of Man, and they
who have done well shall come forth to the resurrection of life, and
they who have done ill to the resurrection of judgment.' And the apostle
writes these comforting words to the Thessalonians : 'I would not
have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those that are asleep, that ye
be not sorrowful like those who have no hope ; for if we believe that
Jesus died and rose again, even so those who have died in Jesus, God
will raise unto himself. Therefore comfort yourself with these words.'
" These are the words of comfort I would address to you, madam,
faithful consort of the illustrious dead. This is the olive branch of
peace and hope I would bring you to-day. This is the silver lining of
the cloud which hangs over you. We followed you in spirit and with
sympathizing hearts as you knelt in prayer at the bedside of your dying
husband. May the God of all consolation comfort you in this hour of
sorrow. May the soul of your husband be this day in peace and his
abode in Zion. May his memory be ever enshrined in the hearts of his
countrymen, and may our beloved country, which he has loved and
served so well, ever be among the foremost nations of the earth, the
favored land of constitutional freedom, strong in the loyalty of its pa
triotic citizens and in the genius and valor of its soldiers till time shall
be no more.
" Comrades and companions of the illustrious dead, take hence your
great leader, bear him to his last resting-place, carry him gently, lov
ingly ; and though you may not hope to attain his exalted rank you will
strive at least to emulate him by the integrity of your private life, by
your devotion to your country, and by upholding the honor of your
military profession."

414 THE LIFE OF
The offices of the church and the soft mournful words of the rev
erend speaker rose and swelled, as mingling, the martial notes of prepara
tion fell strangely, but not harshly, on the ear. For it was fitting that the
bugle notes should be heard in such a ceremony. The cardinal slowly
moved back to the chancel and passed into the sacristy. The last word
had been spoken, and at a signal a body of grizzled, brown soldiers,
sergeants and non-commissioned officers, marched up the aisle with
firm military stride, to the coffin. The pall-bearers formed in line,
Sherman and Carlisle leading. The coffin was lifted to the soldiers'
shoulders, and as it moved away the President arose, and the congre
gation with him, and stood with bowed heads as it was borne to the
door. The escort had assembled while the funeral seivices were in prog
ress. It formed on H Street facing north, with the foot artillery on
the right, the cavalry on the left, and the light batteries in the centre.
Before the completion of the services the caisson and the general's
horse were moved to a point nearer the church entrance, and after the
casket had been placed on the caisson the column was formed by
wheeling to the left, and moved en route far enough to permit the for
mation of the column of carriages in the rear. Just before the close of
the services General Schofield and his aides arranged themselves in front
of the troops and prepared to receive the funeral party.
While the services were in progress the caisson was placed in
a position to receive the casket, and the general's horse was led to a
place immediately behind. The horse is a dark bay, and was bought
by General Sheridan in Chicago about four years ago. It was bridled
and saddled just as when last ridden by the general. The general's mil
itary boots were in the stirrups, with the toes pointing backward.
The animal was led by a tall sergeant in full uniform. All the horses
used by the general during the "war are dead, and "Guy," who was
used on this occasion, is the animal which had been the longest in
the general's service as his personal saddle-horse.
The order of march was as follows :
A Battalion of Cavalry.
Two Batteries Light Artillery.
Marine Band.
Third Artillery Band.
Battalion of Foot Artillery.
Clergy in Carriages.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 41^
Pall-bearers in Carriages.
Body Bearers, Artillery Sergeants.
Caisson Bearing Remains.
The General's Horse.
Mrs. Sheridan and Family.
Military Staff.
The President and Mrs. Cleveland.
The Cabinet.
The Judges.
The Congressional Committees.
Diplomatic Corps.
Representatives of the Loyal Legion and
Grand Army of the Republic
As the body was borne from the church the bell tolled. Soldiers
stood at present arms, and all the citizens removed their hats. The
best of order was preserved, and the crowd seemed inspired by the
solemnity of the occasion. When all had been arranged, the column
moved slowly in the direction of the cemetery.
It was a long journey, and as the Marine Band playing " Nearer,
My God, to Thee," marched away, the noonday sun came blazing
down. At half-past n o'clock the procession started, and it was
1 o'clock exactly when the head of the column came to the Arlington
Cemetery. The route was along Pennsylvania Avenue, around the
old-fashioned Washington statue, through old-fashioned, mediaeval
Georgetown, over the aqueduct bridge, and by red gravelly, wind
ing roads, past Fort Myer to Arlington. General Schofield rode
part of the way in his carriage, but mounted again at the cemetery
gates. The cortege attracted respectful, curious attention, but much
of the route was through country roads, and when the column reached
the cemetery the men were marching in quick time and looked tired.
Some of the officers were so weary that they threw themselves on the
ground under the trees.
The artillery was massed at the foot of the hill, the guns ready to
fire. The infantry drew up in line, extending down the slope. The
grave had been covered with rude scantling, which was torn away as
the procession advanced. The police and the soldiers formed a square,
and around the edges of the square was a crowd of two or three thou
sand-adventurous men, women, and children, who had tramped all the
way over the red, dusty roads to do honor in their humble way to Sher-

416 THE LIFE OF
idan. The caisson bearing his coffin was slowly drawn up to the
front of Lee's ancient Arlington House. Pall-bearers and friends ad
vanced, Sherman, Colonel Grant, and Governor Alger standing at the
side of the grave. A few paces back- was the President. Near were
George W. Childs, Hawley, and the group of staff officers, Forsyth,.
and standing nearer the bier, Crook in full uniform, with the face and
bearing of one of Louis XIV. 's marshals, and at the head of the grave
the general's family. The priest, Father Foley, with a large com
pany of responding priests, recited the offices of the church, chanting
the " De Profundis."
Tenderly the coffin was laid in its place. The flag was lovingly
removed. The glorious sword of the dead hero, which seemed rusted
and worn with service, was reverently taken from the coffin by an aide.
A bugler, one who had served under Sheridan, came to the grave and
played the old bugle notes of " taps." It was the "good-night" he had
heard as a boy at the military school, as an officer during his whole
army life — meaning that the day was ended and the work was done.
As at the grave of Grant, so at the grave of Sheridan, was the same
felicitous thought — that the ceremony should end with the old bugle
notes. The day was ended and the work was done, and all present
felt, as the music died away and they looked into the new-made grave
of this captain, whdse name will live in far distant ages, that his life
was cast among the days of noble deeds, and that his great work was
well done.
The bugler was a man of magnificent proportions, with a face
tanned and bronzed by much exposure. He stood like a statue, his left
hand resting on his sabre, his right hanging at full length and holding
his bugle. Had he been carved out of marble he could not have been
more motionless. He stood alone, as all had fallen back to be out of
the range of the rifles. While Bugler Charles Kimball, who had served
with Sheridan, stood at his old comrade's open grave, the infantry had
loaded their pieces. " Fire," rang out from the officers, and the sharp
crack of the rifles awoke the echoes. Twice more this was repeated,
and then the last ceremony but one had been performed.
The soldier slept. The grand rounds had been made. The camp
was hushed in slumber. The signal of" taps" or "lights out" must be
given by the bugler. When the last echo had died away, Bugler Kimball
raised the instrument to his lips and sounded the call that every old
soldier knows so well. The notes rolled out and were caught up by
the trees and the air and carried away until they gradually faded from

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 417
mortal ear. It was peculiarly a solemn moment. The weird tones of
the bugle fell like the wail of a spirit, and the significance of its
trumpet tones was understood by every one.
It was the soldiers' last farewell to Philip H. Sheridan.
The final rite had been performed, and every one turned away except
General Sherman. He stood on one side and looked into the open
grave and quietly wiped his eyes. Brave man as he was, he was not
ashamed to drop a tear in memory of his comrade and companion in
arms. Historic and lovely Arlington ! No more appropriate place could
be found in the land for a soldier's grave. There are nearly sixteen
thousand of our heroes lying there. The bodies of Logan, Stanley, and
Paul rested therein before Sheridan's came to still further sanctify it.
And in all that patriotic two hundred acres, could a more befitting
spot be found for General Sheridan's grave than the one in which his
body is laid? Chaplain Van Home, of the Army of the Cumberland,
tells a story of the much-loved General George H. Thomas, which is
appropriate here. When the National Cemetery at Chattanooga was
being laid out under the chaplain's direction, he asked the general
how he should arrange the graves — whether by the states to whose
regiments the dead belonged, or designate them by their army organ
ization. " Bury them as they fell fighting for the Union. They aided to
pre'serve it," replied the wise-brained and sound-hearted Virginian
soldier. And Sheridan lies, as it were, at the head ofthe columns.
His grave is on the open plateau, a little to the right of Arlington
House, upon the highest swell in the inclosure, and just where behind
him, as it were, are the serried grave ranks of those who fought to
maintain the Union and make all its people free. Not one hundred
paces from the door of the stately, old-fashioned house, once occupied
by Robert E. Lee as his home, the new-made grave of the hero who
harried and fought him to final defeat, swells to the sunlight.
Here on the brow ofthe hill, where you have one ofthe most beau
tiful views imaginable, even in picturesque Virginia, Sheridan finds
rest. As you stand at the grave, Washington lies unrolled as a pano
rama : the white winged Capitol, the Washington Monument, the
national buildings, all form a back-ground to a scene of surpassing beauty.
There is no place of public vantage in Washington, which may not be
clearly seen from the grave and the future monument of the illustrious
general. The wisdom of the Federal government in selecting this
27

THE NATIONAL MILITARY CEMETERY, ARLINGTON.

SHOWING THE GRAVES OF MANY OF THE UNION DEAD. SCENE IN THE SOUTHWESTERN SEOTION
OF THE GROUNDS.

THE ARLINGTON HOUSE AND CEMETERY.

THE BURIAL PLACE OF GENERAL SHERIDAN.

THE 6RAVE IS LOCATED ABOUT WHERE THE SHADOW OF THE FOLIAOE IS SHOWN, IN THE LOWER RIGHT-HAND CORNER
OF THE ENGRAVING.

420 THE LIFE OF
site for the great war cemetery can be best apprehended when standing
where Sheridan lies. Here amid the graves of so many thousands of
our soldiers one can see the capital of the Nation — the symbol of that
unity which they gave their lives to preserve. It seems fitting that the
spirit of Sheridan should be here, forever, as it were, keeping watch
and ward over the capital he fought so ably and victoriously to defend
and save.
The National Military Cemetery lies on the south bank of the
Potomac, one mile south ofthe aqueduct bridge. The estate, of which
these sacred acres once formed a part, belonged to the Custis family, of
which Martha Washington was a member. It passed into possession
of the Lees through the general's marriage with the only child of
George Washington Parke Custis. It is a fit and striking place, in
association and aspect, for its use. Here under the shade of noble oaks
lie the remains of 16,264 Union soldiers — white and colored. The
larger portion of the burials are made in the southwest portion, which
is very nearly a level plateau covered with groves of wide-spreading,
ancient trees. The graves are arranged in long, parallel rows, giving
something ofthe appearance of marching columns. There are 11,915
graves of soldiers whose names, companies, regiments, and commands
are known. On the plateau upon which the manor house stands, is
a stately sarcophagus covering the remains of 2,211 unknown Union
soldiers, whose remains were gathered from many fields. There are
4,349 graves the occupants of which are unknown, and the head-boards
suitably indicate the melancholy fact. And here, it is plain that
" The muffled drum's sad roll has beat
The soldier's last tattoo ;
No more on life's parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few.
" Your own proud land's heroic soil
Must be your fitter grave ;"
She claims from war his richest spoil,
The ashes of the brave."
Arlington is indeed a beautiful spot. Its broad, gravel walks and
smooth green lawns are kept in such perfect order all the time, as is
only possible in a place under military control. The flower-beds are
masses of color in their seasons, and the whole aspect of the place is
one of quiet and rest. The large oaks afford shelter to many a squirrel,
and these pretty little animals spring about from headstone to headstone,

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 421
and by their liveliness accentuate the contrast with death, of which the
turf mounds are ever-present reminders. The old house in which
generations of the Lees first saw the light and learned to know the mean
ing of the word home, stands on the highest part ofthe estate. It is in
the stately Greek style so much affected by our revolutionary sires and
their sons. -The house is spacious, and the great portico with its high
white pillars gives it a large appearance, and commands the landscape
in conspicuous fashion.
Sheridan rests among his comrades. He rests in scantified earth,
made holy alike by its rescue from the degradation of slavery and the
entombment therein of those who died that the Republic might live.
What worthier grave could be found for heroic dust ? What loftier
memories could be evoked than those which must arise, even to the
dullest of the many who will stand there, gazing upon the grave of
Sheridan, and then raising their eyes to take in the wonderful land
scape, made glorious with its vast array of memories — sad and som
bre, grave and great, as they may be, yet filled forever with cheer to
those who strive for the betterment of mankind ? Our soldier, whose
stainless sword was never drawn unworthily, lies where his name must
be, as long as the Nation lives, a reminder of the nobility of service,
the exaltation of patriotism, the unquenchable dignity and fame of
those who nobly labored for both. The historic Potomac rolls its
waters where the mounds of our heroes swell to the sunlight. Some
miles below stands a mausoleum, bearing within its walls the "ashes of
Washington. All vessels, of whatever nationality, pay homage to the
great dead by the solemn toll of their bells as they sail by. May it not
yet seem fitting, as the sacred shades of Arlington are passed, that the
dipping of the colors at least will be made the evidences of honor to
the manes of Sheridan, Logan, Stanley, Paul, and the great, silent
army of their comrades who lie there in their sentineled mounds?
" Rest on, embalmed and sainted dead, dear is the blood you gave ;
No impious footsteps here shall tread the herbage of your grave ;
Nor shall your glory be forgot, while fame her record keeps,
Or honor points the hallowed spot where valor proudly sleeps.

Chapter XXXI.

GENERAL SHERIDAN'S LIFE AND
CAREER-A REVIEW.
SHERIDAN'S SERVICES — OPINIONS OF CONTEMPORARIES — CHARACTER AND
POSITION AS A SOLDIER — AS A CITIZEN AND MAN — A WONDERFUL STORY
OF GREAT DEEDS — A ROMANCE OF WAR — -AN HONORABLE AND UPRIGHT
PERSONALITY  HIS GRAPHIC POWERS AS A WRITER — BADEAU'S TESTI
MONY  BRIEF SPEECHES AT ARMY REUNIONS.
In closing this volume, it will not be out of place to briefly review
the career of the great soldier and honored citizen, as well as to give
some ofthe contemporaneous opinions of his character, which, follow
ing his death, have been given to the world.
To write of his career is to speak of national forces. To discuss it
personally involves the growth of a great people. Could such a career
have occurred anywhere else than in this democratic country ? The
child of Irish immigrant parents, born in 1831* in Ohio, his father a
railroad laborer or sub-contractor, his brothers printers and country
storekeepers, he is enabled to become a cadet at the National Military
Academy. Again it may be said, what a career ! At seventeen a
cadet ; at twenty-two a brevet second lieutenant ; two years later re
ceiving his grade ; at thirty commissioned a captain in the Thirteenth
Infantry, United States Army ; fourteen months later a colonel of
volunteer cavalry ; thirty-seven days passed, of which thirty-four were
under fire, and he fought and won a battle with 1 ,200 men against 7jOOO,
— a battle which makes him a brigadier at thirty-two ; four months later
a division commander and tenaciously holding in a great battle the key
* Colonel Burr was informed when in Somerset, Ohio, and by the venerable mother ofthe general
that her son Philip was born at Albany, New York, March 6, 1831. There was a difference of opin
ion in the town as to this, and it is known also that Mrs. Sheridan has given at other times Somer.
set as the birthplace of her famous son. But it was decided to let the last statement stand. These
inquiries were made for this volume, and before it was known to the publishers that the general
was preparing his memoirs. Since then General Sheridan himself settled the question by correct
ing, shortly before his death, the proofs of a biographical article to be published in Appleton's
Cyclopaedia. Albany was named by him as his birthplace. R. J. H.

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 423
of the Union position; three months later still, leading and fighting in
one of the greatest battles of the Civil War — ¦ that of Stone River, for
his service and ability in which he was made, and before he quite
reached his thirty-third birthday, a major-general of volunteers. In
the next twelve months he was a foremost participant in a vast forward
movement, that of the Tullahoma campaign, ending in the occupation of
Chattanooga, followed by the terrible battle of Chickamauga ; and still
later winning the plaudits of commanders, soldiery, and nation by his
masterly capture of Orchard Knob and the audacious and victorious
assault on Mission Ridge, in the three-days fighting and victory known
to Union annals as the battle of Chattanooga. A winter of hard work
and some fighting, and then ordered East to the command of the finest
cavalry army that has been organized, equipped, and handled in mod
ern days. And what a record of service ! The constant fights and as
constant victories are to be reckoned by the hundred. Around Rich
mond, between May and August, 1864, Sheridan's troopers were ubi
quitous. They were a flame of destruction ; a tornado of defeat to the
rebels ; a very cyclone of victory to the Union cause. In eleven months
seventy-six battles were fought and won by that cavalry, and Sheridan
personally participated in sixty-two of them.
Then came that campaign of massive fighting and magnificent tri
umphs, which swept the Shenandoah Valley within three months clear
of the enemy that had held it almost unbrokenly for three years — a cam
paign of five great battles, fought with all arms, and won, too, against a
foe always having a decided advantage in chosen positions. It was a
campaign of constant struggle, skirmish, sortie, infantry charges, and
fiercest cavalry encounters. One, too, that was so dramatic in charac
ter, so heroic in mould, that its commander's name has passed into the
world's history — become renowned in poesy and painting, and ac
cepted finally as that of one of the greatest soldiers of the century.
Sheridan was not more than half way over his thirty-third year, when
he received the thanks of Congress and was made a major-general in
our regular army. It is a record of honors won grandly, only equaled,
as to the age of him who received them, by that other great soldier,
to whom Sherida _ has sometimes been not inaptly compared — Napo
leon Bonaparte. Our soldier was at the very front of his career when,
within a month r.fter his thirty-fourth birthday, he planned, fought,
and won the splendid tactical campaign, fierce battle, and complete
victory of Five Forks. That wonderful ' ' barn door " of devoted human
lives he so skillfully swung with such terrible and unerring precision

424 THE LIFE OF
against Lee's army on that April day of 1865, has made Sheridan
renowned as the most famous tactician of the Union Army. Then
came that unerring and relentless pursuit, in whose grip the slave-hold
ers' rebellion was at last strangled to death on Saylor's Creek and at
Appomattox. Sheridan was a captain on the 14th of March, 1861. On the 4th
of April, 1865, he was the youngest of our renowned soldiers, and in
fame surpassed only by two others — Grant and Sherman ; in rank
only by Grant. ,
As Grant so often said, " Sheridan never failed. That is why the
general sent him to the Rio Grande, with the expectation of having
to lead the way into Mexico in order to destroy the usurping defiance
of the Monroe doctrine, insolently executed while we were struggling
in the throes of civil war, created by a similar and sinister sympathy of
despotism. Then his career since the clash of arms, was one both notable
and characteristic. The administration of the turbulent Fifth Mili
tary (reconstruction) District, is now acknowledged by friend and foe
to have been remarkably able, and now his bitterest antagonists rec
ognize that he sought within his orders only the maintenance of peace
and civil liberty. The splendid policy by which, during Grant's terms
as President, the entire Central and trans-Missouri West was cleared
of its Indian difficulty, so that the vast material development thereof
made by railroad, mine, ranch, and prairie farm, could go forward un
molested, owes very much of its success to the military skill and ad
ministrative sagacity with which Sheridan conducted all the field oper
ations, as well as the tribal negotiations. Made a lieutenant-general
as the first act of Grant's presidential term, his commission being, like
Sherman's, dated March 4, 1869, Sheridan received the news of his
promotion to the grade of lieutenant-general while returning from an
Indian campaign in Kansas. And then came his last promotion —
that of general. Given by a grateful country while its valiant and
worthy soldier lay in the darkest recesses of the Valley of Death, it
was indeed a tribute worthy of a nation and of the seivices of the pub
lic servant by whom it was then received.
The estimation in which Sheridan was held while living, and now
that he is dead, by those competent to pass judgment on him as a
soldier and man, is such as to accord to him a lofty place among his
contemporaries. Interviews had with famous German soldiers illus
trate this :

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 425
Count von Moltke is reported as saying : " General Sheridan struck
me as the type of a thoroughly American general, with all the wonderful
energy and fertility of resource that characterize the Nation, and prob
ably no better cavalry commander has ever taken the field. All the
armies of Europe have adopted many of the lessons taught by him in
the tactical use of cavalry."
General von der Goltz : "I consider General Sheridan one of the
ablest cavalry commanders in the world."
General von Pape, who commands the entire Prussian corps of
guards says that Sheridan's campaign in Western Virginia is a model of
the way to handle large masses of cavalry in the warfare ofthe future.
Prince Frederick of Hohenzollern says : ' ' The late emperor often
spoke of him as the man who knew best how to make cavalry horses do
more work than any other commander ever got out of them.'7
General Boulanger, the French soldier of whom Von Moltke is
said to'have allowed that there is something in him, pays, as reported,
this tribute to Sheridan : "The judgment I personally formed of him
was that he was a most intellectual man and a most competent soldier."
The London editorial writers, among other foreign critics, have not
been chary of discriminating praise of the dead soldier. The writers
are still biased by their overstrained admiration of the Confederate
commanders, but some of their expressions in regard to Sheridan will
bear preservation :
" General Sheridan," said the Times, " had an eagle eye for pierc
ing through the designs of the enemy and for detecting at a glance all
their weak points."
" Sheridan," remarked the Morning Post, "was a man whom his
enemies admired even while his genius was overcoming their stubborn
courage." The Daily News, the day after the intelligence of Sheridan's death
was received, wrote of him that he was " not only the most brilliant
cavalry officer," of our Civil War, but he was also "both a tactician
and a strategist, capable of the most extensive combinations, and able
to carry out far-reaching plans, and he had the nerve, resource, and
decision for emergencies that were wanting to some of the greatest
strategists, notably the Archduke Charles."
The same writer tells that " his warmth of nature and the peculiar^
character of his genius made him loved. He was one of the most sol
dierly soldiers of his time. He united brilliant courage, which he owed
to his Irish origin, to perfect steadiness and presence of mind in emer- ^

426 THE LIFE OF
gencies." There is internal evidence in the News article which points
to Justin McCarthy as the writer thereof.
General Sherman has often and again given his opinion of his dead
comrade. In the grief that filled him when his death was announced,
the old soldier would only allow himself to say, in reply to a question
put by a New York reporter: " My estimate of Sheridan? I have
frequently given my estimate of General Sheridan — and the world
knows what it is — what I thought of his great abilities as a soldier
and of his character as a man. Sheridan's place in history has long
been established. His deeds and achievements, with those of Grant,
Logan, and other great commanders of the Civil War, are familiar
household words throughout the land. But I have nothing to say now."
No tribute paid to him professionally and officially, as well from
man to man, shows more discriminating insight than the words of Mr.
Endicott, Secretary of War, who declared that :
" General Sheridan's death is a great loss to the army and to this
department. I mean as a practical, energetic man of affairs. He had
a wide experience, gathered during an active military life. He knew
and understood all the conditions of army life in all parts of the country,
and ofthe people with whom our soldiers have to deal, including the
Indians, in whom he took peculiar interest. He was wise and sagacious,
and his judgment was marked by readiness in decision and guided by
shrewd common sense. He had so long held high command, and had
been attended by such success, that he felt a confidence in his adminis
tration of affairs which was rarely at fault. I always found him most
reasonable and ready to look at all sides of a question, and, for a man
of such impulses, most open to conviction. As a soldier, he, of course,
stands quite by himself, differing with a marked and intense individ
uality from all our distinguished soldiers. As a cavalry officer he was
preeminent. The rapidity of his movements, the energy with which
he inspired officers and men, his unerring instincts on the battle-field,
led necessarily to great success, that was well deserved. He was very
interesting and entertaining in social intercourse ; he had a fund of
anecdote, a variety of information that often was very instructive. His
experiences in Europe, when he accompanied the German Army to
France in 1870, were varied and very interesting."
Major-General Daniel E. Sickles said of Sheridan: "He was a
great soldier. Sheridan's character impressed itself readily upon his
command. He gave to his men an intrepidity, a confidence, an audacity
like his own, which enabled him to get a great deal more work out of

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 427
ten thousand men than another commander would get from twenty
thousand. His presence with a command fairly doubled its strength."
Senator Hawley, of Connecticut, himself a capable soldier, has said,
among other tributes, that " Sheridan's judgment was as sound as if
he had been the calmest of men. In private life he was one of the
sweetest, tenderest, kindest of men."
Senator Frye, of Maine, declares that " he was one of the most admir
able officers I ever knew. I was with him in New Orleans during
those troublesome days when he was in command. Before that I had
supposed that he was a somewhat rollicking and adventurous Irish
leader. My experience with him there satisfied me that he was a man
of wonderfully sound and cool judgment."
The New York Sun, in a very lucid and comprehensive review of
Sheridan's career, which bears the distinct marks of Editor Charles A.
Dana's supervision, at least, closes with these words : " It must be said
in conclusion that he was one of the ablest and most impartial admin
istrators the American Army ever had. In recognition of this, no less
than of his conspicuous services in the field, Congress and the Presi
dent reflected infinite credit upon themselves when they bestowed upon
him, before his eyes were closed in death, the exalted rank of general,
as had already been done in turn to his illustrious predecessors, Grant
and Sherman. He has deserved well of the Republic. May his soul
rest in peace ! "
Major-General James M. Schofield, who was a classmate of Sheri
dan's, and succeeds him in command of the United States Army, is
reported as saying, among many other tributes to his dead comrade, that
' ' To me Sheridan was always the beau ideal of a true soldier and a
really great commander. He is one of the few American officers who
attained high and responsible rank through his natural force of charac
ter and his military genius. He was a marked man, even at West
Point, for he displayed at that early stage of his military life the same
sterling qualities which subsequently made him a prominent character
in our national history. . . . Every officer I have ever met,
whatever rank they might have held, who served under Sheridan in
the West or the East, have shown by their language that they honored
and loved him. That is something you cannot say of every man who
wore the shoulder straps 'of a general."
General Daniel Butterfield, who first met Sheridan at Chattanooga,
says : " He was a great soldier, a fighting soldier. As a leader he has
never had a superior, in my judgment, in any army, at any time."

428 THE LIFE OF
Senator Jones, of Arkansas, said : " I regarded General Sheridan as
a great soldier." Senator Cockerell, of Missouri, considers that " he
was one of the greatest cavalry officers, I think, in either army during
the war. He was, as a man, genial and pleasant, and very popular
with those who knew him." Senator Morgan, of Alabama, declared
that Sheridan " honored the character of the American soldier and citi
zen, and his memory will be cherished with great national pride."
These are all ex-Confederate officers. One of the most touching trib
utes was paid also by Colonel Hooker, Representative in Congress
from Mississippi, by whom the resolutions of sympathy and honor
were introduced.
Thus alike from old-time foe, life-time friend, and the comrades of
a common cause, comes the general tribute, all paying honor alike to
man and hero. The list might be indefinitely lengthened. In this
connection it will not be out of place to quote the opinion of the
" Good Gray Poet," Walt Whitman, as a tribute to Sheridan's memory,
and as an evidence of our national strength :
"In the grand constellation," the poet wrote, "of five or six names,
under Lincoln's presidency, that history will bear for ages in her firma
ment as marking the last life throbs of secession and beaming on its
dying gasps, Sheridan's will be one.
" One consideration rising out ofthe now dead soldier's example as
it passes my mind, is worth taking notice of. If the war had contin
ued any long time these States, in my opinion, would have shown and
proved the most conclusive military talents ever evinced by any nation
on earth. That they possessed a rank and file ahead of all other known,
in points of quality and limitlessness of number are easily admitted.
But we have, too, the eligibility of organizing, handling, and officering
equal to the other.
" These two, with modern arms, transportation, and inventive
American genius, would make the United States, with earnestness, not
able only to stand the whole world, but conquer that world united
against us."
General Sheridan himself manifested sensitiveness only on one point
with regard to the character publicly given him. That was as to his
having been both " rash and reckless" as a commander. The facts of
his career amply disprove that judgment. At a dinner given in 1882
to the Loyal Legion, at which the general was present, he said during
the evening's chat :

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 429
" People think I am rash and reckless. I say that there never was
an officer more prudent than I. I. encamped my men well, watched
their rations and comforts, and when we fought the enemy I gave them
the confidence of victory from my knowledge of the enemy and my
confidence in the men."
Senator Plumb has contributed to the public memorabilia in rela
tion to our dead soldier, the following capital reminiscence. The Sen
ator, talking with Sheridan, said :
" ' General, you were in the West before you came East. What was
your opinion of the Army of the Potomac? You remember it was
criticised about that time as not doing its share ofthe work.'
'"Oh, the Army of the Potomac was all right,' replied Sheridan.
' The trouble was the commanders never went out to lick anybody, but
always thought first of keeping from getting licked.'
" Sheridan," continued the Senator, " came East when the cavalry
of the Army of the Potomac was not in good, condition, and Grant gave
him the task of reorganizing it and raising its efficiency. He had
worked away some time when Meade sent him over the Rappahannock
on a reconnaissance. Sheridan came back, and in making his verbal
report referred to a brush he had had with Stuart's cavalry.
" ' Never mind Stuart,' said Meade, interrupting, ' he will do
about as he pleases, anyhow. Go on and tell me what you discovered
about Lee's forces.'
"That made Sheridan mad, and he retorted: 'D — n Stuart; I
can thrash h — 1 out of him any day.'
" Meade repeated the remark to Grant, who queried : ' Why didn't
you tell him to do it ? '
" Not long after, sure enough, Sheridan got an order to cross the
river, engage Stuart, and clean him out.
" ' I knew I could whip him,' remarked Sheridan, ' if I could only
get him where he could not fall back on Lee's infantry. So I thought
the matter over, and to draw him on started straight for Richmond.
We moved fast, and Stuart dogged us right at our heels. We kept on a
second day straight for Richmond, and the next morning found Stuart
in front of "us, just where we wanted him. He had marched all night
and got around us. Then I rode him down. I mashed his command
and broke up his divisions and regiments and brigades, and the poor
fellow himself was killed there. Right there, Senator, I resisted the
greatest temptation of my life. There lay Richmond before us, and
there was nothing to keep us from going in. It would have cost five

430 THE LIFE OF
or six hundred lives, and I could not have held the- place, of course.
But I knew that the moment it was learned at the North that a Union
army was in Richmond then every bell would ring, and I should have
been the hero of the hour. I could have gone in and burned and killed
right and left. But I had learned this thing — that our men knew what
they were about. I had seen them come out of a fight in which only
a handful had been killed, discontented, mad clear through, because
they knew an opportunity had been lost, or a sacrifice, small as it was,
had been needlessly made ; and I had seen them come out good natured,
enthusiastic, and spoiling for more, when they had left the ground so
thickly covered with dead that you could have crossed it on the bodies
alone. They realized that, notwithstanding the terrible sacrifice, the
object gained had been worth it. They would have followed me, but
they would have known as well as I that the sacrifice was for no per
manent advantage.' "
Senator Plumb added : " That exhibits the man and the com
mander. He aimed to win and keep the confidence of his men, and
he did it. He fought for results and not for glory."
In a recent letter to the press, General Badeau has given expression
to some views of Sheridan's characteristics which help to round out
our conception of the strong but simple man, whom Badeau has known
so well. He writes :
' ' I have seen scores of the letters of Sheridan to Grant, and he
wrote not a few to me, on points connected with his own military his
tory, i They were often short, and at times almost rugged, but invari
ably to the point, full of meat, and sometimes extremely felicitous in
expression, like his ringing dispatches from the valley : ' We sent
them whirling through Winchester ! ' ' I deemed it best to make a
delay of a day to settle this new cavalry general.' 'They were fol
lowed by our men on the jump twenty-six miles.' He had a large
share of that power of expression which men of great executive ability
often possess when they approach subjects in which they are interested.
He knew what he meant and what he wanted, and he could say it, not
only so that a child could understand, but often with positive eloquence.
"Whenever the correspondence between Grant and Sheridan dur
ing the reconstruction period is published it will prove all that I say.
That correspondence was secret. Grant's letters were not copied in
the ordinary letter books. They were seen by none of the clerks and by
few of the officers at the headquarters of the army. I retained single
copies of them at the time, and when Grant became President I copied

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 431
these into a book, which, for some reason, was not turned over to the
War Department ; but the first drafts or rough copies he gave to me,
and told me they might serve as material for a political memoir. All
that were of importance I have already so used, but Sheridan's replies
have not yet been given to the world. They will demonstrate the ulti
mate character of the relations of Grant and Sheridan, the complete
harmony in their feeling and the accord in their judgment on a sub
ject which they had never discussed in spoken words ; for one was in
Washington and the other in New Orleans before the Louisiana diffi
culty arose, and they did not meet after this until Sheridan had been
relieved. " I consulted Sheridan frequently in the course of my historical
labors, and he gave me all the assistance I asked, but desired me not to
name him as authority in political matters. He did not wish to be in
volved in political controversies, especially while he was serving under
a Democratic administration ; but he promised to furnish me all the
facts in his possession, and he kept his word. After the appearance of
Grant in Peace, he assured me that he would never contradict or give
cause to contradict any statement that it contained.
" When he saw the picture I tried to make of himself for my mili
tary history, he objected to my saying that he swore, and I struck out
the statement ; but he allowed me to describe him as rising in his
stirrups and swinging his hat in the famous ride from Winchester. He
was loathe, however, to go down to history as a mere Murat, and
naturally so, for he was much more the cavalry leader. Still, he had all
the passion and magnetism that are so irresistible with troops. I have
often been told that on the great ride his face was fairly black with the
rage of battle, and he cried out again and again : ' We'll lick 'em out
of their boots, boys ! we'll lick 'em out of their boots !' He was all
the more a general because he shared and inspired the feeling of his
soldiers. ' ' I shall never forget how he looked on the day of the surrender of
Lee. His troops had outmarched the great Southern leader, and fairly
surrounded him at last ; but when this was discovered, Lee sent word
that he was negotiating with Grant for a surrender, and asked for a
suspension of hostilities. Sheridan had heard nothing of the nego
tiations, and feared the report might be a ruse of Lee. At this
moment I happened to ride up, and Sheridan, supposing I had come
from Grant, asked eagerly if the story was true. He was pacing up
and down in a piece of a farm yard that looked like a pig-pen, and I

432 THE LIFE OF
could not but think how like his action was to that of a wild beast in a
cage. His face flamed, and he clinched his fist as he said to me : ' I've
got 'em, d — n 'em, I've got 'em like that,' and his nails were doubled
into his palm."
The same article contains the following letter :
April n, 1885.
Headquarters Army of the
United States, Washington, D. C.
My Dear Badeau : I am requested by the commissioners ofthe
Soldiers' Home to forward to you the accompanying letter to be
delivered in case of the death of General Grant from his present ill
ness, and request you to fill in the proper date.
We will select the most agreeable and commanding site on the
grounds of the home.
It is unnecessary for me to use words to express my attachment to
General Grant and his family. I have not gone to see him, as I could
only bring additional distress. Then I want to remember him as I
knew him while in good health. With kind regards, yours truly,
P. H. Sheridan.
In action Sheridan was extraordinary. Almost insignificant in
appearance when on foot, when on horse-back he became conspicuous
in any body of mounted men. He could be as calm as a brazen figure,
pr as fluid and flashing as a stream of molten metal. He would choose,
when a battle began, a rising piece of ground, from which he could
survey the whole field. He sat his saddle like a centaur ; there was no
better horseman in the American Army ; — and he knew his horse also.
Sitting silent, his wonderful gray eyes — so capable of expressing every
emotion, passion, power known to man — would see every phase of the
conflict. They would glow, burn, flash — until at a critical moment
he would dash forward, galloping direct to where he was needed. It
was a sight, indeed, to see him ride swiftly along the lines just before a
charge and raise the troops' enthusiasm to fever heat. Then his cheek
glowed with excitement, his eye grew bright, and there was a magnetic
influence about him which extended itself to every one in the ranks.
At such moments he seemed transformed, and it was no wonder that
his troops afterward moved with steadiness and determination into the
vortex of flame that awaited them.
As a practical soldier, it is doubtful if any army ever had a better
one. He readily, almost, as it were, instantaneously, mastered the
topography of the region in which he was operating. He was never

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 433
surprised. In any army he always proved on consultation to be better
informed than any one else. He had the best of scouts — men who were
ready to dare anything at his orders or request. He provided for his
troops amply and always the best there was to be had, in commissariat
or country, and he proved himself to be an admirable tactician — that,
too, in the most scientific sense of the term. He was equally at home
in handling every arm of the service, though he delighted most in
handling the cavalry, to whose capacity for real warfare he gave in
creased value. While a firm but not extreme disciplinarian, he never
expected impossibilities, or failed to remember that he was dealing
with men to whom martial service was but an episode in citizenship.
Personally, Sheridan was a lovable man — irascible and hot-tempered
at times — but aiming to be just, and always ready to acknowledge a
wrong or harsh judgment. He was honest, wholly truthful, generous,
and fearless, morally, as well as physically. In private life most de
voted to his home, his wife, and his beloved children. Among his
personal friends and intimates — a limited circle, perhaps — he was
generally cheerful arid companionable. He was always as modest as
he was brave, and was not readily drawn to talk of himself or his own
career and actions. He was not a great reader, but he knew well
what he did read. Certainly he was not neglectful of his books, and
of late years, and especially since residing in Washington, his library
became more of a social companion. He was a lover of Shakespeare,
and could quote aptly on occasion.
A faithful member of the chief army associations, the Loyal Legion,
" of which he was the commander, and the Grand Army of the Republic,
General Sheridan was a faithful attendant on the reunions which make
each year so worthy a feature of our reminiscent life. He has spoken
several times to such bodies.
General Horatio C. King, the secretary of the Society of the Army
of the Potomac, United States Army, so favorably known as a writer
on military matters, as well as a soldier in the field, speaks of his
former commander in terms that deserve permanent record. " I first
met General Sheridan," he says, " on reporting to him for duty in
October, 1864. Sheridan at that time was abou thirty years of age
[he was in his thirty-fourth year] ; short in stature, lithe, active, straight
as an arrow, and every inch a soldier. He sat in the saddle as if he
were welded to the animal he rode. He had a bright, piercing eye, a
firm yet elastic tread, and was alert, quick, and energetic in every move
ment. He was our Marshal Ney, and inspired the most complete con-
38

434 THE LIFE OF
fidence. Men fight better when they know that the man who leads
them has the ability to extricate them from sudden and unforeseen diffi
culties. We had many soldiers who were good at a dash in carrying
out instructions, but miserably failed when they ran against obstacles
not anticipated in the plan of procedure. Sheridan, though brave to
recklessness, was never rash. He comprehended the situation before
he made his dispositions. He was swift to plan and to execute, and
was, in fact, the beau ideal of a brilliant soldier. No officer was
more beloved by his troops. He often spoke at the meetings of the
Society of the Army of the Potomac."
Like Grant and Wellington, Sheridan never considered himself a
speaker, yet he could express, among his former comrades especially,
in a terse and happy manner the fitting thoughts for the occasion. His
little speeches to the Society of the Army of the Potomac are all
worthy the preservation the records give.
He was present at the Boston reunion in 1873, and said happily to
his comrades at that gathering : ->
" We must remember that at one time the country depended upon
us, and was obliged to call on us as a higher court, when all other
courts had failed, to decide whether the Republic should live or die.
We ought to feel proud of the future we have given to the country.
In the last ten months I have heard continual allusion to the state of
our Republic, and in Europe they look forward to the future of this
country as the future which belongs to Europe as well."
He had but recently returned from Europe, where he had witnessed
the great struggle between the German and French. He had studied
widely and closely also, and his words then have a significance beyond
the day on which they were uttered.
The year before, at the Cleveland reunion, the general responded to
the toast of " The Cavalry." General Sheridan said :
" I don't know why I should be selected to respond for the cavalry,
unless it is the fact, you know, that I did belong to the cavalry at one
time, but at the same time I must say I was rather cosmopolitan. I
not only belonged to the cavalry, but belonged to almost everything
else. I once even belonged to the engineer corps, and corduroyed more
bridges about Shiloh than any man I know of. After a while I came
into the cavalry and traveled from the West to the East, and I can assure
you, comrades of the cavalry, that there is no event of my life that I
look back to with so much pride as my connection with the cavalry."
There is in these remarks a pleasant confirmation of General

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 43 £
Badeau's testimony that Sheridan desired to be rated as an all-round
soldier. And he was undoubtedly a man of military genius in the
largest sense of the term. The fact that from the very outset of his
real military activity he gave an importance to the handling of mounted
masses not before achieved, shows this conclusively. His generalship
is a matter of universal recognition.
There is a world of meaning in the earnest words he addressed to
the Army of the Potomac at the reunion held at Philadelphia, in 1S78.
They embody the advice of an earnest citizen as well as the words of
an honest soldier, mindful of the noble cause for which he fought, and
of the high character of the Nation whose soldier he was. They are to
be read, not only for what is actually said, but for the unexpressed feel
ing the trenchant, well-considered words convey, as well for the spirit,
also, of comradeship. It was the Centennial year, also :
" I want to see the government secure, and the cause for which we
fought secure. I consider that we are here as the guardians of the honor
of the men who now lie sleeping on many battle-fields, and that it is
our duty to maintain the cause for which they died. Now I do not
want any more war. I am the last man in the world, you know, to
want war. But I think the best way to keep it from coming is not to
be so forgiving as we are. I do not ask for anything, I do not want
to be elected to any office, but I would like to keep what I have got.
There is no danger but General Sherman will live longer than I will,
so I have nothing to hope for in the succession. I will tell you one
thing — I never yet have heard a single address by any one in this army
society that I thought embodied what the society most wanted to hear.
They all want to talk about the cause which led to the war, and about
emancipation, and all such things. We do not care about hearing that.
It is all over. The problem is worked out. What we now want to
hear is something about our old comrades and about the battles we
fought, and the good times we had, and the bad times we had — and
things of that kind."
At New Haven in 1878, he said at the reunion :
" I have a few earnest words to say to you, comrades. I have
remarked during the day that we are thinning out. Every year some
of us go ; we are all going, you know — we must go sometime —
and it seems to me that every succeeding year ought not to allow any
troubles which may come up or which may have existed heretofore to
destroy the good feeling that we ought to have for each other. If I had
anything against anybody heretofore belonging to this army, I would

436 THE LIFE OF
just like to shake hands with him now. One thing you can depend
upon, there is nobody belonging to this army that can get up any quar
rel with me."
And General Sheridan never had a dispute with any one, in or out
of the Army of the Potomac, over any event or action in which he was
a participant. In a pertinent, if brief address at the Burlington, Vermont, reunion
of 1880, he gave a comforting assurance, as a military expert, which is
worth while remembering. In responding to the toast of the " Army
and Navy," the general said :
" There are about three millions of men in the United States be
longing to the army and navy. I think it is unnecessary to count the
little fraction of the regular army that exists now, or of the navy, because
they would be nothing but a nucleus in case the country was required
anew to engage in war. I hope no war will ever happen that will call
out the entire number of men we can turn out in this country. I do not
believe such a war will ever occur. We have the ocean as a fortifica
tion. It would take more than all the shipping in Europe to bring
men sufficient to this country to make one campaign. I mean all the
shipping of Europe, unmolested, if it were permitted to sail, couldn't
carry men and material sufficient for one campaign, to meet the force
we could command. It would take more than all Europe could do."
A more recent speech was made in 1886, at Creston, Iowa. The
speech was wholly impromptu, and there was, fortunately, a good
stenographer present. General Sheridan's manner was easy and his
speech flowed unembarrassed. He said :
" Comrades, I came here to-day to see you and talk with you and
skake hands with you, while Colonel Carr and others, you know,
came here to make eloquent addresses for you to listen to. I think he
has been too eulogistic of me in his remarks. It is true that I fought in
almost everybody's army, from Pea Ridge to Appomattox, and although
I fought with cavalry and infantry and on every line of operation, and
always had to change and take new men on new lines, I was very suc
cessful. I went through all the grades they had in the volunteer ser
vice, and then I commenced and went through all the grades in the
regular service, and the date of every commission that I have is the
date of a battle. Now I want to say to you, comrades, this — that I am
indebted to the private in the ranks for all this credit that has come
to me. [Applause, long, and continued.]
" He was the man who did the fighting ; and the man who carried the
musket is the greatest hero of the war, in my opinion. I was nothing

GEN. PHIL. H. SHERIDAN. 437
but an agent. I knew how to take care of men. I knew what a soldier
was worth, and I knew how to study the country so as to put him in
right. I knew how to put him in a battle when one occurred, but I
was simply the agent to take care of him, and he did the work. Now,
comrades, these are common-sense things, and I can't say them in very
flowery language ; but they are true, nevertheless, and they are true, not
of me alone, but of everybody else. It is to the common soldier that
we are indebted to any credit that came to us.
" I am glad to see you here to-day, gentlemen, and I am glad to be
with you on this occasion. There are many here to-day who served in
the field with me, and it is a great pleasure to me to find them out,
and they have been very kindly in their remarks to me. While they
were with me I certainly did all I could for them. I often laid awake
planning for their welfare, and I never killed a man unnecessarily. One
great trouble with men who command troops is that they kill men un
necessarily. You may kill as many men as you choose if you give
them an equivalent for the loss. Men do not like to be killed for
nothing ; they do not like to have their heads rammed against a stone
wall unless for some good results. Those are the points I made during
the war. Whenever I took men into a battle I gave them victory as
the result of the engagement, and that was always satisfactory."
A soldier's speech that — aptly expressing the feelings of men and
commanders alike. A longer, more finished, and quite a notable
address was that delivered before the graduating class at West Point, in
June, 1887. This dealt with the life ofthe graduates, their obligations,
and the duties they owe to their profession and the country. General
Sheridan could tell a good story, and tell it well. Among his army
friends he was quite apt to do so. His dispatches, reports, and other
official papers show him to have possessed a simple and direct style of
writing, which became rather racy and epigrammatic on occasion.
A strong, simple man this — very human withal, and close to our
common life. The genuine child of democracy, he honored it by his
deeds, made it more glorious by his services, and proved that once felt
in a man's blood and brains, democracy contains the civic philter which
cures even the lofty if cruel ambition that history has too often identified
with a soldier's successful career. In the American Democracy Sheri
dan's life, like Grant's and Sherman's, with all their comrades', gives us
proof that the equality of man before the law is the very best guarantee
that under the law the loftiest service, the bravest deeds, the most daring
of intellectual activity, must all tend steadily to the common advantage
— to the uplifting and glory alone of the Commonwealth.

INDEX.

Aaron, Barney, 357.
Abell. Judge E., removed from
office, 839.
Academy of the Visitation, S71.
Alabama, 97.
Northern, 147, 155.
Alaska, Purchase of, 323.
Albany, N. Y., Sheridan's birth
place, 23.
Alcott, Louisa M., at Nonquit, 376.
Aldermen of New Orleans removed
from office, 340.
Alger, General R. A., 46-49, 55, 61,
158, 182, 250. 225.
At St. Matthew's, 408.
At the grave, 416.
Alleghany Mountains, 125, 257.
Allison, Senator, at St. Matthew's,
407.
Amelia Court House, 290, 293.
Anderson. Captain H. B.. in com
mand of Guard of Honor at
Sheridan's funeral, 390.
Anderson's Farm, 109.
Anderson, General B. H., 73, 88,
135, 158, 160
Appalachian Mountains, 77, 110, 123,
300.
Appomattox, 20, 239, 287, 289, 290, 294,
295, 297, 300, 317, 321, 424.
Appomattox, Surrender at, 301,
303. Court House, 248, 266.
Araphoes, 345.
Arkansas, 155.
Department of, 321.
Arlington, 308, 417, 421.
Arlington, Cemetery of, 382, 406.
Procession to, 415.
Army Corps, Third, General Gil
bert, 70, 74.
First, General A. D. McCook,
70.
Twentieth, McCook, 76.
Fourteenth, 78.
Tenth, T. L. Crittenden,
80-90.
Fifth, 270,271, 282, 286, 289,
290, 292.
Fourteenth, 102,108, 114, 116,
128, 321.
Nineteenth, 257.
Ninth, 126, 288.
Second, 284, 291, 294.
Seventh, 322.
Sixth, 257, 285, 286, 291, 292.
Twenty-fifth, 288.
Twenty-first, 114.
Twenty-fourth, 284.
Twentieth, 108, 114, 115, 116,
118.
Army of the Border. Union, 320.
Of the Cumberland, 94, 97,
106, 110, 111, 120, 124, 125, 128,
130, 135, 147, 148, 150, 155, 166,
343
Of the James, 283, 321.
Of the Mississippi, 97.
Of the Ohio, 125, 155.
Ofthe Potomac, 113, 124, 153,
165, 166, 167. 158, 364.
Ofthe Southwest Missouri,
41 44.
Of the Tennessee, 113, 125, 126,
145, 147, 156.

Army of Missouri, Confederate,
under Price, 41.
Of Virginia, 311.
Of Virginia, Last charge of
the, 294.
Arthur, President, 359, 368.
Artillery: Eighth Indiana Battery, 117.
Flood's Battery, 99.
Fifth Ohio Battery, 103.
Third Artillery, 396.
Asboth, General, 52, 64, 66.
Ashby, Turner, 305, 306, 313.
Ashby's Gap, 258.
Ashland, 162,265.
Athens, Tenn., 127.
Atlanta, Ga., 107, 108, 114, 136, 177, 179.
Augusta, Ga., 258.
Austrian-French Invaders, 322.
Averill, Brigadier-General, 153, 171,
175, 182, 186, 196, 202, 240, 242, 252,
257, 260, 311.
Avery, Captain, 132.
Aylett's. 163.
Ayres, General, 270 271, 276, 278.
Babcock, Colonel, 301.
Badeau. General Adam, 145, 153, 265,
267, 301, 318, 352, 430, 432, 435.
Baird, Major-General Absalom, 97,
108, 116, 125. 128, 130, 134, 135, 335,
336.
Baldwin, Colonel, 103.
Baldwin, Miss., 64, 66.
Baltimore, 176.
Banks, General, 97, 106, 125, 155, 157,
331.
Bardstown, Ky., 71.
Barlow, 165.
Barnard. General, 248, 301.
Barringer, Brigadier-General Ru-
fus, 168, 169.
Bartlett, General, 271, 278.
Bate, General, 136.
Bate's Brigade, Confederate, 103.
Battle above the Clouds, 129.
Battle-flag of General Sheridan's
Corps, 401.
Baxter, 278.
Bayard, General Geo. D., 241, 311.
Secretary, at St. Matthew's,
408.
Baylor, 328.
Bazaine. Marshal, 322, 323.
Beatty, 90.
Beatty's Brigade, 109.
Beaumont. Battle of, 350, 353.
Beauregard, General P. G., 38, 46,
52, 63, 66, 173, 305.
Beaver Dam, 162, 263.
Belle Grove, 219, 221.
Isle. 254.
BeUs tolled at way stations, 395.
Belmont, Representative Perry, 362.
Beraske, Corporal, 390.
Bermuda Hundred, 172, 258.
Berryville, 187, 193, 258.
Big Thunder. 359.
Birney, General, 186.
Bismarck, Prince, 350, 352. 354.
Blair, General C. H., 125, 238, 365.
Austin, Governor, of Michi
gan, 47,48. 63, 182.
General F. P., 65.
Blake, Corporal, 390.

Bloody Angle, 153.
Blue Ridge, 123, 257, 258, 260, 261.
Blunt, Colonel, at Nonquit, 393, 394.
Major-General James G., 157,
238,320,322,345.
Stanhope, 360.
Bolivar Heights, 142.
Bonaparte, Napoleon, 183.
Sheridan compared to, 423.
Bonsai, Mrs. McP., 198.
Booneville, Miss., 49, 52, 65, 237, 254.
Booth, Wilkes, 317.
Bottom's Bridge, 163.
Boulanger, General. 425.
Bowers, Colonel T. S., 301.
Boweryman, 278.
Bowling Green, 163.
Boydton road, 269, 270, 271, 273, 275,
286.
Boyle, General T. J., 67, 97, 125.
Boynton, General H. V., 130, 131,
132, 135.
Bradford Island, 36, 37.
Bradbury, Captain, 196.
Bragg. General, 70, 130, 147, 148.
Bragg's Defeat, verse, 96.
Brannan, General, 104, 106, 115-118,
125.
Branson, W. W.. conductor, 395.
Brashton Lawyer, 24.
Breckenridge, General John B., 78,
82, 116, 116, 135, 176.
Bridgeport, 106, 108, 113, 114, 124, 125,
127.
Briggs, Colonel, 252, 295, 296.
Brock road, 160.
Brooks Gap, 243.
Brothers, Dominican, 408.
Brown, John, 187.
Brown's Ferry, 126, 129.
Brownsville, Texas, 321, 322, 323, 324,
326, 329.
Bryantsville, Ky., 71.
Buchanan, Sergeant, 390.
Buckner, General, 73, 74, 106, 109.
Buell, General Don Carlos, 42, 64-74,
145, 310.
Buford. General, 158, 311.
Bull Run Mountain, 253.
Virginia. 322.
Bunker Hill, 193-195.
Breastworks of, 369.
Burkes Station, 173.
Burksville, 290.
Burlington, Vt., 436.
Burnside, General A. E„ 106, 107, 112,
113, 124-127, 136, 148, 158, 164, 165,
172, 177, 178, 240, 251.
Burr, Colonel F. A„ 298.
Butler, General B. F., 163, 172, 177,
331.
Butler, Major-General M.C., 168, 169.
Butterfield, General Daniel, 355, 427.
Byran, Colonel T. M., Jr., 158.
Cairo, 124.
Campbell, Captain, 54; Colonel, 364.
Camp Supply, Tragedy at, 372.
Wildcat, 76
Canby, Colonel, 36, 40, 259.
Capehart. Colonel, 260.
Caperton's Ferry, 107, 108.
Carlin, Colonel, 73, 104.
Carlisle, Speaker, 405, 408, 414.
Carlton, 328.

440

INDEX.

Carter, Colonel, 97, 222.
Carter's Creek, 100-1.
Carthage, Tenn.. 100.
Cascades, Ore., 36.
Cassell, Sam, 27.
Castle Thunder, 254.
Catharpin's Furnace, 160.
Cattell's Gap road, 116.
Cavalry: Fifth Cavalry, 346.
First Cavalry Division, 260.
First Colorado Volunteer
Cavalry, 328.
First Virginia Cavalry, 312.
Fourth Cavalry, 396.
P. M. B. Cavalry, 143.
Second Iowa Cavalry, E2.
Second Michigan Cavalry,
45, 48, 49. 52, 64.
Seventh Michigan Cavalry,
295.
Tenth Cavalry, 343.
Third Cavalry Division, 260.
Cedar Creek, 168, 183, 203, 206, 218,
219, 221, 229, 230, 248, 311, 364, 391.
Centennial Year. 435.
Centerville, 99, 258.
Central Hill, Somerville, Battery
on, 369.
Cetico Creek, 127, 128.
Chalmers, General J. R., 61, 52, 61,
64, 89, 90 253, 305, 306, 310.
Chamberlain, General, 271, 274, 278.
Major. 177.
Chambersburg, Penn., 180.
Chamblis, Brigadier-General J. R.,
168.
Chaplin's Creek, 72, 74.
Hills, 72, 77.
Chapman, Colonel Geo. H., 158.
Charles, Archduke, 425.
Charleston, 187, 193, 258, 259.
Charlotte, 99.
Charlottesville, 161, 170, 172, 206, 260,
261, 264.
Chattanooga, 69, 77, 80, 97, 98, 104-129,
136, 145-148, 158, 165, 159, 423.
Cheatham, General, 19, 72, 73, 80, 85-86
115,116,136,311.
Cherokee Country, 322.
Cherokeos. Land sold by, 347.
Chesterfield, 163.
Chester Gap. 258.
CheyenneB, 346, 347.
Chicago, 214, 354, 357, 358, 360, 361.
Fire, 349.
Chickahominy, 52, 162, 163, 248, 249,
309.
Chickamauga, 109, 114-127, 131, 134,
136, 147, 148, 159, 167, 172. 364, 423.
Chihuahua, Mexico, 326, 327, 328.
Childs, George W., at Sheridan's
funeral. 408.
At the grave, 416.
Chivington, Colonel, attacks the
Kiowas, 345.
Christ! e,Deputy Sergeant-at- Arms,
acts as marshal at Sheridan's
funeral, 407.
Cincinnati, 155, 230.
City Point, 172, 173, 185, 186, 203, 253,
259, 265, 266, 267, 269, 285.
Claiborne road, 289.
Cleburne, General Patrick, 73, 83, 86,
87, 91, 103,115,117,305.
Cleveland, President, 368.
Sends message of condo
lence to Mrs. Sheridan,
384.
Announces Sheridan's death
to Congress, 385.
Sends a floral tribute, 400.
And wife attend Sheridan's
funeral, 405.
And family at St. Matthew's,
408, 409.
Cloud, General, 238.
Clous, Major J. w„ 348.
Coburn, Colonel 99, 100.
Oockerell, Senator, 428.

Cole, Major Henry A., 188, 143.
Cole's Cavalry, 137, 138, 139, 140, 144.
Cole's Ferry, 172.
Columbia Furnace, 243.
Columbia River, 36.
Columbia, 8. C, 258, 262. 263, 265.
Cold Harbor, 158, 163, 164,166, 171,250.
Comauches, 345.
Confederate cavalry, 304, 305.
Flag of truce, 295.
Loss at Stone River, 97.
President, Flight of, 317.
War Department, 98.
Conference to arrange terms of
surrender, 300.
Congress adjourns, 387.
Conrad, Major Holmes, 246.
Consul to Hong Kong, 314.
Conveying the dead general to
Washington, 393.
Cooke, Brigadier-General Philip St.
George, 238, 240, 310, 311.
Cooley, Benjamin B., 203.
Cooper's Pass, Lookout Mountain,
114.
Corbin's Bridge, 159.
Corinth, Siege of, 18, 43, 45, 46, 52, 65,
66, 69, 106, 124, 148.
Cortinas, 323, 324, 326.
Coulter, 278.
Court House road, 269, 273.
Cowan, 105.
Cox, Major General J. D., 302.
Crab Orchard. 76, 77.
" Craddock, Charles Egbert," Mur
freesboro', Miss , 94.
Craig, S., flagman, 396.
Crawfish Spring, 114, 116.
Crawford. General 270, 271, 276, 277,
278, 289.
Crawford, S. J., Ex-Governor, 344,
345.
Creston. Iowa, 436
Crittenden, Major-General T. L.,
71, 76, 80, 97, 104, 109, 114, 115, 116,
120.
Crocker. General, 111.
Crook, General George, 97, 153, 158,
171, 176, 179, 186, 194, 195, 197, 202,
207, 240, 250, 257, 272, 283, 290, 291,
292, 293, 294, 300, 313, 416.
Crosby, Schuyler, 348, 408.
Cruft, General, 91, 116, 129.
Culpepper, 206, 247, 258.
Cumberland, 180.
Mountains, 104, 105, 112, 113,
Department of, 78, 101.
Gap, 68. 76.
River, 77, 111.
Curtis, Major-General Samuel R.,
41,42,43,44,68, 156, 804, 320, 322,
359.
Custer, General George A., 20, 24,
158, 160, 172, 182, [86, 210, 240, 243,
244, 246, 247, 2511, 253, 260, 261, 262,
268, 272, 274, 275, 279, 282, 293-297,
302, 303,807,311, 313,359,364.
Custis family, The. 420.
Cut Mouth John, Indian scout, 37.
Dabney's Mill, 267, 286
Dahlgren, Ulric, 158, 240, 258, 254.
Dakota. 358. 359.
Dana, Charles A., 125, 128, 187, 216,
261. 427.
Daney's farm, 271.
Danville road, 290.
Kentucky, 71, 293, 294.
Davies, General H. E., 158, 182, 187,
253, 291.
Davis, Jefferson, 39, 239, 252, 254, 262,
263, 306.
Colonel G. W., at St. Mat
thew's. 408.
General Jeff. C, 65, 82. 83. 86,
87, 91, 99, 102, 104, 107, 108,
115, 116, 117, 118, 125.
Dawes, Senator, at St. Matthew's,
407.

Day, Corporal, 390.
Dayton, Ohio, 203.
Dearing, W. H. F., 168.
Deatonsville, 293.
Decatur, Alabama, 69, 148.
Deep Bottom, 177, 178.
Creek, 290, 291.
Democracy, American, 437.
Dent, Colonel ¥. T., 301.
Departments :
Of Louisiana, 321.
Of Ohio, 112.
Of the Gulf, 125.
Of the Northwest, 322.
Deschard, General, 104, 105, 106.
Deven, General Thomas C, 158, 182,
186, 210, 253, 260, 262, 263,272, 274,
294.
Dickinson, Secretary, at St. Mat
thew's, 408.
Dinwiddie Court House, 248, 269,
270, 272, 273, 281, 285, 286, 289.
Doane, J. W., 357.
Doctor's Creek, Ky., 72.
Dodge, General G. M., 127, 148.
" Dog-Soldiers," The, 345, 346, 347.
Dolph, Senator, at St. Matthew's,
407.
Doniphan's Missouri Command,
326.
Donovan, Brigadier General John,
168.
Douglas, Colonel, 99.
Drum Barracks, Wilmington,
Southern California, 328.
Dry Valley, 125.
Road, 115, 118.
Duck River, 100, 112.
Duflie, General A. N., 253.
Duguidsville. 262.
Duke, 238, 255, 306, 311.
Durant, Thomas J., 389.
Durell, Judge, 332.
Eagleville, 99.
Early, General Jnbal A., 168, 171, 176,
177, 179, 181, 182, 183, 185, 186, 195,
202, 204, 205, 206, 207, 218, 220, 222,
229, 257, 260, 261, 265, 299, 312, 313,
346
Eastport, MiBS., 259.
Ector, 91.
Edgefield Junction, 78.
Edmunds, Senator, of Vermont, of
fers a resolution, 387.
At St. Matthew's, 407.
Edwards, Colonel, 212.
Elk River, 104, 105.
Elliott, Colonel W. L., Second Iowa
Cavalry, 52, 66.
Elliott, General, 343, 345.
Ellison, Lieutenant, 103.
Elliston, Miss., 66.
El Paso, Texas, 322, 326, 328.
Emory, Colonel, 311.
General, 194, 195, 202, 209.
Endicott, Secretary, 426.
Sends message of condolence
to Mrs. Sheridan, 3f6.
At Sheridan's funeral, 408.
Escabedo, General, 828, 324.
Estelle SprinB-s, 104.
Ewell, General, 158, 294, 305.
Evarts, Senator, at St. Matthew's,
407.
Fagan. General, 41.
Fairchild, Secretary, 408.
Fairfax Court House. 258.
Farmville, 290. 300, 813.
Farnsworth, General Eben J., 240.
Farragut. Admiral. 331.
Farwell, Mr., of Illinois, introduces
pension bill, 388.
Fayetteville, N. C, 106, 258, 259.
Ferrero. General. 172.
Field. Marshal, at Sheridan's fune
ral. 4(K
Fifth Reconstruction District, 338.
Fink and Dittoe, 24.

INDEX.

441

Finnegas, 174.
Fisher's Hill, 200, 202, 203, 204, 207,
218, 219, 242, 284.
Five Forks, 24S, 266-271, 273, 275, 278,
280, 282, 285, 286, 289, 297, 320, 423.
Flag of truce brought by General
Whittaker, 296.
At half-mast, Order concern
ing, 386.
Of General Sheridan's divis
ion headquarters, 402.
Flanders, Benjamin J., 339.
Floral tributes on the altar steps,
402.
Florida, 380.
Floyd, John B., 39.
Foley, Bishop, conducts General
Sheridan's marriage, 373.
Consecrates Sheridan's
grave, 406, 407.
Recites the offices at Sheri
dan's grave, 416.
Ford's Station, 173.
Forrest, General N. B„ 80, 97, 99,
100. 116, 217, 255, 305, 306, 310.
Forsyth, Brigadier-General James
W., 201, 251, 340, 350, 352, 354, 366,
405, 416.
At St. Matthew's, 407.
Forsyth, Colonel G. S., 251.
At St. Matthew's, 408.
Fort Adams furnishes guard of
honor at Nonquit, 390.
Duncan, 34.
Fisher, 259.
Gibson, 156, 322.
Kearney, 40.
Leavenworth, 40, 322, 343, 346,
359
Smith, Ark., 157.
Standish, 369.
Stedman, 266.
StiU, 307.
Union, 371.
Wise. 40.
Wood, 34.
Franco- Prussian war declared, 349.
Frankfort, Ky., 71.
Franklin, Tex., 99, 100, 101, 138, 240.
Frederick, Md., 138.
Fredericksburg, 311.
Fremont, General John C, 42, 252.
Front Royal, 194, 202, 258.
Frye, Senator, 427.
Fullerton, General. J. S., 128, 129,
182.
Funeral escort, 387.
March, Order of, 414, 416.
Services, Description of , 407-
414.
Services, Time occupied by,
407.
Train, 394, 395.
Fnnkhouser, Colonel, 102.
Furnace road, 160.
Gaines Mills, 308.
Gam betta. 355.
Garfield, General, 118, 120.
Garge, 354.
Garrett, Cyrus. 230.
Gate City of the Confederacy, 109,
113, 123.
Gay, Captain Ebenezer, 71.
Gay, Shawnee agent, 38.
Geary, General, 126, 126, 129.
Georgia 77, 97, HI.
German Boldiers' opinions of Sheri
dan, 425.
Getty, General, 159.
Gettysburg, 167, 247, 123, 218.
Gibbons, Cardinal, 408, 409.
Delivers funeral discourse,
410-413.
GibbonB, General, 21, 165, 295.
Gifford, R. Swam, Residence of, 376.
Gila Valley, Ariz., 328.
Gilbert, General C. C, 70, 74, 76, 97.
Gilder, Richard Watson, 396.
Gilmore, Colonel Harry, 259, 306.

Girst, General, 117.
Goldsboro', 258.
Goochland, Va., 263.
Goode, Thomas F., 314.
Gordon, General John B., 18, 21, 46-
49, 61, 67, 186, 217, 223, 295, 296, 297,
298, 302, 306.
Gordon's Mills, 109, 116.
Gordonsville, 161, 206, 258.
Govern, General, 116, 117.
Graham, David, 396.
Granger, General Gordon, 67, 97, 101,
105, 115, 119, 120, 126, 128, 130, 131,
132, 134, 147, 148, 182, 240.
Grant, Colonel Frederick D., at
St. Matthew's, 418.
At Arlington, 416.
" Grant, Sherman. Sheridan," poem
by R. W. Gilder, 397.
Grant, U. S.— 17. 18, 46, 46, 53, 66, 67.
68, 77, 98, 101, 111, 115, 124, 137, 145.
146, 147, 148, 160, 153, 155, 156, 159,
160, 164, 168, 171, 172, 174, 178, 179.
180, 181, 188, 193, 201, 203, 206, 247,
251, 252, 255, 258, 259, 262, 264, 265,
266, 267, 269, 273, 281, 282, 285, 286,
287, 288, 289, 290, 292, 293, 294, 296,
296, 297, 298, 300, 301, S17. 323, 330,
332, 365, 369, 430, 431, 434.
Sends Sheridan to New Or
leans, 341.
Elected President, 347.
Gravelly Run, 270, 271, 272, 273, 276,
£78 280 281
Graveiock', battle of, 350, 353.
Graves, Doctor, of Providence, 324.
Greene. Assistant Adjutant-Gene
ral, 67.
Greenhault, Sergeant, 390.
Gregg, General David McM., 158,
169, 182, 186, 241, 252, 253, 274.
Gregg, Colonel J. Irvin, 158, 182.
Gregory, General, 271, 276.
Colonel James F., at St. Mat
thew's, 408.
Greiner, Captain, 24, 32.
Gridiron Club, 367.
Grier, Colonel, 311.
Grierson, General B. R., 65, 69, 238,
240, 252, 255, 259.
Griffin, General, 21, 271, 276, 277, 278,
290, 296.
Grose, General, 91, 109, 116.
Grover, General, 196, 212.
Gruesal, Colonel Nicholas, 71.
Guard of Honor, 396.
Guaymas, 327.
Guinney's Station, 163.
Gulf Department, 113.
Guntown, Mississippi, 32, 64.
Gwin, 319, 278, 323.
Hall, Colonel A. S„ 100.
Halleck, General H. W., 18, 42,46,
53, 61, 64, 69, 95, 106, 124. 127, 143, 145,
146, 157, 170, 180, 182, 204, 206.
Haller, Major, 38.
Halltown, i81.
Haipen, Corporal, 390.
Hampton, Lieutenant-General
Wade, 168, 171, 174, 217, 305, 306,
309, 810, 311, 314.
Hancock, General W. S., 125, 158,
159, 160, 164, 172, 173, 177, 186, 265.
345.
Hanover Court House, 310.
Hardee, General, 67, 72, 74, 80, 82, 83,
86, 89, 91, 97, 104, 107, 135.
Hardeeville, 258.
Harding, Colonel, 99.
Hardwicksville, 262.
Harker, General, 119, 136.
Harper's Ferry, 139, 142, 176, 181, 188,
203, 257.
Harrison, General Benjamin, 103,
107.
Harrodsburg, Ky., 71, 76,
Hartsuff, General, 312, 313.
Hascall,90.
Hatch, Lieutenant-Colonel, 54.

Hatcher's Run. 269, 270, 289.
Hawley, Senator, 360, 388, 408, 416,
427.
Haxall's Landing. 163.
Hays. Brigadier-General Alexander
killed, 159.
Hays, Fort, 346,348.
Hazen, General, 92, 107, 108. 117, 125.
Heberton, H., baggage-maBter, 395.
Herron, Andrew S., removed from
office, 339.
Hiawassee, 109.
Hill, Colonel Herbert E., 211, 212.
305, 369, 390.
Hill. General A. P., 158.
Hindman, 115, 120.
Hinks, 172.
Hiscock's Battery, 84.
Hoar, Senator, at St. Matthew's, 407.
Hood, General, 115, 117, 120, 305.
Hooker, Colonel, attends General
Sheridan's funeral, 405, 428.
General, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128,
129, 130, 147, 232, 241.
Mr., of Mississippi, offers
resolutions, 388.
Holly Springs, Mississippi, 66.
Hoover's Gap, 102.
Horse, General Sheridan's, follows
the general's coffin, 414.
Howard, General, 125, 128, 129, 155, 156.
Howell, Judge, 332, 335.
Huff, John A., 250.
Humphreys, General, 281, S87, 289,
292,300.
Humphrey's Station, 270.
Hunter, Major, 95, 167, 170, 175, 172,
180, 181, 182, 252.
Huntsville, Alabama, 148, 165.
Hurlbut, General, 106, 124, 125.
Illinois, 125.
Imboden, General, 313, 314.
Imperialists, The, 319, 323.
Indiana, 125.
Indian difficulties, 424.
Hill, 131.
Peace Commission, 343.
Territory, 166, 157, 307, 354,.
Indian tribes, 344.
Infantry Regiments :
Eighty-ninth Illinois, 103.
Eighty-third Illinois, 99.
Fifteenth Illinois, 150.
Fifteenth Kentucky, 90.
Fifteenth Ohio, 103, 104.
Forty-ninth Ohio, 103.
Fourth, 34.
Ninety-third Ohio, 103.
One Hundred and First
Illinois, 100.
One Hundred and Twenty-
third Illinois, 100.
Seventeenth and Eighteenth
Kansas Volunteers, 344.
Seventy-second Indiana, 102.
Thirteenth Mississippi, 88.
Thirteenth, United StatfS
Army, 422.
Thirty-fourth Massachu
setts, 142,
Thirty-ninth Indiana
Mounted, 103.
Thirty-second Indiana, 103..
Twenty-first Illinois, Com
pany K, 96.
Twenty-third Illinois, 102.
Ingalls, General, 301.
Ingalls, Senator, at St. Matthew's,
407.
Innes, Colonel, 106.
Innes, General, 125.
Invitations to attend Sheridan's
funeral, 406, 406.
Irving, 158.
Inka, Miss., 66, 68.
Jackson, General T. J. (Stonewall),
70, 73, 182, 313, 365.
James River, 258, 262, 264, 309.

442

INDEX.

Jasper, 125.
Jaurez, 323, 327.
Jefferson City, 345.
Jersey City, Funeral train at, 396.
Jetersville, 289, 290, 291, 292.
Johnson, Andrew, 67, 330, 332, 333.
Johnson, Mr., 837, 338.
Johnson's Creek, 108.
Johnson's Pass, Lookout Mount
ain, 114.
Johnston, Albert Sidney, 305.
Johnston, Bushrod, 102, 103, 104, 106,
108. 116, 184, 271, 273.
Johnson, General Joseph E., 76,
80, 87, 97, 98, 106, 112, 115, 125, 128,
156, 213, 266, 305.
Jones' Bridge, 172.
Jones, Chief Clerk, Confederate
State Department, 262.
Jones, General W. S., 167.
Jones, Lieutenant-Colonel, 102.
Jones, Senator, 428.
Jordan, Captain United States
Army: Beauregard's Chief of
Staff, 38.
Jordan, Colonel, 102, 805.
Justicia, Sister, 381, 393.
Kansas Struggle, 38.
Jayhawker, 41.
Regular Army feeling to
ward, 42, 156, 157.
Department of, 304.
Indians in, 344.
Pacific Railroad, 346.
Kautz, General August V., 158, 172,
173, 174, 177. 240.
Kearney, General Philip, 326.
Kelley's Farm, 115.
Ford, 125.
Kelley, General, 143, 170.
Kellogg, Captain S. C, 360.
At Nonquit, 893.
Captain, 118.
Kelly, Mr., 364.
Kelton, J. C, 360.
Kentucky, 106, 364, 125.
Kentucky, Southern, 77, 80.
Kervick, Father T. J„ 409.
Celebrates requiem mass,
400.
Killed and wounded from the Wil
derness to the James River, 159.
Killey, Joseph, engineer, 395.
Kilpatrick, General Judson, 240, 241,
249, 253, 254, 259, 309, 311.
Kimball, Bugler Charles, sounds
"taps" at General Sheridan's
grave, 416.
Kinderhook, 99.
King, General H. C, 433.
General, 116, 117.
Kiowas, Hostility of the, 344, 345.
Kirk's Brigade, 86.
Klamath Lake, 36.
Klien, Sheridan's servant, 380.
Knoxville, Tenn., 113, 124, 126, 127,
148, 147, 155, 261.
Ku-Klux Klan, 340.
Lafayette, 106, 109, 114.
Lafayette and Rossville Road, 116.
La Grange, Colonel, 289.
Lamont, Colonel, 368.
Lancaster, 76.
Las Cruces, New Mexico, 328.
Latrobe. Colonel, 297.
Lavergne. 81.
Lawton, Captain, 405.
Lebanon, Ky., 71, 100.
Lebo, Colonel, 348.
Lee, General Robert E.,19. 20, 106, 113,
163,166, 168,160, 164, 174, 179, 18 6,
264, 261, 263, 266, 266, 269, 281, 282,
285, 287, 288, 289, 299, 291, 293, 294,
295, 297, 300, 301, 305, 807, 808, 309,
398, 417. 421.
Surrender of, 431, 482.
Major-General Fitzhugh,
168, 169, 171, 173, 305, 314.

Lee, Major-General W. H. F., 168,
169, 310.
Major George, 366.
Lee and Gordon's Mill, 114.
Letcher, Governor, 308.
Lexington, 176.
Libby Prison, 254.
Liberty Gap, 102, 103, 104.
Liddel, General, 73, 87, 91, 116, 117.
Liddel's Brigade, 103.
Lilley, Captain, 102.
Limestone, Ala., 239.
Lincoln, Abraham, 18, 42, 94, 180, 181,
183,205,266,288,332. Assassination of, 317.
Mock funeral of, 324.
Mr., of the Grand Army,
at Sheridan's funeral, 408.
Littlepage's Ford, 164.
Little River, 164.
Little Rock, Ark., 321, 322.
Logan, General John A., 65, 125, 321,
365. Funeral of, 382, 406.
Lloyd, 197.
Loifdolt, Lieutenant-Colonel Ber
nard, 71.
Lomax, Brigadier-General L. L.,
168, 186, 220, 243, 244.
London Editors, 425.
Lone Star State, The, 829.
Long Bridge, 172.
Longstreet, General, 106, 113, 115, 117,
118, 120, 126, 127, 136, 147, 148, 168, 160,
207, 296 297, 299, 308, 309, 313, 314.
Lookout Creek, 108.
Mountain, 108, 109, 113, 123,
127, 146.
VaUey, 126, 127, 148.
Loomis, Captain and Battery res
cued by Sheridan, 74, 87.
Loudon, Tenn., 127, 148.
Loudoun County, Va.. 137, 313,
Heights, 139, 142, 143.
Valley, 257.
Louisiana, 165, 157.
Louisville, 124, 126, 148.
Legion,103.
Lovingston, 262.
Lowell 240, 258.
Loyal Legion, 890, 393, 394, 396, 428.
Luray, 257.
Luray Valley, 202, 243.
Lydecker, Major, at Arlington, 406.
LyeU, 274.
Lynchburg, 161, 170, 171. 172. 176, 186,
257, 259, 261, 262, 264, 265, 294, 303.
Lyons, General Nathaniel B., 45.
MacFeeley, General, at Arlington,
406. At St. Matthew's, 408.
Mackey, Mr. John W., sends a
floral gift, 403.
Mackin, Father J. F., celebrant, 409.
Madison Court House, 258.
Magruder, Ex-Congressman, 314.
Mahone, General, 74, 217, 294.
Mallory, Secretary, 262.
Maloney, Major, United States
Army, 88.
Manassas, 268, 809.
Manchester, Tenn., 101, 106.
Manderson. Senator, 360.
Manitoba, 859.
Manly, 87.
Manning, Colonel, 297.
" March to the Sea," 111.
Marches thirty miles a day, 304.
Marmaduke, General, 41.
Marrigault, 87.
Marshall, Colonel, 801.
Martin, General, 107.
Martinsburg. 194.
Maryland Heights, 139.
Maryland Volunteers, 143.
Marysville, Ky., 71.
Mason, 323.
Massachusetts Commandery, 390.
Massanutten Mountain, 219.

Matamoras, Mexico, 319, 322.
Imperialists, 324.
Matthews, Doctor, 380.
Stanley, 67, 78.
Maximilian, 319, 322, 323, 329.
McCahn, Lieutenant, 390.
McCarthy, Justin, 426.
McCausland. 180.
McClellan, General George B., 42, 65,
214, 240, 248, 249, 253.
McClernand, 65.
McCook, Colonel Daniel, 71, 74, 76,
99, 115. General Alexander D., 70, 71,
74, 76, 78, 80,81,82, 83, 85, 86,
89, 101, 103, 104, 105, 108, 114,
116, 117, 120.
Edward, 65.
McCown, General, 86, 89, 91, 98, 100.
McCullough, General Benjamin, 41,
305.
McDoweU, 308.
McGonigle, Colonel, 348.
McGraw, orderly, 37.
McGregor, Mount, 377.
McKenzie, General, 158, 252, 272, 274,
283, 291, 292.
McLaws, 115.
McLean, William, Residence of, 300.
McLemore's Cove, 114.
McMinnsville, Tenn., 101, 106, 112.
McNair, 87, 91.
McNaUy, teacher, 26.
McPherson, General, 124, 125, 127,
147,148,156,210,240.
Mc Williams, General, 210.
Meade, General, 19, 146, 153, 155, 156,
158, 160, 164, 173, 176, 178, 186, 241,
254, 287, 288, 291, 292, 293, 300, 365,
429.
Meadow Bridge, 162.
Mechanics Hall, 332, 335.
Mechanicsville, 162.
Meherrin Station, 174.
Meigs, Lieutenant, 203.
Mejia, General, 323, 824.
Memphis, Tenn.. 106, 110, 124, 148.
Merritt, General Wesley, 158, 160,
182, 186, 194, 240, 243, 244, 246, 253,
257, 260, 272, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293,
408.
Mesila Valley, New Mexico, 328.
Metz, 853, 354.
Mexican Congress. 327.
Free Zone, 823.
Republic, 818, 321, 322, 323.
Mexico, 359.
Michigan Engineers, 106.
Middleburg, 253, 258.
Middletown, 99, 202, 212, 215, 221, 222.
Milburn, Rev. W. H., offers prayer
in the house, 888.
Miles' Division, 289.
Milford, 163, 202.
Military Institute, Governor's Is
land, 214.
Mill Creek, 212.
Millwood, 194, 201.
Milton, Tenn., 100.
Mine at Petersburg, 177, 178.
Minty, Colonel, 99, 100, 107, 125.
Missionary Ridge, 98, 110, 114, 115,
119, 120, 123, 127, 128, 129, 134, 135,
136, 146. 147, 148, 167.
Mission Mills, 184.
Mississippi, 148, 365.
Department of, 98.
Division of, 125.
River, 77, 110, 125, 155, 322.
Missouri, Department of, 304, 343,
349. 'Valley, Tribes of, 344.
Mitchel, General O. M., 65, 67.
Mitchell's Cavalry, 116.
Mitchell, General Robert B., 65,
70. 74, 120, 125.
Mobile. 124.
Bay, 259.
Mobile and Ohio Railroad, 52, 64.
Monocacy, 176, 181,182, 218.

INDEX.

443

MonohanBett, steamer, 393.
Monroe, Colonel, 102.
Monroe Doctrine, 424.
Montgomery, 259.
Moonlight, General Thomas J., 238,
344, 345.
Moore, Major Tom, 366.
Morgan, General J. H., 67, 78, 80, 97,
100, 217, 238, 258, 310, 407, 428.
Moseby, General John L., 137, 138,
. 143. 238, 258, 305, 306, 311, 312, 314.
Moselle. 353, 354.
Mountain Gap, 76.
Mount Vernon, 79.
Jackson, 246.
Mules, Battle of the, 126.
Munroe, J. T., 834, 839.
Murat, 19.
Murdooh, James E , 230
Murfreesboro', 76, 78, 80, 81, 85, 94, 96,
99.100,102,112.
Music at St. Matthew's, 407.
Mussle Shoals, 123.
Napoleon, Louis, 323, 354.
_ , Surrender of, 350, 351.
Nantucket, 376.
Narragansett Bay, 376.
NashviUe, Tenn., 67, 69, 70, 77, 80, 97,
„ 100, 110, 112, US, 148, 150, 158.
Nashville and Chattanooga Rail
road, 112.
Nashville and Decatur Railroad,
127.
National Military Cemetery, 420.
Sheridan at, 422.
Negley, General, 82, 85, 87, 88, 89, 90,
„ 91, 96, 102, 104, 105, 108, 115, 116, 125.
Negley's Division, 80.
Nelson, 65, 69.
Nelson and Pitman's cross-roads, 76.
Nesmith, Senator, Oregon, 38.
New Bedford, Mass., 376.
New Bern, 259.
New Haven, Reunion at, 435.
NewMarket, 202, 262.
New Mexico, 326.
New Orleans, La., 201, 259, 364.
Massacre, 110, 322, 337, 339.
Newtown, 215.
New York, 366.
New York Sun, The, 427.
Ney, Marshal, Sheridan compared
to, 433
Nickajack Valley, 108.
Ninety-eighth Illinois, 102, 103.
Nolensville, 80, 81.
Nonquit, 369, 367.
Delicacy of People of, 393.
Description of, 376, 379.
The dead general at, 392, 393.
North Anna, 168, 162, 163, 164.
North Mountain, 202.
Northern Georgia, 106, 123.
Northwestern Department, 106.
Nottoway Station, 178, 289.
Ohio, 106, 125.
Governor of, official pro
clamation, 390.
" Old Brains," 110.
Old Cold Harbor, 164.
Opequan, 193, 194, 195, 197, 201, 224.
Orchard Knob, 128, 129, 130, 131, 133,
423.
Ord. General, 178, 240, 281, 287, 293,
295, 300, 301, 302.
Ordnance Department at Washing
ton, Guns returned to, 369.
O'Reilly, Dr., 380, 883.
Original Reconstruction Act, 337.
Osterhaus, 129.
Owen's Ford, 116.
Paine, Brigadier-General H. A., 176.
Paine's cross-roads, 291.
Painsville, 292.
Pall-bearers, 406.
Palmer, General, 81, 89, 116, 125, 128,
147, 357.

Palmyra, 99.
Pamunkey River, 263.
Panama, 366.
Paris, Comte De, 74, 81, 85, 91, 92, 118,
121.
Paris, France, 258, 328.
Parke, 287.
Parker, Colonel Eli, 301.
Paso Del Norte, Mexico, 327.
Pastors of city churches at Sheri
dan's funeral, 409.
Paxton, 143.
Paxton's cross-roads, 137.
Pea Ridge, 159.
Pegram's Cavalry, 115.
Pemberton, 97.
Peninsula Campaign, 308.
Pennsylvania, 138.
Pennsylvania Railroad, 395.
Pension to Mrs. Sheridan, 388.
Pepper, Doctor, 379, 383.
Perryville, Ky., 68, 75, 76, 109, 146,
159
Petersburg, Va., 19, 172, 173, 174, 177,
179, 188, 214, 257, 258, 262, 264, 266,
267, 269, 272, 274, 281, 287, 289.
Petticoat Gap, 194.
Peytonville, 99.
Phelps, General, 135, 238.
Philip. 240.
Piatt, Donn, 70.
Pickett, General, 271, 273, 285, 297.
Piedmont, 175.
Pierce, President, 305.
Pierce, Secretary of State Henry B.,
of Missouri, 894.
Pigeon Mountain, 106, 144.
Pike, General Albert, 41.
Pike's Opera House, 231.
Pittsburg Landing, 48, 110, 182.
Plains region, 346
Pleasonton, General Alfred, 146, 157,
238, 240.
Plumb, Senator, 429, 430.
Plumber, The reporter disguised as
a, 376.
Plymouth Harbor, 369.
Pocotaligo, 258.
Polk, General, at Perryville and
Stone River, 67, 70, 90, 91, 97, 109,
115, 116.
Pont-a-Mousson, 350.
Pope, General John, 46, 46, 47, 106,
125, 322.
Poplar Grove, 99.
Porter, General Horace, 285, 286, 301,
303 309
Port Hudson, 97, 159, 176.
Port Republic, 203.
Post's Brigade. 86.
Potomac Army, 137, 292, 295.
River, 138, 139,
Route, The, 396.
Powell, General, 243.
Preston, 115.
Price, Sterling, 41, 67, 156, 217, 238,
304, 305, 320, 329.
Pritchard, Colonel, 239.
Prussian Third Corps storm La
Garenne, 351.
Pueblo, Mexico, 327.
Putnam, 240, 253.
Quaker Road, 269, 273, 278.
unantrell, 238.
Queretaro, Mexico, 323, 829.
Raccoon Mountain, 108.
Rains, Major. 37, 41, 91.
Rain-in-the-Face, 359.
Rapidan, 19.
Rappahannock, 158.
Rawlins, General John A., 301, 355.
Rea, General, pays tribute to the
memory of Sheridan, 390.
Read, General, 314.
T. Buchanan, 230.
Readville, 80.
Reagan, Postmaster-General, 262.
Reams Station, 173, 174.

Rector's cross-road, 253.
Red Cloud, 359.
Red River, 156, 167.
Reed's Bridge, 115.
Registration, Order for, 339.
Representatives, The, at St. Mat
thew's, 407.
Resolutions of Congress, 387. -
Reynolds, General, 107, 108, 117, 240,
321 ' Colonel, 102.
Rhodes, General, 196.
Richard, General Sheridan's body
Bervant, at St. Matthew's, 403.
Richmond, Ky., 76.
Richmond, Va„ 150, 160, 161, 162, 168,
178, 179, 180, 205, 214, 218, 247, 249,
253, 257, 258, 259, 261, 262, 268, 265,
278, 281, 289, 299, 308, 321, 423, 429,
430.
Ricketts. General, 176, 196.
" Rienzi." 66, 214.
Rigby. Captain, 196.
Riley, Fort, 344. 345.
Ringgold. 134, 147, 148.
Rio Grande Bravo Del Norte, 324.
River. 318, 321, 322, 323, 326,
327, 369, 424.
Ripley, General, 66.
Rivers, Lieutenant, 142.
Robert, Colonel, 84, 85, 87, 89.
Roberts, General. 312. 313.
Robins, Colonel W. T., 309.
Rochester. N. Y., 214.
Rock Creek, 104, 105.
Rockford Gap. 260.
" Rock of Chickamauga," 118.
Rodd, J., fireman, 395.
Rome, Tenn., 100.
Romero. 328.
Rosebud, Dakota, 247, 359.
Rosecrans, General, praises Sheri
dan, 42, 61, 66.
Other movements, 111, 112,
113, 114, 115, 116, 118, 120,
121, 124, 125, 157, 238, 304,
310.
Prepares to move on Chatta
nooga, 94, 109.
Recommends Sheridan for
promotion, 95.
Stone River, 75, 91.
Thanks of Lincoln and Hal
leck for Stone River, 94,95.
Roster of Army of the Shenandoah,
Middle Military Division, 188 to
192. Of Army of the Valley Dis
trict, Confederate, 224.
Of Cavalry Corps of the
Army of the Potomac, un
der Sheridan, 150, 154.
Rossville, 114,115,120.
Rossville road, 117, 119.
Rosser, General W. H. H., 159, 168,
169, 182, 204, 221, 242, 243, 244, 246,
247, 257, 260, 261, 313, 314, 368.
Rosser, Tenn., 99, 100.
Rousseau, General L. H., 41, 70, 81,
89, 90, 96, 102, 104, 105.
" Rosy," 125.
Rucker, John A., drowned, 372.
Rucker, Francis D., 372.
Rucker, General D. H., father of
Mrs. Sheridan, 371.
At St. Matthew's, 400.
Selects Sheridan's burial-
place, 406.
Mrs., at St. Matthew's, 400.
Russian Fleet, 323.
Russell, 240.
Rutherford's Creek, 100.
Ryan, Father S. F., sub-deacon, 409.
Ryan's, Mike, supplies, 96.
Salem, 258.
San Antonio, 307.
Sand Creek, 345.
Sand Mountain Cliffs, 113.
Savannah, Ga., captured, 258.

444

INDEX.

Saylor's Creek, 267, 424.
Battle of, 293, 294.
Schaeffer, General, 85, 88, 89.
Schoepff, Brigadier-General Albert,
70, 72.
Schofield, Major-General J. M., 78,
. 106, 165, 350, 427.
Calls out a military escort
for the funeral, 4U3.
Receives funeral party at
cemetery gates, 414, 415
Takes charge of General
Sheridan's funeral, 386.
Schultze, Sergeant, United States
Army, 40.
Scott, Martin, 24.
Scott, Colonel, 158.
Scott, Lieutenant-General, 150, 237,
307.
ScottBville, 262.
Scranton, Lieutenant, 53.
Scribner. 90.
Scribner's Brigade, 116.
Secretary of Navy sends dispatch
to Nonquit, 390.
Secretary of War announces Gene
ral Sheridan's death to the
Army, 391.
Sedan, 350, 351, 352, 353.
Sedgwick, Major John, United
States Army, 40.
General, 158.
Selma, Ala., 259.
Sequatchie Valley, 112, 124.
Seven Pines, Battle of, 309.
Seventeenth Indiana, 102, 103.
Seward, "William H., 318, 323, 328.
Shellabarger, Judge, 338.
Shelbyville, Tenn.. 71, 100, 101, 105.
Shelby, General, 359.
Shepherd, Colonel, 90.
Shenandoah Valley, 19, 43, 44, 153,
257, 274, 282. 286, 320, 346, 368, 423.
Biver, 139.
Army of the, 283.
Sheridan, Family:
At St. Matthew's, 407.
At the Grave, 416.
Colonel Michael V., brother
of General, 23, 24, 360, 366,
393, 400.
Daughters of General: Irene,
Louise, and Mary, 373, 381,
393.
John, brother of General,
23. 24; At St. Matthew's,
400.
John, father of General, 23,
24 : Death of, 373.
Mary, mother of General,
23, 24.
Mary, sister of General, 23.
Mrs. Irene M., Wife of Gene
ral; Sketch of. 371, 374.
Mrs. Michael V., 393.
Patrick H., brother of Gen
eral, 23, 24.
Philip, Son of General, 373,
381, 393.
Rosa, sister of General, 23.
Sheridan, Philip Henry:
Acting Chief Commissary,
45, 46.
After the Wilderness and
before the Army of the
' Potomac quartered on
the James, 161-166.
Appointed Colonel Second
Michigan Cavalry 47, 48, 49.
Appointed major - general,
214.
As a General, 17-21.
Assigned as chief quarter
master. 41.
Assigned to Third Army
Corps, 70.
At Cedar Creek, 187.
At Missionary Ridge, 130-136,
At Perryville, 71, 76.
At Stone River. 76-i»I.

Sheridan, Philip Henry :
Battle of Booneville, 51-61.
Breaking the Confederate
communications, 168-174.
Brevet First Lieutenant,
32.
Brev9t Second Lieutenant,
32.
Brigadier, 68.
Cadet, 29, 30, 31.
Captain, 41.
Captures mail, 66.
Capturing Booneville, 62.
Commands brigade, 65, 67.
Compared to Sherman, 424.
Commended by Grant, 135.
Engagement at Baldwins-
ville, 64.
Family and birthplace, 23.
First Battle, 51.
First railroad raid, 63.
Forces of April 1, 1865, 273.
Funeral escort, 387.
Funeral services of , 407, 414.
Funeral train, 394, 395
Grant's estimate of, 17.
Halleck recommends pro
motion, 65.
His report on the battle of
Murfreesboro', 83, 84, 85.
His training on the field of
Chickamauera, 110-121.
In command Third Division,
Twentieth Corps, 76.
In Texas and Oregon fight
ing Indians, 35, 36, 37.
In the Shenandoah Valley,
185.
Moving towards Chicka
mauga, 94-109.
Ordered to Europe, 350.
Ordered to Louisville, 67.
Order of funeral march, 414,
415.
Perryville to Stone River,
75-92.
Presented with svrord and
other accoutrements, 98.
Put in command of the
Cavalry of the Army of
the Potomac, 146.
Relieved, 44
Reorganizes the Cavalry,
157.
Ride from Winchester, 208,
229-234.
Rosecrans commends skill
and coolness, 64.
School days, £7, 28.
Sedan, At Battle of, 351.
Second Virginia Raid, 167.
"Sheridan, Philip Henry," Poem,
398.
" Sheridan's Ride," poem, 234.
Writing of Poem, 230.
Sherman, General William Tecum-
seh, 65, 97, 106, 111, 124, 125, 126,
127, 128, 129, ISO, 135, 136, 146, 147,
148, 150, 155, 156, 177, 247, 258, 259,
266, 817, 318, 341, S43, 348, 349, 359,
364, 366, 367.
At Sheridan's funeral, 408,
409, 414, 416.
At Sheridan's grave, 417.
Sherman-Johnson compact, 317.
Shiloh, Field of, 45, 110, 307.
Shreveport, La., 166, 321.
Sibley, General. 305, 327, 328, 359.
Sickles, Major-General D. E., 426,
427.
Sierra Madre, 327.
Sigel, 176, 252.
Sill, Brigadier-General, 72, 78, 84, 86,
on QS Qq
Silver Sprlngs.Md., 176.
Sisters of the Holy Child, Convent
of, 371.
Sitting Bull, 359.
Sixth Indiana, 108.
Slidell, 328.

Slough, Colonel, 328.
Smalley, George V., describes the
battle of Sedan, 351, 352.
Smith, Captain, of the Monohan
sett, 393.
Smith, General G.. 100.
Smith, General Kirby. 67, 71, 97, 98,
156, 165, 172, 173, 320, 323, 329.
Smith, Captain. 140.
Smith, General W. F., 125, 126.
Smoky Hill, Indian atrocities at,
340.
Snicker Gap, 258.
Somerset, Ohio, Early home of
Sheridan, 23.
Sonora, 27.
South, Central, 97.
South Chickamauga, 129.
Southern Virginia, 147.
Southside railroad, 269, 272.
Spanish oppressors, 327.
Spear, 158.
Spencer Rifles, 102.
Spotted Tail, 369.
Spottsylvania, 153, 158, 159, 160, 161,
163, 258.
Springfield, Tenn., 71, 100.
Spring HiU, Tenn., Battle of, 99, 100.
Stanberry, Attorney-General, 339.
Stanford, 76.
Stanley, General, 43, 80, 89, 105, 106,
125, 238, 240.
Stanton, Secretary, 124, 125.
Starkweather, General, 73, 116, 117.
State Constitutional Convention,
308.
Staunton, 167, 170, 171, 175, 178, 180,
183, 197, 203, 214, 260, 321.
Steadman, General, 119, 120, 125.
Steele, Frederick, 240. 305.
General, 155, 156, 167.
Stephen's Gap, 108.
Stephenson, 106, 113.
Stewart, 89, 115.
Stewart's Creek, 81.
St. Louis, Mo., 157, 322.
St. Matthew's Church, 396, 400.
Decorations at, 401, 402, 408.
Stoneman, 238. 240, 269, 311
Stone River, 74, 91, 94, 96, 97, 109, 159,
238 423
Stormy Point, 258.
Strasburg, 185, 186, 187, 196, 202, 203,
204,244,257,354.
Stuart, General J. E. B., 160, 162, 169,
205, 241, 305, 307, 309, 310, 311, 312,
313, 429.
Death of, at YeUow Tavern,
307.
Sturgis, Genera], 240, 350.
Sullivan, General, 66, 142, 143.
Summer, Colonel, 345.
Summertown, 109.
Summit Point, 194.
Sumner, General, 41.
Sword, General Sheridan's, taken
from the cofiin, 416.
Sycamore Ford, 309.
Sykes, 240.

Table at which Lee sat, 303.
Talbot, Henry, 24.
Tautallont, 105.
Taylor, Dick, 166.320.
Taylor, General Zachary, 366.
Tennessee, 106, 110, 124, 129, 147, 148.
Central, 80.
East and South, 97.
Eastern, 106, 112, 125, 147, 148,
165.
Northern, 77.
River, 94, 105, 107, 108, UI, 112,
113, 127, 128, 150.
Valley, 113.
Terrell, Cadet-Sergeant, 32, 860.
Texas, 155, 157.
Legion, First, 101.
Thirty-ninth Indiana Mounted In
fantry, 102.

INDEX.

44 £

Thomas. General George H., 39, 40,
65, 71, 74, 75, 91, 96,105, 108, 114, 115,
116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 125, 127,
128, 129, 180, 131, 134, 148, 240, 251,
307.
Thompson Station, 100.
Thoroughfare Gap, 253.
Thousand Islands, 376.
Throckmorton, Mr., 338, 339.
Tin Mountain, 104.
Todd's Tavern, 153, 169, 160.
Tolersville, Va., 263.
Tompkins, General, in command
of funeral escort, 406.
Tom's Run, 244.
Torbett, Major-General A. T. A.,
158, 182, 186, 194, 202, 204, 240, 243,
244, 247, 249, 252, 258, 282, 311.
Torcy, 351.
Tours, 355.
Tracy City, 104.
Trenton, 107, 108.
Valley, 113.
Trevilian Station, 172, 247.
Triune, 80,81, 100.
Tucson, Ariz., 828.
Tullahoma, 80, 94, 97, 101, 104, 109, 112,
113, 423.
Tunnel Hill, 147.
Tupelo, 69.
Turchin, General, 105, 120.
Turkeytown, 243.
Tuscaloosa, 259.
Tuscumbia, 106.
Twentieth Corps, 82, 86, 101.
Twiggs, Major-General, 307.
Union forces, 150.
Union, Fort, birth-place of Mrs.
Sheridan, 371.
Unionville, 99, 100.
United States Senators' floral trib
ute, 403.
University, 105.
Urban. Sister, 393.
Utes, The, 344.
Valley Head, 113.
VaUey of Virginia, 299.
Van Cleve, 87, 89, 106, 115, 117.
Vancouver, Washington Territory,
Vandever.116,135.Van Dorn, General, 41, 67, 76, 100, 306.
Vanghan road, 269, 281.

Vaughn, 87.
Vernon, Captain, 142, 144.
Vicksburg, 97, 106, 112, 113, 124, 169, 251
Vienna, 329.
Vilas, Secretary, 408.
Virginia, 106. 139, 146, 160.
Voorhees, Lieutenant-Governor,

Wagner, General, 107, 109, 132. 136.
Walbridge, Quartermaster F. E., 47.
Waldron Ridge, 112. 123, 125.
Wallace, General Lew, 65, 176, 218.
Walker, General. 106, 116, 116.
Walker, Hon. A. F., 210.
Walthall, General, 116.
Walthall's Brigade. 117.
Warren, General, 158, 159, 163, 165, 172,
178, 270, 271, 273, 274, 276, 277, 281,
286. Corps of, 273.
Warrenton, 258.
Washington, D. C, 124, 145, 160, 155,
176, 180, 182, 185, 193, 205, 206, 218,
321, 350, 358, 359, 361, 396.
Monument, The, 417.
Waterville, 143.
Wauhatchie, 126.
Waynesboro, 203, 248, 260, 261, 264.
Webster, 73.
Weitzel, Major-General Godfrey,
281, 321, 322. 323, 324, 829.
Wellington, Duke of, 434.
Wells, J. Madison, 331,338, 339, 340.
West Chickamauga, 109.
Western Maryland, 138.
West Point, 247, 366, 437.
West, Senator, 328.
At St. Matthew's, 407.
Wharton, General, 82, 86, 89, 97, 99,
103, 407.
Wheaton's Division, 294.
Wheeler, General Joseph A., 78, 82,
97, 99, 104, 107, 115, 127, 217, 255, 305,
306, 311, 388, 405.
White House, 163, 172, 262, 263, 264,
265, 337.
White League conspiracy, 340, 341.
White Oak road, 269, 270, 271, 274,
276 289
White'Plai'ns, 258.
Whitman, Dr., Massacre, 34.
Whitman, Walt, 396, 428.
Whitney, Secretary, at Sheridan's
funeral, 408.

Whittaker, Brigadier-General, 120,
Wichita River, S47.
Wickham, Brigadier-General W. E.,
168, 169, 182, 202, 305, 314.
Wilcox, General, 125.
Wilder, General, 100, 102, 103, 107, 125,
288.
Wilderness, Battle of the, 159.
Wilkinson's cross-roads, 81.
Williams, General Seth, 301.
Willich, General, 86, 103, 104.
Will's Valley, 107, 108.
Wilmington, 259.
WilBon, Colonel John M., takes
charge of seating arrangements
at St. Matthew's, 406.
Wilson, John, married Mary Sheri
dan, 23.
Wilson, General, 163, 158, 169, 160,
173, 186, 195, 202, 239, 240, 251.
Winchester, 104, 105, 106, 112, 113, 179,
186, 187, 188, 193, 195, 196, 200, 207,
212, 215, 218, 224, 229, 248, 257, 258,
260, 262. 264, 285, 313, 364, 369.
Window Shades, 172.
Wind River County, 368.
Winslow, General, 238.
Winthrop, General, killed, 278.
Withers, General, 82, 88, 91.
Wool, General,United States Army,
37.
Wood, Fort, 128, 131.
Wood, General T. J., 85, 119, 125, 127,
128, 129, 130,. 132, 134, 135.
Woodruff, General, 81, 84, 86.
Woodstock, 248.
" Woodstock Races," 244.
Worth, General, 366.
Wright, General Horatio J., 67.
Wright, Marcus J.. Colonel, United
States Army, 36,37: General, 67,
70, 97,125, 168, 172, 179, 195, 202, 204,
207, 220, 221, 257, 281, 287, 300.
Wright, Miss Rebecca I., 197.
Wyoming, Indians in, 344.
Yakima Indians, 36, 38.
Yellowstone Park. 368.
Yellow Tavern, 162, 241.
York, River, 310.
Young, John R., 266.
Young, Percy M. B., 168, 169, 314.
Yuma, Arizona, 328.

YALE UNIVERSITY

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