"Little Phil" and his troopers. The life of Gen. Philip H. Sheridan. Its romance and reality: how an humble lad reached the head of an army ...

Front matter

GENERAL PHILIP H. SHERIDAN.

''Little Phil" and his Troopers.

THE LIFE

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. Tennyson'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 instrument 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 restless messengers of defeat and death. The hoof-beats of the horseman fall through every gap in the lines, and the reckless charge mai-ks the end of battle, and the beginning of pui"suit.

The cavalry feels the enemy, and reports upon the presence and condition 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 recognition 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, " Lochinvar," 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 Napoleon'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 of Stuart's rough riders. Custer's resistless charges, Kilpatrick's raids, Pleasonton's, Torbett's, Wilson's, Merritt's, Gregg's swift dashes by dav and by night, are filled with the vigor of movement and the charm of success. Buford, Bayard, Grierson, and a hundred other generals, knights of the sabre and the stirrup, fill in a wonderful picture of dashing 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 Trevilian Station, Sheridan's first battle at Booneville, tlie romance of Wilson'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 pages.

F. A. B.

CHAPTER I. Sheridan as a General

Grant's Estimate of Sheridan — His First Impressions of the Great Cavalryman — His Qiialities as a Commander — His Second Meeting with Grant — Sheridan's Place in History — Closing Scenes of the Rebellion, Pages 17-21

CHAPTER H.

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, ........ 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 Appointment — 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 — Sending for Reinforcements — The Scout and the Negro — Fooling the Enemy — Captain Alger and the " Forlorn Hope " — The Last Charge, and a Complete Victory, Pages 51-61

CHAPTER VI. A New Command

Transferred to the Infantry— Higher Command but Less Congenial Service — Battles of Corinth and luka — Making the Most of Small Opportunity —

8 * CONTENTS.

Transfer to General Buell's Army — Commanding a Division at Perryville

— Saving I-oomis' Battery — Victory out of Defeat, . . Pages 63-74

CHAPTER VII. From Perkyville to Stone River

Sheridan's Place in the Army of the 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 Batti^e 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 — Longstreet'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. FVoM THE Wilderness to James River

Howard's Review of the Field — From Virginia to Louisiana — The Cavahy and its Temper — Moving to the Wilderness — Guarding Roads and Supplies — Losses in the Mav Fighting — Sheridan's First Great Raid Round Richmond — The Yellow Tavern Fight — Rejoining the Army, . Pages 155-165

CHAPTER XIV. Breakinc; the Confederate Communications

Sheridan's Second Great Virginia Raid — Intended to Connect with Hunter — Operations in the Shenandoah Valley — The Rebel Cavalry Leaders — Destroj'ing 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 Lomax — The Appearance of the Rebel Commander — The Army Roster — Sheridan's Preparations — Attack and Pursuit — The Story of the Loyal Qiiakeress — 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 of the 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

10 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 of the 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 Infontry 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 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 Charlottesville — Destruction of the James River Canal — Burning Bridges — Blowing up Locks — Destroying Railroads — Panic in Richmond — Confederate 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 Pirsiit 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. II

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. Sherid.\n 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, . Pages 281-303

CHAPTER XXIV. The Confederate Cavalrymen

The Southern Advantage at First— Cavalry Officers Making Fine Commanders — Planter and Farmer Finding Their Horses as Troopers — Wade Hampton and Ashby Legions — "Jeb " Stuart Their Best Commander — Southwestei-n 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 Gr.'vnde

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 CiiiCAiio

I

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 Chevennes — 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 XXVm.

Sheridan's Home and Family Like.

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 Beautv Pages 361-378

CHAPTER XXIX. His Death-Bed and the Return t^) 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 — Qiiaint and Qiiiet St. Matthew's — The Widow's Last Farewell — The Decorations and Catafalque — Chanting the Requiem — Scenes in the Church — The Distinguished Congregation — Altar Boys and Dominican Monks — Cardinal Gibbon's Sermort — The Funeral Pageant — Bugler Kimball Sounds •' Tap-Taps "—" Put Out the Lights" — "Good- Night" — Historic Arlington and Sheridan's Grave, . Pages 400-421

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.

Pagk.

The latk Residknck ok SiiicuinAN'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 Huilding.)

The Outbreak of the Rehelhon — The Attack on Sumter, . 39

The Rough Riders, ....... 133

A Street Ca»alry Kight in Kernslown, \'a.

On the March — Ornamental Piece, ..... 144

A Landscape — Ornamental Pifxe, ..... 174

General Sheridan's HEADqiJARiERs, ..... 185

Kast Side of Cedar Creek, aftir the IJattle of I'islier's Hill.

The OPEquAN Ford, ....... 195

Where Sheridan Crossed his Army before llie Battle of Winchester.

The Stone Brid(;e at P'isher's Hill, ..... 209

Where, on Sheridan's Rallying the Union Army, October 19, iS6j, a large Body of Confederate Prisoners was Taken.

Krom an Original Painting by Copeland, of Boston.

General Sheridan's HEAoquARTERs at Winchester, . . , 236

The Residence of Lloyd I»gan, Bsii.

Sheridan on the Road to Five Forks, .... 268

Taking his Bearings from the " Reliable Contraband."

Las Cruces, Valley ok Mesila, New Mexico, . . . -3-'

Headquarters of the 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, WAsiiiNtrroN, 1). C, . 363

14 ILLUSTRATIONS.

In which Sheriilftn was n-inovoil to Noiujuit.

Tin: Sill KlUAN CoTlAliK AT NoNt^l'lT, ..... 3S5

Where the General Dieil, Au>;ust 5, iSSS.

Thk National Ckmktkky, Aki.ington. .... 41S

Sliowinj;- the Graves of Many of Ihe Union Dead in the Southwestern Section of the Grounds.

The Arlington IKusk am> Ckmetkkv, .... 419

Showing the Sjvn where General Sheridan is Buried.

PORTRAITS.

Gknkral run ir II. Siikkioan, .... Frontispiece.

TnK SuKRiDAN Family .-vt Nonh^i it in 1887, • Opposite page i6

tJeneral Sheridan, Mrs. Geneml Sheridan, Irene, " Little Phil," Louise, Mary, Colonel M. V. Sherid.m, Mrs. Colonel M. V. Sheridan.

Mrs. Irkni: M. Smkkioan, .... Opposite page 17

Wife of General T. H. Sheridan; l")aus;hter of General D. H. Rucker, L'nited States Army.

Urevet Second Lieutenant, after Graduation.

UNION.

A l")istin>.;u\shcd t.>tVicer, who Preceded Sheridan in Command of the Second Michigan Cavalry.

PRKSinENT Lincoln, ....... 50

(.General R. .\. Algkr, of Michigan, . . . . -59

One of the Ueri-ies of the Binmeville Fight, l-titer Governor of Michigan.

(.;kner\i U. R. Grierson, ...... 60

.\ WtU-known Cavalry Leader of the Army of the Potomic OeNERVL I". S. CiRANV. ....... 7^)

General George Stoneman. ...... 93

A Distingu»she\l Cavalry Leader, and Ui-centlyGv'vernor of California.

A Dashing- I'nion Ca»alryiuau.

ILLUSTRATIONS. i^

General II. Judson Kilpatrick, ..... 145

Minister to Chili after the War.

General Georcje A. Custer, ...... 149

One of Sheriilan's Troopers, and after the War a Famous Indian Fighter, Killed at Rosebud, Dakota, in 1S76.

Sheridan and His Generals, ...... 154

General M. E. Davies, General D. McM. (Jregg, General Wesley Merritt, General A, 'l". A. Torbett, General J. II. Wilson, General George A. Custer.

General A. T. A. Torhktt, . . . . . . i6i

Sheridan's Chief of Stall in the Shenandoah \'alley.

Major-General Alfred Pleasonton, ..... i66

The First Chief of Cavalry of the Army of the Potomac.

General George Crook, ....... 166

A Famous Cavalry Leader of the Army of the 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 Ollicer who Performed Gallant Service with the Union Army.

Colonel Ulric Dahlgren, . . . . . . .216

Son of Admiral John A. Dahlgren, Killed March 3, 1864.

General H. E. Davies, . . . . . . .216

One of Sheridan's Famous Division Commanders.

General Ehen J. Farnsworth, ...... 223

A Daring Cavalry Ollicer, Killed at Gettysburg.

General James II. Wilson, ....... 239

One of Sheridan's Famous Generals. He Conducted the last great Raid, in which JelVerson Davis was Captured.

A Famous Cavalry General under Stoneman, Pleasonton, and Sheridan.

General Thomas C. Deven, ...... 263

The Gallant Commander of the 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.

i6 ILLUSTRATIONS.

General J. Irvin Gregg, ....... 393

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 whidh 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 of the Famous Confederate Cavalrymen 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 of the Confederate Army, Killed at Yellow Tavern.

Colonel John A. Moseby, . . . . . . .141

A Famous Confederate Partisan Leader, Consul to Hong Kong during Piesident Grant's Administration.

Colonel Harry Gilmore, ...... 184

A Confederate Partisan from Maryland.

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, . . 304

General Wade Hampton, . . . . . . • S"

A Famous Confederate Cavalry Officer. Since the War a United States Senator from South Carolina.

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MRS. IRRNE M. SHHRIDAN.

WIFE OF GEN. P. H. SHERIDAN : DAUGHTER OF GEN. D. H. RUCKER, U. S.

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." General 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 Sheridan. He belongs to the very first rank of soldiers, not only of our country, 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. 2

MRS. JOHN SHERIDAN,

THE GENERAL'S MOTHER.

Then he had that magnetic quality of swaying men which I wish I had — a rare quality in a general. I don't think an}^ one can give Sheridan too high praise,"

It took the humble Ohio lad more than four years, in the white heat of war, to make these facts clear to his countrymen and the authorities in control of the government and its armies. He was not a ty2:)ical hero in appearance. His size was against him. Restless, full of the combative quality, not politic in language, somewhat reticent, half stubborn, and fond of hazardous enterprises, he was the embodiment of heroism, dash, and impulse. Then he had the power of inspiring all about him, and imparting to others the very confidence he felt himself. Yet he seemingly commanded only those qualities which show the wide difference between the habitual impulses of the brilliant corps commander, and the cool thinking of a chief in the art, as well as in the onset, of war. At the very outset of his career, just after he was appointed colonel of cavalry, and while on the way with his regiment to join General Gordon Granger, he met the future commander of the armies. But the impression he created on that occasion was not a favorable one. In fact. Grant tells us that it was bad, and relates the incident in these words :

" We met at a railway station. I had never seen Sheridan but once before. He was then commissary at Halleck's headquarters during the march toward Corinth. Although he belonged to the Fourth Infantry, my old regiment, I had no acquaintance with him, for he graduated ten years after I had left West Point. I knew I had sent a regiment of cavalry to join Granger, but I had not indi(?kted the Second Michigan, of which Sheridan jjiad recently been made the colonel. I really did not wish that regiment to leave. As we met for the second time in our lives, I spoke to him about his going. He said he would rather go than stay, or some similar brusque and rough remark that annoyed me. I don't think he could have said anything that would have made a worse impression upon me. But I subsequently watched his career and saw how much there was in him. When I came East and took command, I looked around for a cavalry commander. While standing in front of the White House talking to Mr. Lincoln and General Halleck, I said I wanted the best man I could find for a cavalry commander. 'Then' said Halleck, 'why not take Phil Sheridan?' 'Well,' I said, 'I was going to say Phil Sheridan.' So Sheridan was sent for, and he came, but very much disgusted. He was just about to have a corps, and he did not know why we wanted him East, whether it was to discipline him or not."

The country had not yet become interested in Sheridan, as Grant had. He was still practically unknown outside the immediate army in which he served when called from the West. His great fight with Cheatham at Stone River, his second struggle with the same general at Chickamauga, and his good deeds at Missionary Ridge, had, it is true, attracted the attention of military men. But he: was only at the threshold of his fame when Grant sent him across the Rapidan as his chief of cavalry in 1864. The troopers had now become a positive power in army operations, yet their new leader was only considered a " rough rider " by the country, capable of great things with a small force and rapid movement. The series of brilliant cavalry operations which led to his transfer to the Shenandoah was all lost to the public ear, in the din of the greater army movements that were going on around him. He was sent to the valley of Virginia by an accident, as a cavalryman, riot as a great commander ; but his deeds soon carried him to supreme command, and he fought several great battles. Yet he did not reach the summit of his fame until the final act which destroyed Lee's army. In the closing hours of the Rebellion, Sheridan became the vivid omen of defeat to the broken soldier in gray. Grant called him from the Shenandoah ; and when he reached him on the last days of February, 1865, with his ten thousand troopers, the lines were closing around the fated Confederacy. Sheridan became to Grant what Murat was to Napoleon. After Meade's forces crashed through Lee's lines at Petersburg, and the southern commander moved south to join Johnston, Sheridan's great work began.

The failing army against which his firm and fateful operations were now directed, was simply a vitalized desperation. It was at the mercy of Time. It had hopes, but they were only a pathetic disbelief in the inevitable. The swift stroke of the Federal cavalry was everywhere. It flashed upon the Confederate flanks, laughed past its front, and then it picked up the stragglers. It was the materialized sneer of fate at the hopelessness of further opposition.

The lines were closing, and there were gaps through which the hoof-beats of the horses were heard, and the sabres of the troopers fell. Every time they advanced farther and more recklessly, until the doomed army knew that the great cordon which was to crush it was closing more and more tightly around it. The daring of the Confederates was simply an attempt to postpone the inevitable ; but it was a striking illustration of their discipline, and the contulence reposed in their commander. The cavalry had whirled through the Shenandoah — a cyclone ot war — and had left a ruined country and a scattered and dispirited rennumt of an army. It had throttled the last hope at Five Forks. Sheridan, the dashins^ cavalry ofHcer, the masterlv leader of men in battle, here proved himself a perfect tactician on the tield and in the face of a lighting 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 American grit ; tor, though sore, weary, and starving, the remnants of Lee's once great army would sometimes tiun and sting with terrible power their relentless pursuers. But l^nion troopers harassed them at every turn. The infantry drove their already dejected forces into disorder. The great cordon closed aroimd 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 overrim all the roads of supplies and left them barren. \Vherever the Confederacy looked expectantlv 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 \vell schooled in the best element of the art and vigor of war.

Finally, on a beautiful April morning in 1S65, as the sun rose over the hills antl vales of a region that had never yet felt the cruel footfall of war. Sheridan's cavalry swung into line for the last charge, rhe sound of those horses' hoot's on the road bevond Gordon's advance was the tinal menace to the expiring Confederacy.