The boys' life of General Sheridan

Front matter

OYS' LI

I

EN LEE GOSS

Preface

The battle of Booneville, in which Philip Sheridan, as colonel of the Second Michigan Cavalry, won the first of those brilliant victories that thrilled the nation and made his name immortal, was fought just fifty-one years ago this July. The author's main purpose in preparing this work has been to commemorate by means of it the life and career of the skillful soldier and great general whose series of military triumphs began on that comparatively unknown field.

Not only does the history of such a life, so signally devoted to patriotic service in the way of leadership on the great battlefields of our Civil War, serve as an inspiration for every American boy and girl, but it supplies a noble example of the opportunities offered to poor boys under a government of the people. In recalling Sheridan's early years, one is again struck by the fact that Providence, in selecting the great leaders for establishing more firmly a government of the people, did not seek them among the rich and powerful, but among the poor and humble. It took Lincoln, the son of an illiterate backwoodsman; Grant, the son of a tanner; Sherman, the poor orphan lad; and Sheridan, the son of an Irish immigrant laborer, to lead the hosts of the people to victory and to establish liberty on broader foundations.

vi PREFACE

In the preparation of the material for this book tfie author has consulted among other authorities : " The History of the Civil War in America," by Comte de Paris; Swinton's "Army of the Potomac"; "The Shenandoah Valley," by George E. Pond; " Personal Memoirs of Philip Henry Sheridan " ; " Battles and Leaders of the Civil War"; and "The Story of the Soldier " and " Thrilling Days of Army Life," by General George E. Forsyth. Of greatest help in securing vivid impressions of the events described have been the personal recollections of comrades who served under Sheridan and participated in his victories. It is the author's sincere hope that he has succeeded in bringing before his readers' mental vision a realistic view of the various scenes in which this leader of conquering armies had a part in the drama of the War for the Union.

W. L. G.

New York City, July 1, 1913.

Contents

I. In School and at Work . .

II. Fighting the Indians . . .

III. A Talk about War ....

Chapter I

Philip Henry Sheridan, who became one of the greatest generals in the War for the Union, was the son of John Sheridan, an Irish immigrant, who early in life had married a beautiful and capable girl of the County of Cavan, where they were both born. John Sheridan was a farmer and held a small leasehold, which he sold to obtain the money with which to seek a new home in the promised land to which so many of his countrymen had preceded him. Before leaving Ireland the Sheridans had two children, a son Patrick, and a daughter who died on shipboard during their passage to Quebec, Canada.

The Sheridan family arrived at Quebec in 1829, and from there went to St. John, New Brunswick; then to Portland, Maine; and thence to Albany, N. Y., where a Mr. Gainor, an uncle of John Sheridan, was living, and where they hoped for greater prosperity than they had hitherto been able to find. It was in

Albany, March 6, 1831, that Philip Sheridan, the future general, was born.

The prospect of obtaining a living in Albany not proving as encouraging as he had expected, John Sheridan with his little family moved to Ohio, where plenty of land was to be had at a low price. He settled in the town of Somerset, Perry County, where Mrs. Sheridan had relatives. Here Philip was reared and lived until he went to the Military Academy at West Point. Here, also, three more children were born to the Irish couple : a daughter Mary, and two sons, John L. and M. V. Sheridan, the latter a captain in the Union army during the Civil War.

Ohio was then the " Far West," a wilderness broken only here and there by an occasional settlement. The vast country beyond the Alleghanies was just being opened to emigration. The condition of the little Irish family was rough, as was also the condition of most of the people there, though the Sheridans, being late comers and very poor, had a little rougher time than their neighbors. But these primitive conditions developed brawn and manhood, stimulated the energies of the settlers and their children, and helped to make Ohio fruitful in great men, like Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan. It is not luxury and wealth that develop mind or body, and those who have them are not the quickest to seize great opportunities. Comparative poverty with a fair field for effort and ambition makes the bravest men and women. Ambition, like appetite, is stimulated by sparseness, not by luxury; great opportunities are often neglected by those who have many advantages, while those who have few hungrily seize them.

Somerset was then, and still is, a quaint little town with a square, around which are stores and shops and from which four roads stretch out into the country, with houses scattered here and there. The march of improvements in these days seems to have missed Somerset, leaving it in its primitive quaintness. Old landmarks that were there when young Sheridan went to school still stand in all their old simplicity. The weather-beaten Court House — for at that time it was the county seat — still bears the touch of the early Irish settlers in an inscripion over its portals, which reads : " Let Justice be done if the Heavens fall," — which comes pretty near being an Irish bull.

The home of the Sheridans was that of a laboring man. The main building consisted of three rooms and was about half a mile from the village, on what was known as Happy Alley, where a few other small houses were scattered. There was an open prospect of fields and woods, and half a mile away on the left, over an orchard, could be seen St. Mary's Female Academy, established in 1830 by a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church.

John Sheridan, though not well-to-do, was able by economy and industry to give his children most of the advantages of that country and time. While at work on the Cumberland or National Road, then being built, he was encouraged to put in a bid for a contract. As this was successful, it led to his making other bids and finally to his taking up contracting as a business, which he followed for several years.

The mother was regarded by all her neighbors as a remarkable woman. She had excellent common sense, and was clear-headed, resourceful, honest, and industrious. She taught her children to work, and they were as well dressed and as well mannered as those of any of her neighbors. As the business of the father called him away from home much of the time, the management and training of the children fell upon her. It was generally agreed by Mrs. Sheridan's neighbors that from her Philip derived those forceful and remarkable qualities that made him one of the greatest soldiers of his time.

When old enough Philip was sent to school. There were then no such common schools as boys and girls who read this book attend. The one to which young Sheridan went was taught by an itinerant Irish schoolmaster named McNally, who received about three dollars a term for each pupil, and the additional compensation of " boarding round " among the families of his pupils, changing his boarding-place whenever it suited his fancy or convenience to do so. McNally, like most of the schoolmasters of the period, held strongly to the belief and practice that the rod was a very important aid and supplement to learning. It was said that when he was unable to detect the offender in any breach of school discipline, he reached the culprit by whipping the whole school. This Irish pedagogue was as capricious in his manner as he was unique in his methods. At one time he might be stormy, scolding and whipping without much provocation, and at another all smiles and sweetness, tolerant of any mischief. It was said that Phil caught the extremes of both moods; for as the master was very fond of the lad, he treated him to both sweet and bitter as his moods changed.

One of the advantages which the master had in boarding around, and especially of coming unexpectedly to the new place, was in often learning things that his pupils would gladly have concealed. At one time, when he unexpectedly came to board at the Sheridans', he anxiously inquired, " How is Phil getting on, Mrs. Sheridan?"

" And why should you ask, Mr. McNally, when he has been in your school every day."

" But Phil hasn't been to school for two or three days and I surely was told, as coming from you, that he was sick in bed."

Thus was revealed the fact that while Mrs. Sheridan thought her boy was engaged in devouring " book learning," and the master thought he was at home sick, Phil, playing truant, was off fishing and swimming, or some other vagrant mischief. For this Phil received an extra dose of whippings, one from his mother and another from his teacher; and they were richly deserved, however unpleasant to the little fellow.

While his teacher had a kindly feeling for the little Irish lad, for in the main he was a good boy and learned his lessons, he had other favorites. One of these was a boy named Home, with whom — for some cause, possibly from jealousy of the master's greater favor, Phil had quarreled. It was during recess when the quarrel came to a climax in a pugilistic encounter, in which young Sheridan gave his antagonist a severe beating. With tearful face and bloody nose young Home went with angry complaint to the master. Seizing one of the biggest of his collection of sticks, McNally sallied forth to punish Phil. The young culprit was seated on the top of a fence when he saw the master coming, and more than mistrusting that trouble was impending, fled as fast as his legs could carry him, the master in hot and close pursuit.

" Come back, you rascal ! " cried the master. But Phil, never heeding, with many twists and turns led the chase into the heart of the village, among the shops and stores. His pursuer was close upon him, when the fugitive rushed through the open door of the tin shop of his friend, Sam Cassell.

" Hide me, Sam," he cried, " the master is after me ! " Sam was working on a big copper kettle, and this he quickly lifted and the boy darted under it. When McNally rushed in, Sam was pounding at the rivets as coolly as though there was no boy under the kettle.

" Where's that rogue of a boy ? " breathlessly cried the master. Sam made a motion with his hand toward another door, and went calmly on pounding at the rivets. The master searched in vain and had to go back to school without seizing the offender.

When Phil thought the master had had time to cool off, he walked into the school-room and went to his desk, and the master never mentioned the chase or the threatened punishment. This shows that young Sheridan, at even that early age, knew when to advance as well as when to beat a retreat.

Under this capricious master, and another named Thorn, the boy studied arithmetic, grammar, history, geography, reading, and writing, and had no other schooling until just before entering the West Point Military Academy.

Those who knew the boy at that time agree that though perfectly fearless, he was not quarrelsome; but it made no difference how big the boy, or man, who attempted to impose upon him, or his friends, he at once got into trouble, and this disposition led the future general into many a fight. But fist fights, even among grown men and in public places, were a very common thing in those pioneer times. We take our justice and our exercise separately in these days.

Phil was an odd-looking boy, having a large head covered with a crop of brown hair, a long body, short bow legs, and long arms. When other boys made fun of his odd looks, the high-spirited lad would resent the impertinence with his fists. This led to so many encounters that it is said he whipped every boy of his size in town, and some few larger than himself. The townspeople of Somerset were afterwards fond of talking about the prowess of their hero, when he became famous, and maybe they exaggerated a bit.

At an early age young Sheridan showed his desire to be a soldier. Supplied with a bright tin sword by his friend, Sam Casell, he organized the boys into a company and trained them in crude boy manner. But the company usually broke up in mutiny, because all of the other boys wanted to be captain too, and this did not suit the little fellow who wanted to command them.

At fourteen years of age Phil left school and went to work dealing out sugar, flour, and calico in the store of a Mr. John Talbert, who for this service was to pay him twenty-four dollars a year, with the privilege of sleeping under the counter, as was the custom with clerks of Somerset. Here he made such a reputation for energy and exactness that at the expiration of his year he was offered a position at sixty dollars a year in the country store of David Whitehead. Before his year was up, the enterprising firm of Fink and Dittoe, drygoods merchants, made him an offer of one hundred and twenty dollars a year for his services. With the consent and advice of Mr. Whitehead he accepted the position. In those days and at that place, this was a large salary for a boy, though measured by the standards of to-day it was a small one.

The principal duties of his new position were keeping the books of the firm, which was no small task where the business was conducted on the credit system ; for the farmers, who were the principal customers, paid for their purchases only when their crops were harvested and sold, and even then often settled by giving a note. This shows that young Sheridan was exact and honest and had gained a reputation for honesty and intelligence.

The stores of Somerset, especially during the evenings, were gathering places for the men. Seated on the counters and boxes they debated public questions, and not only the affairs of the neighborhood, but those of the State and Nation, were criticised and, in the minds of the debaters, settled. Young Sheridan had employed his leisure with such good results that he was an authority in statistics and history, and was chosen to arbitrate the disputes that arose in these rural congresses.

At that time the Mexican War was being fought and its battles and marches were a never ceasing theme of talk and discussion. This so increased young Sheridan's desire to be a soldier that he would have enlisted had he been old enough. When he learned about the Military Academy at West Point, it became the height of his ambition to go there. Among those who sometimes came to the store was Mr. Thomas Ritchey, the Representative to Congress from that district, and Phil made his acquaintance. It did not seem possible to the young book-keeper that he could ever go to West Point; but when he learned that the boy who had been appointed from that district had failed in his examinations, he at once resolved to try for it. He wrote to Mr. Ritchey asking for the appointment. Without doubt the Representative had received other applications, backed by strong influences, for such appointments do not go begging in Ohio. But the letter of the little Irish boy was so well written and so manly that it appealed to Mr. Ritchey, and so, though not accompanied with any recommendations, he determined to appoint the writer. Fearing that io BOYS' LIFE OF SHERIDAN

pressure would be put upon him to cause him to change his mind, he went that day to the War Department and had the warrant made out, and sent to young Sheridan the appointment for the class of 1849.

Upon receiving this warrant Sheridan set resolutely at work to prepare for the preliminary examination that precedes admission, under the direction of a Mr. Clark as his tutor; for his old teacher had departed to other fields, after the manner of itinerant teachers of that time. The months of preparation quickly passed. Sheridan had studied hard and was encouraged to believe that he could pass his examination for admission, though that which was to follow gave him much anxiety and many sleepless nights. Among the qualifications specified was the possession, by the candidate, of a pair of Munroe shoes, and no one in Somerset seemed to know what kind of shoes they were. Finally, to his relief, he learned that those shoes were a common pattern with a new or unfamiliar name.

On his way to West Point Sheridan stopped over at Albany to visit his father's uncle, and from there went down the Hudson River to the Military Academy. In a few days the examinations began, and to his joy he passed without serious difficulty; though he came near being rejected on account of his peculiar physical make-up, of which I have previously spoken. Considering his early lack of opportunities for education, he had reason to be proud of his success. There were many bright boys in his class, and among them several, including Slocumb, Stanley, and Crook, who became generals during the Civil War. As a new

IN SCHOOL AND AT WORK n

cadet he had to pass through a vexatious course of hazing, to which newcomers are subjected by usage handed down from class to class. He took the ordeal without undue injury, though it must have been trying to his hot temper.

Though he had come through the preliminary examinations with fair success, he knew that the coming January examinations would be so much more severe that he trembled lest he might fail in them. He knew but little algebra and nothing of the other higher branches of mathematics. He resolved, however, with his usual stubborn pluck, to wrestle as hard as he could, and if he failed it should not be for lack of effort.

He was fortunate in having for his room-mate Henry W. Slocumb, one of the brightest boys of his class, and afterwards distinguished as a general. After " taps," when lights were supposed to be extinguished, he would darken the windows of his room with a blanket and, under the guidance of his room-mate, continue his studies far into the night. When the time came he went before the Board and passed the examination, which shows what pluck and industry can do. This success gave him confidence that he would be able to graduate with tolerable credit.

Cadet Sheridan passed through his first two years successfully, and then came his furlough, or vacation, when he went home to Somerset, taking with him two classmates, one of whom, Crook, afterwards served under him as a general during the War. Of course he was the hero of the little village for a time, and there are many traditions there of him during his vacation summer. It is said that he thrashed a local lawyer, twice as large as himself, for making unpleasant remarks about his father and mother.

He returned to the Military Academy with the expectation of graduating with the class of 1852, but fate, or the boy's peppery temper, set him back a year. In September, 1851, while his company was forming for drill, Cadet Tirrell had ordered him, in such an insulting manner, to " dress " that Sheridan's Irish temper got the best of his discretion, and he started with lowered bayonet to prod the offender, but recovered his senses in time to save himself from an unpardonable breach of military discipline. A cadet at West Point is, to all intents, a soldier, and must obey the order of his superior, no matter how it is given. Tirrell reported young Sheridan, at which, he, still more indignant, again attacked Tirrell with his fists, in front of the barracks, and if all reports are true gave him a good beating.

At that time the boys from the South were the ruling element in the Academy, and no doubt their superior airs and manners had, before this occurrence, offended the more democratic Irish lad, reared in a different social atmosphere. An officer of the Academy parted the contestants while fighting. Each of them handed in an explanation, but as Phil admitted that he was the attacking party he was suspended for a year by the Secretary of War. He would have been disgracefully discharged, but that the Superintendent, on account of his previous good record recommended otherwise. So, while there was no doubt about Tirrell's insulting manner, it was not for a cadet to punish him for it.

Very much crestfallen and humbled, Phil Sheridan returned to his home. His humiliation would have been still harder to bear but for the fact that his former employers, Fink and Dittoe, were glad to secure his services as a book-keeper during the year of his disgrace.

In August, 1852, he joined the graduating class at the Academy, taking his place at the foot of his class and graduating with it in the following June. His standing was thirty- four in a class of fifty-two members, among whom were the brilliant James B. McPherson, who, as a major-general, was killed before Atlanta; John M. Schofield, afterwards a distinguished general during that war; and John B. Hood, who commanded the Confederate army at Atlanta during Sherman's campaign before it, and other distinguished soldiers. So, considering his disadvantages of early education, he did pretty well in competition with such brilliant students.

At the close of his final examination Sheridan was appointed a brevet second lieutenant of the First Infantry and received his commission in July, 1853. He was well pleased to graduate, and set his face resolutely to the future; and though he had no suspicion of the high destinies that fate had reserved for him, he looked forward to military life with pleasant anticipations.

Chapter II

We have seen how well young Philip Sheridan used his opportunities to secure an education, and we know what a great general he became later; but most men have to serve a kind of apprenticeship in obscure work to show whether they are fit for great places. And now comes such a period in the life of our hero.

The young people of this generation know little of war except as they read of it; but the books tell you that from the earliest settlement until very recently there was never a generation that did not see real war. Our fathers could only protect their rights by fighting the French on the north, the Spanish on the south, the English from over-seas, and the Indians all the time and everywhere. As the white man's frontier pushed westward, it was always against hostile Indians. After the discovery of gold in California there were two frontiers pressing in on the Indians, until they made their last stand among the fastnesses of the Rocky Mountains.

Sheridan was too young to have taken any part in the Mexican War, where so many officers of the Civil War got their military experience; but he was 1 in time for what was nearly the last Indian wars, and it was with the aboriginal people, making almost their last stand on their native soil, that he got his chance to show his mettle.

Our people have always objected to a large standing army, and the few regiments we had, before the Civil War, were scattered far and wide over the country, some doing. garrison duty at the various forts and some out on the plains guarding the frontiers from Indian attacks. When young Cadet Sheridan of the Military Academy became Lieutenant Sheridan of the regular army he, with his love of adventure, probably thanked his stars that he was detailed to duty on the frontiers rather than at some peaceful Eastern garrison.

If you wish to follow him to his first post of duty, you would better get out your maps, for it is a roundabout course to follow. Bear in mind that this was before the days of transcontinental railways, and a person going from the eastern to the western seaboard either crawled over the desert and mountains for months in an ox-cart, or went slowly down to the Isthmus of Panama and up the Pacific coast in a sailing vessel. If on land, he stopped when he was hungry, kindled a fire, and cooked his own meals. When night came he slept in the cart or on the ground. But this rough life was probably just what a handy fellow like young Sheridan would like.

After a furlough of three months at home, he started to join his company at Fort Duncan on the river Rio Grande, in Texas. He journeyed down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, across the Gulf of Mexico by steamer, and then by an inland route to

Corpus Christi, the heaquarters of the Department of Texas. Here he met several of his West Point acquaintances, among them Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte, who afterwards accepted a commission in the Imperial Army of France. Here he took an army wagon train to Laredo, one hundred and sixty miles from Corpus Christi, enjoying by the way the novelty of seeing huge flocks of geese and ducks, herds of antelopes, wild mules, horses with waving manes, and some with tails that almost swept the ground. At night he spread his blanket on the grass, and slept beneath the stars as only tired boys can sleep. From Laredo a six-mule team took him to Fort Duncan, which he reached March, 1854.

This fort was intended as a protection against Indians, and shortly after his arrival Sheridan was sent on scouting duty against them. On these tours of duty he made surveys and maps of the country, and picked up a little Spanish from his Mexican guide. From one of his soldiers who was an accomplished hunter he learned to approach game, which was abundant, and to dress and care for it. He soon became so skilled in hunting that he was able to supply the garrison so abundantly with wild turkey, geese, antelope, and deer, that the beef contractor became angry because there was no demand for his meat. At one time, while out hunting, he located by a column of smoke some hostile Indians of whom a company, commanded by Captain Van Buren, was in pursuit. That officer, thus set upon the lost trail, pursued the Indians until they, exhausted, halted on the open plain and gave battle. Both Van Buren and the Indian chief were killed in the battle and the rest of the savages ran away.

When the time came to go into winter quarters, the officers, living in tents, were made uncomfortable by the cold winds, called " Northers." Our young lieutenant made himself more comfortable by building himself a hut of poles set into the ground around a small square, over which he pitched a roof, of poles thatched with prairie grass. The ground inside was leveled for a floor, and a fireplace of stone cemented with mud was built in one corner. The furniture consisted of a bureau, a chair, and a few camp stools, and a washstand made by setting four sticks into the ground and nailing a piece of board on top of them. This top cost him more than all the rest of the furniture, since the only board to be had was from boxes in which their bacon came, and these were reserved to make coffins for the dead. In this rude hut he spent a comfortable winter and no doubt enjoyed it more than he did the most luxurious quarters afterwards.

During the winter their recreations were dancing, and horse-back riding, varied by an occasional swoop around their garrison of the Indians. During one of these raids the Indians killed a boy who had formerly been a drummer but who, at his discharge, had turned herdsman. They found him filled with arrows, but he had made a brave fight before being overcome; for near him were two Indians whom he had killed, and it was afterwards learned that he killed and wounded others before he fell. These Indians were pursued, but they fled across the river and could not be taken there, as it was on Mexican territory. Such were the scenes on the frontiers where our young officer began his career as a soldier.

In November Sheridan was transferred to the Fourth Infantry, then scattered among various stations in California and Oregon. Returning to New York, he joined a few recruits that had been gathered on Bedloe's Island, where the Statue of Liberty now stands at the entrance of the harbor. He then made the voyage to San Francisco, by the way of Panama, and joined his company at Fort Reading, California. Here he was ordered to relieve Lieutenant Hood (afterwards a Confederate general), who had already started ahead as an escort of Lieutenant Wilkinson, who was surveying a route for a railroad to connect the Sacremento Valley with the Columbia River in Oregon.