they did not go ahead-just as Burnside was after his famous Mud March (January, 1863), as "Burnside stuck in the mud!" He said the roads were just as bad for Lee as they were for us, and if he could move we could; that he would set every man to work "corduroying" them; and if Grant would let him alone, he would go on and break in on Lee's right at Five Forks, and force him out of his lines and whip him, mud or no mud. Rawlins, Grant's chief of staff, was of the same opinion and insistent, until Grant quietly suggested: "Well, Rawlins, I think you had better take command!" But he paid more attention to Sheridan, and finally decided: “Well, we will go on"-a momentous decision.1 Back Sheridan delighted rode, still through the mud and rain, bespattered from head to foot, and the next day but one afterward he did strike Lee at Five Forks, and forced him out of his lines, and whipped him; taking six pieces of artillery, thirteen battle flags, and nearly six thousand pris oners. race. This brilliant victory, conceived and executed wholly by Sheridan, compelled Lee to let go his hold on Richmond and Petersburg and move out of his fortified lines, and from there on to Appomattox Court House and his final surrender (April 9) it was mainly a rout and a foot At Sailor's Creek, April 6, Sheridan again hit the Confederates, and took six generals and ten thousand prisoners, and wired Grant (back with the main army): "If the thing is pressed, I think Lee will surrender." Grant's laconic reply was: "Press things!" Then Sheridan did press things to such excellent purpose, that he outmarched Lee with both his cavalry and infantry, and on the morning of April 9, when Lee broke camp at Appomattox, intending to retreat still farther, suddenly Sheridan appeared ahead, blocking his way, with Meade hur 1 Sheridan's Memoirs, vol. ii, p. 142–144. rying up in his rear. And then and there to him and the Confederacy came the end of all things. Of Lee's surrender it is not necessary to speak more here. But it is the truth of history that in all the operations leading up to it, Sheridan was literally the right hand of Grant, hitting like a flail or striking like a battering ram, and what this spring campaign of 1865 would have been without him, I do not venture to say. It is enough to say, that without him the campaign of 1864 before Petersburg availed but little, and that with him the campaign of 1865 resulted gloriously. He certainly must have a large share of the credit, whatever is due to Meade and Grant; and his illustrious commander in chief would be the last to deny this. On the whole, I submit there was glory enough to go around for all. But all honor to Philip H. Sheridan! To conclude, clearly he was not a popinjay, like Wheeler; nor a partisan, like Forrest-a slave driver turned soldier; nor a Prince Rupert, like Jeb Stuart; but he was a veritable Henry of Navarre, a plumed knight for the Union, and will rank among great commanders; if not of the first rank, yet well up among the first; and, unquestionably, would have risen higher had the war lasted and opportunity occurred. He had force and fire, and knew how to lead men and to inspire them. But he had also prudence and patience, and knew how to command men and conduct great operations as well, and few soldiers have shown both qualities in so large a degree. He has been compared to Kearny, but he had more breadth and keenness than Kearny, though less military learning and culture. He has been compared to Murat, but that beau sabreur had not half of Sheridan's brains, nor a tithe of his integrity and patriotism. In some respects he was to Grant what Stonewall Jackson, and after him Longstreet, were to Lee. But he was abler and nimbler than either, and Grant did not hesitate to declare that, take him all in all, he was second to no general our civil war produced on either side. "As a soldier," he said, "there is no man living greater than Sheridan. He belongs to the very first rank of captains, not only of our army, but of the world. I rank him with Napoleon and Frederick and the great commanders of history." That was Grant's sober opinion, long after the war closed; and who was or is a better judge? Clearly he was one of Providence's picked men, required then and there for the salvation of the Republic. His name was a flag. His opportunity was large. His duty was great. And he was equal to both. He began life as the son of a poor Irish farmer. He rose to be General of the United States Army-the very highest rank in the Regular Army-in the most critical period of American history, a rank attained by Grant and Sherman only. Well, then, I say: "Hurrah, hurrah for Sheridan! Hurrah for Sheridan, horse and man! And when their statues are placed on high, The American soldiers' Temple of Fame," let every American boy study his great and heroic career; and may we all profit by his manly life and glorious example!1 1 See Appendix, p. 383. |