GENERAL

PHILIP H. SHERIDAN

HILIP H. SHERIDAN was born March 6, 1831, on one

PHIL

of the oldest streets of Albany which during its history has borne four different names. Originally it was known as Howe street, apparently named in honor of Lord George Augustus Howe, the British officer, well known in Albany when the city was British territory, and who was killed at Ticonderoga in 1758 when leading his men to attack the French under Montcalm.

September 11, 1790, when Albany had become part of the American Republic, Howe street became Fox street and as such it was known when Sheridan was born in 1831. About ten or eleven years later the name was again changed to Canal street. After Sheridan became famous the name of the street was for the third time changed, this time to Sheridan avenue. John and Mary Sheridan, father and mother of the great soldier, came to Albany from Ireland a year previous to the birth of their son. They had been induced to come to Albany by a relative, then a resident of the city, by the name of Thomas Gainor. The Sheridan family remained in Albany about two years and then moved to the village of Somerset, Perry county, Ohio. Philip at the time of this change was Somerset people for many years after Sheridan became a national figure claimed him as one of their native sons but all doubts on this question were removed

about a year old.

when the general in his personal memoirs set it down that he was born in Albany. Somerset still is a small place of about 1,500 population, thirty miles southeast of Columbus, the capital of the state. It was in such an environment that Phil Sheridan grew up as a lad and was educated in the public schools. When 14 years old he began work in a grocery store at $24 a year. He soon received a higher salary from a competing merchant and was serving as clerk and bookkeeper when he was enthused by accounts of the Mexican war, then going on, to apply to Congressman Thomas Richey of the district for a cadetship at West Point. He had to study hard to fit himself for the entrance examination but "Little Phil" proved himself equal to the task. He relates briefly how in 1848, when he was 17 years old, he began the journey to West Point. First he went north, presumably by stage, to Cleveland, thence by boat to Buffalo. From there he had the choice of the Erie canal and the railroad-such as it was in those days on which to continue the journey. He tells us that, as he wanted to stop off at Albany to visit his father's uncle, Thomas Gainor, he elected to travel by rail. How much time he saved by this he does not say, but that the railroads were not very speedy, compared with latter day schedules, may be understood from the fact that it required seventeen hours to make the trip from Buffalo to Albany in 1848. It now takes the Empire State express six hours to make the same trip.

Sheridan does not make any further reference to his visit to Albany in 1848. In the Albany directory of that year the name of "Gainor" does not appear. There is, however, a Thomas Gaynor, a grocer, whose address is given as 34 Quay street. This was near the northwest corner of Maiden Lane

on the river front and is now occupied by the Delaware and Hudson railroad. It is surmised that this was the place where Phil stopped while in Albany.

At West Point he had for his roommate Henry W. Slocum, afterwards a distinguished officer of the Civil War. Sheridan tells in his memoirs how Slocum helped him in his studies, especially with algebra.

Philip H. Sheridan was graduated in the class of 1853, five years after he had entered the academy. Ordinarily he should have been graduated in 1852 but the general himself tells why he was a year late. Angered at what he considered the arbitrary command of a superior officer while drilling, Little Phil made a personal attack on the officer when he next met him. For this breach of discipline he was suspended from the academy and he returned to his mercantile employment at Somerset for nine months.

After his graduation in 1853 he was assigned to military duty in Texas and other points in the West, including Oregon. When the Civil War broke out, in 1861, Sheridan was first lieutenant, and in May of that year was commissioned a captain. He was assigned to duty as chief quartermaster and commissary in southwestern Missouri. In this position there was no opportunity for Sheridan to prove his real worth as a daring, conquering soldier. It was not until May, 1862, that the real turning point in his career came. He was then appointed colonel of the Second Michigan Cavalry, and on July 1st was sent to make a raid on the Confederates at Booneville, Miss. He was so successful in this and other operations in what was known as the Mississippi campaign that five brigadier-generals sent a telegram to Major-General Halleck, at Washington, D. C., urging the promotion of Colonel

Sheridan. The telegram was dated July 30, 1862, and read: "Brigadiers scarce. Good ones scarcer. The undersigned respectfully beg that you will obtain the promotion of Sheridan. He is worth his weight in gold." The telegram was signed by W. S. Rosecrans and four other brigadier-generals. The appeal resulted in the promotion of Sheridan, and because of his services at the battle of Perryville he was commissioned a major-general of volunteers December 30, 1862.

He assisted General Thomas in the battle of Chickamauga. At Chattanooga he first attracted the attention of General Grant. This led to the transfer of General Sheridan to Virginia in April, 1864, as commander of the cavalry corps. Then came another series of great victories for "Little Phil" which electrified the North. He was conspicuous in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House and Cold Harbor.

In addition to having won the reputation of being a fearless and successful leader, General Sheridan was known to be very careful of his men. He believed that nothing was too good for them, and thus won their confidence and affection.

In May, 1864, he raided the Confederate communications around Richmond, destroying ten miles of track on three important railroads, cutting the telegraph wires, capturing several trains, and causing much alarm in the Confederate capital. On May 28th he fought the battle of Hawes's Shop, and June 11th that of Trevilian's Station. Nearly every day in May, June and July Sheridan's cavalry was engaged with the Confederate troops or raiding their communications. On August 7, 1864, he was placed in command of the Army of the Shenandoah, with instructions to clear the Confederates out of the valley. He defeated Early at Winchester, September 19th, and at Fisher's Hill September 22d, and was rewarded

by being made a brigadier-general in the regular army. After the battle of Fisher's Hill he laid waste, upon the order of General Grant, the Shenandoah valley. Practically everything destructible was destroyed, and the horses, cattle and sheep were driven out. His object in devastating the country was to prevent future expeditions by the Confederates up the valley by destroying the means of subsistence.

In October, Sheridan's army was surprised at Cedar Creek and was being driven back in disorder when the general made his famous ride from Winchester, "twenty miles away," rallied his discouraged men and administered a staggering blow to the army of General Early. The incident, more than any other of Sheridan's career, stands out in the public mind because of the celebrated poem of Thomas Buchanan Read, who immortalized the ride.

Sheridan slept at Winchester the night before the battle, having just returned from Washington where he had a conference with President Lincoln. He was awakened early by one of his men, who told him he could hear the sound of guns in the direction of Cedar Creek, but that the firing seemed to be desultory and not sustained enough to indicate that a real battle was on. But the general was unable to rest and, accompanied by his staff, mounted his black horse Rienzi and was soon galloping toward Cedar Creek. Wagons containing wounded soldiers were encountered, and Sheridan learned from the panic-stricken men in retreat that his army had met with a serious defeat. At first he and his staff kept to the road, but the highway soon became so choked with wagons that to make speedy headway they had to take to the fields. After the wounded had been passed Sheridan and his men returned to the road. When the uninjured men saw Sheridan they