★ ★  Sheridan, Philip Henry

Philip Henry Sheridan Sr.

:us34stars:
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Born: March 6, 1831

Birthplace: Albany, New York

Father: John Sheridan Sr. 1801 – 1875
(Buried: Holy Trinity Cemetery, Somerset, Ohio)​

Mother: Mary Minah 1801 – 1888
(Buried: Holy Trinity Cemetery, Somerset, Ohio)​

1st Wife: Elizabeth “Betsy” Dye 1833 – 1903
(Buried: Chenowith Cemetery, Underwood Heights, Washington)​

Married: Claimed to be his wife

2nd Wife: Irene Rucker 1856 – 1938
(Buried: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia)​

Married: June 3, 1875

Children:

Emma Sheridan Olney 1857 – 1886
Sheridan 1.jpg
Mary Sheridan 1876 – 1959​
(Buried: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia)​
Irene Sheridan 1877 – 1964​
(Buried: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia)​
Louise Sheridan 1877 – 1969​
(Buried: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia)​
Major Philip Henry Sheridan Jr. 1880 – 1918​
(Buried: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia)​

Signature:
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Education:

1853: Graduated from West Point Military Academy – (34th in class)​

Occupation before War:

1853 – 1854: Brevet 2nd Lt. United States Army Infantry​
1854 – 1861: 2nd Lt. United States Army 4th Infantry Regiment​
1861: 1st Lt. United States Army 4th Infantry Regiment​

Civil War Career:

1861 – 1864: Captain United States Army, 13th Infantry Regiment​
1861: President of Board for Auditing Claims in Saint Louis, Missouri​
1861 – 1862: Chief Commissary of Army of Southwest Missouri​
1862: Commissary at Major General Halleck’s Headquarters​
1862: Served in the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas​
1862: Colonel of 2nd Michigan Cavalry Regiment
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1862: Brigadier General Union Army Volunteers​
1862: Participated in the Battle of Booneville, Mississippi​
1862: Division Commander at Battle of Perryville, Kentucky​
1862: Participated in the Battle of Stones River, Tennessee​
1862 – 1864: Major General Union Army Volunteers​
1863: Participated in Tullahoma Campaign in Tennessee​
1863: Helped break the Confederate line at Battle of Chattanooga​
1864: Cavalry Commander at the Battle of the Wilderness, Virginia​
1864: Cavalry Commander at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House​
1864: Led raid that mortally wounded JEB Stuart at Yellow Tavern​
1864: Cavalry Commander at Battle of Meadow Bridge, Virginia​
1864: Cavalry Commander at Battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia​
1864: Cavalry Commander at Battle of Trevilian Station, Virginia​
1864: Union Army Commander of Army of the Shenandoah​
1864 – 1865: Commander of Middle Military Division
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1864: Brigadier General in United States Army​
1864: Union Army Commander at Battle of Opequon, Virginia​
1864: Union Army Commander at Battle of Fisher’s Hill, Virginia​
1864: Union Army Commander at Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia​
1864 – 1869: Major General, United States Army​
1865: Commander of Raid from Winchester to Petersburg, Virginia​
1865: Commander at Battle of Dinwiddie Court House, Virginia​
1865: Union Army Commander Battle of Five Forks, Virginia
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1865: Served in the Appomattox Campaign in Virginia​
1865: Commander of Raid on South Boston, North Carolina​
1865: Commander of U.S. Army, Division of the Southwest​
1865 – 1866: Commander of U.S. Army, Division of the Gulf​

Occupation after War:

1864 – 1869: Major General United States Army​
1865 – 1866: Commander of U.S. Army Division of the Gulf​
1866 – 1867: Commander of U.S. Army Department of the Gulf​
1867: US. Army Commander of Fifth Military District​
1867 – 1869: U.S. Army Commander Department of the Missouri​
1869 – 1888: Lt. General of United States Army​
1869 – 1883: U.S. Army Commander Division of the Missouri​
1883 - 1888: Commanding General of United States Army​
1888: General of United States Army of United States​

Died: August 5, 1888

Place of Death: Nonquitt, Massachusetts

Cause of Death: Heart Failure

Age at time of Death: 57 years old

Burial Place: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia
 
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Okay - didn't know this. What happened to Elizabeth? Did he marry her or not?

I'd sure like to know more about Elizabeth, too. Her mother's surname was Applegate. The Applegate Trail was one of the most used pioneer trails to the Willamette Valley - in short, the Applegate family is synonymous with Oregon! While he was in Oregon, Sheridan apparently also married a Takelma lady named Frances. Uummm...seems Sheridan might have had a more liberal outlook on marriage than his contemporaries would have liked!
 
Just finished his biography by Roy Morris, Jr. Pretty good book in my opinion. I kinda like Sheridan, myself.

John
 
I am disappointed about Sheridan's decision to relieve General Warren after Five Forks. This was a case where Sheridan's pre-conceived notions about Warren and Sheridan's refusal to acknowledge his own responsibility with Warren's marching orders that delayed V Corps led to a miscarriage of justice. Sheridan's pride and ego may have sometimes been appropriate when inspiring his own men, but also indicated a lack of leadership skill when it came to evaluating the actions of other officers who did not comport with Sheridan's own personality.
 
I am disappointed about Sheridan's decision to relieve General Warren after Five Forks. This was a case where Sheridan's pre-conceived notions about Warren and Sheridan's refusal to acknowledge his own responsibility with Warren's marching orders that delayed V Corps led to a miscarriage of justice. Sheridan's pride and ego may have sometimes been appropriate when inspiring his own men, but also indicated a lack of leadership skill when it came to evaluating the actions of other officers who did not comport with Sheridan's own personality.

I think Warren had to go, regardless. He didn't have the drive and resolution the Potomac army needed to finish things up. Griffin did a good job driving the 5th Corps in the Appomattox campaign.
 
I think Warren had to go, regardless. He didn't have the drive and resolution the Potomac army needed to finish things up. Griffin did a good job driving the 5th Corps in the Appomattox campaign.
That was at the heart of the matter between Sheridan and Warren. Sheridan's hi-strung energy was the opposite of Warren's cooler, more deliberative style. Notwithstanding Griffin's effectiveness, I'm not so sure that the end result would have been any different had Warren remained in command of V Corps during the Appomattox campaign.
 
It's kind'a funny how Grant, Sheridan and Ord went from the west to east to successfully command armies and kampfgruppes (and Grant THE Army) and Howard and Slocum went from east to west to successfully command armies.

And who would have thought Milroy would go west and give Forrest a whipping?
 
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Little Phil: A Reassessment of the Civil War Leadership of Gen. Philip H. Sheridan by @Eric Wittenberg

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Unlike Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Gen. William T. Sherman, whose controversial Civil War-era reputations persist today, Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan has been largely untouched by controversy. In Little Phil, historian Eric J. Wittenberg reassesses the war record of a man long considered one of the Union Army's greatest generals. From his earliest days at West Point, Phil Sheridan refused to play by the rules. He was fortunate to receive merely a suspension, rather than expulsion, when as a cadet he charged a superior officer with a bayonet. Although he achieved fame as a cavalryman late in the Civil War, Sheridan actually began the conflict as an infantry commander and initially knew little of the mounted service. In his first effort as a cavalry commander with the Army of the Potomac in the spring of 1864, he gave a performance that Wittenberg argues has long been overrated. Later that year in the Shenandoah Valley, where Sheridan secured his legendary reputation, he benefited greatly from the tactical ability of his subordinates and from his huge manpower advantage against the beleaguered Confederate troops of Lt. Gen. Jubal Early. Sheridan was ultimately rewarded for numerous acts of insubordination against his superiors throughout the war, while he punished similar traits in his own officers. Further, in his combat reports and postwar writings, he often manipulated facts to show himself in the best possible light, ensuring an exalted place in history. Thus, Sheridan successfully foisted his own version of history on the American public. This controversial new study challenges the existing literature on Phil Sheridan and adds valuable insight to our understanding of this famous, but altogether fallible, warrior.


Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
Link to Elizabeth Dye's Find A Grave site.
 
Here's some more information on Phil Sheridan, including his time in Chicago.


This is the monument to him in Chicago which is on the Mayor's list of problematic statues.

 
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