Little Phil: The Story of General Philip Henry Sheridan

A prolific chronicler of cavalry operations in the Eastern Theater, [End Page ] Wittenberg succeeds in demonstrating that Sheridan did not enjoy uninterrupted success during his tenure as commander of the Army of the Potomac's Cavalry Corps in the spring and summer of He is also correct in saying that Sheridan's subsequent leadership of the Army of the Shenandoah was characterized by bouts of excessive caution and lost opportunities. Yet even Wittenberg has to admit that Sheridan made a masterful use of large cavalry and infantry formations in the combined arms pursuit that resulted in Gen. Lee's surrender at Appomattox.

For all Wittenberg's passion, Little Phil is not without flaws. A lawyer by training, Wittenberg conducts his examination of Sheridan's military career as if it were a prosecution. His goal is not to understand Sheridan, but to convict him. Instead of letting readers draw their own conclusions from the evidence, the book bombards them with pejorative rhetoric, including such chapter titles as "Little Phil's Cavalier Destruction of Lives and Careers" and "Sheridan's Mendacity.

Wittenberg's bibliography contains many conspicuous omissions.

He makes no mention of Paul Andrew Hutton's Phil Sheridan and His Army, the most scholarly examination of Sheridan's flexible ethics and opportunistic personality. Finally, Wittenberg fails to perceive why Lt. Grant considered Sheridan one of the Civil War's best commanders. The Memoirs Of General W. Recollections of Thomas D. Duncan, a Confederate Soldier. Personal Memoirs Of P. Three Years With Grant. Four Years with General Lee. Great Commanders, General Johnston. A Surgeon's Civil War. The Life of General Philip H. How to write a great review.

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Continue shopping Checkout Continue shopping. Chi ama i libri sceglie Kobo e inMondadori. Sheridan Expanded, Annotated by Frank A. Burr , Richard J. Buy the eBook Price: Available in Russia Shop from Russia to buy this item. Or, get it for Kobo Super Points! Ratings and Reviews 0 0 star ratings 0 reviews. Overall rating No ratings yet 0. How to write a great review Do Say what you liked best and least Describe the author's style Explain the rating you gave Don't Use rude and profane language Include any personal information Mention spoilers or the book's price Recap the plot. In January , he reported for duty to Maj.

Samuel Curtis and served under him at the Battle of Pea Ridge. Sheridan soon discovered that officers were engaged in profiteering. They stole horses from civilians and demanded payment from Sheridan. He refused to pay for the stolen property and confiscated the horses for the use of Curtis's army.

When Curtis ordered him to pay the officers, Sheridan brusquely retorted, "No authority can compel me to jayhawk or steal. Sheridan performed aptly in his role under Curtis and, now returned to Halleck's headquarters, he accompanied the army on the Siege of Corinth [9] and served as an assistant to the department's topographical engineer, but also made the acquaintance of Brig. Sherman , who offered him the colonelcy of an Ohio infantry regiment. This appointment fell through, but Sheridan was subsequently aided by friends including future Secretary of War Russell A.

Alger , who petitioned Michigan Governor Austin Blair on his behalf. Sheridan was appointed colonel of the 2nd Michigan Cavalry on May 27, , despite having no experience in the mounted arm. A month later, Sheridan commanded his first forces in combat, leading a small brigade that included his regiment. Chalmers 's Confederate cavalry, deflected a large flanking attack with a noisy diversion, and reported critical intelligence about enemy dispositions. Rosecrans , that they recommended Sheridan's promotion to brigadier general.

They wrote to Halleck, "Brigadiers scarce; good ones scarce. The undersigned respectfully beg that you will obtain the promotion of Sheridan. He is worth his weight in gold. Don Carlos Buell 's Army of the Ohio. On October 8, , Sheridan led his division in the Battle of Perryville. Under orders from Buell and his corps commander, Maj.

Charles Gilbert , Sheridan sent Col. Daniel McCook 's brigade to secure a water supply for the army. Gilbert ordered McCook not to advance any further and then rode to consult with Buell. Sheridan heard the gunfire and came to the front with another brigade. Although the cavalry failed to secure the heights in front of McCook, Sheridan's reinforcements drove off the Southerners.

Gilbert returned and ordered Sheridan to return to McCook's original position. Sheridan's aggressiveness convinced the opposing Confederates under Maj. Leonidas Polk , that they should remain on the defensive. His troops repulsed Confederate attacks later that day, but did not participate in the heaviest fighting of the day, which occurred on the Union left. On December 31, , the first day of the Battle of Stones River , Sheridan anticipated a Confederate assault and positioned his division in preparation for it.

His division held back the Confederate onslaught on his front until their ammunition ran out and they were forced to withdraw. This action was instrumental in giving the Union army time to rally at a strong defensive position. For his actions, he was promoted to major general on April 10, with date of rank December 31, In six months, he had risen from captain to major general. Sheridan's division participated in the advance against Bragg in Rosecrans's brilliant Tullahoma Campaign , and was the lead division to enter the town of Tullahoma.

Sheridan's division made a gallant stand on Lytle Hill against an attack by the Confederate corps of Lt. James Longstreet , but was swamped by retreating Union soldiers. The Confederates drove Sheridan's division from the field in confusion. He gathered as many men as he could and withdrew toward Chattanooga, rallying troops along the way.

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Thomas 's XIV Corps stand on Snodgrass Hill, Sheridan ordered his division back to the fighting, but they took a circuitous route and did not participate in the fighting as some histories claim. His return to the battlefield ensured that he did not suffer the fate of Rosecrans who rode off to Chattanooga leaving the army to its fate, and was soon relieved of command. During the Battle of Chattanooga , at Missionary Ridge on November 25, , Sheridan's division and others in George Thomas's army broke through the Confederate lines in a wild charge that exceeded the orders and expectations of Thomas and Ulysses S.

Just before his men stepped off, Sheridan told them, "Remember Chickamauga," and many shouted its name as they advanced as ordered to a line of rifle pits in their front. Faced with enemy fire from above, however, they continued up the ridge. Sheridan spotted a group of Confederate officers outlined against the crest of the ridge and shouted, "Here's at you! I shall take those guns for that! Sheridan impulsively ordered his men to pursue Bragg to the Confederate supply depot at Chickamauga Station, but called them back when he realized that his was the only command so far forward.

General Grant reported after the battle, "To Sheridan's prompt movement, the Army of the Cumberland and the nation are indebted for the bulk of the capture of prisoners, artillery, and small arms that day.

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Except for his prompt pursuit, so much in this way would not have been accomplished. Grant , newly promoted to be general-in-chief of all the Union armies, summoned Sheridan to the Eastern Theater to command the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Unbeknownst to Sheridan, he was actually Grant's second choice, after Maj. After the war, and in his memoirs, Grant claimed that Sheridan was the very man he wanted for the job.

Sheridan arrived at the headquarters of the Army of the Potomac on April 5, , less than a month before the start of Grant's massive Overland Campaign against Robert E. In the early battles of the campaign, Sheridan's cavalry was relegated by army commander Maj.

George Meade to its traditional role—screening, reconnaissance, and guarding trains and rear areas—much to Sheridan's frustration. In the Battle of the Wilderness May 5—6, , the dense forested terrain prevented any significant cavalry role. As the army swung around the Confederate right flank in the direction of Spotsylvania Court House , Sheridan's troopers failed to clear the road from the Wilderness, losing engagements along the Plank Road on May 5 and Todd's Tavern on May 6 through May 8, allowing the Confederates to seize the critical crossroads before the Union infantry could arrive.

Museum Monday 1/28/13: General Philip Sheridan's Gauntlets

When Meade quarreled with Sheridan for not performing his duties of screening and reconnaissance as ordered, Sheridan told Meade that he could "whip Stuart" if Meade let him. Meade reported the conversation to Grant, who replied, "Well, he generally knows what he is talking about. Let him start right out and do it. The raid was less successful than hoped; although his raid managed to mortally wound Confederate cavalry commander Maj. Stuart at Yellow Tavern on May 11 and beat Maj. The Union Army was deprived of his eyes and ears during a critical juncture in the campaign. And Sheridan's decision to advance boldly to the Richmond defenses smacked of unnecessary showboating that jeopardized his command.

Rejoining the Army of the Potomac, Sheridan's cavalry fought inconclusively at Haw's Shop May 28 , a battle with heavy casualties that allowed the Confederate cavalry to obtain valuable intelligence about Union dispositions.

Philip Sheridan

They seized the critical crossroads that triggered the Battle of Cold Harbor June 1 to June 12 and withstood a number of assaults until reinforced. Grant then ordered Sheridan on a raid to the northwest to break the Virginia Central Railroad and to link up with the Shenandoah Valley army of Maj. He was intercepted by the Confederate cavalry under Maj.

Wade Hampton at the Battle of Trevilian Station June 11—12 , where in the largest all-cavalry battle of the war, he achieved tactical success on the first day, but suffered heavy casualties during multiple assaults on the second. He withdrew without achieving his assigned objectives. On his return march, he once again encountered the Confederate cavalry at Samaria St. Mary's Church on June 24, where his men suffered significant casualties, but successfully protected the Union supply wagons they were escorting. History draws decidedly mixed opinions on the success of Sheridan in the Overland Campaign, in no small part because the very clear Union victory at Yellow Tavern , highlighted by the death of Jeb Stuart, tends to overshadow other actions and battles.

In Sheridan's report of the Cavalry Corps' actions in the campaign, discussing the strategy of cavalry fighting cavalry, he wrote, "The result was constant success and the almost total annihilation of the rebel cavalry. We marched when and where we pleased; we were always the attacking party, and always successful. Throughout the war, the Confederacy sent armies out of Virginia through the Shenandoah Valley to invade Maryland and Pennsylvania and threaten Washington, D.

Jubal Early , following the same pattern in the Valley Campaigns of , and hoping to distract Grant from the Siege of Petersburg , attacked Union forces near Washington and raided several towns in Pennsylvania. Grant, reacting to the political commotion caused by the invasion, organized the Middle Military Division , whose field troops were known as the Army of the Shenandoah.

He considered various candidates for command, including George Meade, William B. Franklin, and David Hunter , with the latter two intended for the military division while Sheridan would command the army. All of these choices were rejected by either Grant or the War Department and, over the objection of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton , who believed him to be too young for such a high post, Sheridan took command in both roles at Harpers Ferry on August 7, His mission was not only to defeat Early's army and to close off the Northern invasion route, but to deny the Shenandoah Valley as a productive agricultural region to the Confederacy.

Grant told Sheridan, "The people should be informed that so long as an army can subsist among them recurrences of these raids must be expected, and we are determined to stop them at all hazards. Give the enemy no rest Do all the damage to railroads and crops you can. Carry off stock of all descriptions, and negroes, so as to prevent further planting. If the war is to last another year, we want the Shenandoah Valley to remain a barren waste. Sheridan got off to a slow start, needing time to organize and to react to reinforcements reaching Early; Grant ordered him not to launch an offensive "with the advantage against you.

The armies remained unengaged for over a month, causing political consternation in the North as the election drew near. The two generals conferred on September 16 at Charles Town and agreed that Sheridan would begin his attacks within four days. As Early attempted to regroup, Sheridan began the punitive operations of his mission, sending his cavalry as far south as Waynesboro to seize or destroy livestock and provisions, and to burn barns, mills, factories, and railroads.

The destruction presaged the scorched earth tactics of Sherman's March to the Sea through Georgia —deny an army a base from which to operate and bring the effects of war home to the population supporting it. The residents referred to this widespread destruction as "The Burning. Sheridan's troops told of the wanton attack in their letters home, calling themselves "barn burners" and "destroyers of homes. A Sergeant William T. Patterson wrote that "the whole country around is wrapped in flames, the heavens are aglow with the light thereof.

I never saw or want to see again. Although Sheridan assumed that Jubal Early was effectively out of action and he considered withdrawing his army to rejoin Grant at Petersburg, Early received reinforcements and, on October 19 at Cedar Creek , launched a well-executed surprise attack while Sheridan was absent from his army, ten miles away at Winchester. He reached the battlefield about Fortunately for Sheridan, Early's men were too occupied to take notice; they were hungry and exhausted and fell out to pillage the Union camps.