Philip Sheridan
Philip Henry Sheridan (March 6, 1831 – August 5, 1888) was a career
United States Army officer and a
Union general in the
American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to
major general and his close association with
General-in-chief Ulysses S. Grant, who transferred Sheridan from command of an infantry division in the
Western Theater to lead the Cavalry Corps of the
Army of the Potomac in the
East. In 1864, he defeated
Confederate forces under General
Jubal Early in the
Shenandoah Valley and his destruction of the economic infrastructure of the Valley, called "The Burning" by residents, was one of the first uses of
scorched-earth tactics in the war. In 1865, his cavalry pursued Gen.
Robert E. Lee and was instrumental in forcing his
surrender at Appomattox Courthouse.
Sheridan waged war on the Native Americans during the
Indian Wars of the
Great Plains. He was instrumental in the development and protection of
Yellowstone National Park, both as a soldier and a private citizen. In 1883, Sheridan was appointed general-in-chief of the U.S. Army, and in 1888 he was promoted to the rank of
General of the Army during the term of President
Grover Cleveland.
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