Philip Sheridan, US Union General in the American Civil War, Is Born

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.

Sheridan was born in Albany, New York, the third child of six of John and Mary Meenagh Sheridan, Irish Catholic immigrants from the parish of Killinkere in County Cavan, Ireland. He grew up in Somerset, Ohio.

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.