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Born in New York in 1831, "Little Phil" Sheridan grew up in Somerset, Ohio. He was one of the Civil War's most famous generals but he nearly did not make it into the Army.  He was suspended for a year from West Point  for assaulting a cadet officer with a bayonet. 

When the Civil War broke out, Sheridan was assigned to St. Louis as the quartermaster (supply) officer for the Army of the Southwest.  The little Irishman faced the daunting task of supplying a 12,000-man army over 250 miles from its supply base in the middle of winter, performing remarkably well; but when the campaign was over, he and Curtis argued bitterly over acquisition of supplies. Curtis accused Sheridan of stealing replacement cavalry horses from citizens and threatened to have him court martialled.

Halleck liked Sheridan and placed him on his staff, thereby saving him from court martial. He soon obtained command of the 2nd Michigan Cavalry and within two months, at age 31, he was promoted to Brigadier General and given command of a brigade. By the end of the year, he commanded a division. At the battle of Stone's River, in December, 1862, his division's stubborn defense helped buy General Rosecrans enough time to restore his shattered line, and thus win the battle. In 1864, General Grant brought "Little Phil" east with him to command the Army of the Potomac's cavalry when Grant took command of all the Union armies.

It was here that Sheridan gained his greatest fame. As Grant maneuvered against Robert E. Lee outside of Richmond and Petersburg, VA, Sheridan laid waste to the vital Shenandoah Valley and won an important victory at Winchester. He was present when Lee surrendered at Appomattox, VA in 1865.

After the war, Sheridan went west to fight the Indians, where he shaped the strategy to defeat the Plains Indians. There he became famous (or infamous) for the comment that "the only good Indians I ever saw were dead", something that he denied ever saying. He became the Army's General-in-Chief in 1883, when General Sherman retired.  He died in 1888.  

Henry Halleck | Samuel Curtis | Franz Sigel | Alexander Asboth | Peter Osterhaus | Jefferson Davis | Eugene Carr | Grenville Dodge | Philip Sheridan | Frederick Benteen | James "Wild Bill" Hickock

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