| Show r. r r Cain w I fit little J ia y 1 s 1 7 P v j r a l x frA m w ac S 1 C ot R aorta R. R 2 4 jr- By ELMO SCOTT WATSON r T WAS AS ju just Jint t 1110 years Carll ogo ngo go March G C. C 1 1831 11 that there thero was horn to im an Irish Immigrant couple In Albany 1 N. N y I Y a ahoy boy lioy who w was u a destined for lasting fame as all an un American Amer ican lean soldier and as one of the great cavalry leaders of nil all time Philip II Henry n r Sheridan was wal his lila name but American tradition hoe has preserved his memory In to two nicknames which his devoted olt d follow j 1 tr en gave him Fighting andi and ana I Little Phil And Anil like another horseman of an earlier war Paul Revere of the Sheridan Sher Shere idan the tho dashing dabbing cavalryman of the Civil war war owes owell some of the perpetuation of his name and fame to a poem Thomas poem Thomas Heads Head's Hide IlIde While Sheridan SherMan was still a child his hili parents moved to Ohio and settled near acne Somerset In Terry Perry county There his l boyhood and und youth were spent under un nn der frontier conditions with w Ith Il Us Its necessity noces- noces sity for tor hard work by hy nil all members of the fn family Uy and Its limited opportunities ties tlell for tor education lIou There the characteristics charac charat of his later inter life became evident evl- evl dent tarl early Young Sheridan work worked Id I'd for n a country storekeeper for tor the sum of M roO cents n a week and although his employer Er testified to the fact that he bt was ns a faithful worker he be also commented commented com COUl upon the fact that what time lime the boy hoy wasn't t working hI he was vas soldier or In soldier At the tho age ae of seventeen Sheridan had And the good fortune fortu to secure an nn appointment ap up- to West Point and although Ms Pits limited education made the work there unusually difficult for him h he e made a fairly good record at the acad fill emy However lIo he lived up to hl hU hi scrappy reputation by hy tuning timing lu IlIg such luCh sucha luCha a fight light with n a fellow cadet that h he e was suspended for a year and In Instead d dof of t being graduated In the class o of ot f 18 as al ho ht should ha e ba teen been he ht wn was g not graduated until 1514 1 and then b he be e i stood No lo 3 31 H In III a class of r. r TO 52 Following his graduation and a appointment ap Rp- p t as a n second lieutenant 1 In n tl the Infantry Sheridan spent spelt the nex next t eight years In comparative obscurity lie was detailed to t service mi of th the e frontier and In arlous parts of th the S f 1 West saw service I against t the Indians which not only afforded him idol you good d training with the dragoons for hl his hla g future career as a a but hut als also 0 gate ga him Alm an aD Insight into into the Indian India character which was to he ht particularly p valuable during the wars after artEr r the conflict of M. The outbreak of ot the Civil war however however how V. ever gave t Sheridan his hb chance to display tits die play the genius which was to give he h him m his place among the great cavalry J leaders of the world Detailed firson first firs t on the start staff of ot General n at t St. St Louis he lie soon attracted alien alien- lion by his capacity for detail hl his a energy and his unfailing devotion d. t to toI 0 I 1 dut duty and find these qualities resulted 1 In n his appointment app as colonel of ot the Se See See- 6 Iud cud Michigan ca cavalry Only a R fey few y weeks later latr he was elevated to th ther the e r f grade of brigadier general of the tine United Unit Unit- fd ItI States StutE'S Volunteers That was i In a f and by y the nut cud of the tie year jear h hr heI he e r I had been placed In command of a di dl dl- vision Islon and given his I commission of I major general And all 1111 of this had happened when he was but two thirty-two years year of age ale Sheridan's record durin during the first fA three years lurs of ot the war was brilliant enough t with his part In the battles a at t Stone River Ul ChIckamauga a and Chattanooga but he be rose to th the e heights In 1 1 y when lieu he was made mado chief of the cavalry o corps of the Army of the Potomac and started upon his famous campaign In the alley of Virginia There his problem to checkmate another brilliant cavalry cO I leader lender Gen Cen Jubal A A. A l' l Early Karly arl of the Confederate arm army and aud to devastate dev astute this rich country no so 0 that It could no ho longer feed teet the Confederate arm army It U was during this campaign n that the Incident occurred which Inspired I Heads Head's famous tumouR poem and gave ga rise toone to toone r one oue of those thos popular legends so dento den dear r tl to the heart of ot Americans and Americans and so sa filled with Inaccuracies as RII to historical cal tul fact tad I That legend tells how Sheridan Sher Shere idan at nt Winchester hearing bearing hta heavy firIng tiring In lu the direction of Cedar Creek where his army was stationed suspected suspected sus something was wrong sprang g to the back of his hili coal black charger Winchester and made a mad iliad das dash h of ot 20 0 miles to find his army bein being g routed by Karly's surprise attack Then according to the school book histories Swinging his Ids hat he dashed dashe d along th the line of battle shouting lever mind boys well we'll whip them then t yet jet lt The boys responded by throwIng throw throw- In lag Ing up their caps ClipS and hurrahing with t the wildest joy night set inthey In Inthey n they drove drine Karly out of the Valley A reference to Sheridan's Personal Memoirs and other standard authorities author ties however will witt show that the legend leg IES end nd can cnn stand considerable on correction In the limo first place Ilace Sheridan did no not nat t ride any 20 X rages miles as al the poet has hI him m doing It U Is la only 13 miles milts from Winchester Win chester cheater to Cedar Creek and he had hl his a first view lew of Qt his hid hi disorganized Army a aMill at t Mill Creek less leas than thau a mile from Win Win- rh chester cheater 1 From Irom rota there to the tine actual 1 front It was not much more inure than r nine or ten miles mUes Nor for or was his lila ride e made alone nor covered Erd at nt top speed l all al althe the way as the tine poet would havus have hav e us believe e. lie III was wall accompanied b by J two of his camp aides Mal Maj aj George Georg e A. A Forsythe and Capt Joseph OKeefe O e and aUll at various places along the route rout e of ot his progress progress toward the enemy h he e unused paused long enough to give ghe orders t to u various artous officers about rallying the r re retreating retreating treating Union troops As for the tin e Turn boys bos turn I Were We're golnback going g back t I t type e of exclamation M as otter often attributed to Sheridan these word words S from his Memoirs speak for themselves themselves them them- selves seln's I said laid nothing except to remark remark re reo mark as us I rode among those thase on th the e road If It I had been with you ou this s morning this disaster would not hn man have I e happened We must face the other othe r way we will go back and recover er ou our r cam camp camp p. p Although Sheridan Is known to more mot e Americans ans because of this Incident t thau than other In to his that any career cl career ca rear reer continued long utter after the Civil II war It Included service on the Mex Ixl Mexican i can border In the das days when the lie Ma Max Max- x Incident was a threat to our ourI ou r I peaceful relations with Ith n countries during the Indian wars warB o othe on n the plains when he was liS In comman command d of the operations finally brong brought Pt about the subjugation of the warlike wan P tribes as guest observer tr on the stuff staff of Wn King William during the lie Tranco- Tranco war and as commander In chief of the United States StatE's army after the tbt retirement of ot Sherman Sheridan died In at the of age wen fifty years jears l rI with the rank of full tull general a agrade agrade grade which had been restored by cons con COD Cress gress res that year ear In his favor tavor C fi 1 by Uloa |
