General Philip Sheridan Signature with Rank as Major
General U.S.A. 3.25” X 2.25” Sheridan was a
career United States Army officer and a Union General in the Civil War.
His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close
association with Lieutenant General U. 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 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 185, his
cavalry pursued General Robert E. Lee and was instrumental in forcing his
surrender at Appomattox. Sheridan fought in later years in the Indian
Wars of the Great Plains. Both as a soldier and private citizen, he was
instrumental in the development and protection of Yellowstone National
Park. In 1883 Sheridan was appointed general-in-chief of the U.S. Army,
and in 1888 was promoted to the rank of General of the Army during the term of
President Grover Cleveland. His signature, "P. H. Sheridan, Maj.
Genl.U.S.A."