Existing comment:
Philip H. Sheridan, 1831-1888:
Placed at the head of Ulysses S. Grant's cavalry in 1864, General Philip H. Sheridan faced his greatest challenge on October 19 in the Shenandoah Valley. Informed that his troops were being overrun at the Battle of Cedar Creek, he leapt on his horse and galloped some twenty miles at breakneck speed to rally them. He arrived on the field in two hours and turned an almost certain defeat into a victory.
News of this event excited the imaginations of northerners. President Lincoln was pleased because he could not afford any setbacks on the battlefield with the presidential election only weeks away. Artist Thomas Buchanan Read visited Sheridan's camp to mark preliminary sketches for a painting of the general's legendary ride. After the war, Read completed several versions of the work, including this one, which Grant's family owned for many years. |