Union Cavalry General Philip Sheridan
Many Americans think it was William T. Sherman's march to the sea that ended the war. The were many other great union leaders that made major contributions to the war effort such as
Philip Henry Sheridan.
Throughout the Civil War, the Confederacy sent armies out of Virginia through the
Shenandoah Valley to invade
Maryland and
Pennsylvania and threaten
Washington, D.C.
Lt. Gen.
Jubal A. Early, following the same pattern in the
Valley Campaigns of 1864, and hoping to distract Grant from the
Siege of Petersburg, attacked Union forces near Washington and raided several towns in Pennsylvania.
Ulysses S. Grant, reacting to the political commotion caused by the invasion, organized the
Middle Military Division, whose field troops were known as the
Army of the Shenandoah.
He considered various candidates for command, including George Meade, William B. Franklin, and
David Hunter, with the latter two intended for the military division while Phillip Sheridan would command the army.
All of these choices were rejected by either Grant or the War Department and, over the objection of
Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, who believed Sheridan to be too young for such a high post.
Sheridan took command in both roles at
Harpers Ferry on August 7, 1864. His mission was not only to defeat Early's army and to close off the Northern invasion route, but to deny the Shenandoah Valley as a productive agricultural region to the Confederacy.
Grant told Sheridan:
The people should be informed that so long as an army can subsist among them recurrences of these raids must be expected, and we are determined to stop them at all hazards. ... Give the enemy no rest ... Do all the damage to railroads and crops you can. Carry off stock of all descriptions, and negroes, so as to prevent further planting. If the war is to last another year, we want the Shenandoah Valley to remain a barren waste.
Sheridan got off to a slow start, needing time to organize and to counter the reinforcements reaching Early.
Grant ordered him not to launch an offensive "with the advantage against you," yet Grant expressed frustration with Sheridan's lack of progress.
The armies remained unengaged for over a month, causing political consternation in the North as the
1864 election drew near.
Grant and Sheridan conferred on September 16 at
Charles Town and agreed that Sheridan would begin his attacks within four days.
On September 19, Sheridan beat Early's much smaller army at
Third Winchester and followed up on September 22 with a victory at
Fisher's Hill.
As Early attempted to regroup, Sheridan began the punitive operations of his mission, sending his cavalry as far south as
Waynesboro to seize or destroy livestock and provisions, and to
burn barns, mills, factories, and railroads.
Sheridan's men did their work relentlessly and thoroughly, rendering over
400 mi.² uninhabitable.
The destruction presaged the
scorched earth tactics of
Sherman's March to the Sea through
Georgia—deny an army a base from which to operate and bring the effects of war home to the population supporting it.
The residents referred to this widespread destruction as "The Burning." The Confederates were not idle during this period and Sheridan's men were plagued by
guerrilla raids by partisan ranger Col.
John S. Mosby a famous confederate raider.
