'Little Phil' - A Giant in US Military History Quiz

Answer: Brigadier General

A one-star general has always been a brigadier general in the US Army. At the time of the Civil War the ranks for generals were as follows:
Brigadier General (one-star)
Major General (two-star)
Lieutenant General (three-star)
General of the Army (four-star)
During the first years of the war, no general had held the full rank of lieutenant general or above, although Winfield Scott was a brevetted Lt. Gen. U.S. Grant was the first officer to be promoted to full Lt. Gen. and then General of the Army. At the time of the Civil War only one officer could hold the title of General of the Army. After Grant was elected president, Sherman took over the rank. In 1888, Sheridan became the last officer to hold that rank in the nineteenth century. The rank ceased to exist with Sheridan's death later that year.

Answer: Kentucky

Kentucky's nickname is the 'Bluegrass State' hence the clue. The Confederate Heartland Offensive began in June 1862 and was intended to bring the state of Kentucky into the CSA. Although the campaign had some early successes, the defeat at the Battle of Perryville ended any hopes the Confederacy had of bringing Kentucky under their control.

During the battle Sheridan's aggressive tactics forced the Confederates to stay on the defensive in his area of influence. His aggression was checked by his commander and he was ordered back to his defensive position. Later on his division repulsed an attack by Confederate forces.

Answer: 6

At the time of the Civil War, US Army officer ranks were as follows:
Second Lieutenant
First Lieutenant
Captain
Major
Lieutenant Colonel
Colonel
Brigadier General
Major General
Lieutenant General
General of the Army

Therefore there were six ranks between captain and major general, inclusive. During the Civil War rapid promotion of officers who showed great promise on the battlefield was not uncommon, although Sheridan's rise was exceptionally fast. One example of an even faster rise would be that of Sheridan's future protégé George Armstrong Custer. Custer jumped from captain to brigadier general in a single promotion.

Answer: The Battle of Chickamauga

The West Chickamauga Creek is a tributary of the Tennessee River and lends its name to the battle. The Battle of Chickamauga was the worst defeat suffered by Union forces in the Western Theater and was the second highest in number of total casualties behind only Gettysburg. Gen. Rosecrans had performed brilliantly during the Tullahoma Campaign, outmaneuvering Braxton Bragg's Confederate Army of Tennessee and drivng them from Chattanooga. But in the Battle of Chickamauga, Rosecrans failed miserably and was replaced after the battle.

On the second day of the Battle of Chickamauga, Sheridan's division was being moved behind the lines when the Confederates launched a massive attack into a gap in the Union lines. His division made a valliant stand on Lytle Hill against the full force of Longstreet's Corps sized attack but was soon overwhelmed by fleeing Union forces. His men also fled in the confusion. He rallied men as he withdrew to Chattanooga and upon learning of Gen. Thomas' stand on Snodgrass Hill, took these men to rejoin the battle. This act saved him from being replaced as Rosecrans was.

Answer: The Chattanooga Campaign

The Battle of Missionary Ridge was the decisive battle in the Chattanooga Campaign. (The hint is a reference to the song "Chattanooga Choo Choo" from 1941.) The area of the battle is close to where the Battle of Chickamauga had been fought and as the Union troops attacked they yelled, "Chickamauga! Chickamauga!" Sheridan's division was one of three divisions that attacked the ridge as a diversionary maneuver meant to relieve pressure on Sherman's forces at Tunnel Hill but who soon carried the day by taking the lightly defended ridge.

This attack along with Hooker's advance in the South drove the Confederates from the field and forced them to withdraw from Tennessee.

Answer: J.E.B. Stuart

J.E.B. Stuart was a legendary commander of Confederate cavalry who had time and again made the Union army look bad by the feats he pulled off. Of particular notoriety was his circumnavigation of the entire Army of the Potomac back in 1862 during the Penisula Campaign.

During the Overland Campaign, Sheridan had convinced Grant to allow him to take the Cavalry Corps on a raid behind enemy lines in an attempt disrupt Confederate supply lines, threaten the Confederate capitol, Richmond, and defeat the Confederate cavalry. The two forces met in the Battle of Yellow Tavern which was won by the Union but more importantly, the South lost their most experiened cavalry general when Stuart was killed in the fighting.

Although Sheridan had accomplished his goal of engaging and defeating the Confederate cavalry, many historians have considered his raid an ill-advised propositon because it left the Army of the Potomac without its eyes during the crucial Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. They attribute Lee's victory at Spotsylvania partially to the lack of Union cavalry, the same problem Lee had faced at Gettysburg when Stuart had been off raiding instead of with his army.

Answer: Shenandoah Valley

The Shenandoah Valley had been the main means by which the Confederates armies attacked North throughout the Civil War. It was also the breadbasket of the Confederacy and an important means of sustaining the armies of the Confederacy. Lee used the valley when he invaded Maryland leading to the Battle of Antietam and again when he invaded Pennsylvania leading to the Battle of Gettysburg. Stonewall Jackson defended the valley against three numerically superior Union armies in 1862 and Jubal Early used the valley to attack Washington DC in 1864. Grant decided he had had enough and placed Sheridan in command of the Army of the Shenandoah with instructions to defeat Early and destroy the ability of the valley to supply the Confederacy with food. Much like Sherman had done in marching across Georgia and through the Carolinas, Sheridan used scorched-earth tactics to destroy the South's means to wage war and also decisively defeated Early in his campaign in the valley.

Answer: The Battle of Five Forks

The Battle of Five Forks was a decisive Union victory that finally broke the stalemate at Petersburg because it threatened Lee's only viable means of escape to the South. (The hint was a little more tricky as I did not just want to give it away. A hand has five fingers and spoons remind me of forks as both are the main eating utensils.) Sheridan faced Gen. Pickett at Five Forks, the same Gen. Pickett of Pickett's Charge in the Battle of Gettysburg. As the attack on the Confederate position floundered, Sheridan personally led the cavalry charge that broke through the Confederate's left flank, a charge that was depicted numerous times thereafter in paintings and lithographs. For his part, Pickett had been at a shad bake two miles away and had left his troops leaderless. By the time he arrived at the scene of the battle it was too late.

As the Appomattox Campaign concluded, Sheridan played a decisive role in cutting off Lee's means of escape and forced Lee's surrender on April 9. Gen. Grant summed up Sheridan's performance during the Appomattox Campaign by saying: "I believe General Sheridan has no superior as a general, either living or dead, and perhaps not an equal."

Answer: Buffalo

Sheridan was not shy about his strategy to defeat the Indians, even testifying before Congress as to how he intended to do it. He encouraged professional hunters to trespass on Indian lands to "kill, skin, and sell until the buffalo is exterminated". By 1874, an estimated 4 million plus buffalo had been killed. By depriving the Indians of their livelihood he made defeating them that much easier.

He did however suffer one huge setback in his campaign against the Plains tribes - the Battle of Little Big Horn in which his protégé George Armstrong Custer and his entire command was wiped out.

Answer: Yellowstone

A mountain in Yellowstone is named after Sheridan, Mount Sheridan. Captain Barlow named it thusly during the Hayden Expedition in 1871. Sheridan authorized military escorts for two expeditions into the area in 1870 and 1871. The area was made a national park by President Grant and Congress in 1872.

Sheridan fought for and gained military protection over the area in order to preserve its unique formations and wildlife. He fought against development of the area and by 1886 he had sent the 1st Cavalry in to protect the area.

It remained under military control until 1916 when the National Parks Service took over. Without his direct intervention and protection, the park would not be what it is today.