Philip Henry Sheridan

Sheridan, Philip Henry (1831–88), U.S. general and Union Civil War hero. After successes in the Chattanooga and Wilderness campaigns, he commanded the army that defeated Gen. Jubal Early and devastated the Shenandoah Valley (1864). In 1865 he won the Battle of Five Forks in Virginia and helped end the war by cutting off Robert E. Lee's line of retreat from Appomattox. He became commander of the U.S. Army in 1884.

See also: Civil War, U.S.