Terrible Swift Sword: The Life of General Philip H. Sheridan

Philip H. Sheridan ranks alongside Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman among the generals most responsible for Union victory in the Civil War, yet remains the least known of the three. Before Sherman's march through Georgia, Sheridan introduced scorched-earth warfare to the South. His Cavalry Corps played a decisive role in compelling Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. Sheridan's innovative cavalry tactics and "total war" strategy influenced twentieth-century military doctrine. After the war, Sheridan suppressed raiding Plains Indians using similar methods—killing warriors and burning villages—as he had employed against the Confederates. He also defended reservation Indians from corrupt agents and contractors. As an enthusiastic hunter and conservationist, Sheridan later ordered the US cavalry to occupy and operate Yellowstone National Park to protect it from commercial exploitation.