1865 PHILIP SHERIDAN AUTOGRAPH - Civil War Date Military Telegram Winchester VA

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1865 PHILIP SHERIDAN AUTOGRAPH - Civil War Date Military Telegram Winchester VA:
$1499.99

This sale is for a Civil War date U.S. Military Telegraphfrom Philip Sheridan, Major General, dated January 4, 1865 from Winchester, VA.

Sent to Professor Joseph Henry at the Smithsonian Institute,who was the first Chief Executive Officer of the Smithsonian Institution.

Sheridan writes in his own hand: “Will you receive Mrs Seldon if I send her toyou. She got into some difficulty inBaltimore but I think unintentional. Sheis apparently homeless and wants to leave the sinking ship.” Signed P H Sheridan, Maj General. This is essentially a “pass” to allow her totravel back.

From the Frank Pleadwell Collection, who was a well-knowncollector of autographs and historical documents from Honolulu, Hawaii.

The telegraph is tipped along the left edge to another sheetwhich probably served as Pleadwell’s identification method. Overall in great condition with folds, withsome minor separations which was repaired many years ago with archival tape. Includes 2 U.S. Military Telegraph date ink stamps.

Sheridan received a personal letter of thanks from AbrahamLincoln for his actions at Cedar Creek and a promotion to major general in theregular army as of November 8, 1864, making him the fourth ranking general inthe Army, after Grant, Sherman, and Meade. Grant wrote to Secretary of War Edwin M.Stanton after he ordered a 100-gun salute to celebrate Sheridan\'s victory atCedar Creek, \"Turning what offer fair to be a disaster into glorious victorystamps Sheridan, what I have always thought him, one of the ablest of generals.\"A famous poem, Sheridan\'s Ride, was written by Thomas Buchanan Read tocommemorate the general\'s return to the battle. Sheridan reveled in the famethat Read\'s poem brought him, renaming his horse Rienzi to\"Winchester,\" based on the poem\'s refrain, \"Winchester, twentymiles away.\" The poem was widely used in Republican campaign efforts andsome have credited Abraham Lincoln\'s margin of victory to it.

Sheridan winter camped at Winchester and spent the nextseveral months occupied with light skirmishing and fighting guerrillas.Although Grant continued his exhortations for Sheridan to move south and breakthe Virginia Central Railroad supplying Petersburg, Sheridan resisted. Wright\'sVI Corps returned to join Grant in November. Sheridan and his army finallymoved out of their winter quarters on February 27, 1865