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Philip H. Sheridan 1865 Letter Signed to General Horatio Wright - "Announce General Custer As Your Chief of Cavalry"
"I think it best for you to announce General Custer as your Chief of Cavalry"
Manuscript letter signed “P. H. Sheridan” one page, 7.75 x 9.75, Headquarters, Military Division of the Gulf letterhead, November 9, 1865. Letter to Major General Horatio G. Wright while Commanding the Department of Texas in Galveston, in full:
I send you by this mail the orders changing the Cavalry as heretofore contemplated. I think it best for you to announce General Custer as your Chief of Cavalry. Then you can at once have a medium through which all Cavalry Reports will come.
In fine condition.
In the summer of 1865, at Sheridan's request, Custer took command of a Union cavalry division to help occupy Texas following the Civil War. After assembling his troops in Alexandria, Louisiana, he led a grueling march to Hempstead and then to Austin. Custer became Chief of Cavalry of the Department of Texas on November 13, 1865, serving in that capacity until February 1, 1866, when he mustered out of federal volunteer service. Throughout his command, Custer faced serious resistance and resentment from veteran volunteer regiments, who wished to be discharged and disliked his strict discipline and perceived arrogance. Tensions escalated to the point that some soldiers plotted to ambush him upon their mustering out, but the attempt was foiled.
Generals Wright and Custer served under Sheridan during the Civil War. Wright is best known for commanding the VI Corps during the final year of the war. His troops famously broke through Confederate defenses at Petersburg and fought under Gen. Sheridan during the Shenandoah Valley campaigns. After the war, Wright returned to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and became its Chief of Engineers. He oversaw numerous projects, including the completion of the Washington Monument and work on the Brooklyn Bridge.
During the 1864 Shenandoah campaign, Custer and his cavalry division fought under the overall command of Sheridan, with Wright's VI Corps participating in key victories such as Cedar Creek. After the war, Gen. Sheridan ordered Wright, then commanding the Department of Texas, to appoint Custer as his Chief of Cavalry to help with the military occupation - as evidenced by the very letter we offer here.
"I think it best for you to announce General Custer as your Chief of Cavalry"
Manuscript letter signed “P. H. Sheridan” one page, 7.75 x 9.75, Headquarters, Military Division of the Gulf letterhead, November 9, 1865. Letter to Major General Horatio G. Wright while Commanding the Department of Texas in Galveston, in full:
I send you by this mail the orders changing the Cavalry as heretofore contemplated. I think it best for you to announce General Custer as your Chief of Cavalry. Then you can at once have a medium through which all Cavalry Reports will come.
In fine condition.
In the summer of 1865, at Sheridan's request, Custer took command of a Union cavalry division to help occupy Texas following the Civil War. After assembling his troops in Alexandria, Louisiana, he led a grueling march to Hempstead and then to Austin. Custer became Chief of Cavalry of the Department of Texas on November 13, 1865, serving in that capacity until February 1, 1866, when he mustered out of federal volunteer service. Throughout his command, Custer faced serious resistance and resentment from veteran volunteer regiments, who wished to be discharged and disliked his strict discipline and perceived arrogance. Tensions escalated to the point that some soldiers plotted to ambush him upon their mustering out, but the attempt was foiled.
Generals Wright and Custer served under Sheridan during the Civil War. Wright is best known for commanding the VI Corps during the final year of the war. His troops famously broke through Confederate defenses at Petersburg and fought under Gen. Sheridan during the Shenandoah Valley campaigns. After the war, Wright returned to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and became its Chief of Engineers. He oversaw numerous projects, including the completion of the Washington Monument and work on the Brooklyn Bridge.
During the 1864 Shenandoah campaign, Custer and his cavalry division fought under the overall command of Sheridan, with Wright's VI Corps participating in key victories such as Cedar Creek. After the war, Gen. Sheridan ordered Wright, then commanding the Department of Texas, to appoint Custer as his Chief of Cavalry to help with the military occupation - as evidenced by the very letter we offer here.