Timeline

How do Sheridan and the Cavalry fit into the broader picture of American History and the History of the American West?

This section of the project shows a timeline of American history created using TimelineJS. This timeline shows the threads of "American History" depicting major events in U.S. History, "Sheridan" which shows major events in the life and career of Phil Sheridan, "U.S. Cavalry" which shows major battles and events that helped shape the U.S. Cavalry, "Western History" which shows a collection of major events to take place in the West during this period, and "Historiography" which shows when the inluential primary and secondary sources used in this study were published. These threads show how these events fit into the larger picture but also depict how they are interwoven. Especially the events of Western History, Sheridan, and the U.S. Cavalry following 1865. All the images used in the timeline are from Google Images.

A Century at War and a Lifetime of Service.

It is important to note in this timeline that throughout the period examined, the United States is waging war on its own soil for almost the entirety of the nineteenth century in some form. From his graduation from the military academy in 1853 to his death in 1888, Phil Sheridan spent his life fighting in wars for the United States. His service began fighting natives in the West and his career was accelerated due to his actions in the Civil War. As a foot soldier in the West, Sheridan saw that the American military was successful against the natives but struggled to contain them in the vast wilderness. As commander of the Union Cavalry Corps during the Civil War, Sheridan showed officers who relied on infantry tactics new ways to wage war using large mobile cavalry formations. As a district and department commander in the West, Sheridan directly impacted strategies in the West and encouraged the use and recruitment of cavalry to be used against the natives of the plains. Over time the number of cavalry units continued to increase. The number of men in these units and the number of deployments they were sent on continued to increase over time. The career of Phil Sheridan can be seen in more detail in the section Early Career. More information on the Cavalry and the changes to it can be seen at the Army page.