Philip Henry Sheridan's memoirs trace his life from his birth in Albany, New York, in eighteen thirty-one, and his upbringing in Somerset, Ohio, through his appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point in eighteen forty-eight. The narrative covers his early frontier assignments in Texas and California, detailing life at remote outposts, scouting duties, and encounters with Indian tribes during the mid-nineteenth century. The text provides a firsthand account of the Yakima Indian war and the author's intervention at the Cascades of the Columbia in eighteen fifty-six.
The narrative shifts to the American Civil War, detailing Sheridan's service as quartermaster and commissary in the Army of Southwest Missouri, and his participation in the Pea Ridge campaign. The work describes his appointment as colonel of the Second Michigan Cavalry, his success at Booneville, and his promotion to brigadier-general. The author recounts the operations of the Army of the Ohio, the battle of Perryville, and the strategic movements leading to the winter campaign in Middle Tennessee.
The later portion of the memoirs details the battle of Stone River, the Tullahoma campaign, and the decisive operations around Chattanooga and the Shenandoah Valley. Sheridan describes the Appomattox campaign, the defeat of the Confederate left at Five Forks, and the final surrender of General Lee's army at Appomattox Court House. The narrative concludes with his postwar assignment in Texas, Indian campaigns on the plains, and his observations of the Franco-Prussian War, including meetings with Prince Bismarck and King William of Prussia.
