Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/873

 SHERIDAN 847 in reconnoitring and in protecting the flank of the army, his corps made several vigorous raids, cutting off railway connections and cap- turing or destroying stores, was more than 20 times engaged with the confederate cavalry, and took an important part in the actions in and about Cold Harbor. On Aug. 4 he was appointed to the command of the army of the Shenandoah, and on the 7th to that of the middle military division. He defeated Early on the Opequan, Sept. 19, for which he was made a brigadier general in the United States army ; at Fisher's Hill, Sept. 22 ; and at Cedar creek, Oct. 19, where he turned a rout into a brilliant victory, for which he received the thanks of congress. On Nov. 8 he was made a major general. From Feb. 27 to March 24, 1865, he was engaged in the raid from Winches- ter to Petersburg, during which he destroyed the James river and Kanawha canal, cut impor- tant railway connections, destroyed military and commissary stores, and had numerous skir- mishes with the enemy. From March 25 to April 9 he was in the Eichmond campaign. On April 1 he gained the battle of Five Forks, which insured the abandonment by the con- federates of Petersburg and Richmond (see PETERSBURG, SIEGE OF), and he led in the pur- suit of Lee, and was present at his capitulation, April 9. He was appointed to the command of the military division of the Southwest June 3, and of the military division of the Gulf July 17 ; of the department of the Gulf Aug. 15, 1866; of the fifth military district, including Louisiana and Texas, March^ll, 1867; and of the department of the Missouri, with head- quarters at Fort Leavenworth, Sept. 12. On March 4, 1869, he was made lieutenant gen- eral and assigned to the command of the divi- sion of the Missouri, including the depart- ments of Dakota, of the Missouri, of the Platte, and of Texas, with headquarters at Chicago, which office he still holds (1875). Early in 1875, political disturbances threatening in Lou- isiana, he was stationed for a few weeks in New Orleans, and then returned to his com- mand in Chicago. SHERIDAN. I. Thomas, an Irish clergyman, born in county Cavan about 1684, died in Dub- lin, Sept. 10, 1738. He was educated by pri- vate charity at Trinity college, Dublin, took orders, received the degree of D. D., and was named chaplain to the lord lieutenant. Losing his college fellowship by marriage, he opened a school in Dublin, which proved highly suc- cessful, but finally ruined it by negligence and extravagance. In 1725 he was presented to a living through the influence of Dean Swift, but lost his chaplaincy by preaching a sermon on the birthday of George I. from the text : " Suf- ficient unto the day is the evil thereof." After several changes of "fortune he died in great pov- erty and distress, having maintained through all a gay and careless cheerfulness, not allow- ing a day to pass, according to Lord Cork, " without a rebus, an anagram, or a madri- 738 VOL. xiv. 54 gal." He published a translation of Persius in prose, and one of Sophocles's "Philoctetes" in verse. Many of his letters are included in Swift's "Miscellanies." II. Thomas, an elocu- tionist, son of the preceding, born at Quilca, the residence of Dean Swift, near Dublin, in 1721, died at Margate, Aug. 14, 1788. He was educated at Westminster school and at Trinity college, Dublin, and in 1743 went upon the stage. In 1744 he played at Covent Garden theatre, and in 1745 at Drury Lane, and was set up as a rival of Garrick. For eight years he managed the Dublin theatre, but in 1754, dis- regarding a clamor for the repeated recitation of certain popular and political passages in a play, a fierce riot broke out, and he retired. He resumed the management in the next year, but the erection of a rival theatre and other causes ruined his business. He then engaged with great success in lecturing on elocution in London, Oxford, Cambridge, and Scotland. He received a pension from the crown on the accession of George III. In 1760 he appeared again briefly at Drury Lane, when his quarrel with Garrick was renewed. He subsequently appeared at the Haymarket, and his last per- formance was at Covent Garden in 1776. Af- ter Garrick' s retirement in that year, Sheridan was for three years manager of Drury Lane, his son Richard Brinsley being lessee. He then retired altogether from the theatre, and in 1780 published his " Complete Dictionary of the English Language, both with regard to Sound and Meaning, one main Object of which is to establish a plain and permanent Stan- dard of Pronunciation." Among his other works are : " Lectures on the Art of Read- ing," " Course of Lectures on Elocution," and a " Life of Swift." III. Frances, a novelist, wife of the preceding, born in Ireland in 1724, of English parentage, died in Blois, France, in Sep- tember, 1766. At the age of 15 she wrote a romance, "Eugenia and Adelaide," which was afterward adapted for the stage by her daugh- ter as a comic drama, and acted with success in Dublin. She became acquainted with Sher- idan by means of a pamphlet which she pub- lished in his defence during his managerial troubles in Dublin, and they were soon after married. Her romances, "Sidney Biddulph" and " Nourjahad," are still admired. She was also the author of two less successful comedies, " The Discovery " and " The Dupe," and wrote, but never published, " The Trip to Bath," from which her son is supposed to have derived hints for his " Rivals." IV. Richard Brin>le>. an English dramatist and politician, son of the preceding, born in Dublin in September, 1751, died in London, July 7, 1816. In 1762 he was sent to Harrow, whence in his 18th year he went to Bath, where his family had settled, and in conjunction with a friend named Hal- hed wrote some fugitive pieces, and a transla- tion of Aristametus. He fell in love with Miss Linley, a young and beautiful singer of Bath, and to save her from the persecutions of a lib-