Notes and Queries

NOTES AND QUERIES Edited by Boyd B. Stutler 517 Main Street Charleston, West Virginia this department is designed as an open forum for researchers into Civil War themes and for readers of Civil War History in general. It is open for questions on and discussions of phases of the Great Conflict and its personnel. Also, we welcome notes on newly discovered, little known, or other sidelights of the war. Contributions are invited: address Notes and QueriesEditor. QUERIES No. 64—Date and Place of Birth of General Phil Sheridan: Where or when General Philip Henry Sheridan was born is a matter of considerable uncertainty despite thefactthat he states, without qualification ,inhis Memoirsthathe was born atAlbany, New York, on March 6, 1831. There is uncertainty as to when the Sheridan family came to America from Ireland and where they landed. The year of leaving IrelandforAmerica is variously given as 1828, 1829, and 1830. Some reports have it that the family landed at Quebec in 1829; others state that the family landed at Boston, Massachusetts. All agree that the family soon went from their landing port to Albany, New York, from whence, after a stay of a year or so, they moved westward to Somerset, Perry County, Ohio. Sheridan's biographers are not in agreement as to the place and date of his birth, nor are members of the Roman Catholic clergy and others who have endeavored to find documentary evidence to support their opinions . Some believe Sheridan was born in Ireland; others state he was born at sea or in Quebec; and others say he was born in Boston. Other places of birth that have been given are Somerset, Ohio, and Albany, New York. This gives six possible places of birth. Boston seems the most likely, though there is a strong possibility that he may have been born at sea en route to America in a vessel flying the British flag. Likewise, there is uncertainty as to the date of birth. The known facts are as follows: 192 As a cadet at West Point and at the date of the acceptance of his commission as brevet 2nd lieutenant, on July 13, 1853, Sheridan stated that he was born in Massachusetts and resided in Somerset, Ohio. His state of birth appears as Massachusetts in the U.S. Army Registers from 1854 until several years after the close of the Civil War. In the official Army Register for 1869 his state of birth is given as Ohio and remained so until 1888, the last year in which his name appears in the Register, as he diedinAugust, 1888. The Adjutant General's office, U.S. Army, writes that "at date of acceptance (of bis commission) as brigadier general, U.S. Army, 12 October, 1864, Sheridan stated he was born in Somerset, Ohio, was 32 years of age, and gave his permanent address as Ohio. On October 2, 1882, he gave the date ofbis birth as 6 March, 1831, but did not mention place of birth." On the day of registration at West Point, July 1, 1848, Sheridan gave his age as 18 years and one month, which would indicate thatperhaps hewasborn in MayorJune, 1830, instead ofMarch 6, 1831, as he stated in his Memoirs. On the other hand, if he were "32 years of age" as mentioned above on October 12, 1864, this would make the year of his birth 1832. Whitelaw Reid, in his Ohio in the War (l:495fn), gives Somerset, Ohio, as Sheridan's place of birth on "the authority of Sheridan himself." Prior to Sheridan's statement in his Memoirs that he was born in Albany , New York, March 6, 1831, it was generally accepted that he was born in Somerset, Ohio, the date being uncertain. Sheridan's mother died at the age of 87, two months before Sheridan's death, and he may have consulted her as to the time and place of his birth. At the age of 87, in the absence of any written record and after a lapse of over 50 years, his mother presumably would have had to rely on her memory, which at that agemaynot have been too reliable. Query: Does any reader have or...