Object Details
Artist
Thomas Buchanan Read, 12 Mar 1822 - 11 May 1872
Sitter
Philip Henry Sheridan, 6 Mar 1831 - 5 Aug 1888
Exhibition Label
Birthplace unknown
Union Army solider Thomas Buchanan Read based this painting on his famous 1864 poem “Sheridan’s Ride.” Both poem and painting commemorate Union General Philip H. Sheridan’s legendary ride on October 19, 1864, to rally troops at the Battle of Cedar Creek in Virginia, turning defeat into a victory that helped secure President Abraham Lincoln’s reelection. This painting remained in Ulysses S. Grant’s family for many years.
Beginning in the late 1860s, Sheridan adopted the scorched earth tactics he used against the Confederate Army for his wars against the Plains Indians. As commander of the Military Division of Missouri—one of the highest-ranking officials of the U.S. Army—he played a pivotal role implementing federal imperial ambitions. The resultant genocidal dispossession of nomadic Native American societies of the Great Plains helped define the era historians now call the “Greater Reconstruction,” which encompasses the West as well as the South.
Lugar de nacimiento desconocido
Thomas Buchanan Read, quien fue soldado de la Unión, basó esta pintura en su famoso poema de 1864 “La cabalgata de Sheridan”. Ambas obras conmemoran la legendaria cabalgata de Philip H. Sheridan, general de la Unión, el 19 de octubre de 1864, para organizar a sus tropas y conseguir la victoria en la Batalla de Cedar Creek, Virginia, ayudando a asegurar la reelección del presidente Abraham Lincoln. La pintura permaneció en la familia de Ulysses S. Grant por muchos años.
Desde fines de la década de 1860, Sheridan adoptó contra los indígenas de las planicies la táctica de quemar tierras que había usado contra los confederados. Con el alto rango de comandante de la División Militar de Misuri, tuvo un papel central en la consumación de las ambiciones imperiales federales. El despojo genocida de las sociedades nómadas nativas de las Grandes Planicies fue un factor definitorio de la hoy llamada “Gran Reconstrucción”, que abarcó el oeste además del sur del país.
Provenance
Ulysses S. Grant III; gift to Smithsonian 1939 [to Division of History]; transferred to NPG 1968.
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; transfer from the National Museum of American History; gift of Ulysses S. Grant III, 1939
Date
1871
Object number
NPG.68.51
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Stretcher: 137.2 x 98.7 x 3.8cm (54 x 38 7/8 x 1 1/2")
Frame: 180.7 x 140.7 x 14.6cm (71 1/8 x 55 3/8 x 5 3/4")
See more items in
National Portrait Gallery Collection
Exhibition
Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900
On View
NPG, East Gallery 120
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Topic
Weapon\Sword
Exterior\Landscape\Battleground
Nature & Environment\Animal\Horse
Human Figures\Soldier
Weapon\Cannonball
Philip Henry Sheridan: Male
Philip Henry Sheridan: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\Colonel
Philip Henry Sheridan: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\General
Philip Henry Sheridan: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\Captain
Philip Henry Sheridan: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\Civil War\Union Army
Philip Henry Sheridan: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\Brigadier General
Philip Henry Sheridan: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\Major General
Portrait
Link to Original Record
Record ID
npg_NPG.68.51