George Augustus Sheridan – Captain, United States Army Member of Congress

Courtesy of the United States House of Representatives

Representative from Louisiana; born in Millbury, Mass., February 22, 1840; moved with his parents to Chicago, Ill., in 1858; completed preparatory studies; engaged in the publishing business; during the Civil War enlisted in the Union Army and served as captain of Company D, Eighty-eighth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, until October 28, 1864, when he resigned; moved to New Orleans, La., in 1866; served as brigadier general of militia on Governor Warmouth’s staff; sheriff of Carroll Parish, La., in 1867; elected as a Liberal Republican to the Forty-third Congress (March 4, 1873-March 3, 1875); appointed recorder of deeds for the District of Columbia May 17, 1878; and served until May 17, 1881, when he resigned; died in the National Soldiers’ Home, Virginia, October 7, 1896; interment in the Arlington National Cemetery.

George Augustus Sheridan (February 22, 1840-October 7, 1896) was an American politician, most notably serving in the House of Representatives for one term (the 43d Congress, 1873-1875).

Sheridan was born in Milford, Massachusetts, and moved with his parents to Chicago, Illinois in 1858. During the Civil War, he served as a Captain in the Union Army, resigning October 28, 1864.

After the war, Sheridan was one of a group of Northern officials who moved in to administer the defeated Southern states (often derisively referred to by Southerners as “carpetbaggers”). In 1866, he moved to New Orleans, Louisiana; there he served as brigadier general of militia on the staff of the appointed Republican governor of Louisiana, Henry Warmouth. In 1867, Sheridan was made sheriff of Carroll Parish, Louisiana.

Sheridan was elected to the House in 1872, after running against P. B. S. Pinchback, who was to become noted as the first black governor of a U.S. state. Pinchback contested Sheridan’s seat, and the matter wasn’t fully settled until February of 1875, when the House Committee on Elections decided that Sheridan had won.

After his service in the House, he was appointed Recorder of Deeds in the District of Columbia, serving from May 17, 1878 to May 17, 1881, when he retired.

Sheridan died in the National Soldiers’ Home in Virginia; he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard