 Philip Sheridan was a career United States Army officer who was instrumental in securing Union successes during the Valley Campaigns of 1864 , most notably the Battle of Cedar Creek . Many of the Union generals would eventually be memorialized in Washington , D.C. , with statues spread throughout the city . While looking at one of his comrade 's equestrian sculptures , Sheridan was not impressed with the depiction of the man and horse . He reportedly told his wife " Whatever you do after I 'm gone , don 't put me on a horse like that . " Following her husband 's death in 1888 , when an equestrian sculpture of her husband was being planned , Irene Sheridan insisted the horse be as " proud and courageous as its rider . " 
