Personal Memoirs of General Sheridan | Page 5

absenting one's self from school
without permission, to go on a fishing or a swimming frolic. Such at
least was my experience more than once, for Mr. McNanly particularly
favored my mother's house, because of a former acquaintanceship in
Ireland, and many a time a comparison of notes proved that I had been
in the woods with two playfellows, named Binckly and Greiner, when
the master thought I was home, ill, and my mother, that I was at school,
deeply immersed in study. However, with these and other
delinquencies not uncommon among boys, I learned at McNanly's
school, and a little later, under a pedagogue named Thorn, a smattering
of geography and history, and explored the mysteries of Pike's
Arithmetic and Bullions' English Grammar, about as far as I could be
carried up to the age of fourteen. This was all the education then
bestowed upon me, and this--with the exception of progressing in some
of these branches by voluntary study, and by practical application in
others, supplemented by a few months of preparation after receiving
my appointment as a cadet--was the extent of my learning on entering
the Military Academy.
When about fourteen years old I began to do something for myself; Mr.
John Talbot, who kept a country store in the village, employing me to
deal out sugar, coffee, and calico to his customers at the munificent
salary of twenty-four dollars a year. After I had gained a twelve-
months' experience with Mr. Talbot my services began to be sought by,
others, and a Mr. David Whitehead secured them by the offer of sixty
dollars a year--Talbot refusing to increase my pay, but not objecting to
my advancement. A few months later, before my year was up, another
chance to increase my salary came about; Mr. Henry Dittoe, the
enterprising man of the village, offering me one hundred and twenty

dollars a year to take a position in the dry-goods store of Fink & Dittoe.
I laid the matter before Mr. Whitehead, and he frankly advised me to
accept, though he cautioned me that I might regret it, adding that he
was afraid Henry (referring to Mr. Dittoe) "had too many irons in the
fire." His warning in regard to the enterprising merchant proved a
prophecy, for "too many irons in the fire" brought about Mr. Dittoe's
bankruptcy, although this misfortune did not befall him till long after I
had left his service. I am glad to say, however, that his failure was an
exceptionally honest one, and due more to the fact that he was in
advance of his surroundings than to any other cause.
I remained with Fink & Dittoe until I entered the Military Academy,
principally in charge of the book-keeping, which was no small work for
one of my years, considering that in those days the entire business of
country stores in the West was conducted on the credit system; the
customers, being mostly farmers, never expecting to pay till the product
of their farms could be brought to market; and even then usually
squared the book-accounts by notes of hand, that were often slow of
collection.
From the time I ceased to attend school my employment had
necessitated, to a certain degree, the application of what I had learned
there, and this practical instruction I reinforced somewhat by doing
considerable reading in a general way, until ultimately I became quite a
local authority in history, being frequently chosen as arbiter in
discussions and disputes that arose in the store. The Mexican War, then
going on, furnished, of course, a never-ending theme for controversy,
and although I was too young to enter the military service when
volunteers were mustering in our section, yet the stirring events of the
times so much impressed and absorbed me that my sole wish was to
become a soldier, and my highest aspiration to go to West Point as a
Cadet from my Congressional district. My chances for this seemed very
remote, however, till one day an opportunity was thrown in my way by
the boy who then held the place failing to pass his examination. When I
learned that by this occurrence a vacancy existed, I wrote to our
representative in Congress, the Hon. Thomas Ritchey, and asked him
for the appointment, reminding him that we had often met in Fink &
Dittoe's store, and that therefore he must know something of my
qualifications. He responded promptly by enclosing my warrant for the

class of 1848; so, notwithstanding the many romances that have been
published about the matter, to Mr. Ritchey, and to him alone, is due all
the credit--if my career justifies that term--of putting me in the United
States Army.
At once I set about preparing for the examination which precedes
admission to the Military Academy, studying zealously