Sheridan, by his personal presence, by his magnetic influence, and by his unsurpassed military skill, had wrested victory from defeat. The one man had fought the battle, and had won it. For his brilliant achievement, he was made a major general in the regular army, in the place of General McClellan, who resigned to go into politics. Grant ordered one hundred guns to be fired from each of the armies around Petersburg in honor of Sheridan's victory. "Turning what bade fair to be a disaster into a glorious victory," said the lieutenant general, "stamps Sheridan--what I have always thought him--one of the ablest of generals." Sheridan's victory also stamps Grant as the ablest of generals; for in the selection of his pet he displayed a knowledge of human character and a keen perception of the adaptation of means to ends, the want of which had caused so many other generals to fail. My friend Pollard is made especially mad by this episode in the Shenandoah Valley. He is particularly disgusted with the singular story of "the sudden apparition of General Sheridan on a black horse flecked with foam," though in the same chapter in which he alludes to the incident, he tells a story himself which would have made Baron Munchausen tremble for his reputation. Sheridan's exploits in the valley, and his destruction of the rebel supplies, put an end to Confederate operations in that quarter. Washington was not menaced again, and the Sixth Corps was sent back to Petersburg to resume its place in the line of investment. The army of the Potomac was still battering away with its siege works at the rebel fortifications. It had extended its line around Petersburg, and destroyed twenty miles of the Weldon Railroad. There was no rest for the troops in the trenches. Every day brought its labors and its battle on a larger or a smaller scale. The sharp-shooters were picking off any man who showed his head above the breastworks. It was ceaseless toil and ceaseless vigilance. Grant was everywhere, on the watch for an opportunity to take advantage of any favoring circumstances. The winter came, and the lieutenant general did not desert the army to engage in the festivities or the excitements of the capital. He still kept his gaze firmly fixed on the prize which would end the Rebellion.