"Sheridan's First Interview with Rowand" by Howard Pyle depicts a significant moment in the early military career of General Philip Sheridan and Archibald H. Rowand. Rowand fought with Sheridan in many battles throughout the Shenandoah Valley. During the winter of 1865 while serving with his regiment in the Shenandoah Valley, Rowand performed the act of valor which resulted in his being awarded the U.S. Medal of Honor. With nothing on but their dripping undershirts, Rowand and James A. Campbell rode 145 miles and hiked 11 miles, until they encountered a detachment of Union troops near Harrison's Landing on the James River. They had been sent to deliver critical intelligence information to General Ulysses S. Grant. Reflecting on his experiences in the Civil War, Rowand said "It was my duty to be in every engagement in which my regiment participated, and I was in every one with Sheridan, from the time he came into Shenandoah Valley until the wind-up at Appomattox. Fortunately, I contracted no disease while in the army, neither was I at any time badly wounded. As a matter of fact, I was too skinny to stop a bullet. I had holes bored through my hat, and was shot through my clothes several times; had eight horses killed under me during service in action, and escaped with a badly bruised knee, received by the falling of a horse which was shot. I am one of the thankful fellows."
