Undated description of Winchester signed by General Sheridan
(transcription) "Winchester was of Black-hawk blood, and was
foaled at or near Grand Rapids, Michigan, late in the fall of
1859, according to the best of my information. He was brought
into the service by an officer of the Second Michigan Cavalry,
to which regiment I was appointed Colonel, on the 25th day of
May, 1862. Shortly afterwards, and while the regiment was
stationed at the little town of Rienzi in the State of
Mississippi, he was presented to me by Captain Campbell in the
name of the officers of the regiment, and from that date until
the close of the war, he was ridden by me in nearly every
engagement in which I took part. "At the time he was given me,
he was rising three years old, so that he must have been in his
20th year when he died, on October 2nd, 1878. He was an animal
of great intelligence and of immense strength and endurance. He
always held his head high, and by the quickness of his movements
gave many persons the idea that he wa