Dan Sickles was born to a wealthy New York family. He entered politics as part of the Tammany Hall political machine. In 1852, he married Teresa Bagioli. He was 32, she was 15. He cheated on her a lot. For instance, he brought a known prostitute with him to the New York State Assembly and then with him to England when Teresa was pregnant. What was good for the goose was not good for the gander, however. On Feb. 27, 1859 he confronted Teresa’s lover in broad daylight on a Washington street. He shot him three times with different pistols. The dead guy was Philip Barton Key, the son of Francis Scott Key. At the time, Sickles was a Congressman. His seven defense attorneys used a novel temporary insanity defense which worked. It was the first successful use of this defense. The public forgave him. In fact, they were more upset when he took Teresa back. When the Civil War broke out, he raised a unit of soldiers and Pres. Lincoln made him a general although he had no military experience. He was one of many political generals, most of whom were bad. He was one of the worst. In the crucial battle of Gettysburg, he disobeyed orders to maintain a strong defensive position and decided on his own to move his corps forward to a “better position”. Robert E. Lee recognized an isolated unit when he saw one and the Confederates made him pay for it. In the subsequent ass-whipping, Sickles took a cannon ball to the leg and was carted off the battlefield chomping a cigar. (Incredibly, he was awarded the Medal of Honor 34 years later.) The leg was amputated. He donated it to the Army Medical Museum (it is currently in the National Museum of Health and Medicine) and would visit it every year on the anniversary of the wounding. Sometimes he brought his dates. He stayed in politics after the war and stayed in the game of amour. While Ambassador to Spain, he had an affair with Queen Isabella II. In New York politics, he played a key role in the creation of Central Park. Knowing of its location, he bought up property in the area and made a lot of money. He donated some exotic animals for the Central Park Zoo. At age 93, he was accused of embezzling thousands from a Civil War monuments fund. As usual, he avoided justice.
https://www.ranker.com/list/daniel-sickles-civil-war/genevieve-carlton?fbclid=IwAR0g2iiYfpnXszg2WdlFAks2AnNf6g9xT7KRaK2npS9MTSXvlG3Yw2vagL8
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Sickles
http://www.civilwarbummer.com/sickles-gettysburg-hero-or-medal-of-honor-fraud/
0 Comments