Daniel Sickles Pistols

[7thWisconsin]

On February 27, 1859, Daniel Sickles shot and killed Phillip Barton Key. Emptied a revolver into him, or at least all of the cartridges that didn´t misfire. He was also armed with 2 derringers at the time. Ultra nerdy question, then: what guns did Sickles use? He owned an 1855 Colt later in life. Was the murder weapon a similar revolver? what about the derringers, which weren´t used but were still on his person at the time?

 

[TallTallMan]

The Harpers engraving looks a bit like a derringer.

 

[7thWisconsin]

I thought that when I saw that engraving too. But he shot Key multile times (3? 4?) with a couple misfires in the mix also. So that rules out the derringer. The Colt 1855 cylinder sits well forward of the grip, and the pocket pistol doesn´t have a trigger guard. So, as much as it´s dangerous to over-interpret a woodcut, I can make that into a Colt pocket pistol if I squint a little.

 

[rob63]

U.S. Attorney Robert Ould headed the two-person prosecution team..., described Sickles finding Key in Lafayette Park, and how Sickles "had come to that carnival of blood fully prepared. He was a walking magazine." He explained that Sickles came with not one, but several, weapons "each one of which, doubtless, possessed its peculiar excellence for the murderous work." "It would seem [Sickles] did not reason carelessly," Ould declared.

The 1859 Murder Trial of Daniel E. Sickles - Historical Society of the D.C. Circuit

The 1859 Murder Trial of Daniel E. Sickles The D.C. Circuit’s First Successful Insanity Defense? Or Jury Nullification? James E. Rocap, III President, Historical Society of the D.C. Circuit June 28, 2024 On June 27, 2024, the Society presented a program on perhaps the most famous...

dcchs.org

Perusing the article, there is a reference to a weapon having a value of $2.00, but there doesn't seem to be any further details in the parts of the trial transcript that was quoted. Perhaps if you can find the entire transcript of the trial it would have more information?

 

[Library Lady]

If somebody has Chris DeRose's book Star Spangled Scandal: Sex, Murder, and the Trial that Changed America handy, it may tell you. I think the information is more likely to be there than in Thomas Keneally's American Scoundrel: The Life of the Notorious Civil War General Dan Sickles, but I could be wrong. DeRose focuses on the Key incident and the trial whereas Keneally covers Sickles' whole life.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

what guns did Sickles use? He owned an 1855 Colt later in life. Was the murder weapon a similar revolver?

According to the below referenced link (@ p. 5), at the relevant time Sickles was armed with 'two colts and a Derringer.'

https://www.ou.edu/content/dam/cas/history/docs/journal/Reid%20-%20The%20Disguise%20of%20Insanity.pdf

In the report (see p. 18 at below link) of Sickles's subsequent trial, independent eyewitness Edward Delafield testified that he believed six shots (with heard gun cocking several times) were fired by Sickles at Key from the same pistol, even though he did not see the actual handheld weapon used.

Trial of the Hon. David E. Sickles for shooting Philip Barton Key ... February 27, 1859. Reported by Felix G. Fontaine

Based on this information, thought the handheld weapon discharged by Sickles may have been a 'Colt 1851 Navy Revolver' with a rotating cylinder containing six rounds that required the operator to cock the hammer before each firing. Supporting this suggestion is that this particular pistol was a very popular handgun used in the period.

 

[7thWisconsin]

If somebody has Chris DeRose's book Star Spangled Scandal: Sex, Murder, and the Trial that Changed America handy, it may tell you. I think the information is more likely to be there than in Thomas Keneally's American Scoundrel: The Life of the Notorious Civil War General Dan Sickles, but I could be wrong. DeRose focuses on the Key incident and the trial whereas Keneally covers Sickles' whole life.

LOL - It´s actually Star Spangled Scandal that sent me down this rabbit hole. DeRose mentions the derringers several times, and frequently in situ of testimony quotes, but Sickle´s revolver is always just called ¨the revolver.¨ Apparently, Sickles discharged at least one of the derringers, because the bullets removed from Key were of different calibers, and one of them was too big for the derringer.

 

[Library Lady]

LOL - It´s actually Star Spangled Scandal that sent me down this rabbit hole. DeRose mentions the derringers several times, and frequently in situ of testimony quotes, but Sickle´s revolver is always just called ¨the revolver.¨ Apparently, Sickles discharged at least one of the derringers, because the bullets removed from Key were of different calibers, and one of them was too big for the derringer.

Sorry about that, @7thWisconsin ! That's what happens when the library makes me give books back.

 

[bayonet]

On February 27, 1859, Daniel Sickles shot and killed Phillip Barton Key. Emptied a revolver into him, or at least all of the cartridges that didn´t misfire. He was also armed with 2 derringers at the time. Ultra nerdy question, then: what guns did Sickles use? He owned an 1855 Colt later in life. Was the murder weapon a similar revolver? what about the derringers, which weren´t used but were still on his person at the time?

"Emptied a revolver into him" Sickles must of been the Bernie Goetz of his time. Do you recall the NYC subway shooter who said after shooting a thug "You don't look so bad, have another"!

 

[JackADriscoll]

I read somewhere that he had a five shot colt pocket revolver then shot the derringer

 

[7thWisconsin]

"Emptied a revolver into him" Sickles must of been the Bernie Goetz of his time. Do you recall the NYC subway shooter who said after shooting a thug "You don't look so bad, have another"!

Actually, yes - Sickles was armed to the teeth. If his revolver and derringers hadn´t done the job, he had a knife in another coat pocket. He was bad, bad Leroy Brown in the flesh. And he shot Barton Key repeatedly. It was like a one-man gunfight.

 

[on again]

sickles shot Key once in the left side below the tenth rib according to the indicement

A Husband’s Revenge

Verdicts of History: II -- Is it all right to shoot your wife’s lover? Do you have to catch him flagrante delicto? What if your victim is district attorney? And if you are a member of Congress? Now come with us to Washington, D.C., in 1859. Is it all right to shoot your wife’s lover? Do you have...

www.americanheritage.com

 

[7thWisconsin]

sickles shot Key once in the left side below the tenth rib according to the indicement

A Husband’s Revenge

Verdicts of History: II -- Is it all right to shoot your wife’s lover? Do you have to catch him flagrante delicto? What if your victim is district attorney? And if you are a member of Congress? Now come with us to Washington, D.C., in 1859. Is it all right to shoot your wife’s lover? Do you have...

www.americanheritage.com

Actually, Sickles first shot missed altogether. He fired a second time and hit him, then two more times in close succession, hitting him both times. He was going to shoot Key in the head, but the pistol misfired on the last shot. I think there´s another misfire in that mix somewhere too. (I´d count the misfires as misses since if they had fired, they certainly would have hit their intended target.)