Dirty Dan Sickles, I Am The Man!

I can think of at least hundreds :smile:

And even among Union Civil War generals, the general public opinion during the Civil War had others (Butler, McClellan, Banks, Burnside, Killpatrick, Rosecrans etc.) much more controversial than him. Add some confederate figures, Andrew Johnson, John Wilkes Booth, and probably more, and there were at least a dozen more controversial contemporary figures.

The more you add to American History and meet people like Adolph Hitler, Osama bin Laden, etc, the more and more Dan Sickles becomes a footnote in History, despite his intention, and that is enough punishment :wink:

I would guess if you asked a random set of 1000 Americans now about who were the 10 most despicable people in American History, Sickles' name will not come up. And I bet 999 of them would not even know who Dan Sickles was.

The History of America is very long :smile:
You are so figurative :smile:
 
Sickles headquarters marker near the Trostle farm

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What the battlefield marker says about Sickles ...

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"Where is the bust of Major General Dan Sickles? Was it not meant to be here?" Rumour has it he misappropriated the funds that had been raised for this. Does Hessler mention this in his book @Bee, @War Horse?

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Now I remember. He said "... the entire battlefield is a memorial to Dan Sickles", when questioned why there was no memorial to him. What a man!
 
PeterT said:
"Where is the bust of Major General Dan Sickles? Was it not meant to be here?" Rumour has it he misappropriated the funds that had been raised for this. Does Hessler mention this in his book @Bee, @War Horse?

I'll look. I don't recall it

Found it @PeterT -- waaaay in the back of the book, page 345:

A statue was never completed, and today the pedestal remains empty. Although it appears that there was no intention to place a monument there during Sickles' lifetime, probably due to a general restriction prohibiting the honoring of living individuals, one of Gettysburg's oldest battlefield traditions has it that Sickles' expulsion from the monuments commission in 1913 prevented this statue from ever being placed.
Regarding why Dirty Dan was expelled from the monuments commission, page 372:

The state Controller had been attempting an accounting of the commission's funds since 1910. When Controller William Sohmer finally saw the books in late 1912, he discovered that chairman Sickles had vouchers for only $417,165 of the $445,641 that had been given the commission for the expenditure of state monuments: $28,486 was un accounted for.​
 
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Found it @PeterT -- waaaay in the back of the book, page 345:

A statue was never completed, and today the pedestal remains empty. Although it appears that there was no intention to pace a monument there during Sickles' lifetime, probably due to a general restriction prohibiting the honoring of living individuals, one of Gettysburg's oldest battlefield traditions has it that Sickles' expulsion from the monuments commission in 1913 prevented this statue form ever being placed.
Regarding why Dirty Dan was expelled from the monuments commission, page 372:

The state Controller had been attempting an accounting of the commission's funds since 1910. When Controller William Sohmer finally saw the books in late 1912, he discovered that chairman Sickles had vouchers for only $417,165 of the $445,641that had been gien the commission fort he expenditure of state monuments: $28,486 was un accounted for.​
So putting 2 + 2 together I can get 4 and a bit :D

There is no bust of Sickles because he was still living (and it couldn't be placed there) but then he was expulsed from the Commission (and it wouldn't be placed there) and he was expulsed due to unaccounted for funds. Sounds about right then.
 
So putting 2 + 2 together I can get 4 and a bit :D

There is no bust of Sickles because he was still living (and it couldn't be placed there) but then he was expulsed from the Commission (and it wouldn't be placed there) and he was expulsed due to unaccounted for funds. Sounds about right then.
Correct. Again the crafty Sickles avoided jail somehow even though he could not repay the shortage. The guy had a horseshoe shoved somewhere, I'll let your imagination do the rest.
 
Found it @PeterT -- waaaay in the back of the book, page 345:

A statue was never completed, and today the pedestal remains empty. Although it appears that there was no intention to pace a monument there during Sickles' lifetime, probably due to a general restriction prohibiting the honoring of living individuals, one of Gettysburg's oldest battlefield traditions has it that Sickles' expulsion from the monuments commission in 1913 prevented this statue form ever being placed.
Regarding why Dirty Dan was expelled from the monuments commission, page 372:

The state Controller had been attempting an accounting of the commission's funds since 1910. When Controller William Sohmer finally saw the books in late 1912, he discovered that chairman Sickles had vouchers for only $417,165 of the $445,641that had been gien the commission fort he expenditure of state monuments: $28,486 was un accounted for.​
Maybe they should put a sculpture of Dan's erstwhile leg there instead? Or, better yet, a smiling bust of Meade? (Not that Meade ever smiled.)
 
Funny how we read the same thing and come away with totally opposite opinion. I see premeditated intentions written all over it.

1. Have Teresa make a written confession.
2. Calling his old Tammany Hall crony to be present when he kills Key.
3. Firing on an unarmed man in cold blood.

He probably knew what their signal was and when Key was next to appear from Teresa. It appears planned and executed, so to speak. He could have challenged him to a duel! That of course could have resulted in his own death. He played it safe!

I agree. He had already shot Key below the groin and in the chest. Key was laying on the ground and Sickles went up to him and put his pistol to Keys' head and pulled the trigger. The pistol misfired, but Sickles had intended to shoot Key in the head after he had already been mortally wounded. He had armed himself with a pistol and two derringers before he went outside.

It all adds up to premeditated here.
 
And here is the photo that shows Eric talking to us at that spot. The other photo was posted in another thread, but for the sake of completeness I have put it here also. Can't get enough of Dirty Dan. You can see the terrain. Sickles men were looking uphill and the ground in front was swampy marshland. That doesn't excuse Sickles though!

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Marshy ground in front is actually good for them because it's more of an obstacle for attacking confederates to overcome, had Sickles stayed where he was supposed to be.
 
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