Second Day at Gettysburg - Dan Sickles Leg

[NH Civil War Gal]

During the second day of the battle of Gettysburg, #OnThisDay in 1863, Union General Daniel Sickles lost his right leg to a cannonball. Applying a saddle strap as a tourniquet, Sickle's men then placed the general on a stretcher. As he was carried to the field hospital, the general nonchalantly smoked a cigar. After his leg was amputated, Sickles sent the bones to the newly created Army Medical Museum for preservation. He supposedly visited the limb for several years afterwards on the anniversary of its amputation. The museum, now the National Museum of Health and Medicine, still displays Sickles' leg.

Image: General Daniel Sickles leg (National Museum of Health and Medicine)

 

[cheesydn]

General Daniel Sickles and leg from a 12-pound cannon ball

General Sickles return visit where he lost his leg