This exhaustive recount of the life of Dan Sickles gives us a complete picture of the man who was the hero of the Battle of Gettysburg and the architect of Central Park in New York City. Keneally gives us both the good and the bad in Sickles. The result generates feeling for the man that is both inspiring and disgusting. At some of the events in his life you can’t help but admire the man’s audacity and intelligence. But other actions and activities make you feel that the man should have been locked up to protect society.
Sickles marries Teresa Bagioli a beautiful young woman many years younger than him. He provides her a nice home and at first some affection. But, he occupies himself in New York and then National politics and stays away from home nearly all the time. How he finds the time to father a daughter is a mystery but he does. While away he does not even consider Teresa or his daughter Laura’s needs or feelings. In fact when he is given a position in London, he declines to take Teresa and Laura with him as the voyage would be too hard on the infant. Instead he takes his mistress to London with him. He arranges for an apartment for his mistress and takes her openly to opera and plays and social functions. He even has her introduced to the Queen.
After returning to America Sickles remains in Washington DC leaving Teresa in New York. He takes mistresses while serving in congress and ignores his wife. Eventually his wife does come to DC but he pays her scant attention. Eventually Teresa takes up an affair with young Barton Key, son of Francis Scott Key. Her affair goes on for a year or so before Dan finds out and when he does he is outraged. He forces her to sign her written and very detailed confession and then when he sees Key out in front of his home trying to attract Teresa’s attention he storms out into the street and shoots him down right in the middle of Lafayette Square and in front of many witnesses. Of course there is a trial but Dan has many friends and gets off with a plea of temporary insanity. (The first time in the US where this plea is used).
Events in the country bring Sickles into the Civil War. He desires to raise a Regiment in New York and manages to parlay his popularity into about 4,000 men. When the governor of New York tries to get Sickles to disband his militia so that he can raise one of his own Sickles refuses. He proceeds to DC and persuades James Buchanan that it is the solemn function of the President of the United States to raise an army and fight wars as “Commander in Chief”. Sickles keeps his regiment and goes to war. He declares himself a “General” but has some difficulty getting congress to confirm him. When congress refuses, Sickles again works the President and gets his “General-ship”.
Sickles is assigned under General Joe Hooker. Hooker is quite successful and as he receives promotions Sickles moves up into the positions left by Hooker. Sickles does pretty well in battle himself but it is when he is put in a key position at “Little Roundtop” in the Battle of Gettysburg that Sickles is able to shine. He reluctantly bends the orders of General Meade who is determined to withdraw where Sickles advances to the high ground. That high ground makes all the difference in defeating General Longstreet’s charge and takes the day for the North at Gettysburg. Sickles later receives the “Medal of Honor” for his leadership and gallantry in leading his men even though taking a shell that smashed his leg during battle.
After the war Sickles is assigned to the job of Military Governor of South Carolina and North Carolina where he does a fine job of protecting the interests of small farmers, former slaves and others. He mediates against high handed southern government and does a big job of ensuring the gentle reconstruction of the nation after such a horrendous, bloody war.
But he continues to treat his wife, Teresa, very badly. He never allowed Teresa to join him and help take care of wounded soldiers and comfort the families of the lost soldiers as other generals did. He seemed to not want to have anything to do with Teresa. Meanwhile Teresa contracted Tuberculosis and began wasting away until finally she passed on. While Dan cried at her funeral he quickly moved on to other things in politics and other women for sexual comfort.
He did eventually marry again but treated his second wife like he had Teresa. He cared more for his mistresses and for his affairs of state than for his wife.
Dan Sickles at bottom seems to have been an extremely self-centered man. Everything in his life was seen in relation to how it may or may not advance his career interests. His concentrated focus on benefiting himself is what made him so successful. It even helped make him a hero as he was very aware that a General must build up a resume of fearlessness in the face of enemy fire that his troops will see and comment on. Thus when wounded at Gettysburg Sickles asked for a light for his cigar and calmly instructed his aid to apply a tourniquet to his smashed leg then instructed the next General in line to assume command before he was taken away.
In his declining years for some un-recorded reason Sickles abandoned his daughter Laura. He would have nothing to do with her spurning his father when he was requested to help her. Laura died of alcoholism and Sickles would not lift a hand to help her. He did not even attend her funeral.
Even though Dan Sickles was a war hero and a very successful politician he was not a man to be admired for many reasons. The book telling of his life is interesting because there are so many interesting events that Sickles was involved in. He was close to three presidents and moved in high circles. I give the book an 8 of 10 on the Weaver though I would not rate Dan Sickles highly at all.
