Devil Dan Sickles' Deadly Salients

By Gary R. Rice

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On two separate battlefields, Union General Daniel Sickles carelessly exposed his men–and the entire army–to possible defeat. Only the quick actions of other Federal officers managed to compensate for Sickles' errors and keep his mistakes from becoming disasters. It was life as usual for 'Devil Dan.'

Few figures in the Civil War were more controversial, flamboyant and charismatic than Union Major General Daniel Sickles. His proponents praised him as a great American hero, a superior soldier who displayed courage, initiative and foresight in the face of enemy guns. His detractors, on the other hand, criticized his generalship and denounced him as a scoundrel. In view of such divergent characterizations, Sickles' performances at the 1863 battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg call for close scrutiny and analysis. At a crucial point during each of those pivotal battles, Sickles advanced his army corps away from the main body of the Army of the Potomac to form a salient. Sickles' salients played key roles in the courses of the two battles and significantly influenced their outcomes. They also provide revealing insight into the character and leadership style of a unique and exasperating man.

While most public figures seek to avoid controversy and scandal, "Devil Dan" Sickles seemed to embrace them. As both a political and military figure, he openly drank, defied authority and womanized, making a name for himself as one of history's most colorful characters. From his mid-30s until his death at age 94, he was continually embroiled in some sort of financial, legislative, sexual or homicidal crisis.

Born in Manhattan on October 20, 1819, Sickles rose to prominence as a lawyer in the notorious Tammany Hall political machine in New York City. His penchant for liquor, gambling and women certainly did not hinder his political career, and he was twice elected to the U.S. Congress. While serving in this capacity in 1859, Sickles shot and killed Philip Barton Key, son of composer Francis Scott Key, for having an illicit love affair with his wife, Teresa. The shooting took place on a city sidewalk in Washington in front of numerous passers-by and within view of the executive mansion.

With future Secretary of War Edwin Stanton as his lawyer, Sickles achieved a legal first when he was acquitted on the grounds of temporary insanity, and he remained in office. He was even viewed as something of a public hero after the sensational 22-day trial. In the Victorian social climate of the day, he was seen as a man who had fought to protect the sanctity of his marriage.

Following the surrender of Fort Sumter in April 1861, Sickles' patriotic fervor helped him to overcome his scandalous past. A Democrat who nevertheless supported President Abraham Lincoln's save-the-Union policies, Sickles was authorized by New York Governor Edwin Morgan to recruit a brigade of five regiments of volunteers to fight for the Union cause. Sickles undertook the task in earnest and raised the troops within a month. Lincoln, grateful for Sickles' efforts and support, nominated him for a brigadier general's commission to command his new brigade of New Yorkers, dubbed the Excelsior Brigade. After some initial hesitation by the Senate, the nomination was confirmed. The combative politician was now a political general.

On May 31, 1862, Sickles and his brigade got their first taste of war at the Battle of Fair Oaks on the Virginia Peninsula. The brigade fought well, and Sickles' leadership evinced the pluck and swagger that defined his personality. He earned a reputation as a hard-fighting officer. When Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker was moved up to corps command, Sickles took over as commander of Hooker's old division. Shortly before the December 13, 1862, Battle of Fredericksburg, Va., Sickles was promoted to major general. When Hooker rose to command the Army of the Potomac in place of Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, he immediately placed Sickles in command of the III Corps. Of the seven corps commanders in Hooker's reorganized army, only Sickles was not a professional soldier or a West Point graduate.

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