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Sickles at Gettysburg, by licensed battlefield guide James Hessler, is the most deeply-researched, full-length biography to appear on this remarkable American icon. No individual who fought at Gettysburg was more controversial, both personally and professionally, than Major General Daniel E. Sickles. By 1863, Sickles was notorious as a disgraced former Congressman who murdered his wife's lover on the streets of Washington and used America's first temporary insanity defense to escape justice. With his political career in ruins, Sickles used his connections with President Lincoln to obtain a prominent command in the Army of the Potomac's Third Corps-despite having no military experience. At Gettysburg, his unauthorized advance to the Peach Orchard was one of the most controversial decisions in military history. Civil War enthusiasts who want to understand General Sickles' scandalous life, Gettysburg's battlefield strategies, the in-fighting within the Army of the Potomac, and the development of today's National Park will find Sickles at Gettysburg a must-read.
Preface vii
Acknowledgments x
Order of Battle: The Third Corps at Gettysburg xii
Chapter 1 Murder! 1
Chapter 2 The Making of a First Class Soldier 21
Chapter 3 I Think it is a Retreat 49
Chapter 4 No One Ever Received a More Important Command 69
Chapter 5 The Third Corps Marches in the Right Direction 83
Chapter 6 In Some Doubt as to Where He Should Go 101
Chapter 7 No Relation to the General line of Battle 121
Chapter 8 Isn't Your Line Too Much Extended? 143
Chapter 9 The "Key" of the Battleground 161
Chapter 10 Gross Neglect or Unaccountable Stupidity 179
Chapter 11 The Line Before You Must Be Broken 193
Chapter 12 Let Me Die on the Field 213
Chapter 13 He has Redeemed his Reputation Fully 235
Chapter 14 Subsequent Events Proved My Judgment Correct 257
Chapter 15 My Only Motive is to Vindicate History 281
Chapter 16 Spoil a Rotten Egg 301
Chapter 17 Some Strange Perversion of History 315
Chapter 18 The Civil War is Only a Memory 359
Epilogue: That Damn Fool Sickles 389
Notes 407
Bibliography 461
Index 471
Anonymous
Posted May 2, 2011
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted March 9, 2011
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
Sickles at Gettysburg, by licensed battlefield guide James Hessler, is the most deeply-researched, full-length biography to appear on this remarkable American icon. No individual who fought at Gettysburg was more controversial, both personally and professionally, than Major General Daniel E. Sickles. By 1863, Sickles was notorious as a disgraced former Congressman who murdered his wife's lover on the streets of Washington and used America's first temporary insanity defense to escape justice. With his political ...