James A. Hessler
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58. “Veterans, How Can You Vote For Cleveland or McKaig?,” The Herald and Torchlight, October 6, 1892; “Sickles on His Talks,” The Trenton Times, October 22, 1892; www.whitehouse.gov.
59. “Veterans, How Can You Vote For Cleveland or McKaig?,” The Herald and Torchlight, October 6, 1892; “Sickles on His Talks,” The Trenton Times, October 22, 1892; “Veterans Favor Mr. Cleveland,” Gettysburg Compiler, October 18, 1892; “Sickles for Cleveland,” Gettysburg Compiler, October 25, 1892.
60. The Salem Daily News, November 1, 1892.
61. “Sickles Up For Congress,” New York Times, October 18, 1892. As a typical example of how Sickles’ return to Congress has been treated by authors, Pinchon (264) stated that Sickles really had only one goal, to rescue the Gettysburg battlefield from commercialization, souvenir hunters, and vandals via government intervention. While this was undoubtedly one of Sickles’ personal pet goals, it was an unlikely motivation for New York’s Tammany Hall to offer his nomination, and an equally unlikely reason for New Yorkers to vote for him.
62. Ibid.; “Sickles for Cleveland,” Gettysburg Compiler, October 25, 1892. Sickles’ “loyalty” to Cleveland did not apparently extend beyond Sickles’ election. In June 1893, shortly after taking office, Sickles told the newspapers: “Everybody knows that I have not the utmost confidence in Mr. Cleveland’s political capacity or statesman like quality.” See “The Financial Situation,” Decatur (Ill) Daily Republican, June 1, 1893.
63. “Gen McMahon Protests,” New York Times, October 18, 1892; “McMahon Will Fight Sickles,” The Trenton Times, October 20, 1892; “Sickles Means to Stick,” New York Times, October 20, 1892; Styple, Generals in Bronze, 83.
64. “Sickles Means to Stick,” New York Times, October 20, 1892. The decision over whether Sickles was entitled to receive his retired army pay continued even after he took office. See “Gen. Sickles’ Case Undecided,” The Herald and Torchlight (Hagerstown, MD), December 14, 1893.
65. “Sickles on His Talks,” The Trenton Times, October 22, 1892; “Gen. Sickles’ Latchstring.,” New York Times, October 28, 1892; “New York,” New York Times, November 7, 1892; The Trenton Times, November 9, 1892; New York Times, May 5, 1914.
66. “Hooker’s Old Guard,” The Trenton Times, April 6, 1893; Sickles, Introduction, Lee and Longstreet at High Tide, 20; “On Gettysburg Field Again,” New York Times, May 1, 1893; Swanberg, Sickles the Incredible, 367; Sawyer, James Longstreet: Before Manassas & After Appomattox, 121.
67. “On Gettysburg Field Again,” New York Times, May 1, 1893.
68. Record of 51st Congress 1st Session, House of Representatives Report #2069.
69. Smith and Adelman, Devil’s Den, 78–81.
70. Ibid., Devil’s Den, 83–86.
71. New York at Gettysburg, 1: 195–209; “Sued by a Snap-Shot Man,” New York Times, July 4, 1893.
72. New York at Gettysburg, 1: 204.
73. Ibid., 1: 235; Hawthorne, Stories of Men and Monuments, 134–135.
74. New York at Gettysburg, 1: 236–240.
75. Ibid., 1: 238.
76. “At Their Memorial Temple,” New York Times, July 3, 1893; Hawthorne, Gettysburg: Stories of Men and Monument, 76; Email from Fred Hawthorne to author, March 18, 2009; New York at Gettysburg, 2:574.
77. New York at Gettysburg, 2:584–586, 596–597; “At Their Memorial Temple,” New York Times, July 3, 1893.
78. Hawthorne, Gettysburg: Stories of Men and Monument, 54; New York at Gettysburg, 1: 340.
79.New York at Gettysburg, 1: 342–343.
80. Gettysburg Star and Sentinel, July 11, 1893; Gettysburg Compiler, July 11, 1893; Gettysburg Compiler, October 3, 1893; “Sued by a Snap-Shot Man,” New York Times, July 4, 1893; Adelman and Smith, Devil’s Den: A History and Guide, 86.
81. Gettysburg Compiler, July 11, 1893; “Sued by a Snap-Shot Man,” New York Times, July 4, 1893; New York at Gettysburg, 1:266.
82. Vanderslice, Gettysburg: Then and Now, 396; “Election of Officers,” Gettysburg Star and Sentinel, June 2, 1891; “Memorial Association Meeting,” Gettysburg Compiler, July 11, 1893; Sickles, “Further Recollections of Gettysburg,” in North American Review, 270–271.
83. Gettysburg Compiler, August 28, 1894.
84. “The Veteran Congressman Sickles,” The Marion Daily Star, June 14, 1894.
85. Record of 53rd Congress, 2nd Session, HR #205, 190, 192.
86. Record of 53rd Congress, 2nd Session, 7657–7658.
87. Smith and Adelman, Devil’s Den, 87; Harrison, “A Fitting and Expressive Memorial,” 3; Platt, This is Holy Ground, 7–8; “Improvements at Gettysburg,” Gettysburg Compiler, August 28, 1894.
88. Smith and Adelman, Devil’s Den, 87; Platt,, This is Holy Ground, 7.
89. Record of 53rd Congress, House of Representatives, 2nd Session, 5535–5537. Copy in ALBG files.
90. Record of 53rd Congress, Senate, 2nd Session, 5630–5631, 5925. Copy in ALBG files; Smith and Adelman, Devil’s Den, 87, 90; Platt, This is Holy Ground, 7; “The Gettysburg Trolley,” Washington Post, June 1, 1894.
91. Paige and Greene, Administrative History of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, http://www.nps.gov/chch/adhi/adhi.htm.
92. “Battle Lines at Gettysburgh,” House of Representatives, 51st Congress, 1st Session, 1–6; Lee, Origin & Evolution of the National Military Park; “Sickles Wants a Park,” Evening Times, August 27, 1894; Sickles Correspondence, November 20, 1894. Original in Library of Congress, copy on file at GNMP.
93. “Tammany Hall Nominations,” Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, October 12, 1894; “Healing Democratic Differences,” Middletown Daily Argus, October 24, 1894; The Hornellsville Weekly Tribune, October 26, 1894.
94. “Vote for Congressman,” New York Times, November 8, 1894; “Congressman Elect Dead,” The Trenton Times, December 7, 1894; Gettysburg Compiler, December 11, 1894; “Died of Bright’s Disease,” Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, December 7, 1894.
95. Record of 53rd Congress, House of Representatives, 105. Copy in ALBG files.
96. Record of 53rd Congress, House of Representatives, 3rd Session, 1038–1039. Copy in ALBG files.
97. Ibid., 1226–1227. Copy in ALBG files; Platt, This is Holy Ground, 37–38.
98. Record of 53rd Congress, Senate, 3rd Session, 577, 1278, 1715, 1815, 2010, 2109; House Record 1227.
99. Gettysburg Compiler, January 29, 1895; “The Part Which Gettysburg Has in the Two Bills,” Gettysburg Compiler, June 4, 1895; “Gettysburg’s Opposition to the Park,” Philadelphia Inquirer editorial reprinted in Gettysburg Compiler, June 4, 1895.
100. “National Parks,” Gettysburg Compiler, May 7, 1895.
101. “Forget They Were Foes,” Fort Wayne Weekly Gazette, February 7, 1895; Indiana Weekly Messenger, March 6, 1895.
102. “The Battlefield Memorial Association,” Gettysburg Compiler, May 28, 1895; Vanderslice, Gettysburg: Then and Now, 388–391; Platt, This is Holy Ground, 8.
103. “Amos J. Cummings Nominated,” New York Times, October 6, 1895; “The Choice for Congress,” New York Times, October 14, 1896; “Parade of the Army and Naval Veterans Yesterday at Pittsburg.” Hamilton Daily Republican, September 12, 1894; “To Settle the Monument Site,” New York Times, October 3, 1895; “Fairfield Items,” Gettysburg Compiler, November 1, 1898; “New Sachems of Tammany,” Evening Times (Cumberland MD), April 16, 1895; “Dead on Both Sides Remembered,” Evening Times, May 31, 1895.
104. Hawthorne, Gettysburg: Stories of Men and Monuments, 77; New York at Gettysburg, 2: 599, 605.
105. Arrington, The Medal of Honor at Gettysburg, 23; www.medalofhonor.com.
106. Ladd, The Bachelder Papers, 3: 1504; Styple, Generals in Bronze, 148–149, 161.
107. New York at Gettysburg, 1: 1–6; Coddington, The Gettysburg Campaign, 340–341.
108. New York at Gettysburg, 1: 1–6, 32–68.
109. Ibid., 1:37.
110. Ibid., 1:38.
111. Ibid., 1: 38–39.
112. Ibi
d.
113. Ibid.
114. Gettysburg Star and Sentinel, May 30, 1899; “Longstreet and Sickles to Meet at Gettysburg,” Philadelphia Times, May 28, 1899; GNMP copy.
115. Gettysburg Compiler, June 6, 1899. Lieutenant Longstreet told the crowd: “My father is both a good speaker and a good fighter. I am not a good speaker but want to be a good fighter but have not had a good chance…I have never worn the gray but I have worn the blue and I know that my southern people are proud of me for it.” It was less than forty years since the battle and the son of the Confederacy’s supposed “outcast” was speaking to a Northern audience while wearing a US Army uniform.
116. Gettysburg Compiler, June 6, 1899.
Chapter 18: The Civil War is Only a Memory
1. Sickles, Oration Delivered… At Fredericksburg,2, 4, 17–18, 20.
2. Ibid., 24.
3. “Gen. Sickles Lauds Low,” New York Times,October 25, 1903; W.M. Stewart to Governor Roosevelt, March 13, 1900, Daniel E. Sickles Papers, LOC (copy in reel #1, Sickles Papers, USAMHI).
4. Styple, Generals in Bronze,72, 148–149; Butterfield, A Biographical Memorial,76, 220–221, 245; “Gen Butterfield Suddenly Stricken,” New York Times,April 14, 1901; Gettysburg Compiler, July 9, 1901; “Gen. Butterfield Dead,” New York Times,July 18, 1901; Atlanta Constitution,July 18,
1901. Sickles is largely absent from Julia Butterfield’s Biographical Memorial,adding to the possibility of a late-life rift between the two men.
5. Pinchon, Dan Sickles,266–267; Longstreet, Lee and Longstreet at High Tide,15. The Henry Slocum equestrian monument was dedicated on September 19, 1902. See Harrison, The Location of Monuments, Markers and Tablets, 41.
6. Longstreet, Lee and Longstreet at High Tide, 15–16.
7. Ibid., 7–17; Wert, General James Longstreet,425–426; Connelly, The Marble Man,90. Author Thomas Connelly’s description of Longstreet’s death is stereotypical of much of the Gettysburg literature. “In 1904, deaf, pain-ridden by his Wilderness wound, and half blind from cancer, the outcast Longstreet died in Georgia.” Although his health was indeed poor, Longstreet’s final years had not been as empty as the “outcast” label implies. The Southern Historical Society attacks on his war record had created much anger and bitterness, but they had not dominated the final decades of his life. Longstreet was surrounded throughout this period by his large family, traveled when his health permitted, was active in politics, and was a popular speaker throughout the North.
8. Sickles, “Introduction,” in Lee and Longstreet at High Tide, 17–18, 30.
9. Ibid., 21–22.
10. Ibid.22–25. In further defending Longstreet’s decision not to attack earlier on July 2, Sickles noted that Lee’s report hadimplied some censure towards Longstreet’s actions on July 3, when Lee stated that “Longstreet’s dispositions were not completed as early as expected.” Therefore, Sickles pointed out, “If General Lee did not hesitate to point out unlooked for delay on July 3, why was he silent about delay on July 2? His silence about delay on July 2 implies that there was none on July 2.” See 22–23.
11. Ibid., 30; Pinchon, Dan Sickles, 267–268.
12. “On Historic Spot,” Washington Post,May 31, 1904; “Roosevelt Visits Gettysburg Field,” New York Times,May 31, 1904.
13. Kaplan, Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain,82; Twain, Mark Twain’s Autobiography,1:337. There are numerous references to Twichell in Twain’s memoirs. See Mark Twain’s Autobiography2:5–6, 21–26, 204–212. Twain related how twenty-five years earlier in Hartford, on a Sunday morning as he was getting ready to preach, Twichell received a false report that Sickles had died. Twichell’s mind became “far away. All his affection and homage and worship of his general had come to the fore. His heart was full of these emotions. He hardly knew where he was.” The congregation was amazed as he began his sermon “in this broken voice and with occasional tears trickling down his face…half crying—his voice continually breaking.” The congregation had never seen him like that and the episode had evidently aroused Twain’s curiosity about a man who could arouse such devotion. See Twain 1–341–342.
14. Twain, Mark Twain’s Autobiography, 1:337–338.
15. Ibid., 1:339.
16. Ibid., 1:339–340.
17. Ibid., 1:340–341.
18. The National Tribune,March 31, 1910.
19. Ibid.
20. Hawthorne, Gettysburg: Stories of Men and Monuments,82–83; Gettysburg Compiler,August 3, 1910; Gettysburg Compiler,September 14, 1910, Gettysburg Compiler, September 28, 1910.
21. Hawthorne, Gettysburg: Stories of Men and Monuments,82–83; Gettysburg Compiler,October 5, 1910.
22. Styple, Generals in Bronze, p 162.
23. “Sickles Guest of the 12th,” New York Times,April 22, 1911; “For General Sickles’ Book – Personal Research,” William Hobart Royce Papers, MSS. & Archives Section, NYPL. See Tagg, The Generals of Gettysburgfor a quick reference on the dates of death of the other corps commanders. Of the old Third Corps, Birney died in 1864 (67), Graham in 1889 (69), Ward in
1903 (71), Regis de Trobriand 1897 (72), Humphreys in 1883 (75), Joseph Carr in 1895 (77), Brewster in 1869 (79) and George Burling died in 1885 (80).
24. Styple, Generals in Bronze, 100.
25. Ibid.
26. Ibid.
27. Lincoln and Sickles,and Letters on the Successful Movements of the 3rd Army Corpsare both in Daniel E. Sickles Papers, LOC.
28. Affidavit of L. Edward Jenkins, formerly a sergeant in the 1st Mass. Infantry, April 28, 1911. Included in Letters on the Successful Movements of the 3rd Army Corps,Daniel E. Sickles Papers, LOC; “Gen Sickles Dead,” Gettysburg Star and Sentinel,May 5, 1914. Included in the correspondence between Sickles and Curtin was a letter from Sickles dated October 23, 1889. This has since been reprinted in Ladd, The Bachelder Papers, 3: 1653–1654.
29. Brig. General Edward S. Salomon to Sickles, January 8, 1911; George A. Forsyth to Gen. Goodale, January 28, 1911. Included in Letters on the Successful Movements of the 3rd Army Corps, Daniel E. Sickles Papers, LOC.
30. Adams County News,October 15, 1910; Gettysburg Times,May 31, 1910, “Ninth’s Veterans Swap War Tales,” New York Times,May 28, 1911; Gettysburg Compiler,August 14, 1912; “Loyal Legion Bars Gen. Sickles Again,” New York Times, November 2, 1911.
31. “Loyal Legion Bars Gen. Sickles Again,” New York Times,November 2, 1911; New York Times, May 4, 1914.
32. United States Federal Census for 1870, 1880, and 1900; William Hobart Royce to Edgcumb Pinchon, December 25, 1941, William Hobart Royce Papers, MSS. & Archives Section, NYPL.; Swanberg, Sickles the Incredible,417 (n.16); “Miss Wilmerding Dead,” New York Times,February 11, 1914; “George G. Sickles Buried,” New York Times,March 21, 1887; “Sickles Bitterly Assails His Wife,” Gettysburg Times,September 27, 1912; “Gen. Sickles’ Son Seeks Lost Million,” New York Times,September 4, 1915. Stanton’s 1915 interview clearly indicates that he considered the other woman to still be alive.
George Wilmerding’s household of daughters Joanna, Julia, and Eleanor are on the 1870 Federal Census in New York’s 15th Ward. Eleanor’s birth is “about 1855.” In the 1880 census, the family has moved to Suffolk, New York. George’s occupation is farmer. “Ella” is 24 and still at home. By the 1900 census, the three sisters are still together (all single) in Suffolk, with the oldest sister Joanna (48 years old) as the head of household. Eleanor is 44 years old on the 1900 census, with a birth date of “June 1855.” Stanton confirmed in his 1915 interview that Eleanor had two sisters named Johanna [sic] and Julia, both of whom were still living.
33. William Hobart Royce to Edgcumb Pinchon, December 25, 1941, William Hobart Royce Papers, MSS. & Archives Section, NYPL; Pinchon, Dan Sickles,268–269, 271; Keneally, American Scoundrel,346–347. In approaching Sickles’ romantic liaisons, Pinchon admitted that Sickles “seems to have been notorious for his amours.…But in all this I have not a single fact to quote. I have rumors only.” Pinchon received much assistance from Sick
les’ grandson who “explicitly…does not wish this side of his grandfather’s character glossed over …” See Pinchon to Royce, October 22, 1941, Royce Papers, NYPL.
34. William Hobart Royce to Edgcumb Pinchon, December 25, 1941, William Hobart Royce Papers, MSS. & Archives Section, NYPL; Swanberg, Sickles the Incredible,380; Pinchon, Dan Sickles,268–269, 271; Keneally, American Scoundrel,348–349. Based on contemporary accounts, it is assumed that Wilmerding lived with Dan. However, the 1910 U.S. census only has Sickles residing with servants Frazier and Sarah Mosley. The census also confirms the confusion over Dan’s birth year, which is listed as “about 1826.” See Department of Commerce and Labor Bureau of the Census, 1910 U.S. Federal census.
35. William Hobart Royce to Edgcumb Pinchon, December 18 and December 25, 1941, William Hobart Royce Papers, MSS. & Archives Section, NYPL; Pinchon, Dan Sickles,268–269, 271; Keneally, American Scoundrel, 348–349; New York Times, May 14, 1914.
36. “Sickles’ Goods Saved by Wife,” Adams County News,September 14, 1912; New York Times, May 4, 1914; Keneally, American Scoundrel, 350; Swanberg, Sickles the Incredible, 382.
37. “Sickles Will Not See Wife,” Adams County News,September 21, 1912; “Sickles Bitterly Assails Wife,” Gettysburg Times,September 27, 1912; “Poses as Messenger to Serve Sickles,” New York Times,October 4, 1912; “Mrs. Sickles Saves Husband’s Home Again,” Adams County News, October 26, 1912; New York Times, May 4, 1914.
38. New York Times,May 4, 1914; “Sickles Will Not See Wife,” Adams County News, September 21, 1912; “Son Gets Threatening Note,” New York Times,October 4, 1912; “Daughter Sues Sickles,” Adams County News,December 14, 1912; “Gen. Sickles’ Son Seeks Lost Million,” New York Times, September 4, 1915.
39. Swanberg, Sickles the Incredible,384; “Sickles in More Trouble,” Adams County News, December 14, 1912; Pinchon, Dan Sickles, 208–209.
40. Swanberg, Sickles the Incredible,384–385; “Sickles in More Trouble,” Adams County News, December 14, 1912; Pinchon, Dan Sickles, 208–209.
41. “Sickles in More Trouble,” Adams County News,December 14, 1912; Styple, Generals in Bronze, 153.