Major General Daniel E. Sickles

Vince · Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2020 3:30 pm Post subject: Major General Daniel E. Sickles

RIGHT LOWER LEG BONES OF MAJOR GENERAL DANIEL E. SICKLES

"Major General Daniel E. Sickles (1819-1914), Union Third Army Corps commander, was struck by a cannonball during the battle of Gettysburg in July 1863. Sickles was on horseback when the 12-pound ball severely fractured his lower right leg. Sickles was taken to a shelter where Surgeon Thomas Sims amputated the leg just above the knee. Shortly after the operation, the Army Medical Museum received Sickles' leg in a small box bearing a visiting card with the message 'With the compliments of Major General D.E.S.' The amputation healed rapidly and by September of 1863 Sickles returned to military service. For many years on the anniversary of the amputation, Sickles visited his leg at the museum."

-U.S. National Museum of Health and Medicine.

pete4d

Ouch!!! Wanted the leg returned to him ,,,,

Reminds me of one of my good friends 78-79 years young now. He lost his right arm just above the elbow when he was only 16 in a oil field accident that killed his father and two others , he has it in the freezer all these years too be buried with him. I worked the oil field, as he was my driller , many many years ago .

gelandangan

Nothing said about the horse

gelandangan

The horse survives !!

Pumpkinslinger

Sickles was (and I guess still is) a controversial figure. From my reading I have a less than favorable opinion of him. There were lots of interesting characters in "The War of Secession".