Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-05-04
GENERAL S|CKLES,
DIES |NNEW YORK
[Continued From First Page1
administered

and the last rites of the church were
| administered
When news of the Generals condi-
tlon was communicated to Mrs. Sickles
she insisted on going to his house and
taking immediate charge of him
FROM the time she entered the house
| until he passed away she remained al
MS side and directed the trained nurse
who had been employed by Doctor
Spann. Before the end came General
Sickles had made such reparation as
was in his power for the years of ne
glect and rancor that characterized
his relations with his wife.
Miss Eleanor Earle Wilmerding
who had been the Generals house
keeped for fifteen years, was buried
on Lincoln's birthday. The present
Mrs. Sickles was the Generals sec
ond wife and was the daughter of q
Spanish councillor, whom he married
while he was Minister to Spain in
1871.
General Daniel e. Sickles had lone
and varied career. He was born in
New York city. His grandfather, who
was of Knickerbocker stock, retained
the name of Van Sckles, but the faith
er of the General dropped the prefix
and the name, which was distinctively
dutch, was thus Americanized.
Daniel Edgar Sickles was graduated
from New Work University, and in
1S46 was admitted to the practice OF
law. AS soon as he became a member
OF the bar he gave much of his time
to politics and the militia. He was
sent to the State Assembly by Tam
many Hall, and in 1853 he was chosen
corporation counse: The life of a
soldier had always appealed to him.
and the young lawyer Joined the
Twelfth Regiment National Guard as
a private in 1S49. In three years he
retired from the organization as a
major. His appointment as First Sec
retary of the Legation of the United
States in London, in 1853, took him
away from this country for two years
On his return he was for time a
State senator, and from 1857 to 1861,
was in Washington as a Democrat of
the House of Representatives.
Was n War Democrat
RumorS of war had been heard
many times in those four years, and
the General, on account of his wide
acquaintance with the Southern men,
bers, realized, as comparatively few
did, that the nation was on the verge
of long and costly struggle
General Sickles was prominent as a
Democrat at the outbreak of the war,
and had not voted for President Lin
coin. He said, however, that Mr.. Lin
coin was strong and able man. and
he went to him and offered his ser
vices. The President Immediately ac-
cepted them and asked him to go to
New York to raise regiments, task
which the General performed with
singular success. Throughout the war
General Sickles enjoyed the friend
ship and confidence of Mr.. Lincoln to
a marked degree.
Raised a Regiment
The beginning of hostilities found
him in New York raising the Excelsior
Brigade of five regiments at his own
expense. He even paid the mainten-
ance bill of these regiments for sew
eral weeks before they were mustered
into the service of the United States.
Thus was formed the first body Of
United States volunteers as distin-
guished from those who enlisted under
the banners of the States. The wis
dom of huch a method of enlistment
appeared all the more as thu war adj
vanced, for there was no such compli-
cations in the handling of the troops
as developed among State orgaui2a-
tions. The soldiers signed for three
years. although there were men in
the North who really believed that
within ninety days the fighting would
be all over.
Mr.. Sicltles was made colonel of the
regiment, later designated as the Sew
entieth New York. His zeal and abil-
ity went hand in hand in bringing
about his advancement He was a
brigadier general of volunteers in 1861
and a major general of volunteers a
year later, and was retired several
years after the conclusion of peace
with the full rank of major general in
the regular army, with which he had
remained.
Lost Leg at Gettysburg
His military record touches the
great battles of the Civil War and Is
connected with every important cam
paign. He was in the Peninsular op-
erations, he was at the head of a
corps In the Army of the Potomac,
he achieved distinction for his bravery
in action on the field of Antietana,
Charlottesville and Fair Oaks. He
was in the thick of the fight at Gettys-
burg, and in the second day of that
battle lost his leg.
Around General Sickles' name one
of the bitterest discussions regarding
the battle of Gettysburg has waged
for years. Did he err in the encounter
of the second day in advancing his
troops beyond the line to which Cen
eral Meade had assigned him? 1t has
baan called an eQrapioua arrnr nrao;,>t