Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1914-05-08
[ II r ) EN- TIN Ell.
Friday Mornine....""....."May 8, 1914
GENERAL sIORLEs DEAD.

Gen. Daniel Z. Sickles, the hero Of Gettys-
burg, died at his home in New York last
Sunday night, aged SO years. Mrs. Sickles.
from whom he had been estranged for 20
years. was at his bedside. She came to
the aged man when she heard Of his seri-
Gus illness. His son Stanton, who has
espoused his mothers cause. accompanied
her.
Gen. Sickles was the last Of the great
commanders who fought the battle of
Gettysburg. For decade he was a fighter
by professionally his life he was fighter
by nature.
The gruff old warrior. with one leg shot
away in battle, his missive head resem-
bling Bismarck's. was a picturesque figure
as he hobbled along on crutches during
the last half century Of his turbulent life
Before he was 80 years old. Mai. Sickles
had served as secretary Of legation at
London under Minister James Buchanan :;
he had won State senatorship through
bitter campaign, and he was seated in
the Thirty-fourth Congress at Washington,
representing New York. his native State.
1t was at this time that an event occur
red which became the sensation Of the day.
Sickles had begun his second term as con-
gresham in 1859 when the National Capt.
tai was stirred by the news that the young
representative from New York had shot
and killed Philip Barton Key, the United
States district attorney for the District of
Columbia. Sickles declared that Key had
misled Mrs. Sickles. who was Therese
Bagioli. daughter of an Italian music
teacher. The trial lasted twenty days,
ending in the acquittal Of Sickles on the
ground Of "unwritten law" He then took
his erring wife back.
Il am not aware of any statute or code
Of morals" said Sickles to his critics.
(which makes it infamous to forgive a
woman. can now see in the almost uni
versal denunciation with which she is fol-
lowed to my threshold. the misery and
peril from which have rescued the moth
er Of my daughter. | shall strive to prove
to all that an erring wife and mother may
be forgiven and redeemed
Mrs Sickles died of broken heart few
years later.
At the outbreak of the Civil War the
young fighting politician. then SO years
old. went to Lincoln to offer his services
you have been leader in New York
Democratic politics. said the President
IF you kept your end up at that game
surely you'll do tOtake command Of men in
the field. Raise your regiments and you
shall be brieadier general in command"
Sickles raised the famous Excelsior brig
ade in New York, taking command Of one
Of its regiments as colonel Lincoln kept
his word. and in 1851 raised him to briea-
der general. His fighting spirit early won
him his spurs. On the Peninsula and at
Antietam he distinguished himself as a
soldier and leader. At Charlottesville he
led division. At Gettysburg he led the
Third corps. lost leg. and became a ma
tional hero. At 81 years Of age. he had
risen from colonel to major general Of
volunteers.
After the war his fighting spirit led him
into the regular army. and he became first,
brigadier and then major general. He
continued active in service until 1859,
when he was appointed Minister to Spain
by President Grant.
At the court Of Spain. Sickles' vigorous
personality made him dominating figure
Here he contracted his second marriage,
with the beautiful and distinguished Seno-
rita Creach. This romance was followed
by an estrangement which was to last more
than a quarter Of century. In addition
TO this domestic trouble. came his inter
ference in the marriage plans Of his daugh-
ter to a penniless Spanish nobleman. Father
and daughter separated In bitterness. the
latter to return to the United States to die
without reconciliation.
Gen. Sickles' life drew to close with
frequent romantic situations He faced
bankruptcy proceedings in his last years.
though he had early in life received a
large share of his fathers S3.000.000
estate. but his estranged wife and son came
10 his aid on several occasions.