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Description: Gen. SICKLES Death Page 1 & 2
Newspaper published in: Washington, D. C.
Page/Column: 1,2
Washington Post May 4,1914 Gen. SICKLES Death Page 1 & 2
GEN. SICKLES DEAD
Gettysburg Hero Reconciled to Wife in Final Hours.
KILLED KEY IN DUEL HERE
His Last Years Saddened by Money and Family Troubles.
Stirred Society of Washington by Taking His First Wife Back After Slaying Rival - Wedded Again, While Minister to Madrid, to Spanish Beauty, From Whom He Was Later Estranged for Many Years.
New York, May 3. - Gen. Daniel E. SICKLES, the hero of Gettysburg, died at his home here tonight. Mrs. SICKLES, from whom he had been estranged for 29 years, was at his bedside.
Gen. SICKLES’ death was due to cerebral hemorrhages and paralysis. He had been in a comatose condition since yesterday, and an hour previous to his death lapsed into unconsciousness. Beside Mrs. SICKLES, their son Stanton, and the general's negro servant, Frazier MOSELEY, who had attended him for years, were at the bedside.
It developed tonight that the reconciliation between Gen. SICKLES and his wife was affected more than a week ago, and that last Sunday night the general and Mrs. SICKLES and Mrs. DENMAN, his half sister, had dinner together.
Gen. SICKLES was the last of the great commanders who fought the battle of Gettysburg. For a decade he was a fighter by profession - all his life he was a fighter by nature.
The gruff old warrior, with one leg shot away in battle, his massive head resembling Bismarck's, was a picturesque figure as he hobbled along on crutches during the last half century of his turbulent life.
Fighter to the Last.
His indomitable fighting spirit remained to the last. Born in New York city in 1825, SICKLES, at the age of 22, fought the Whigs as a Democrat in the New York legislature. At 28 he displayed his fighting spirit as corporation attorney of New York. It was he who secured for his city its great Central park. At this time his military career began as major of the Twelfth regiment. National Guard, New York.
Before he was 32 years old, Maj. SICKLES had served as secretary of legation at London under Minister James BUCHANAN; he had won a State senatorship through a bitter campaign, and he was seated in the Thirty-fifth Congress at Washington.
Forgave Erring Wife.
It was at this time that an event occurred which became the sensation of the day. SICKLES had begun his second term as congressman in 1859 when the National Capital was stirred by the news that the young representtaive [sp.] 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.
“I am not aware of any statute or code of morals," said SICKLES to his critics, "which makes it infamous to forgive a woman. I can now see in the almost universal denunciation with which she is followed to my threshold the misery and peril from which I have rescued the mother of my daughter. I shall strive to prove to all that an erring wife and mother may be forgiven and redeemed."
Mrs. SICKLES died of a broken heart a few years later.
At the outbreak of the civil war the young fighting politician, then 36 years old, went to Lincoln to offer his services.
“You have been a leader in New York Democratic politics," said the President. "If you kept your end up at that game surely you’ll do to take command of men in the field. Raise your regiments and you shall be brigadier general in command.
Lost Leg at Gettysburg.
SICKLES raised the famous Excelsior brigade in New York, taking command of one of its regiments as colonel. Lincoln kept his word, and in 1861 raised him to brigadier general. His fighting spirit early won him his spurs. On the peninsula and at Antietam he distinguished himself as a soldier and leader. At Chancellorsville he led a division. At Gettysburg he led the Third corps, lost a leg, and became a national hero. At 37 years of age, he had risen from a 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 1869, when he was appointed Minister to Spain by President Grant.
Second Wife Spanish Beauty.
At the court of Spain, SICKLES' vigorous personality made him a dominating figure. Four years of brilliant diplomacy brought him the epithet of “the Yankee King of Spain." Here he contracted his second marriage, with the beautiful and distinguished Senorita CREAGH. This romance was followed by an estrangement which was to last more than a quarter century. In addition to this domestic
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trouble, came his interference in the marriage plans of his daughter 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 a 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 father’s $3,000,000 estate, but his estranged wife and son came to his aid on several occasions.
Cause of Estrangement.
The cause of the separation of Gen. SICKLES from his wife has not been clearly explained, but it is said that Miss Eleanor Earle WILMERDING, his housekeeper, who died in Febzruary [sp.] last, was in some way connected with their marital troubles. Mrs. SICKLES refused to return to her husband unless he dismissed his housekeeper, but he steadily refuse to do this.
Involved in financial troubles, which caused him great worry, Gen. SICKLES persisted in resisting the overtures of his son, Stanton, who sought to reconcile his father and mother. The veteran commander declined to discuss Miss WILMERDING, who, he said, was his faithful nurse for years and whose kindness to him merited gratitude.
When the loss of his home to satisfy creditors was threatened three years ago Mrs. SICKLES afforded her husband relief by selling her diamond jewelry and turning the proceeds over to him. The relief was only temporary, however, and the creditors of the veteran again clamored for money.