Daniel Sickles was born in New York City, October 20, 1825. He was admitted to the New York bar in 1846 and served as a Democrat in the state legislature. During a subsequent stint as New York City corporation counsel, he was instrumental in obtaining for New York City the land on which Central Park was later constructed.
He was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1856 and was reelected in 1858. On February 27, 1859, during his second term, he shot and killed Philip Barton Key, son of Francis Scott Key, because of Key's unwelcome attentions to Mrs. Sickles. (He may or may not actually have been her lover.) Sickles was tried for murder and acquitted on the grounds of temporary insanity -- the first appearance of this defense in a U.S. court.
At the outbreak of the American Civil War, though a Democrat, he was authorized to organize the Excelsior Brigade in New York, was appointed brigadier general in command of it, and led it in the Peninsular Campaign in 1862. He was promoted to major general early in 1863 to command III Corps and served at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, where he lost his right leg while defending his position at the Peach Orchard on July 2. He had impetuously occupied the position without orders in the first place, and his corps was scattered with serious losses by a Confederate attack. (Sickles had a somewhat maudlin temperament and in later years was known to visit his leg in the medical museum where it was displayed.)
During Reconstruction, he served as military governor of the Carolinas, 1865-1867, but was relieved by President Andrew Johnson because of his harshness. He served as U.S. minister to Spain, 1869-1875, and was again elected to Congress in 1892, serving a single term. He died in New York City, May 3, 1914.
