Civil War Eccentrics: General Dan Sickles

 

Many  Civil War generals were deeply eccentric, had wild personal lives, or engaged in bizarre behaviors that would seem unthinkable for modern military leaders.

Union Major General Daniel Sickles stands out as perhaps the most outrageous. Before the war, as a Congressman, he murdered his wife's lover (Philip Barton Key, son of the Star-Spangled Banner writer) in broad daylight in 1859. He was acquitted using the first successful "temporary insanity" defense in U.S. history.

At Gettysburg (1863), he famously disobeyed orders by advancing his corps to the Peach Orchard, which some blame for nearly collapsing the Union line — yet he lost his right leg in the fighting and later received the Medal of Honor. He had the amputated leg bones preserved in a small coffin-shaped box and donated them to the Army Medical Museum (now National Museum of Health and Medicine). He reportedly visited "his leg" on the anniversary of the amputation for years.

Sickles was a notorious womanizer who once brought a brothel madam as his date to meet Queen Victoria.

Alexandria, 1861-1865

The Great Northern Rebellion of 1860

Civil War Eccentrics: “Fighting Joe” Hooker

 

Many  Civil War generals were deeply eccentric, had wild personal lives, or engaged in bizarre behaviors that would seem unthinkable for modern military leaders.

UnionMaj. Gen. Joseph Hooker earned a reputation for hard-drinking and loose living. His headquarters during the winter of 1862–63 was described by a cavalry officer as "a combination of a bar-room and a brothel." This led to rumors (partly exaggerated) that prostitutes following his army became known as "hookers."

Civil War Graves of Northern Virginia

The Great Northern Rebellion of 1860 (alternate history)

Civil War Eccentrics: “Beast Butler”

 

Many  Civil War generals were deeply eccentric, had wild personal lives, or engaged in bizarre behaviors that would seem unthinkable for modern military leaders.

Union Maj. Gen. Benjamin Franklin Butler was one of the most controversial and detested figures of the war. Nicknamed the "Beast of New Orleans" for his harsh occupation of the city in 1862, he issued the infamous "Woman Order": any woman who insulted Union soldiers would be treated as a "woman of the town" (i.e., a prostitute). This outraged the South, and Jefferson Davis declared him an outlaw.

He was also called "Spoons Butler" for allegedly stealing silverware and other valuables from Southern homes. Southerners made chamber pots with his face on the bottom. Physically, he was described as ugly with a walleye, and his military competence was widely questioned but he was a shrewd politician.

Civil War Graves of Northern Virginia

CIVIL WAR CIVILIAN LIFE: MANASSAS, VIRGINIA (Battle of Bull Run)

                                                                                 

General Winfield Scott Hancock After the Civil War

 

After his severe wounding at Gettysburg in 1863, Major General Winfield Scott Hancock, known as "Hancock the Superb," continued commanding the II Corps through the Overland Campaign and Petersburg Siege. Debilitated by his injury, he relinquished field command in November 1864, overseeing the First Veterans Corps in Washington, D.C., and the Middle Military Department in the Shenandoah Valley. In July 1865, he supervised the execution of the Lincoln assassination conspirators.

During Reconstruction, Hancock commanded the Department of the Missouri and Dakota before leading the Fifth Military District in New Orleans from 1867. His lenient policies toward former Confederates drew criticism from Radical Republicans but earned Southern favor. In the late 1860’s he led an unspectacular campaign to subdue the PlainsIndians before being relieved by General Philip Sheridan.

A lifelong Democrat, Hancock ran for president in 1880, narrowly losing to James A. Garfield in a close popular vote (losing by fewer than 8,000 ballots) but decisively in the Electoral College. He remained in military service until his death on February 9, 1886, from diabetes complications at age 61.

Love, Sex, and Marriage in the Civil War

Civil War Humor 1861-1865

General George Meade After the Civil War

 

Following the Union victory at Gettysburg in 1863, Major General George G. Meade continued commanding the Army of the Potomac under Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's oversight from 1864. He led forces through grueling campaigns including the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and the siege of Petersburg, earning promotion to major general in the regular army. Though effective, Meade was absent from Lee's surrender at Appomattox in April 1865, overshadowed by Grant and others like Philip Sheridan.

Post-war, Meade played a key role in Reconstruction. From 1865-1866, he commanded the Military Division of the Atlantic in Philadelphia. He then oversaw the Department of the South (1866-1868), supervising the formation of state governments in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina for reentry into the Union. In 1868, he led the Third Military District in Atlanta, enforcing Reconstruction policies amid political tensions. He returned to the Atlantic Division from 1869-1872.

Known for his short temper—earning the nickname "Old Snapping Turtle"—Meade faced rivalries, including with Daniel Sickles, who challenged his Gettysburg legacy. Meade died of pneumonia on November 6, 1872, at age 56, in Philadelphia.

Love, Sex, and Marriage in the Civil War

Why the South Fought the Civil War

General George B. McClellan After the Civil War

 

In 1864 George McClellan, who did not resign his commission until election day, ran for president against Abraham Lincoln.   Lincoln won the election handily, with 212 Electoral College votes to 21, and a popular vote of 55% to 45%.  For all his popularity with the troops, McClellan lost the military vote to Lincoln 3–1.

George McClellan sailed to Europe with his family.  Returning in 1868, McClellan rebuffed Democratic overtures for another White House bid. Instead turning to  civilian railroad ventures: as president of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad from 1872.

In 1877 Democrats nominated McClellan for governor of New Jersey.  Elected, he served from 1878 to1881, reforming the militia, establishing industrial schools, and forming a tax commission. 

McClellan penned his memoirs, McClellan's Own Story  which were posthumously published in 1887, defending his war time record.  McClellan defended his cautious strategies, emphasized his organizational skills and devotion to his troops, while lambasting President Lincoln and other critics for interference and betrayal.

He died of heart failure on October 29, 1885, in Orange, New Jersey and is buried in Trenton.

Love, Sex, and Marriage in the Civil War

Civil War Humor 1861-1865