STAR-SPANGLED MURDER: THE KILLING OF PHILIP BARTON KEY (1859 History of DC Sex)

ozy.com ^ | 09/17/2014 | Sean Braswell

[WeWaWes]

Francis Scott Key, the pro-slavery lawyer and amateur poet who penned “The Star-Spangled Banner” after witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry 200 years ago, was famously inspired by the resilient spirit of a young nation.

Forty-five years later, Key’s other notable creation, his only son Philip Barton Key II, would experience an entirely different side of American life when he was slain in 1859 by a U.S. congressman and disgruntled cuckold named Daniel Sickles.

[WeWaWes]

Interesting bit of history regarding sex and the DC elite. Know you know.

[WeWaWes]

NOW you know...UGH!

[mass55th]

It was the first time the defense of temporary insanity was used in a court of law. It was successful.

[TexasGator]

Know ye now.

[Tax-chick]

This incident was covered in a lively, novelistic fashion in Thomas Keneally’s book about General Dan Sickles.

[ExcursionGuy84]

Daniel Sickles, later as a Union Major General in the Army of the Potomac,
got his come-uppance when a cannon-ball from either a Texan or Arkansas battery
came a-smashin into his leg during the 2nd-day at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.

[Kartographer]

"came a-smashin into his leg during"

Which one? ;-)

[ExcursionGuy84]

Daniel Sickles, later as a Union Major General in the Army of the Potomac,
got his come-uppance when a cannon-ball from either a Texan or Arkansas battery
came a-smashin into his leg during the 2nd-day at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.

[ExcursionGuy84]

Mercy sakes alive.

Should have known better than to Double-post
by going Backwards on my internet browser.

My most sincere apologies to the mods

[mass55th]

And he used to visit his leg at the old Army Medical Museum in D.C.

[stylecouncilor]

Ping

[jonascord]

It gets better.

Four years later, Now GENERAL Dan Sickles, promoted BECAUSE he was a congressman, in command of a corps at Gettysburg, was worried about his position, on the left flank of the Union position, and moved his corps forward, to what he perceived as a better spot, along a road and in a peach orchard. Both his flanks were in the air, and it left the rest of the army's position exposed.

Longstreet hit like a trip hammer, and all but wiped Sickle's corps out.

Sickles was hit by a cannon ball, just below the knee, and was carried off the field, smoking a cigar. They took his leg off, above the knee, what was left, and asked Sickles what they should do with it. He told them to pack it in salt, and send it to the Army Medical Museum.

In later years, he would visit the bones, in a glass case.

It's still there, in the Nation Museum of Health, in Silver Springs, Md.

http://www.medicalmuseum.mil/index.cfm?p=media.news.article.mrmc_to_exhibit_amputated_leg

[ExcursionGuy84]

Also, in consequence of Sickles moving his Corps forward from the remainder of the Union line
on Seminary Ridge above the town of Gettysburg,
another Union General Governeur Warren sent for help to "plug the gaps in the line".
One of his messengers met with the brigade of Colonel Strong Vincent with the 20th Maine under Colonel Joshua L. Chmberlain.

That brigade was the Saviors-of-Little-Round-Top and the pivotal
troops that turned the tide of the War in favor of the Union that day.

[WeWaWes]

I love the knowledge of history among Freepers.

[Larry Lucido]

Is this your way of making fun of Philip Barton Key II?

[Larry Lucido]

Or Barton Keyes (played by Edward G. Robinson)?

[Enchante]

Not only did Sickles violate Meade’s order in how he mis-deployed his III Corps troops, but he spent much time and energy in years after maligning Meade and falsely presenting himself as the savior of the Union army at Gettysburg. Many years later he was removed from the NY “Monuments Commission” for embezzling funds raised for war memorials.

He was an all-around scoundrel but brave in battle. Lacking in ethics and judgment for just about any era....

[Larry Lucido]

And apparently lived to age 94.

[Ciexyz]

Interesting article. Sickle’s young wife never fully reconciled with her husband after this incident, dying prematurely in 1867.

[Fightin Whitey]