General Daniel Sickles was born #OTD in 1819. A member of Congress from New York before the #CivilWar, he gained notoriety for killing the son of Francis Scott Key when he learned Key was having an affair with his wife. He was acquitted after claiming temporary insanity. 
When the war began, Sickles raised several regiments of troops, which formed the Excelsior Brigade. Promoted steadily throughout the war, he found himself a Major General in command of III Corps of the Army of the Potomac at the Battle of @GettysburgNMP.
During the battle, Sickles advanced his corps forward to the Peach Orchard without orders, placing them in a precarious position. James Longstreet’s attack on the battle’s second day slammed into the Corps, eventually routing them.
Sickles performed bravely during the assault, rallying his men after his leg had been shattered by a cannon ball. He was later awarded the #MedalofHonor, but never held a field command again. He donated his severed leg to the @USArmy Medical Museum. (@medicalmuseum)
Sickles served in Congress again after the war, and was a key leader in the establishment of @GettysburgNMP. He died in 1914 at the age of 94, and is buried in @ArlingtonNatl Cemetery.
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