Daniel E. Sickles

from The New York Times, May 5, 1914:

      DANIEL E. SICKLES
 Nobody with warm blood flowing
through his veins can read the
obituary notices of Gen. SICKLES
without a certain thrill of admiration.
His was truly the adventurous spirit.
Under the right inspiration, he might
have been an intrepid explorer or a
founder of thriving colonies.  As it
was, he filled many important posi-
tions in civil and military life and
was always conspicuous in the minds 
of his contemporaries.  He was in
turn printer and lawyer, legislator
and politician, an officer of militia, a
Secretary of Legation, a volunteer
soldier, rising rapidly to the rank of
Major General and corps commander,
and brevetted Major General in the
regular army at the close of the war
between the States; Minister to Spain,
a post which he filled with distinction
almost equal to that he achieved as a
soldier; Sheriff of New York, and a
Representative in Congress, for the
second time, at 67, an age when most
men are ready to retire.
  He lived for nearly thirty years
after that and many of them were
years of activity.  He was long a
prominent figure in the social life of
New York; until the decline of the
glory of Wallack's, no "first night"
at that historic playhouse would have
been complete without his presence.
At the opera, in the era of STRAKOSCH
and MAPLESON, he was always a con-
spicuous figure.  He served on many
public committees and was an ap-
preciable force in civic development.
His domestic life was marred by
calamities which, unhappily, were al-
ways themes of public talk.  He never
quite lived down the effects of his
mad action in 1859.  Public sympathy
at the time was largely with his vic-
tim, PHILIP BARTON KEY.  But there
was no disposition to withhold frank
acknowledgement of his gallantry and
military skill in the service of his
country, and the loss of one of his
legs in battle helped to keep the heroic
side of his character in the public
mind.
  Men of his aggressive and impetuous
nature seem to be barred from domes-
tic contentment.  DAN SICKLES, as he
was called popularly for half a cen-
tury or more, by friends and enemies
alike, certainly had more than one
man's share of family troubles.  It is
asll the more gratifying to know that
his last hours were preceded by
reconciliation, and that he died with
his wife and son by his bedside.  He
was assuredly a picturesque and in-
teresting character, and his long life
was marked by many noteworthy
achievements.