Anatifacts

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Major General Daniel E. Sickles' Leg

On the evening of July 2, 1863, while riding horseback during the second day of fighting at Gettysburg, 3rd Army Corps commander Major General Daniel E. Sickles had his right leg shattered by a solid 12 pound cannonball. He quieted his horse, dismounted, and was removed to a sheltered area where his leg was amputated just above the knee by Surgeon Thomas Sim, U.S. Volunteers.

(Woodward 1760)

(AFIP 379085)

A short time later, the Army Medical Museum received the amputated leg in a box bearing a visiting card which read: "With the compliments of Major General D.E.S." For many years on the anniversary of the amputation, Sickles would visit the Museum to view his leg.