Misplaced Pages

#448551

30-664: At the outbreak of the Civil War, the controversial Sickles desired to repair his public image, which had been marred by the shooting death of his wife's paramour, Philip Barton Key . Sickles was active in raising thousands of recruits from around New York City for service in the United States volunteers in May 1861 under the authority of the War Department . The first of Sickles' regiments mustered into service on June 20, 1861. Subsequently, he

60-422: A druggist , a younger brother, Douglas A. Spinola (b. 1830), an older sister, Angelina Spinola, seamstress (b. 1814), and two younger sisters, Louisa (b. 1825) and Ann Eliza (b. 1829). Gen. Spinola provided for his sister Ann Douglass until his death in 1891. She supported herself teaching music until her eyesight failed, and by 1903, at over seventy years of age, she was living on charity, on an allowance of $ 120

90-496: A poison pen letter informing him of his wife's affair with Key. He confronted his wife, who confessed to the affair. Sickles then made his wife write out her confession on paper. Sickles saw Key sitting on a bench outside the Sickles home on February 27, 1859, signalling to Teresa, and confronted him. Sickles rushed outside into Lafayette Square , cried "Key, you scoundrel, you have dishonored my home; you must die", and with

120-649: A New York regiment and was commissioned as an officer. He was appointed brigadier general of Volunteers on October 2, 1862. He commanded two relief efforts to lift the Confederate siege of Washington, North Carolina . In July–October 1862 he recruited and organized a brigade of four regiments, known as Spinola's Empire Brigade . Spinola assumed command of the New York " Excelsior Brigade " (the Second Brigade, Second Division, Third Army Corps ), on July 11, 1863, following

150-512: A pistol repeatedly shot the unarmed Key. Key was taken into the nearby Benjamin Ogle Tayloe House , where he died some time later. Sickles was acquitted based on temporary insanity , a crime of passion , in one of the most controversial trials of the 19th century. It was the first successful use of the defense in the United States. One of Sickles' attorneys, Edwin Stanton , later became

180-706: The Battle of Gettysburg as the Army of the Potomac strove to fill open command slots created by battle casualties. Spinola's brigade led the Union troops on July 23 at the Battle of Wapping Heights in Linden, Virginia , suffering 18 men killed, including two officers. Spinola was wounded in the fighting, along with dozens of his men. He was honorably discharged from the service in August 1865. Following

210-708: The Battle of Seven Pines and the Seven Days Battles . On the morning of June 25 at the Battle of Oak Grove , Sickles's New Yorkers encountered difficulties moving through their abatis , then through the upper portions of an impeding swamp, and finally met stiff Confederate resistance, all of which threw the Federal line out of alignment. Sickles was again absent for the Second Battle of Bull Run , having used his political influences to obtain leave to go to New York City to recruit new troops. Col. Nelson Taylor instead led

240-527: The District of Columbia . He is most famous for his public affair with Teresa Bagioli Sickles , and his eventual murder at the hands of her husband, Congressman Daniel Sickles of New York . Sickles defended himself by adopting a defense of temporary insanity , the first time the defense had been successfully used in the United States. Born in Georgetown , D.C. , Key was the son of Francis Scott Key and

270-829: The Secretary of War . Newspapers declared Sickles a hero for "saving" women from Key. Years later, while attending the theater in New York City, Sickles became aware of the presence of Key's son, James Key, in the audience; both men watched each other throughout the performance. Nothing else happened. Key is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery , with a dedicatory in his son-in-law's family plot in Westminster Hall and Burying Ground in Baltimore . Francis Barretto Spinola Francis Barretto Spinola (March 19, 1821 – April 14, 1891)

300-558: The brig Pomona in 1821. He is also recorded travelling to Havana and Rio Grande . He was buried in the Meadow Avenue of Green-Wood Cemetery , Brooklyn , New York. His grandfather John Phelan was a lieutenant in Wigglesworth's 13th Massachusetts Regiment , and his grand-uncles Edward and Patrick were respectively captain and lieutenant at the same time. He was a member of the Order of

330-576: The 11th Massachusetts and the 84th Pennsylvania , served in the Battle of the Wilderness in the Fourth Division, II Corps under Brig. Gen. Gershom Mott . When the remnants of the division became part of the Third Division of Maj. Gen. David B. Birney during the Battle of Spotsylvania , Brewster's brigade became the division's Fourth Brigade. He led these men at the Battle of Cold Harbor and in

SECTION 10

#1732852675449

360-644: The 70th New York then commanded the brigade until Brewster returned to active duty for the autumn campaigns of 1863. Brewster inspired his men by rising from his “sick bed” to lead the Excelsiors in the Mine Run Campaign . When the Army of the Potomac was reorganized in the spring of 1864 for the Overland Campaign of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant , Brewster retained brigade command. The Excelsior Brigade, augmented with

390-576: The 74th Regiments and 10 Companies of the 3rd Indiana Cavalry , formed the Second Excelsior Brigade under General Sickles. The brigade was placed under the overall divisional command of Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker in October. Its initial tasks included assisting in the building of defenses around Washington and stopping resupply of the Confederates from Southern Maryland . In March 1862, Sickles

420-511: The American Civil War (p. 180), refers to his father John as a "prosperous farmer and oysterman" who migrated to the United States from Madeira Island, Portugal, whose family had originally hailed from the city of Genoa , Liguria . The Spinolas, of noble Genoese origin, moved into Madeira Island in the late 15th, early 16th century, as merchants. John Leander Spinola is recorded travelling between Funchal and New York on board of

450-741: The Cincinnati . His grand uncle Phillip Phelan joined the American forces during the Revolutionary War, where he served as lieutenant, and died at the Battle of Eutaw Springs on May 22, 1781. John Phelan's mother was Mary Heron Phelan, from Waterford, Ireland . One of her descendants, Mrs. Regina M. Knott, was one of the earliest members of the Daughters of the American Revolution . He had an older brother, John Leander Spinola (b. 1818) who worked as

480-781: The District of Columbia , by President Pierce in September 1853, during a recess of the Senate; the Senate later confirmed his nomination in March 1854. Four years later, he was nominated, and confirmed again, for another four-year term; thus, he would serve until his death. Sometime in the spring of 1858, Teresa Sickles began an affair with Key. Dan Sickles, though a serial adulterer himself, had accused his much-younger wife of adultery several times during their five-year marriage, and she had repeatedly denied it to his satisfaction. But then Sickles received

510-642: The Excelsior Brigade during the Battle of Chancellorsville in early May 1863. With the rest of Hooker's old division, it was held in reserve in some woods near the Chancellor House, guarding a road that led to the important United States ford over the Rappahannock River . Following the Battle of Chancellorsville, Col. William R. Brewster of the 73rd New York assumed command of the Excelsior Brigade, which

540-565: The bar exam before establishing a law practice in Brooklyn . He was elected alderman of the Second Ward in Brooklyn in 1846 and 1847, and was reelected in 1849 and served for four years. By 1854, when he joined a special force known as "Special Police" to keep order in the streets of New York, he was already one of the "most respected and influential citizens" of the city. Politically a Democrat , he

570-449: The brigade lost 778 of 1,837 engaged. Brewster fell ill after the battle, and Brig. Gen. Francis Barretto Spinola assumed command during the pursuit of the Confederate army into Virginia. Spinola's brigade led the Union troops on July 23 at the Battle of Wapping Heights in Linden, Virginia , suffering 18 men killed, including two officers. Spinola was badly wounded in the fighting, along with dozens of his men. Col. J. Egbert Farnum of

600-514: The brigade. The Excelsior Brigade, still under Colonel Taylor as Sickles had been promoted to divisional command, missed the Battle of Antietam in September because the III Corps was stationed on the lower Potomac River , protecting the capital. The brigade's strength had been augmented by the addition of the 120th New York . In the Battle of Fredericksburg , the Excelsiors were led by Col. George B. Hall. Brig. Gen. Joseph W. Revere commanded

630-458: The great-nephew of Philip Barton Key . He was also a nephew of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney . He married Ellen Swan, the daughter of a Baltimore attorney, on November 18, 1845. Allegedly the most handsome man in Washington and by 1859 a widower with four children, Key was known to be flirtatious with many women. Key was appointed to his father's former position, United States Attorney for

SECTION 20

#1732852675449

660-527: The initial operations of the Siege of Petersburg . Then the brigade was abolished. Most of the Excelsiors were moved to the First Brigade, Third Division. The individual regiments mustered out of the army during the summer of 1864, and the men returned home to New York. Philip Barton Key II Philip Barton Key II (April 5, 1818 – February 27, 1859) was an American lawyer who served as U.S. Attorney for

690-495: The war, Spinola was a banker and insurance agent and became an influential figure among the rapidly growing Italian immigrant community in the New York City area. He was again a member of the State Assembly (New York Co., 16th D.) in 1877 , 1881 and 1883 . He was a U.S. Representative from New York's 10th District from 1887 to 1891. He died in office in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1891, from pneumonia. His funeral

720-533: Was a member of the New York State Assembly (Kings Co., 2nd D.) in 1856 . He was a member of the New York State Senate (3rd D.) from 1858 to 1861, sitting in the 81st , 82nd , 83rd and 84th New York State Legislatures . He was a delegate to the 1860 Democratic National Convention . He was commissioner of New York Harbor when the Civil War erupted. Spinola joined the volunteer army in

750-788: Was an American politician and military leader often considered to have been the first Italian American to be elected to the United States House of Representatives , serving two terms as a representative from New York from 1887 to 1891. He also served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War . Spinola was born in Old Field , near Stony Brook , Brookhaven , Suffolk County , Long Island, New York . He attended Quaker Hill Academy in Dutchess County and then passed

780-406: Was appointed as the colonel of one of the four full regiments he organized. Later, Sickles was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers in September 1861, taking command of the brigade. The four regiments raised by Sickles that comprised the first Excelsior Brigade were the 70th , 72nd , 73rd , and 74th New York Infantry . In October 1861, the 71st New York , along with the 70th through

810-478: Was forced to relinquish command when Congress refused to confirm his commission, but he worked diligently to lobby among his Washington political contacts and reclaimed both his rank and his command on May 24, 1862, in time to rejoin the Army in the Peninsula Campaign . Because of this interruption, he missed his brigade's significant actions at the Battle of Williamsburg . Sickles was back in charge in time for

840-494: Was held at the Immaculate Conception Church on April 16, 1891, and he was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn , New York. His estate, valued at over $ 1,000,000 in 1897, was left to his wife (d. 1896), and a nephew, Ferdinand McKee. In 1897 his sister Annie Douglass contested his will. Spinola had his country seat at Crane Neck , Long Island. It was menaced by a fire in 1887. Francis Barretto Spinola

870-747: Was the son of João Leandro Spinola (b. 1782), later Anglicised as John Leander Spinola, a Portuguese merchant from Madeira Island , and Elizabeth Phelan (1790, Long Island – 1873), daughter of Captain John Phelan (1747, Waterford, Ireland – September 14, 1827, Baltimore, Maryland ), who served in the American Revolutionary War , and his wife Susanna Davis (b. Long Island , d. 1857). João Leandro Spinola married Eliza Phelan on June 18, 1808, at Trinity Church parish, New York. Frank W. Alduino, in his book Sons of Garibaldi in Blue and Gray: Italians in

900-619: Was then in the division of Brig. Gen Andrew A. Humphreys . Brewster led the brigade during the Gettysburg Campaign in June and July 1863. On July 2, the brigade was advanced to an area near the Peach Orchard. It was flanked out of that position by the Confederate division of Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws . The remains of the brigade took part in a counterattack late in the afternoon that recaptured some abandoned Union guns. Brewster reported that

#448551