American Scoundrel: The Life of the Notorious Civil War General Dan Sickles [Paperback]

Thomas Keneally (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 13, 2003

Hero, adulterer, bon vivant, murderer and rogue, Dan Sickles led the kind of existence that was indeed stranger than fiction. Throughout his life he exhibited the kind of exuberant charm and lack of scruple that wins friends, seduces women, and gets people killed. In American Scoundrel Thomas Keneally, the acclaimed author of Schindler’s List, creates a biography that is as lively and engrossing as its subject.

Dan Sickles was a member of Congress, led a controversial charge at Gettysburg, and had an affair with the deposed Queen of Spain—among many other women. But the most startling of his many exploits was his murder of Philip Barton Key (son of Francis Scott Key), the lover of his long-suffering and neglected wife, Teresa. The affair, the crime, and the trial contained all the ingredients of melodrama needed to ensure that it was the scandal of the age. At the trial’s end, Sickles was acquitted and hardly chastened. His life, in which outrage and accomplishment had equal force, is a compelling American tale, told with the skill of a master narrative.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Politician, man about town, war hero, and murderer: Dan Sickles led many lives, some of them improbable, turning disaster to advantage. Thomas Keneally, whose novels have been populated by heroes and outlaws alike, vividly captures Sickles's life and times. A Tammany politician, for good and ill, Sickles earned national notoriety for gunning down his friend Philip Barton Key, the son of Francis Scott Key, in what his peers in Congress took to be an excusable crime of passion. Sickles made a glorious comeback with the Civil War, when the regiment he raised distinguished itself time and again under fire at places such as Chancellorsville and Gettysburg--where, defying orders in a bold maneuver, Sickles helped secure the Union victory. "His tendency toward berserk and full- blooded risk was partly characteristic of the city he had grown up in, the age he lived in, and his own soul," writes Keneally. Admired by no less than Mark Twain, Sickles figures only as a footnote in many histories. Ably recounting his triumphs and defeats, Thomas Keneally brings him front and center in a tale that will delight Civil War buffs. --Gregory McNamee --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Obviously intrigued by a minor character in his previous nonfiction title, The Great Shame, Keneally has written a largely fascinating biography of Tammany politician and Civil War general Dan Sickles. Sickles was famous in his time both as the cold-blooded killer of his wife's lover, the son of Francis Scott Key, and as the insubordinate commander who defied orders at Cemetery Ridge, instigating a still-raging debate among military scholars about whether his regiment's actions "won or nearly lost the war." The book's apt title suggests its major drawback: Sickles's mercurial charm and courage in battle notwithstanding, his flaws as a flagrant adulterer and a mendacious and neglectful husband and father make him a difficult subject; evidence of his violent temper and ill-disguised egotism further alienate the reader's interest. By his own admission, Keneally's sympathies lie with Sickles's wife, Teresa, whose temptation into adultery with federal district attorney Philip Barton Key was a direct result of her congressman husband's neglect. Her life was ruined by the scandal, whereas Sickles was acquitted of murder and remains a lionized figure. With the Clinton sex scandals in recent memory, it's ironic to read of the marital morality of the mid-19th century, and how a relatively short time ago, the double standard regarding the position of women and the obsession with personal honor could condone murder. Once past the dramatic events of Sickles's revenge and court trial, the narrative loses its momentum. In order to describe Sickles's further career in the military, Keneally is forced to condense and summarize Civil War history. The bifurcated narrative retains its intrinsic interest, however, since Keneally's sure grasp of the political, social and historical details defines an era, and the panache of his prose, even if it sometimes veers into sentimental excess in describing Teresa's plight, remains as seductive as ever. Agent, Amanda Urban.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Anchor (May 13, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385722257
• ISBN-13: 978-0385722254
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.9 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,194,707 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Keneally discovers "political correctness", November 25, 2002

By 

Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Scoundrel: The Life of the Notorious Civil War General Dan Sickles (Hardcover)

Keneally has offered us a roller coaster of a biography of one of the most controversial American figures of the 19th Century. Dan Sickles rose from Tammany Hall politics in New York through a London posting to Congress. While a representative his lovely, but often abandoned, wife Teresa became involved with the widower son of the composer of the Star Spangled Banner, America's national anthem. Ignoring this heritage, Sickles slew Barton Keys on a Washington Sunday in view of several witnesses. After a bizarre trial, in which the then novel plea of "temporary insanity" was invoked, Sickles left the courtroom free of guilt. Almost fortuitously, the onset of the War Between the States allowed Sickles to redeem whatever reputation he lost. As one of the Union's "political generals" Sickles proved to be a popular and capable leader. Gettysburg, that icon of American military history, proved his salvation or disgrace according to which account you follow. Did he risk another Union defeat by ignoring his superior's orders?

Keneally uses Teresa's lonely existence as the focal point of this biography. Although Sickles was hardly a paragon of virtue, Keneally is perplexed at his long-standing avoidance of Teresa. He muses over why Sickles kept separate habitation after the killing when Teresa clearly would have welcomed his return. Later, he mourns the lack of her presence at Sickles' various Army encampments when other generals had their wives visit, if for no other reason than troop morale. Meagher, a favourite of Keneally's, is held up in contrast. This Irish ex-convict's wife "Libby" graced the camp frequently. Libby, however, hadn't taken any lovers to arouse her husband's ire. Even after a thorough analysis of the mores of the times, Keneally can't forgive Dan Sickles failure to forgive.

This book is strangely structured. Keneally provides a long build-up to the murder, then dwells over the details of the trial. No particular is overlooked, from the courtroom temperature to the malodorous spectators. Forced to limit his description of one lawyer's two day long presentation to eight pages, Keneally manages to convey the role of oratory in the United States at mid-19th Century. Sickles' role as a general is well-presented, but is over-focussed. Sickles' ability to deal with Mary Lincoln is given more space than military engagements or the war environment. As a biography, there is some rationale for this, but the reader best consult some other works for a fuller picture. The post-war years, with Sickles postings to the Reconstruction South and his escapades in Europe slide past rapidly. His bizarre second marriage and later life could use some analysis, no matter how far-fetched, but Keneally simply rambles through the known information and leaves the reader to work out the motivations. At the end, he frankly states the book was written in honour of Teresa's memory. An unusual approach, but one likely to find favour with today's audience.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Events Aplenty, But Not Much Insight, November 25, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: American Scoundrel: The Life of the Notorious Civil War General Dan Sickles (Hardcover)

Keneally writes about Daniel Sickles in an engaging style that certainly captures the reader's attention. This reader must confess that he was, at times, guiltily amused by some of Sickle's exploits both amorous and political.
But the most successful biographies of controversial or notorious figures in history are those that provide the most perceptive insights into the motivations and emotions of the subject and in this task Keneally falls short. Without question Daniel Sickles was one of those occasional personalities who manage to glide through life under a lucky star and, according to Keneally, without an iota of shame. Keneally also makes it abundantly clear that that the morality of the era and the political situation in New York and the young United States facilitated Sickles' rise to prominence and notoriety. After reading passage after passage describing Sickles' exploits,however, one comes away with little real understanding of the man or his motivations. Given some of Sickles'seemingly contradictory actions, it is difficult to simply accept corruption or misplaced loyalty to Tammany Hall politics as the principle motivators of this man.
Several examples of the contradictory nature of the man appear throughout the book. Sickles' introduction of his prostitute-mistress to Queen Victoria of England is described as one of Sickles'early yet typical controversies. After reading of this gross breach of diplomatic protocol and good manners, the reader is almost forced to stop and ask "What on earth could have caused Sickles to do such a thing?" Even in this rambunctious period of US diplomacy, there might well have been serious ramifications to such an escapade. Yet, Keneally suggests that such was the charm of Daniel Sickles that Ambassador James Buchanan, the State Department, the President, and Her Majesty's Government more or less shrugged off the event as little more than a prank. Surely there was more to it than that and surely someone of Sickles' intelligence must have been aware of the great risk he was running, yet the book contains no real explanation as to why Sickles did what he did or why the US Government let him get away with it.
Keneally spends a great deal of ink describing Sickles' support for the construction of Central Park in New York City. Again, a controversial action because most of the people that Keneally would have the reader believe Sickles cultivated were actually opposed to the creation of a park. Yet, Keneally writes that Sickles persisted. Again, the reader is forced to ask why Sickles would confront a number of his own patrons. Again, no satisfying explanation from Keneally.
At Gettysburg,Sickles is numbingly heroic. This is not the usual behavior of "political generals" in that war. Why is Sickles different? Unfortunately, readers never really learn the answer to that question from this book.
An insightful biography that skillfully addresses Sickles' contradictions, impulses, and personality combined with an analysis of the social events of the time would be a very interesting study indeed. Unfortunately, this isn't that book.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Wasted Effort, July 5, 2002

By 

Political Student "ernav" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Scoundrel: The Life of the Notorious Civil War General Dan Sickles (Hardcover)

The author appears to be more interested in General Stickes' first wife than with the General. Read his biography on any of the many web pages and you realize what an extraordinary person he was. The author devotes the greatest part of the book to the murder of Barton Key. Once past this eiposode, he seems to run out of material. Little mention is made of the relationship that the General must have had with the various Presidents that he served, the extended time he spent in Spain, or his second marriage. Better than waste your time reading this book search the internet for the General. Read the obituary and editorial of the NY Times at the time of his death to get a contemporary feeling as to the statue of this man.