Please join us for a Chambersburg Civil War Seminars & Tours Lecture Series! Our next lecture will be: The Daniel Sickles Murder Trial by James Hessler. Cost is $6 per person. Zoom Login details will be sent with your email registration confirmation.

Synopsis

Many Civil War enthusiasts know Union General Dan Sickles as the man who nearly lost the Battle of Gettysburg for the Northern army. But in 1859, then-Congressman Sickles was best known for murdering US District Attorney Philip Barton Key, who was having an affair with Sickles’s wife. Congressman Sickles shot Key dead in front of multiple eyewitnesses yet was somehow acquitted of the crime in a “trial of the century”! Join Sickles at Gettysburg author, Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide, and The Battle of Gettysburg Podcast co-host James Hessler as we learn how and why Sickles managed to evade justice. Is "temporary insanity" a myth? View 'Then and Now” images of key crime sites! How did this lead Sickles into the Civil War? Join us for a session of murder, adultery, and scandal courtesy of Dan Sickles.

Biography

James Hessler has worked as a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg National Military Park for two decades. Jim authored or co-authored three full-length books on the Gettysburg campaign: Sickles at Gettysburg (2009), Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg (2015), and Gettysburg’s Peach Orchard (2019). His books received several distinguished book awards.

Jim currently co-hosts the popular Battle of Gettysburg Podcast. His other media appearances include Travel Channel, C-SPAN, NPR, PCN-TV, and other outlets. He also authored articles in Gettysburg Magazine, America’s Civil War, and Hallowed Ground Magazine. He was one of the primary content designers for the American Battlefield Trust’s mobile Gettysburg application.

In addition to Gettysburg, he leads tours at several other battlefields and historic sites across the country. He currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Little Bighorn Associates. Follow Jim’s Facebook page at James Hessler’s Gettysburg Historyto receive updates on Jim’s current and future projects.