The Westchester Historian: Vol. 34 April, May, June, 1958 Number 2
Letters Received
10 Chester Ave.
White Plains, NY
September 11th, 1957
My dear Mr. Albee:
An item for THE HISTORIAN if you approve. Many years ago there lives in
Croton Falls a young girl who was called the "Swamp Angel." She became the
wife of General Sickles. In no biography of the General is she married and I
have read three. The most readable of these is called "Dan Sickles" by a man
whose name begins with P.----. The White Plains Library has it. It would be
needed for atmosphere. It is short, and I wager you, if you begin it you
will never put it down.
General Sickles shot on sight, in front of the White House and killed the
Attorney General of the United States, a son of Francis Scott Key. Sickles
had just learned he, Key, was his wife's lover, S. was tried for murder but
acquitted.
Sickles afterwards said it was his fault as he had neglected his wife
shamefully while running for President. He took his wife back and was sent
to Coventry for so doing. The general lived in White Plains once. I used to
see him on the New York trains.
Hastily,
Julia Crosby
NOTE: Gen. Daniel Edgar Sickles, a member of Congress, shot Philip Barton
Key, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on Feb. 27, 1859. The name
"Swamp Angel" was given by Federal soldiers to an 8-inch Parrott gun used
during the siege of Charleston, S.C., in 1863. The book Miss Crosby refers
to is titled DAN SICKLES, HERO OF GETTYSBURG AND YANKEE KING OF SPAIN, by
Edgcumb Pinchon, 1945. -ED.
p. 52
Old stereo photos, available in the West Point Foundry School Museum, of
the gun testing platform there, excavated under the remains of the 900 foot
long "Bridge Shop" by Grossman, et al. for the EPA prior to remediation,
show many other guns including Rodmans. Interestingly:
Vol 34 July, August, September, 1958 No. 3. (now No. for number)
With emphasis on past events in the southern area of our County (Note:
Westchester was one of the original settlements in today's's Bronx County,
where the current US Capital Dome was created, transported and assembled in
Washington, DC for $1 million towards the end of the Civil War by Janes and
Kirtland, Inc. - GM) as the theme of our Annual Fall Pilgrimage, a few facts
about Fort Slocum, Westchester's only remaining active fort are of interest.
First acquired from the Siwanoy Indians by the Dutch West India Company in
1640, the 60 acre island is reached by way of a 10 minute ferry ride from
Neptune Park in New Rochelle (home of Thomas Paine - GM). Its long and
varied history which included plans for a large hotel abandoned before the
Civil War began and ownership by John Bouteiller, "merchant of Martinique,"
made a visit worth while. First known as the DeCamp general hospital for
Civil War wounded in 1861, permanent Government ownership began in 1867. the
same Fort Slocum came into use in 1896 when the island was so named in honor
of the Civil War Major General Henry W. Slocum. An interesting memento
preserved as a tribute to the 19th century military establishment is the
34,000 lb. Rodman gun which hurled a 450 lb. missile 4 miles using a 100 lb.
black powder charge. Today a Nike control base, Battery D of the 1st Missile
Battalion of the 55th Artillery Group occupies the island.
p 65.
Currently called "David's Island" Donald Trump once had plans for it though
a bridge to it was considered out of the realm of development possibilities.
I think Berger, Inc. did the EIS, a matter of public record. Interesting,
also, is that the production of batteries for Nike missiles in Cold Spring,
NY (across from West Point roughly to the north) led to the excavation of
the gun testing platform there as cadmium was the major pollutant in the
Constitution Marsh (Foundry Cove) currently held by Scenic Hudson, Inc., the
Audubon Society, and the West Point Military Academy.
_________________________________________________________________
STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE*
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail
|
