Cannon Fodder

摘要

The fibula and tibia of the right leg of Union Major General Dan Sickles are on display at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, D.C., along with a 12-pound cannonball like the one that shattered his bones during the Battle of Gettysburg. General Sickles was wounded during a Confederate assault that came shortly after he had moved his corps nearly one mile in front of Cemetery Ridge, seriously weakening the Union line in direct defiance of orders. Carried to the rear to have his leg amputated, Sickles learned of a directive from the Army surgeon general to collect interesting specimens for a new museum. He promptly donated the cannonball and his leg, packed in a miniature coffin accompanied by a card announcing, "With compliments of Major General D.E.S." For years Sickles would visit the display on the anniversary of the amputation.