How important were Sickles battlefield preservation efforts at Gettysburg?
JH: Very important. He had the political clout, celebrity, and drive to get things done. I would never call him Gettysburg’s most important preservationist, David McConaughy deserves that honor, but I’d certainly put Sickles near the top of the list. He chaired the New York Monuments Commission for almost three decades, put a lot of monuments on the battlefield, helped attack William Tipton’s commercial developments near Devil’s Den, and introduced the bill that created Gettysburg National Military Park. He even drew up the Park’s initial boundaries. The veterans cheered him when he went back to Gettysburg to give speeches. Imagine how different the reaction would be if he went back there today. Of course, money was missing from the Monument Commission’s coffers, and I cover that in the book too…
