Daniel Sickles's leg

The amputated right lower leg of Union Army general Daniel Sickles, lost after a cannonball wound suffered at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2, 1863, is displayed at the National Museum of Health and Medicine.

At Gettysburg, Sickles moved the III Corps forward from his assigned position, and it was shattered by a Confederate attack.

[3] Early on July 2, 1863, with the Battle of Gettysburg ongoing, Sickles became concerned about the suitability of the position the III Corps was assigned to defend.

[6] Confederate troops commanded by James Longstreet attacked Sickles's new position, and the III Corps was overrun.

After transferring command of the III Corps to David B. Birney, Sickles was taken off the field on a stretcher while puffing on a cigar.

[7] He sometimes visited the limb on the anniversary of its loss,[2] and sometimes brought visitors with him, including, on one occasion, Mark Twain who stated that he believed the general valued the lost leg more than his still-extant one.

[9] The bones are attached to a wooden stand by metal prongs and are displayed next to a cannonball of the type that caused the wound.