LESSONS FROM SCOUNDRELS

I’ve been working on a documentary about the Civil War for the past few months, and I’ve been intrigued by the number of books that use military leaders as models for modern business. A great example is Tom Wheeler’s TAKE COMMAND, LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM THE CIVIL WAR, but there are others that focus on the business styles of Ulysses Grant and the command model of Robert E. Lee. All important lessons, no doubt.

But having spent quite a while on studying a single battle, it’s clear that most military decisions have little to do with Vision and Expected Results, and a lot more to do with just hanging on, keeping your head down and hoping for the best.

And there’s one great leader of the Civil War who has been overlooked, but whom I believe can reveal extraordinary insights into modern business.

His name is Daniel Sickles.

He is almost universally reviled as the worst commander the Union Army ever had. And he has much to teach us.

Sickles was no slouch. He’d served as a State Senator in New York and a US Congressman. When he discovered his young wife was having an affair, he stalked and shot the interloper on the streets of DC, then was acquitted due to “temporary insanity” – the first use of that defense. Though he had no military training whatsoever, Sickles managed to get himself appointed to a generalship in the first months of the war. And by 1863, when all the political appointees in the Union Army had been shot or quit, Sickles was still hanging in there, despite the best efforts of his superiors and his soldiers.

Which brings us to Gettysburg. On July 2, 1863, the second day of America’s largest and bloodiest battle, Sickles was ordered to hold the vital center of the Union line along Cemetery Ridge. And here is where we can learn valuable lessons.

LESSON 1 – PRETEND YOU DIDN’T GET THE E-MAIL
Sickles didn’t like the ground he was ordered to hold. It lay in a shallow valley, with high ground on each side. So on his own recognizance, Sickles moved his troops a mile forward to hold higher ground at a spot now known as the Peach Orchard. Though it might seem to be a better position to the amateur, it was a disastrous move. Sickles’ new position dangerously weakened the Union line… and the bulge in the line made Sickles’ troops vulnerable on two sides. Commanding General George Meade sent multiple couriers to call Sickles back… and he got no reply. Meade called for a meeting of all Union commanders later that morning… Sickles didn’t show. Meade had to personally ride out to Sickles to order him back… but by then the Confederate assault on the Union Center had begun, and Sickles’ Corps was there to stay. Here’s the lesson from the Great Scoundrel – don’t directly disobey orders, just pretend you never got them.

LESSON 2 – DON’T LET THEM SEE YOU SWEAT
Sickles advance had the exact result Meade had feared – the bulge in the Union line was attacked from two sides, and the Union position was so weakened that the Confederates nearly broke through – which would have meant a Rebel victory and perhaps a very different end of the Civil War. Sickles’ men were being torn apart from two sides. At the height of the Rebel attack, a cannonball slammed into Sickles and nearly tore his right leg off. As a medic hustled him onto a stretcher, arterial blood pumping on to the ground, Sickles hissed to his adjutant: “Take the cigar out of my pocket. Put it in my mouth. Now light it!” As he was carried away through the devastated remnants of his unit, Sickles sat upright and calmly puffed on his cigar with a grin. The lesson could have come straight from Napoleon: “L’audace, l’audace, toujours l’audace!”

LESSON 3 – MEMORIALIZE YOUR BLUNDERS
Sickles leg was amputated that afternoon, and two days later he was in Washington DC, bringing the news of the Union victory at Gettysburg. As one of the first people to report, Sickles could easily control the message and make sure that his actions sounded heroic. But the Great Scoundrel needed more attention… and he got it. Sickles learned that the newly-created Army Medical Museum was looking for “specimens of morbid anatomy.” So he donated his amputated leg to the museum, along with the cannonball that took it off, and for the rest of his life he would bring distinguished guests of the Capital to visit the severed leg. Now, this brash step did two things – it kept Sickles’ “magnificent sacrifice” clear to all and sundry, and the sheer boldness of his display made it seem as if he must be proud of his accomplishments at Gettysburg. Never mind that he unnecessarily sent thousands of young men to their deaths and nearly caused a Confederate victory… Sickles’ leg mutely trumpeted pride that dare not be contradicted.

LESSON 4 -- STICK TO YOUR STORY. ANONYMOUSLY, IF YOU HAVE TO
Sickles amputation kept him off the battlefield, but not out of the war. He proudly proclaimed himself the hero of Gettysburg for his dubious actions, and began a smear campaign against General Meade, suggesting that Meade had secretly planned to retreat from Gettysburg. The best defense is a good offense, and this was as offensive as they came – especially since Sickles had no qualms about writing multiple anonymous letters to the editors promoting this viewpoint. But it put Meade and his supporters on the defensive and the aggressive attack on Meade’s character quite possibly prevented Sickles from facing a court martial.

LESSON 4 – OUTLIVE THE BASTARDS
General Lee died within five years of the end of the war. General Meade died two years after that. General Grant went on to become President and died in 1885, finishing his memoirs just in time. But Dan Sickles outlived them all, dying peacefully at age 94 in 1914. Along the way he managed to get elected to Congress again, serve as Ambassador to Spain (where he had an affair with the deposed Queen Isabella II), and finally getting forced out of public life due to yet another financial scandal. His greatest contribution to America may have been in leading the movement to preserve Gettysburg Battlefield. Sickles introduced the legislation to create the National Military Park, then led the fundraising and monument-building. Perhaps the arrogant bastard felt the whole battlefield was a monument to himself. Perhaps he secretly felt humility for his actions and wished to memorialize the men he had led to their deaths. Whatever his reasons, The Great Scoundrel managed to preserve America’s hallowed ground, and for that we must thank him. And we should thank him for this final lesson. Daniel Sickles was eventually awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions at Gettysburg in 1897… 34 years after the fact. Sickles had simply outlived everyone who contradicted his story. If only we all could do the same.