Civil War Union Major General. West Point Class of 1842. At First Manassas Sykes commanded a battalion of U.S. Regulars as a major covering the panic-stricken retreat of the volunteers. Promoted Brig. Gen. in Sept. 1861 commanding first a brigade and then a division in the Peninsula Campaign. Promoted the Maj. Gen. in Nov. 1862. In June 1863 he took command of the 5th Corps of the Army of the Potomac when former commander Maj. Gen. George Meade took command of the Army. At Gettysburg in July his corps supported Sickles III Corps and the left of the Union line. Later in the year he served in the Rapphannock and Mine Run camnpaign but was relieved of command because Meade felt he acted too slowly. In the spring of 1864 he went to the Dept. of Kansas and remained there until the war's end.
In 1866 he reverted to his Regular Army rank of Lt. Col. of the 5th US Infantry and then Col. of the 20th in 1868. He then commanded his regiment at a number of duty stations from Minnesota to Texas until his death at Fort Bowen in Brownsville, Texas.
In 1866 he reverted to his Regular Army rank of Lt. Col. of the 5th US Infantry and then Col. of the 20th in 1868. He then commanded his regiment at a number of duty stations from Minnesota to Texas until his death at Fort Bowen in Brownsville, Texas.
Civil War Union Major General. West Point Class of 1842. At First Manassas Sykes commanded a battalion of U.S. Regulars as a major covering the panic-stricken retreat of the volunteers. Promoted Brig. Gen. in Sept. 1861 commanding first a brigade and then a division in the Peninsula Campaign. Promoted the Maj. Gen. in Nov. 1862. In June 1863 he took command of the 5th Corps of the Army of the Potomac when former commander Maj. Gen. George Meade took command of the Army. At Gettysburg in July his corps supported Sickles III Corps and the left of the Union line. Later in the year he served in the Rapphannock and Mine Run camnpaign but was relieved of command because Meade felt he acted too slowly. In the spring of 1864 he went to the Dept. of Kansas and remained there until the war's end.
In 1866 he reverted to his Regular Army rank of Lt. Col. of the 5th US Infantry and then Col. of the 20th in 1868. He then commanded his regiment at a number of duty stations from Minnesota to Texas until his death at Fort Bowen in Brownsville, Texas.
In 1866 he reverted to his Regular Army rank of Lt. Col. of the 5th US Infantry and then Col. of the 20th in 1868. He then commanded his regiment at a number of duty stations from Minnesota to Texas until his death at Fort Bowen in Brownsville, Texas.
Bio by: EFB III
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