Background
George Sykes was born on October 9, 1822 in Dover, Delaware. He was the son of William Sykes and the grandson of James Sykes, noted physician and governor of Delaware, 1801-02.
George Sykes was born on October 9, 1822 in Dover, Delaware. He was the son of William Sykes and the grandson of James Sykes, noted physician and governor of Delaware, 1801-02.
Sykes received his early education in Dover and was sent to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1838.
George Sykes was graduated in 1842 as a second lieutenant, 3rd Infantry, and went immediately to Florida where he took part in the Seminole War. He was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant in 1846, served in the war with Mexico during the entire campaign from Vera Cruz to Mexico city, and was brevetted captain for gallant conduct at Cerro Gordo. After the war he served mostly in the Southwest.
At the outbreak of the Civil War Sykes became a major, and, at the first battle of Bull Run, he commanded a battalion of regulars which particularly distinguished itself by protecting the disordered retreat of the Federal troops. For this service he was appointed a brigadier-general of volunteers.
In the spring of 1862, Sykes commanded a brigade, subsequently the 2nd Division, V Corps, composed mostly of regulars, in the Peninsular campaign in Virginia. He valiantly defended his position at the battle of Gaines's Mill, checking the Confederate attack until darkness enabled the Union army to be withdrawn.
At Malvern Hill on July 1, 1862, he again assisted in repulsing the enemy. In the second Manassas campaign, Sykes's division, part of Porter's V Corps, experienced heavy fighting, especially on August 30, but held its ground until ordered back. Sykes was only lightly engaged at Antietam and at Fredericksburg.
Late in the year he was promoted to the rank of major-general. At Chancellorsville, while Stonewall Jackson was fighting the main Federal forces, Sykes operated towards Fredericksburg against Lee's army. In the Gettysburg campaign Sykes commanded the V Corps. It did not arrive on the battle-field until July 2, when it was ordered to hold the Round Tops, threatened by an enemy attack. Severe fighting occurred in which Sykes bravely led his men to hold these hills for the Federal army.
At a council of war that night, he advised remaining on the defensive for one more day. This plan was adopted by Meade. When the Confederates made their famous charge on July 3, he was not directly engaged, although his troops suffered from artillery fire.
An opportunity existed after the repulse of the enemy for a counter-attack by the V Corps and there seems to have been some controversy between Sykes and Meade as to whether Sykes had been ordered to do this. Sykes denied that he had been so directed, but, in any case, the chance passed without being utilized. He was brevetted brigadier-general in the regular army for his conduct in this battle.
Upon the reorganization of the Army of the Potomac early in 1864, Sykes was relieved from the V Corps, and sent to Kansas, where he remained on unimportant duties until the end of the war. In 1866 he was mustered out of the volunteer service as a major-general and reverted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, 5th Infantry, in the regular army. The rest of his service was mainly in the West.
He became colonel of the 20th Infantry in 1868, and died at Fort Brown, Texas, while commanding that regiment. Serious illness and great suffering marred the last years of his life.
Sykes became a member of the Aztec Club of 1847 (a military society founded in 1847 by United States Army officers of the Mexican–American War).
He was nicknamed "Tardy George, " but his tardiness was mental, not physical. Sykes as a general was excellent on the defensive, but he lacked initiative.
Sykes' wife, Elizabeth, was the daughter of Robert Goldsborough of Cambridge, Maryland.