Three-quarter standing view of Sykes in dress uniform. He wears a double-breasted coat with shoulder straps. Image is clear with very good contrast. Good mount with small period ink signature under photo. Photographer’s backmark, E. & H.T. Anthony, New York, from a Brady negative. A 2-cent revenue stamp is on the back.

George Sykes (October 9, 1822 – February 8, 1880) was a career United States Army officer and a Union General during the American Civil War.

He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1842, and served in numerous conflicts, including the Second Seminole War and the Mexican–American War. During the Civil War, he was appointed commander of the 2nd Division of the V Corps of the Army of the Potomac during the Peninsula Campaign of 1862, and continued in that role through the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, and the Battle of Chancellorsville.

Sykes assumed command of the V Corps on June 28, 1863, following the promotion of Major General George G. Meade to command of the entire army. Sykes's Corps fought with distinction on the second day of the subsequent Battle of Gettysburg on July 2. He was criticized for his performance in the Battle of Mine Run later that year, was removed from command on March 23, 1864, and sent to duty in Kansas. Sykes remained in the army after the war and died in 1880.

After the war, Sykes was mustered out of the volunteer service and returned to serve in the regular army in 1866. As Lieutenant Colonel, he served in the 5th U.S. Infantry. Sykes was promoted to colonel on January 12, 1868 and received command of the 20th U.S. Infantry. He commanded at a number of duty stations from Minnesota to Texas until he died while on duty in Texas at Fort Brown on February 8, 1880, at age 57. He was interred in West Point Cemetery, West Point, New York.

This image was part of the Ray Richey collection. [jet] [ph:L]

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