George Sykes

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.

Early life

Sykes was born in Dover, Kent county, Delaware. He graduated from the West Point in 1842 and graduated 39th out of 56 cadets. It was during his time as cadet that he acquired the nicknames "Tardy George" and "Slow Trot" Sykes. He was commissioned as a brevet second lieutenant in the 3rd U.S. Infantry. He served in the Second Seminole War, Mexican–American War, and numerous other conflicts.

Sykes was brevetted as a captain for actions at the Battle of Cerro Gordo. By virtue of his service in the Mexican War, Sykes became a member of the Aztec Club of 1847. Sykes continued his frontier service and Indian fighting, mainly in New Mexico, and was promoted to full captain in 1855. His final peacetime station was Fort Clark, Texas.

Civil War

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Sykes was assigned as a major in the new 14th U.S. Infantry. At the First Battle of Bull Run he commanded the Regular Infantry Battalion, a collection of eight regular army companies from different regiments, the only regulars on the field. Sykes got command of a brigade of regulars after Bull Run, and was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers on September 28. He led his regulars in the Peninsula Campaign and rose to division command in May 1862 in the newly created V Corps. His men, who often referred to themselves as "Sykes' Regulars", distinguished themselves defending their position at Gaines' Mill during the Seven Days Battles, before the Union line broke elsewhere.<ref name=Tagg82>Tagg, p. 82.</ref>

Sykes was notably the only division commander in the Army of the Potomac not rewarded with a promotion to major general after the Seven Days Battles. He continued leading his division at Second Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg, although it was not heavily engaged in the latter two battles.<ref>The division had two regular brigades and one of volunteer infantry. Gouverneur K. Warren commanded that brigade for a time. At Chancellorsville, his regulars led the advance into the Confederate rear at the start of the battle. Sykes' division engaged Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws' division on the Orange Turnpike.

Sykes' division was forced to retreat after being attacked on the right flank by Maj. Gen. Robert E. Rodes' division, then the army commander, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, nervously recalled his advance to a defensive position; and Sykes' men were not engaged for the remainder of the campaign.<ref name=Tagg82/> Sykes finally received a promotion to major general of volunteers on November 29, 1862. None of these battles demonstrated any aggressive or unique offensive capabilities on his part. When corps commander Maj. Gen. George G. Meade was promoted to lead the Army of the Potomac on June 28, 1863, Sykes assumed command of the V Corps.

At the Battle of Gettysburg, Sykes' corps fought in support of the beleaguered III Corps on the Union left flank. In his 1st Division (Brig. Gen. James Barnes), the fabled defense of Little Round Top was led by brigade commander Col. Strong Vincent and the 20th Maine Infantry under Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. His 3rd Division, the Pennsylvania Reserves, led by Brig. Gen. Samuel W. Crawford, attacked from Little Round Top, drove the Confederates across the "Valley of Death" and ended the deadly fighting in the Wheatfield. But there is little in the historical record that highlights any personal contribution made by Sykes.

On October 16, 1863, Sykes was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the regular army.

In the Battle of Mine Run in the fall of 1863, Meade complained of Sykes' uninspiring performance. Meade and general-in-chief Ulysses S. Grant agreed that Sykes was not a good choice for the upcoming Overland Campaign in May 1864, so when the Army of the Potomac was reorganized that spring, Sykes was removed from command of the V Corps and sent to uneventful duty in the Department of Kansas. During Price's Raid in 1864, he was replaced with James G. Blunt.

Postbellum career

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.

Cullum's

GEORGE SYKES (Ap'd Md.) Born Oct. 9, 1822, Dover, DE.

Military History

Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1838, to July 1, 1842, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to Bvt. Second Lieut., 3d Infantry, July 1, 1842.

Served: in the Florida War, 1842; in garrison at Ft. Stansbury, Fla., 1842‑43, — Jefferson Barracks, Mo., 1843‑44; on frontier duty at Ft.

• (Second Lieut., 3d Infantry, Dec. 31, 1843)

Jesup (Camp Wilkins), La., 1844‑45; in Military Occupation of Texas, 1845‑46; in the War with Mexico, 1846‑48, being engaged in the Battle

• (First Lieut., 3d Infantry, Sep. 21, 1846)

of Monterey, Sep. 21‑23, 1846, — Siege of Vera Cruz, Mar. 9‑29, 1847, — Battle of Cerro Gordo, Apr. 17‑18, 1847, — Battle of Contreras,

• (Bvt. Capt., Apr. 18, 1847, for Gallant and Meritorious Conduct in the Battle of Cerro Gordo, Mex.)

Aug. 19‑20, 1847, — Battle of Churubusco, Aug. 20, 1847, — Operations before and Capture of City of Mexico, Sep. 12‑14, 1847, — and as Commissary of Bvt. Maj.‑General Twiggs' Division, 1847‑48; in garrison at Jefferson Barracks, Mo., 1848; on frontier duty at Santa Fé, N. M., 1849, — Navajo Nation, 1849‑50, — and Santa Fé, N. M., 1850; on Recruiting service, 1850‑52; on frontier duty at Ft. Union, N. M., 1852‑54; Scouting against Apache Indians, 1854, being engaged in Skirmishes, Mar. 4, Apr. 9, and June 30, 1854, — Ft. Union, N. M., 1854‑55, — Ft. Massachusetts, Col., 1855, — Ft. Union, N. M., 1855, — Ft. Fillmore,

• (Captain, 3d Infantry, Sep. 30, 1855)

N. M., 1855‑57, — Gila Expedition, 1857, — and Ft. Fillmore, N. M., 1857; on Detached service in Baltimore, 1858; and on frontier duty at Los Lunas, N. M., 1858‑59, — Navajo Expedition, 1859, — Ft. Defiance, N. M., 1859, — Los Lunas, N. M., 1859‑60, — March to Texas, 1860, — and Ft. Clark, Tex., 1860‑61.

Served during the Rebellion of the Seceding States, 1861‑66: in the

• (Major, 14th Infantry, May 14, 1861)

p141 Manassas Campaign of July, 1861, being engaged in the Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861; in Washington, D. C., commanding the Regular Infantry, Aug., 1861, to Mar., 1862; in the Virginia Peninsular Campaign

• (Brig.‑General, U. S. Volunteers, Sep. 28, 1861)

(Army of the Potomac), Mar. to Aug., 1862, being engaged in the Siege of Yorktown, Apr. 5-May 4, 1862, — Battle of Gaines's Mill, June 27, 1862,

• (Bvt. Colonel, June 27, 1862, for Gallant and Meritorious Services in the Battle of Gaines's Mill, Va.)

— and Battle of Malvern Hill, July 1, 1862; in the Northern Virginia Campaign, Aug.‑Sep., 1862, being engaged on the March from Fredericksburg to Bull Run, Aug., 1862, — and Battle of Manassas, Aug. 29‑30, 1862; in the Maryland Campaign (Army of the Potomac), Sep. to Nov., 1862, being engaged in the Battle of Antietam, Sep. 17, 1862, — Skirmish of Shepherdstown, Va., Sep. 19, 1862, — and March to Falmouth, Va., Oct.‑Nov., 1862, participating in the Skirmish of Snicker's Gap, Va.,

• (Major-General, U. S. Volunteers, Nov. 29, 1862)

Nov. 3, 1862; in the Rappahannock Campaign (Army of the Potomac), Dec., 1862, to June, 1863, being engaged in the Battle of Fredericksburg, Dec. 12‑13, 1862, — and Battle of Chancellorsville, May 2‑4, 1863; in the Pennsylvania Campaign, in command of 5th Corps (Army of the Potomac), June‑July, 1863, being engaged in the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1‑3, 1863, — and in Pursuit of the enemy to Warrenton, Va., July, 1863; in the Rapidan Campaign, commanding 5th Corps (Army of the Potomac), Oct. to Dec., 1863, being engaged on the Rappahannock, Rapidan,

• (Lieut.‑Colonel, 5th Infantry, Oct. 16, 1863)

and in the movement on Centreville, Oct., 1863, — Combat of Rappahannock Station, Nov. 7, 1863, — and Actions on the Rapidan and Mine Run, Nov. 24 to Dec. 1, 1863; on duty in the Department of Kansas, Apr. 20, 1864, to June 7, 1865, being in command of the District of South

• (Bvt. Brigadier-General, U. S. Army, Mar. 13, 1865, for Gallant and Meritorious Services at the Battle of Gettysburg, Pa.)º

Kansas, Sep. 1 to Oct. 10, 1864; in waiting orders, June 7, 1865, to Jan. 15,

• (Bvt. Major-General, U. S. Army, Mar. 13, 1865, for Gallant and Meritorious Services in the Field during the Rebellion)

1866; and in command of detachment of Recruits for New Mexico, Mar. 2

• (Mustered out of Volunteer Service, Jan. 15, 1866)

to Aug. 12, 1866.

Served: in command of Regiment at Ft. Sumner, N. M., Aug. 12, 1866, to Apr. 27, 1867, — District of New Mexico, Mar. 27 to Apr. 27, 1867, — and of Ft. Sumner, N. M., Apr. to June, 1867; on leave of absence, June to Aug., 1867; as Member of Examining Board, New York city, Aug. to Dec., 1867; awaiting orders, Jan. to Mar., 1868;

• (Colonel, 20th Infantry, Jan. 12, 1868)

and in command of regiment at Baton Rouge, La., Mar. 20, 1868, to Apr., 1869, — of District of Minnesota, Apr. 20, 1869, to June 15, 1873 (on Court Martial, June to Aug., 1872, and Aug. 9 to Sep. 16, 1873), — of Ft. Snelling, Min., Sep. 20, 1873, to Dec. 20, 1877, — and of District of the Rio Grande, and Ft. Brown, Tex., Dec. 27, 1877 (on Court of Inquiry at Ft. Clark, Tex., Feb. 27 to Apr. 10, 1878, and Witness at West Point, N. Y., July 16 to Oct. 9, 1878), to Feb. 8, 1880.

Died, Feb. 8, 1880, at Fort Brown, Tex.: Aged 57.

Buried, West Point Cemetery, West Point, NY.

p142 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Bvt. Major-General George Sykes was born, Oct. 9, 1822, at Dover, Del., and was graduated from the Military Academy, and promoted to the Third Infantry, July 1, 1842. During the following three years he was on duty in Florida, and on the Western frontier, when he joined the Army of Occupation under General Taylor in Texas. Promoted, Sep. 21, 1846, to a First Lieutenancy, he was on the same day engaged in the Storming of Monterey, Mex. Soon after, he joined Scott's army, invading Mexico from Vera Cruz, and actively participated in most of the operations of that army up to the capture of the enemy's capital, winning, for his gallantry and good conduct in the hard-fought Battle of Cerro Gordo, the brevet of Captain.

Dr. Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Henry Coppée, who was his daily companion in the City of Mexico, recalls in his obituary of Sykes the recollections of that time. He says: "Among those scenes of memory, Sykes moves as a soldierly, erect figure, always well, ready for anything proposed, simple-hearted, honest, and eminently true; a first-rate duty man, generous and considerate of others, modest almost to a fault, a boon companion for leisure hours, a staunch friend in an emergency. . . . I was then too young and heedless to cast horoscopes of future distinction, but in looking back to‑day I recognize those qualities which were sure, with opportunity, to develop into military efficiency and renown."

From the conclusion of the Mexican War to the outbreak of the Rebellion, he was on frontier duty, protecting pioneer settlements, escorting exploring expeditions, and often was engaged against hostile Indian tribes. On Sep. 30, 1853, he became a Captain of his regiment.

Promoted, May 14, 1861, to a Majority in the newly created Fourteenth Infantry, he soon after was engaged in the Battle of Bull Run; was appointed, Sep. 28, 1861, a Brigadier-General of Volunteers; in the Virginia Peninsular and Maryland Campaign, had the high honor to command the division of Regular troops; was promoted, Nov. 29, 1862, for his efficient services, a Major-General of Volunteers; was placed at the head of the Fifth Corps after the disastrous Battle of Chancellorsville; and continued with the Army of the Potomac till the termination of the Mine Run operations, Dec. 1, 1863. In most of the conflicts and movements of that army he had borne a conspicuous part; won the brevet of Colonel for his gallantry and stubborn fighting in the Battle of Gaines's Mill, and that of Brig.‑General for brilliant conduct at Gettysburg; and at the close of the Rebellion was brevetted a Major-General for his meritorious services in the field. After leaving the Army of the Potomac he was sent upon important duty to Kansas, and, after the Civil War had ended, held various commands in the West till he died, Feb. 8, 1880, at Ft. Brown, Tex.

Sykes was a model soldier, always at his post, and ever ready faithfully and promptly to perform every duty entrusted to him. He was one of those soldiers whose loss is a severe one to the Army. He was a stern disciplinarian, but one who asked nothing of his men that he was not willing to endure himself. He looked upon his profession as one in which honor was to be achieved only by hard, conscientious work, and he did work nobly and faithfully, throughout the thirty-eight years of his service in the Army. General Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Ord, commanding the Department of Texas; the Mayor of Brownsville, where Sykes died; and General Canales, commander on the Mexican Line of the Rio Grande, paid high tribute to his memory.

General Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.McClellan, who had known Sykes from the day of his graduation at West Point, says of him: "As a gentleman his character was the p143 highest, as also the purest, and he endeared himself to all who were so fortunate as to be associated with him. As a soldier his record was one that all might be too glad to possess. Raised to the rank of a General Officer, it was his good fortune to have under his orders the Regular Infantry serving in the Army of the Potomac, and I do not believe that higher praise can be awarded him than to say that he was found worthy of that honor."

Congress appropriated $1,000 for the removal to West Point of General Sykes's remains, over which a tasteful monument has been erected by subscription of his numerous friends.

Court Martial at Fort Union, New Mexico Territory

...There were occasions when all or a portion of a sentence was remitted. Territorial Governor William Carr Lane appealed successfully to General of the Army Scott to change the punishment of some military convicts in New Mexico. Lane objected to the practice of shaving the heads of deserters and other criminals "before they are drummed out of the service." This marked them so they were unable to find work in the territory and, "being destitute of means to get through the Desert back to the States," forced them "to steal, or rob" to survive. Lane requested that "criminals of this kind ... be kept in custody, until they reach the States." General Scott, unwilling to transport the discharged criminals to the States, directed Colonel Sumner to "please remit such portions of their sentences as directs their heads to be shaved, or places upon them any other distinctive marks that would render them objects of suspicion or distrust to the inhabitants of that territory."[152]

Some of the inhabitants of the territory were engaged in criminal activities at or near Fort Union, providing whiskey and prostitutes for the soldiers. [153] When Lieutenant George Sykes, Third Infantry, ordered two of those citizens (both women) to be punished, Sykes was charged with conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman. His trial by general court-martial, convened at Albuquerque in April 1853, provided information about illegal activities at the post. As with many courts-martial, the information about social life at the post was more revealing and significant than the actual charges against the accused and the decision of the court.

Sykes was prosecuted for ordering two "Mexican women" (Maria Alvina Chaires, commonly known as Jesusitta or Black Sus, and Maria Dolores Trujique y Rivale, commonly known as Dolores), who had been arrested for prostitution, selling whiskey, and receiving stolen military property at their place of residence in the caves in the bluffs overlooking the post, to be shorn of their hair, publicly whipped, and drummed off the reservation by the guard detail. This allegedly occurred on January 17, 1853, when Sykes was officer of the day. The two women, both of whom were reported to have helped spread venereal diseases among the garrison, had been arrested the day before and placed in the post guardhouse overnight. All testimony confirmed that the women were shorn, whipped, and driven from the post, but Sykes denied that their punishment was inappropriate and pleaded not guilty to conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman. [154]

Testimony also confirmed that the two women had been engaged in the activities ascribed to them. Corporal James Cowan, Company D, Second Artillery, stated: "I have known the woman Jesusitta for upwards of three years, in Santa Fe she was a common prostitute about the streets, acting badly there but much worse at Fort Union." When asked if the two women lived in the caves near the post and if soldiers from the garrison visited them there, Cowan replied, "Yes Sir they did, the men did visit them day and night." Private Alexander Lavery, Company D, Third Infantry, was a member of the guard that punished the two women, and he testified that he had briefly whipped them by order of Lieutenant Sykes and that "the hair was also cut off their heads with scissors." Lavery also testified, under cross examination, that one of the women had given him venereal disease, that the women sold whiskey to soldiers, and that they received army property in payment for their services. [155]

Other members of the guard detail who had witnessed the events on January 17, including Private Robert Collum, Company D, Third Infantry, and Private George Mapon, Company D, Second Artillery, confirmed the details of how the women were treated. Attempts to locate the two women and have them testify were not successful. In his defense, Lieutenant Sykes called Post Surgeon John Byrne, who entered into the record a list of items stolen from the medical department. Sykes also submitted a list of items lost by the commissary department, a sworn affidavit by Captain Bowen. [156] His argument was that the activities of the two women were criminal and in violation of military orders. The question to be decided, implied by Sykes, was whether the punishment of the women was appropriate or not. [157]

Surgeon Byrne testified that the "Mexican prostitutes" and whiskey peddlers around the post were "a source of annoyance to the garrison." He stated that sixty cases of venereal diseases had been treated among the soldiers during the first year after Fort Union was established, and he attributed the sources of most of those cases to the "Mexican women living in the rocks." Byrne summarized earlier efforts to remove the "nuisances" by civil authorities, without success, and explained that the theft of government property at Fort Union was so excessive that "honest merchants said that they had to shut up their grocery stores, because dishonest ones who bought stolen commissary provisions from Fort Union, under sold them." [158]

The surgeon also explained that Lieutenant Sykes had come to him for advice regarding the "Mexican women confined in the guard house," noting that they had been arrested a number of times before and then released to continue their illegal operations. Byrne told the court that he had recommended to Sykes "that if he would give them a few light blows before discharging them they would be frightened and not return." He reported that Sykes "replied that he did not like to whip women, to which I answered certainly not so as to hurt them, but only to frighten them." Byrne further testified that, to his knowledge, from the time the two women were whipped and sent from the post until after Lieutenant Sykes was arrested, "there were no women about the rocks" near the post plying their trade. [159]

Captain Carleton also appeared to testify in defense of Lieutenant Sykes. Carleton declared that, when he commanded Fort Union during much of 1852, "the command was exceeding intemperate," in fact, "more so than any command of the same size that I have ever seen in the service." Sykes asked Carleton, "Did not intoxication and crime exist to an alarming extent among the troops?" Carleton responded, "In my opinion it did." He declared that the quantity of military property stolen "was enormous" and attributed many of the desertions at Fort Union to the influences of alcohol obtained illegally. He noted that "numerous groggeries" had been established near the post and that he, Carleton, had assisted the territorial marshal in arresting some of the proprietors. He explained that, during the process of arresting those offenders, he had seen several women "which I supposed to be prostitutes. I soon afterwards heard that some caves in the bluffs which overhang Fort Union, were infested with these women, and I ordered the Sergeant of the guard to take them off the military reserve." [160]

Carleton explained that prostitutes and whiskey peddlers had been removed from the reserve a number of times, but they had quickly returned. Carleton was officer of the day when the two women involved in the case were arrested, and he noted that three men were arrested at the same time. He had not witnessed the punishment of the two women and knew nothing about, except that it had apparently been effective. Carleton, like Dr. Byrne, confirmed that the garrison had not "been annoyed either by whiskey sellers or depraved women after the punishment said to have been inflicted on the latter" until after the arrest of Lieutenant Sykes. [161]

Sheriff Richard M. Stevens of Santa Fe County and the deputy U.S. Marshal was called to testify by Lieutenant Sykes. The sheriff estimated that twenty prostitutes were routed out when the proprietors of the saloons were arrested in May 1852. He also testified that he had seen large quantities of government property in the possession of whiskey sellers and prostitutes, including saddles, bridles, guns, axes, and sugar candy. Corporal Cowan was recalled to testify about the severity of the punishment. He stated that the whipping "was trifling, slightly laid on." The two women had their clothes on and were whipped lightly over their shoulders. [162]

Other soldiers were called by Lieutenant Sykes to establish the criminal activities of the two women. Corporal John Einseidel, Company D, Third Infantry, stated the "Mexican women" were "notorious as pimps and whores." In response to a question about how long he had known the women, Private Einseidel replied: "One of them I have known since I came into the territory nearly four years, and the other ever since Fort Union was established about a year and half ago." During that time they were "constantly selling whiskey to the troops and receiving their clothing rations &c. in exchange." He responded affirmatively to the question, "Do you not know that many of the troops were diseased by Mexican women at Fort Union and would not report themselves as such at the hospital?" He also stated that the women had not returned to the vicinity of the post until after the arrest of Sykes. [163]

Lieutenant Sykes, as part of his defense, read into the record portions of the laws of the Territory of New Mexico relating to the punishment of pimps. Whether male or female, persons found guilty of procuring "women for the purpose of lascivious connection with men" were to "be publicly whipped, receiving thirty lashes." Women who were convicted could also be made to perform "three months service in a house to which they may be assigned with a shackle on their foot." Sykes then called Musician Michael Salmon, Company D, Third Infantry, who swore the two women, one of whom he had known nearly four years and the other since Fort Union was established, were "notorious as pimps and whores." He had received venereal infection from one of them. He confirmed the testimony of other soldiers regarding the payment of these women with stolen government property. He stated that the whipping was "very trifling" and "I think it would not have hurt a child." Likewise, he affirmed that the two women had not returned to the vicinity of the post until after Sykes was arrested. He stated that one of the women "returned about five days after Captain Sykes arrest." Salmon had "asked her if she was not afraid to come back, she said no because Captain Sykes was arrested, and that nothing more would be done to them." [164]

In conclusion of his defense, Lieutenant Sykes presented a written statement, portions of which follow:

"I had hoped that no occasion could arise in which my honor as a gentleman, or my conduct as a soldier could be impeached; least of all, that acts done for the welfare of the Service, & the dignity of the profession, could be construed into a departure from all that invests Military men with any claim to consideration or respect. The object of my defense has been to justify my conduct, and to show the necessity of the acts set forth in the specification against me. If discipline and the good of the Service rendered them necessary—they cannot be unbecoming an officer, if the preservation of good morals required them—they cannot be unbecoming a gentleman." [165]

In the same statement Sykes summarized the degradation that had befallen the new post that Sumner had removed from the vice and corruption at Santa Fe. At Fort Union, he continued,

"Large quantities of provisions, clothing, medical supplies, material for building forts, for transportation &c were collected there. Soon after, numerous groggeries were erected by citizens for the sale of whiskey to the troops. To all of them swarmed in great numbers, probably the very refuse and dregs of the population of the Territory—thieves, gamblers, and villains of desperate character. Loathsome and abandoned prostitutes were added by the score—Desertions became frequent—the hospital was filled with diseased men—the guard house overflowed with the debauched—Intemperance, disease & crime went hand in hand until nearly the whole garrison by association with such vile and infamous persons became demoralised to an alarming extent—A regular system of stealing was carried on. The public stores which had been gathered there at so great an expense were the pay of a motley assemblage of scoundrels and strumpets. They hovered around the depot like vultures around a carcass. So low did the sense of duty of many of the troops descend by contact with this maelstrom of iniquity, that sentinels were seduced of their integrity, their fidelity, purchased or drowned in liquor, until Subsistence stores by the wagon load, clothing by the bale, medical supplies in large quantities and Quarter Masters Stores by the box were stolen and sold in open market in the towns and villages of New Mexico. Whole teams of mules six at a time were run off by deserters and their confederates outside the garrison and never again recovered. The accounts of the officers responsible for this property exhibit a loss amounting to from ten to fifteen thousand dollars." [166]

All efforts to deal with the problem had been thwarted. Sykes summarized the arrests and destruction of property carried out by civil authorities and the attempts to prevent citizens from invading the reservation. "Every effort was made by the Military to avoid collision with the citizens." They were warned they would be driven from the reservation. In response, however, "they laughed such warnings to scorn and publicly boasted that they would pursue their traffic in defiance of every one." And they had. The loss of property was so great that "the soldiers at this moment are destitute of many necessary articles of clothing and that an officer was sent to Santa Fe to purchase at the high prices of that market subsistence stores for the positive wants of the troops." [167]

In light of all that had happened, Sykes was distressed that his effort to deal with the problem had resulted in a "great outcry" against him. Despite the fact, according to Sykes, that his efforts had resulted in the fleeing of all whiskey traders and prostitutes from the military reservation, "that the hospital was empty; and sobriety common throughout the command," he was arrested and charged with misconduct. He noted that Post Commander Gouverneur Morris had refused to prefer charges against him and that Colonel Sumner, the department commander, had done so. Sykes swore that within a week after his arrest, "the same prostitutes and their gang were infesting the rocks near Fort Union, bringing back their old atmosphere of demoralization & disease, openly avowing that Col. Sumner's course to me had caused their return, and, for the future, would be a warrant to them against all molestation from the authorities at the Post." If what he had done constituted conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman, Sykes believed he was in the wrong profession. He requested that he be acquitted. He was found not guilty by the court. [168] Sykes went on to have a distinguished military career and, after the Civil War, commanded the District of New Mexico for a brief time in 1867. The testimony at his trial revealed much about the seamy side of life at Fort Union. As noted elsewhere, the problems of whiskey and prostitution plagued Fort Union until the post was abandoned. There were other problems, of course, which were related to discipline and justice.

Sometimes, with the many changes in commanding officers at Fort Union and the shuffling of companies from one post to another, prisoners were overlooked. When Colonel Fauntleroy took command at Fort Union in September 1854 there were two privates (H. Donahue and R. Roache), Company K, First Dragoons, in the guardhouse, "confined for desertion." Fauntleroy could find no charges against the two soldiers and asked Brigadier General Garland for "instructions relative to them." [169] Within a few days Garland ordered a general court-martial to convene at Fort Union and enclosed charges against Donahue and Roache as well as five other soldiers. [170] The records of the trial were not located. Donahue and Roache had been held in the post guardhouse for more than six months before charges were filed against them. Justice was not always swift in the military.

• http://www.santafetrailresearch.com/fort-union-nm/fu-oliva-10c.html

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