Jun 12 at 12:00 PM - Sale 2708 -

Sale 2708 - Lot 74

Estimate: $ 2,500 - $ 3,500
(CIVIL WAR--NEW YORK.) Henry K. Sikes. Long run of letters by a descendant of Henry Knox, serving in the 1st New York Rifles. 86 Autograph Letters Signed as Henry or "Hal" to sister Catherine Sykes Fowler (1838-1905) and/or brother-in-law Milton A. Fowler of Fishkill, NY; most letters 4 or more pages, various sizes, condition generally strong. Each letter accompanied by an original mailing envelope, most of them stamped and postmarked, a few franked by the regimental commander. Various places, 1862-1865
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"There is a kind of pleasing excitement in the buzz of a shell which almost excludes fear."

Henry Knox "Hal" Sikes or Sykes (1841-1917) came from a distinguished family--his maternal great-grandfather was Secretary of War Henry Knox. He enlisted as a private in the 1st Mounted New York Rifles in August 1862, and mustered out as a corporal at the close of the war.

His second letter, dated 31 August 1862, sketches out a plan of his regiment's Camp Dodge at Suffolk, VA, where they remained through late 1863. On 2 February 1863 he describes his battalion nearly being cut off by Confederates while on an expedition: "Was 14 long hours in the saddle, riding much of the way on trot. We expected to be cut off & thought we should have to cut our way into camp. . . . I knew the odds would in all probability be against us, but do not think we had many men who would have said surrender."

Their camp was surrounded in April 1863 in the Siege of Suffolk, which he describes on 14 April: "The enemy, 22,000 to 40,000 strong, advanced on this place last Saturday by three different roads. . . . The gunboats on the Nansemond have kept up a steady but not rapid fire upon Longstreet, who has been trying to get across the river & get in between us. . . . Our generals feel confidence in driving the rascals back."

The 17 May 1863 letter describes the Battle of Swift Creek: "The buzzing of the shells as they passed overhead was quite amusing. Yes, I mean it, there is a kind of pleasing excitement in the buzz of a shell which almost excludes fear." He also alludes to his distinguished family history: "Can you not find out what has become of that old gold Knox watch which Aunt Lucy had. . . . I think by rights I should have it, as it is not only a Knox relic but a gentleman's watch."

On 10 August 1863 he describes an expedition to Winton, NC, which "must have been a beautiful place before the rebellion, but it was here that the Hawkins Zouaves lost heavily in one of their engagements under Burnside & in revenge they laid the place in ashes. There are now but three or four buildings standing."

On 31 January 1864 Sikes describes service in a small detachment to "take the census of the Col'd population in this (York) county," including a large contraband encampment near Yorktown called Slabtown. In one case he encountered a woman he scanned as mulatto but who insisted that she was white; in other cases "we find many who might easily be mistaken for white people but who freely come forward & give us their names as Black."

On 25 October 1864 we get a glimpse of a distinguished relative, Rear Admiral Henry Knox Thatcher: "Uncle H is in command of the 1st Div. of 20 fine warships of a powerful expedition now fitting out for special service, after which he will probably go to Europe. He would like to hear from you; his present address . . . will be U.S. Frigate Colorado, Hampton Roads (that's his flagship)."

The Lincoln assassination is addressed in the 28 April 1865 letter: "Booth is killed, we hear. I regret that he could not be taken alive & tortured."

Sikes was a telegraph operator after the war, settled in Peoria, IL by 1887, and then spent his final years in Ridgeland, MS.

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