Company D, 4th Regiment Minnesota Infantry Volunteers (George W. Van Syckle)

Compiled by Jonathan Webb Deiss, 2001

George W. Van Syckle was a farmer and lived in Centre Township, LaPorte County, Indiana in 1850 at the time that the Webb’s also lived in LaPorte. He married Eliza M. Webb 5 October 1859 at Cold Water, Michigan. He lived near Pine Island, Goodhue County, Minnesota in the early 1860's, and joined Company D, 4th Regiment Minnesota Infantry with Eliza's youngest brother Martin. George was 1st Sergeant of their company when he succumbed to lung fever and died 17 May 1862. This event is also recorded in Loren Webb's diary. George and Eliza had one daughter, Luella in 1861.

Jacket-envelope for First Sergeant Van Syckle, Company D, 4th Regiment Minnesota Infantry Volunteers. His enclosure sheet lists only one item, his casualty sheet.

Company Muster-In card for Captain Inman’s Company, dated 10 October 1861 at Fort Snelling, Minnesota.

Company Descriptive Book card describing George as 5’ 10½“ tall, with fair complexion, blue eyes and black hair at the time of enlistment, by Captain Nelson at Fort Snelling, 10 October 1861.

Company Muster Roll card from enlistment through 31 December 1861.

Company Muster Roll card for January and February 1862.

Company Muster Roll card for March and April 1862, marked as present.

Company Returns card; remarks only show record of his death 17 May 1862 at Hamburg Landing, Tennessee.

Company Muster Roll card for May and June 1862.

Company Muster Out card for Company D, 4th Regiment Minnesota Infantry, dated 19 January 1865.

Casualty Sheet for George W. Van Syckle, died 19 May 1862 at Hamburg Landing, Tennessee of (lung) fever.

Pension Office cards for George’s daughter, Luella Van Syckle, who received a pension after his death commencing 1 July 1867 and ending 8 October 1875. An additional card.

Sources :

Brown, Alonzo L. History of the Fourth Regiment of Minnesota Infantry Volunteers during the Great Rebellion 1861-1865. The Pioneer Press Company. St. Paul, Minnesota. 1892. Reprinted by Higginson Book Co., 2001.

Catton, Bruce. The Army of the Potomac. Mr. Lincoln's Army.  Doubleday & Company. Garden City, New York. 1951

Catton, Bruce. The Army of the Potomac. Glory Road.  Doubleday & Company. Garden City, New York. 1951

Dyer, Frederick H., Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, compiled and arranged from official records of the Federal and Confederate armies. Dyer Publishing Company. Des Moines, Iowa 1905. Courtesy of the U.S. Military History Institute, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Located online http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usamhi/DL/

Service Record of George W. Van Syckle, Co. D, 4th Reg't Minnesota Infantry, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC. Compiled 1890's, viewed February 2001.

Harvey Hayes Webb family bible transcript, typed transcript, drafted in the 1950's; courtesy Hazel Skelly Webb

Written communication with Vinton Phillips and David L. Hester, New London, Huron County, Ohio, January 2001

Webb, Loren. Diary of Captain Loren Webb, 1861 - 1863, Firelands Historical Society, 1995. Transcribed by Matthew L. Burr.

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