George Sykes commanded the Union V Corps at Gettysburg after George Meade took command of the Army of the Potomac. Meade’s promotion occurred on June 28, 1863, just days before the battle began.
Sykes was a career Army officer and a veteran of the Mexican-American War. Before taking corps command, he led the V Corps’ 2nd Division, whose soldiers included many regular United States Army troops. His nickname, “Tardy George,” reflected a reputation for deliberate movement rather than a lack of battlefield experience.
At Gettysburg, Sykes’s V Corps arrived on the Union left on July 2. Its divisions played major roles in the fighting around Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, and the Valley of Death. Strong Vincent’s brigade and the 20th Maine belonged to the corps, as did the Pennsylvania Reserves under Samuel W. Crawford.
A later event can cause confusion: Gouverneur K. Warren succeeded Sykes as V Corps commander in March 1864. Oliver O. Howard commanded the XI Corps, John Sedgwick the VI Corps, and Winfield Scott Hancock the II Corps, so none was the answer here.