This Mississippi officer was killed -- of all things -- by a falling tree. Lt. Col. Columbus Sykes left letters and a trove of artifacts. Check out 8 of them at Kennesaw Mountain

Lt. Col. Columbus Sykes and his kepi, glove, duster and sock (Photos: Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park)

At Georgia’s Kennesaw Mountain, Lt. Col. Columbus “Lum” Sykes of the 43^rd Mississippi Infantry narrowly escaped death when a Union battery fired upon his position. The officer, dozing under the shade of a tree, scrambled to safety moments before a second shell smashed his blanket.

“Had I been a few moments later in moving, my head would have probably been blown to atoms,” Sykes wrote in a June 29, 1864, letter home. “We have escaped to many imminent dangers during this campaign, that I can but gratefully attribute our escape to a special interposition of Providence.”

Sykes’ correspondence, which I found on Civil War historian Dan Vemilya’s blog, rings particularly ironic when considering what happened to him seven months later in Mississippi when he was resting under a tree.

He wasn’t so lucky that time.

Sykes, 32, was making his way back home to Aberdeen, Ms., in January 1865 when he and two other soldiers bunked down near a decaying white oak in Itawamba County. During the night, the tree fell, crushing the men. Sykes lingered a short time. According to one account, the officer lamented dying in such a way, rather than battle. “Tell my dear wife and children I loved them to the last.”

Visitors to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park northwest of Atlanta are fortunate Sykes left behind more than his letters to his wife and children. A half dozen items belonging to him were donated by a family member in the late 1940s, received by longtime park superintendent B.C. Yates.

The 43rd Mississippi – famous for its connection to “Old Douglas,” a camel that saw service until it was killed at Vicksburg -- served at Kennesaw Mountain. It was in Adams' brigade (Featherston’s division) in Loring’s Corps, which was deployed near the Western & Atlantic Railroad.

“The location would be just off of the park's northern property to the east of the visitor center,” said Amanda Corman, a park ranger and curator at the site.

The regiment hauled cannon to the Confederates' commanding heights but was not involved in defending against the worst of the June 27, 1864, Union assault, given it was on the far right of the Rebel line.

During a brief visit recently, I studied the Sykes items on exhibit under dark light and asked Corman for additional details and photos.

“The Sykes artifacts are able to provide a personal look into items that an officer may own and take into battle. Unfortunately, there (are) rarely personal items of the common solider to compare such items to an officer's belongings,” she wrote.

I am grateful to Corman and the park for these descriptions of the artifacts. All photos are from the National Park Service.

Leather trunk (right): The item has brass studs and a conventional design, and is 18 inches high, 15 inches wide and nearly 28 inches long. It was embossed at top with a small but ornate design. Trunks were often sent to the rear for safekeeping during marching and fighting. Sherman's cavalry captured hundreds of pieces of Confederate baggage near Fayetteville, Ga., in late July 1864.

Field cap (kepi): The butternut headgear – made from cotton and dyed wool jean cloth -- is homespun with a black oilcloth brim. It features cloth lining, a cardboard button and an oilcloth sweat band. Oilcloth was a substitute for leather. The kepi was copied from a design worn by the French army.

Money belt (above): This artifact is believed to be made of suede or soft leather. It features several compartments, white pearl buttons and strings for tying at the waist. As a lieutenant colonel in infantry, Sykes earned about $170 a month. But it was common for soldiers to go months without being paid.

Sock: It is made of a simple chain weave and the thread is unbleached. Jolie Elder with the Center for Knit and Crochet wrote this about Sykes’ sock: “I wasn’t able to measure the sock, but to my eyes the gauge looked finer than typical for today. I was impressed with how many times the heel had been darned. Sock-making was surely a time-consuming chore and someone was determined this sock get the maximum wear possible.”

Linen duster: At hip length, the garment has outside patch pockets and cloth-covered buttons. Sykes may have worn this jacket in hot weather in place of a frock coat.

Sash (above): Made of a red and black floral design, the sash is about 6 feet long and 1-inch wide. The park on Facebook said this of the garment: “Unique in its design, the sash features a floral motif, common in textile patterns of the Victorian Era. If you look closely, you’ll see the pattern is of roses and thorns, often interpreted as symbols of love and the pains that one must sometimes endure for the sake of love. Could it be that Sykes was gifted this sash of roses and thorns by his wife, Emma, as a reminder of her and the love they shared?”

Glove: The tan item was made for the right hand. The Union and Confederate armies did not supply gloves, so soldiers had to purchase their own.

Frock coat: The coat has Federal eagle buttons and two large gilt wire stars on each collar to signify Sykes’ standing at lieutenant colonel. It featured no braiding. Because of shortages, Confederate officers commonly pilfered Union buttons to replace those they lost.

The 43^rd Mississippi Infantry was formed in summer 1862 with 11 companies. It surrendered in April 1865.

A lawyer, husband and father from a wealthy Mississippi slaveholding family, Sykes survived every hardship of the Atlanta Campaign.

The lieutenant colonel's brother, William, was killed in combat at Decatur, Ala., in 1864. Earlier in the war, Lum was wounded and taken prisoner at Corinth, Ms.

I’ll close this post with part of another June 1864 letter written by Sykes, as published in Vermilya’s blog associated with his 2014 book “The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain” from Arcadia Press. (Vermilya is currently a ranger with Gettysburg National Military Park).

“As long as this unprecedented campaign continues we will have to rough it in the same way, marching, lying, and sleeping in line of battle ready to move at a moment’s notice, day or night. I am now using Paul’s horse, the celebrated ‘Plug Ugly’ as he calls him, as near no horse has ever troubled a man in or out of the army.”