Robert Gill Sims
(1838-1886)
Biographical Data
Robert G. Sims was born August 11, 1838. On November 15, 1865, he married Felix G. Wingfield (born April 23, 1841). Robert Sims died at Fort Thornburg, Ashley, Utah,5 on February 7, 1886 at 1:30 a.m.1 In some records, Robert's wife's name is recorded as Ina Wingfield.3
Robert was the son of John Hampton Sims, Sr. and Mary M. Brown Sims, of Woodville, Mississippi. Robert is described as 5' 9" tall, and having dark hair, dark complexion, and blue eyes.2 He was named after his paternal uncle-by-marriage Col. Robert M. Gill (1787-1828).3
Military Service
Captain Robert Sims served as Adjutant of the 21st Mississippi Infantry during the Civil War. Also in the 21st were Robert's brothers Lt. Col. John Hampton Sims, Jr. (regimental commander) and William E. Sims (Sergeant Major of the regiment). Robert Sims was wounded at Gettysburg, captured at Sailor's Creek; and imprisoned at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C., and at Johnson's Island, Sandusky, Ohio.
His official military records include the following:
- Company Muster roll, Capt. W. L. Brandon's Company (Jeff Davis Guards), Mississippi Volunteers, Robt G. Sims, 2Sgt, mustered into service May 7, 1861 at Woodville by Carnot Posey.
- Company D Muster-in Roll of Capt. W. L. Brandon's Company, Mississippi Volunteers, Camp Davis, near Richmond, Virginia June 5, 1861; R. G. Sims, 2Sgt., Capt. W. L. Brandon's Company, Mississippi Volunteers, age 22 years, joined for duty and enrolled May 22, 1861, by Capt. Wm. L. Brandon, for the war.
- Company D Muster Roll for July and August 1861; Robert G. Sims, Sgt., Co. D, 1 Batt'n Mississippi Vols., enlisted May 24, 1861 in Woodville, Mississippi, by Capt. Wm. L. Brandon, for and during the present war; present July and August 1861; special duty acting as Sergeant Major.
- Muster Roll, Company D, 21 Reg't Mississippi Vols., January and February 1862; Robt G. Sims, Sgt, present; last paid to December 31, 1861 by Q.M.Major N. G. Watts.
- Muster Roll, 21 Reg't Mississippi Vols., January and February 1862; R. G. Sims, Adjt; name appears only as signature to roll as adjt. 21 Miss. Inf.
- Muster Roll, Company D, 21 Reg't Mississippi Vols., March and April 1862; Robt G. Sims, Sgt, present; last paid to December 31, 1861 by Q.M.Major N. G. Watts.
- Roster of the 21st Regiment of Mississippi Volunteers, Humphrey's Brigade, Kershaw's Division, Longstreet's Corps, Army of Northern Virginia; Robert G. Sims, Adjutant, 21 Reg't Mississipi Vols., date of rank May 15, 1862.
- Register containing Rosters of Commissioned Officers, Provisional Army Confederate States, May 15, 1862, Rob. G. Sims listed as Adjt. 21st Regiment Mississippi Infantry.
- Regimental Return, 21 Reg't Mississippi Vols., September 1862; R. G. Sims, Adjt., present; station near Winchester, Virginia.
- Regimental Return, 21 Reg't Mississippi Vols., October 1862; R. G. Sims, Adjt.; present; station Winchester.
- Field and Staff Muster Roll, 21 Reg't Mississippi Volunteers, R. G. Sims, Adjutant, present Sept. and Oct. 1862; station Fredericksburg; signs certificate as Inspector and mustering officer.
- Regimental Return, 21 Reg't Mississippi Vols., November, 1862; R. G. Sims, Adjt., present; near Fredericksburg.
- Regimental Return, 21 Reg't Mississippi Vols., December, 1862; R. G. Sims, Adjt., present; station Fredericksburg.
- Field and Staff Muster Roll, 21 Reg't Mississippi Volunteers; January and February 1863; R. G. Sims, Adjt., present; station Fredericksburg.
- Field and Staff Muster Roll, 21 Reg't Mississippi Volunteers, R. G. Sims, Adjutant, Sept. and Oct. 1863; absent on furlough wounded July 2nd 1863.
- Field and Staff Muster Roll, 21 Reg't Mississippi Volunteers; September 2, 1863; R. G. Sims, Adjt.; absent from wound rec'd at Gettysburg.
- Field and Staff Muster Roll, 21 Reg't Mississippi Volunteers; January and February 1864; R. G. Sims, Adjt., present; signs the roll.
- Field and Staff Muster Roll, 21 Reg't Mississippi Volunteers; March and April 1864; R. G. Sims, Adjt., present.
- Field and Staff Muster Roll, 21 Reg't Mississippi Volunteers; May and June, 1864; R. G. Sims, Adjt., present; date of commission, or regimental appointment, May 15, 1862.
- Field and Staff Muster Roll, 21 Reg't Mississippi Volunteers; July and August, 1864; R. G. Sims, Adjt., present; date of commission, or regimental appointment, May 15, 1862.
- Roster, 21 Reg't. Mississippi Vols., March 1865; R. G. Sims, Adjutant, appointed May 15, 1861.
- Record of the field and staff of the 21 Regiment Mississippi Infantry, near Richmond, Va., March 12, 1865; Robt G. Sims, Adjt., Actg. A. A. Genl. of Humphrey's Brig.
- Prisoners of War at Old Capitol Prison, Washington, D.C., committed April 14, 1865; captured Sailors Creek April 6, 1865; sent to Johnson's Island April 17, 1865.
- Roll of Prisoners of War at Depot Prisoners of War, near Sandusky, Ohio; captured Sailors Creek, Virginia, April 6, 1865; joined April 19, 1865 from Washington, D.C.; released on oath June 20, 1865.
A Wartime Anecdote
Capt. Lane W. Brandon, a fellow officer in the 21st Mississippi, recalled the Battle of Malvern Hill during a Memorial of the Soldiers Association in Woodville on April 5, 1887:
We fell back preserving our alignment, until Adjt. Robert Sims ran in front of the Regiment and gave the command to forward, that the Louisianians were going in on both flanks. Here we witnessed the awful grandeur of battle, with all of its thrilling emotions. But this battle was a useless sacrifice of life, and I only mention it to show how the theory of military tactics can be carried out under fire.2
Later Life
After the war, Robert Sims was a planter on Deer Creek, Washington
County, Mississippi. In 1875, he was a County Assessor, and in 1878 President of
the Board of Supervisors of the County.4
His wife died in 1878. They had no children.4
The Woodville Republican carried a notice on May 10, 1879, that “Capt. R. G. Sims, a former citizen of this county, is announced as a candidate for Sheriff of Washington County, Mississippi.”2 An 1891 obituary for his brother William hints that Robert may have become a Republican, as did his brother William (and their former commanding officer Gen. James Longstreet), thus falling out of favor with the local newspapers.
Around the beginning of 1887, he was appointed General Agent and Custodian of Fort
Thornburg, on the Utah Reservation. He died there after an illness of about two weeks.4
Notes
- Dates of birth, death, and marriage were discovered in April 2002 by William E. Sims' great-grandson the Rev. Mark E. Waldo “in back of Malachi, and the end of Volume III” in a three-volume Old Testament from the Sims family.
- Provided by Mrs. James Gross, Woodville, Mississippi.
- Provided by Dudley Sims Hinds, Atlanta, Georgia.
- William P. Bacon, Class Secretary of Yale University Class of 1858, Biographical Record of the Class of Fifty-Eight, Yale University, The Record Press, New Britain, Connecticut, 1908.
- Robert Sims' death near Ashley, Uintah County, Utah, and in a position of responsibility at Fort Thornburg, has led the editor of this page to speculate that Sims Peak in Uintah County, Utah, is likely named for Robert Sims. However, Elaine Carr at the Regional History Center at the Uintah County Library wrote the following on May13, 2009: “…We have a local historian who has compiled
Name Origins for the Northeastern Regions of Utah. In this compilation
he gives this for Sims Peak: ‘A hunter with the Ernest Caldwell hunting group got lost. Doing as he
was told Sims built a fire and waited to be found. Being the highest
point around, his fire was spotted. Ernest and his group jokingly called
it Sims Peak. Located on Dry Fork Mountain.’ Ernest Caldwell was a well-known person in the Uinta Basin and lived in the Dry Fork Area where he had a sawmill. I talked to the man who wrote
the [account of the] name origin for Sims Peak. He is very confident [of] this story.…” — Sincerely, Elaine Carr
Copyright © 2009 Patricia B. Mitchell.