J Frederick Sickles served on the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 (Senior commander Charles Wilkes), as surgeon on board the sloop of war Peacock from 1838 to 1839. With a fleet of six vessels, the expedition was commissioned on a world voyage of hydrography and exploration that included forays into the Southern Ocean. Arriving at Tierra del Fuego in February 1839, the squadron divided, Peacock and the schooner Flying Fish sailed southwest to a point off Thurston Peninsula. During April 1839, the six vessels left southern waters for Valparaiso, Chile, sailing to Callao shortly afterwards. Transferring to the store ship Relief on arrival at Callao, Sickles left the expedition due to ill health and sailed home to the United States, arriving in New York on 28 March 1840.
From the guide to the J Frederick Sickles collection, 1838-1840, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)
