Frederick T. Volk, a native of New York City, was a sailor before serving in the Union army during the Civil War. Mustered-in as a private in 1861, he progressed through the ranks, achieving a commission as captain of Company B, Sixty-fifth New York Volunteers, by 1864. Volk participated in the Battle of the Wilderness during Grant's campaign against Richmond in 1864 and was wounded in the Spotsylvania Court House action of the same campaign. Ordered to officers' hospitals in Philadelphia and then Annapolis for recuperation, Volk returned to the front lines in November 1864 and was active in the siege of Petersburg.
From the guide to the Frederick T. Volk Papers, 1861-1867, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)
