Daniel Tyler
Daniel P. Tyler IV | |
---|---|
Born | Brooklyn, Connecticut | January 7, 1799
Died | November 30, 1882 New York City, New York | (aged 83)
Place of burial | |
Allegiance | United States Union |
Service/ | United States Army Union Army |
Years of service | 1819 – 1834; 1861 – 1864 |
Rank | Brigadier General |
Commands held | 1st Connecticut Volunteer Infantry Regiment |
Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Other work | Iron manufacturer Railroad President |
Daniel P. Tyler IV (January 7, 1799 – November 30, 1882) was an iron manufacturer, railroad president, and one of the first Union Army generals of the American Civil War.
Early life[]
Daniel P. Tyler IV was born in Brooklyn, Connecticut to Daniel P. Tyler III (May 21, 1750 – April 29, 1832), a veteran of the Battle of Bunker Hill, and Sarah Edwards Tyler (July 11, 1761 – April 25, 1841), granddaughter of Jonathan Edwards.[1][2] He was uncle to Robert O. Tyler who would also serve as a general in the Civil War.[3]
He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1819.[1][2] He became an authority on artillery and an honest inspector of arms of private contractors, which appears not to have helped him advance above first lieutenant in rank.[1]
Daniel Tyler married Emily Lee of Norwich, Connecticut on May 18, 1832. They had five children; Alfred Lee, Gertrude, Edmund Leighton, Mary Law, and Augustus Cleveland. Gertrude was the mother of Edith Carow Roosevelt, wife of President Theodore Roosevelt.[4]
Tyler resigned his commission in the United States Army in May 1834 and became an iron manufacturer, developing blast furnaces and rolling mills.[2] He was the president of the Norwich and Worcester Railroad and, for five years, the Macon and Western Railroad in Georgia.[1][2] Later, Tyler served as the superintending engineer of the and the affiliated Allentown Railroad, and became president and engineer when the former was reorganized as the . He had greater success in the railroad industry than he had in the manufacture of pig iron.[1]
American Civil War service[]
At the start of the Civil War, Tyler volunteered to be an aide-de-camp to Brig. Gen. Robert Patterson in April 1861.[2] He served briefly as the colonel of the 1st Connecticut Infantry.[1] He was appointed brigadier general in the Connecticut Militia on May 10, 1861 and commanded a division in Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell's Army of Northeastern Virginia, with which he fought in the First Battle of Bull Run.[1][2] Tyler was mustered out on August 11, 1861.[1][5] Though he has been assigned a substantial portion of the blame for the Union disaster at Bull Run, he was appointed to the rank of brigadier general of volunteers on March 13, 1862.[1][5] He was sent to the west and commanded a brigade in the Army of the Mississippi between May 1, 1862 and July 22, 1862 during the Siege of Corinth.[1][5]
At the Battle of Harpers Ferry on September 15, 1862, Tyler's division surrendered to the forces of Confederate Lieutenant General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson.[6] The Union soldiers, who were paroled after their capture, were sent to Camp Douglas, which already had been used as a prisoner of war camp for Confederates captured at the Battle of Fort Donelson, for temporary detention.[6] Under the terms of the prisoner exchanged cartel then in effect, they had to await formal exchange before they could leave the camp.[6] These 8,000 paroled Union soldiers began to arrive at Camp Douglas on September 28, 1862 and Tyler took temporary command of the camp.[6] Under Tyler's command these Union soldiers had to live under similar conditions to those endured by the Confederate prisoners from Fort Donelson.[6] In fact, the conditions were worse because the camp had become filthy and even more run down during its occupancy by the prisoners.[6] The parolees had a two-month stay at the camp.[6] Tyler was relieved as commander on November 20, 1862.[6] Later, Tyler commanded at Baltimore, at Harper's Ferry between June 13, 1863 and July 3, 1864, and finally at the District of Delaware between July 3, 1863 and January 19, 1864.[1][5]
Aftermath[]
Tyler resigned his commission in the Union Army on April 6, 1864, then being older than the retirement age of 65,[1] and moved to New Jersey. Then, in the 1870s, he moved to Alabama and founded the town of Anniston, named for his daughter-in-law.[1][5] He established an iron manufacturing company and was president of the Mobile and Montgomery Railroad.[1][5] He also acquired large tracts of land in Guadalupe County, Texas.[7]
Daniel Tyler died while visiting New York City on November 30, 1882.[2][7] He is buried in Hillside Cemetery, at Anniston, Alabama.[5][7]
Tyler's granddaughter, Edith Carow Roosevelt would later become First Lady of the United States after her marriage to Theodore Roosevelt. His nephew, Robert O. Tyler, was also a brigadier general in the Union Army.
See also[]
Notes[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964. ISBN 0-8071-0822-7. p. 514.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3. p. 538.
- ^ Eicher, John H. and David J. (2001). Civil War High Commands. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. p. 539. ISBN 0-8047-3641-3. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
- ^ http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=26.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Eicher, 2001, p. 539.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Heidler, David S., and Jeanne T. Heidler, "Camp Douglas, Illinois, Union Prison", In Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History, edited by David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000. ISBN 0-393-04758-X. p. 345.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Warner, 1964, p. 515
References[]
- Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
- Heidler, David S., and Jeanne T. Heidler, "Camp Douglas, Illinois, Union Prison", In Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History, edited by David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000. ISBN 0-393-04758-X.
- Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964. ISBN 0-8071-0822-7.
External links[]
- "Daniel Tyler". Find a Grave. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
- 1799 births
- 1882 deaths
- Union Army generals
- United States Military Academy alumni
- 19th-century American railroad executives
- People from Brooklyn, Connecticut