Daniel P. Tyler IV (January 7, 1799 – November 30, 1882) was an iron manufacturer, railroad president, and one of the first

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

generals of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

Early life

Daniel P. Tyler IV was born in

Brooklyn, Connecticut Brooklyn is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,450 at the 2020 census. The town center village is listed by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place. The district of East Brooklyn is listed ...

to Daniel P. Tyler III (May 21, 1750 – April 29, 1832), a veteran of the

Battle of Bunker Hill The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peripherally involved in ...

, and Sarah Edwards Tyler (July 11, 1761 – April 25, 1841), granddaughter of Jonathan Edwards. Warner, Ezra J. ''Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders.'' Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964. . p. 514.Eicher, John H., and

Eicher, David J. David John Eicher (born August 7, 1961) is an American editor, writer, and popularizer of astronomy and space. He has been editor-in-chief of '' Astronomy'' magazine since 2002. He is author, coauthor, or editor of 23 books on science and America ...

, ''Civil War High Commands'', Stanford University Press, 2001, . p. 538. He was uncle to

Robert O. Tyler Robert Ogden Tyler (December 31, 1831 – December 1, 1874) was an American soldier who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was commander of the Artillery Reserve of the Army of the Potomac at the Battle of ...

who would also serve as a general in the Civil War. He graduated from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

in 1819. 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 First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

in rank. 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 Edith Kermit Roosevelt (née Carow; August 6, 1861 – September 30, 1948) was the second wife of President Theodore Roosevelt and the First Lady of the United States from 1901 to 1909. She also was the Second Lady of the United States in 1901. ...

, wife of President Theodore Roosevelt. Tyler resigned his commission in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

in May 1834 and became an iron manufacturer, developing blast furnaces and rolling mills. He was the president of the

Norwich and Worcester Railroad The Norwich and Worcester Railroad (N&W) was a railroad in the U.S. states of Connecticut and Massachusetts. Its north-south mainline ran between its namesake cities of Worcester, Massachusetts, and Norwich, Connecticut, (later extended to Gr ...

and, for five years, the Macon and Western Railroad in Georgia. Later, Tyler served as the superintending engineer of the Dauphin and Susquehanna Railroad and the affiliated Allentown Railroad, and became president and engineer when the former was reorganized as the Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad. He had greater success in the railroad industry than he had in the manufacture of pig iron.

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. He served briefly as the

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

of the

1st Connecticut Infantry First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

. He was appointed brigadier general in the Connecticut Militia on May 10, 1861 and commanded a division in Brig. Gen.

Irvin McDowell Irvin McDowell (October 15, 1818 – May 4, 1885) was a career American army officer. He is best known for his defeat in the First Battle of Bull Run, the first large-scale battle of the American Civil War. In 1862, he was given command ...

's Army of Northeastern Virginia, with which he fought in the

First Battle of Bull Run The First Battle of Bull Run (the name used by Union forces), also known as the Battle of First Manassascites 18,052 Confederate men and 37 guns engaged. McDowell's plan was to move westward in three columns and make a diversionary attack on ...

. Tyler was mustered out on August 11, 1861.Eicher, 2001, p. 539. 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. He was sent to the west and commanded a brigade in the

Army of the Mississippi Army of the Mississippi was the name given to two Union armies that operated around the Mississippi River, both with short existences, during the American Civil War. History 1862 The first army was created on February 23, 1862, with Maj. Gen ...

between May 1, 1862 and July 22, 1862 during the

Siege of Corinth The siege of Corinth (also known as the first Battle of Corinth) was an American Civil War engagement lasting from April 29 to May 30, 1862, in Corinth, Mississippi. A collection of Union forces under the overall command of Major General Henry ...

. At the

Battle of Harpers Ferry {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Battle of Harpers Ferry , partof = the American Civil War , image = NWDNS-165-SB-26 Harpers Ferry Virginia.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = Harpers ...

on September 15, 1862, Tyler's division surrendered to the forces of Confederate Lieutenant General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson.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. . p. 345. 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 The Battle of Fort Donelson was fought from February 11–16, 1862, in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. The Union capture of the Confederate fort near the Tennessee–Kentucky border opened the Cumberland River, an important ave ...

, for temporary detention. Under the terms of the prisoner exchanged cartel then in effect, they had to await formal exchange before they could leave the camp. These 8,000 paroled Union soldiers began to arrive at Camp Douglas on September 28, 1862 and Tyler took temporary command of the camp. Under Tyler's command these Union soldiers had to live under similar conditions to those endured by the Confederate prisoners from Fort Donelson. In fact, the conditions were worse because the camp had become filthy and even more run down during its occupancy by the prisoners. The parolees had a two-month stay at the camp. Tyler was relieved as commander on November 20, 1862. 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.

Aftermath

Tyler resigned his commission in the Union Army on April 6, 1864, then being older than the retirement age of 65, and moved to

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

. Then, in the 1870s, he moved to Alabama and founded the town of Anniston, named for his daughter-in-law. He established an iron manufacturing company and was president of the Mobile and Montgomery Railroad. He also acquired large tracts of land in

Guadalupe County, Texas Guadalupe County (, ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 172,706. The county seat is Seguin. The county was founded in 1846 and is named after Guadalupe River. Guadalupe County is pa ...

.Warner, 1964, p. 515 Daniel Tyler died while visiting

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

on November 30, 1882. He is buried in Hillside Cemetery, at Anniston, Alabama. Tyler's granddaughter,

would later become

First Lady of the United States The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never ...

after her marriage to

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

. His nephew,

, was also a brigadier general in the Union Army.

Notes

References

* Eicher, John H., and

, ''Civil War High Commands'', Stanford University Press, 2001, . * 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. . * Warner, Ezra J. ''Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders.'' Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964. .

External links