American iron manufacturer, railroad president and Union Army general
This article is about the iron manufacturer and railroad president. For the Massachusetts politician, see Daniel Tyler Jr. For the TV host, traveler and actor born as Daniel Tyler, see Mat Dan.
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 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.[1]
At the Battle of Harpers Ferry on September 15, 1862, a large number of Union troops surrendered to the forces of Confederate General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. 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 exchange 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 was ordered to take 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. 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.[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]
^Eicher, John H. and David J. (2001). Civil War High Commands. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. p. 539. ISBN0-8047-3641-3. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
^ abcHeidler, 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. ISBN0-393-04758-X. p. 345.
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. ISBN0-393-04758-X.
Warner, Ezra J.Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964. ISBN0-8071-0822-7.