Shortly after daybreak on July 9, 1864, Brigadier General Erastus B. Tyler, U.S. Army, peered through his binoculars at the Confederate forces massing to his north across the Monocacy River just outside Frederick, Md. An 1844 graduate of Granville College, Tyler had established a credible battlefield record during the war as a “fighting general.” On this fateful day 150 years ago, he commanded the right wing of a small, hastily assembled force of Union soldiers consisting of inexperienced Ohio and Maryland National Guardsmen. His was a desperate mission to block a much larger, veteran Confederate army that was bearing down on a virtually undefended Washington, D.C.
At day’s end, the Battle of the Monocacy had resulted in more than 2,200 casualties and a tactical Confederate victory over the outnumbered Union forces. Nevertheless, the action delayed the Confederate advance on the national capital by a full day, due in part to the stubborn and obstinate defense led by Tyler. The critical delay enabled other Union troops to reach Washington, D.C., in time to frustrate Confederate plans to capture and sack the city. “The Battle that Saved Washington” was largely unheralded, but it did get the attention of President Abraham Lincoln, who conveyed his personal thanks to Tyler. It was the highlight of an interesting and, at times, controversial military career.
Tyler had developed an abhorrence of slavery and adopted a lifelong adherence to the temperance cause after his time at Granville College (later named Denison). He went on to work as an agent with John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company (where he acquired considerable wealth), and he joined the local militia.
With the outbreak of the Civil War, Tyler threw all of his energies into the war effort. In a state where trained military professionals were practically nonexistent, citizen soldiers such as Tyler assumed major roles in enrolling, organizing, and training thousands of volunteers, and it was in that role that political controversy first found him. As Tyler worked to organize the 7th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, he struck a deal with James Garfield, also involved with the 7th, in which the pair agreed that Garfield would be elected colonel; in turn, Tyler would be the second in command. But while Garfield was out of state on a mission to obtain firearms, Tyler accelerated the election, earning the title of colonel for himself. In a fit of pique, Garfield quit the unit. (Later events were to suggest that the future U.S. president could hold a grudge.)
But that wasn’t the only controversial moment in Tyler’s military career. Several complaints alleged that he had treated soldiers in an abusive and threatening manner, and they sought disciplinary action against him from the War Department. Another dispute arose with General A. A. Humphreys, a West Point-educated career officer. A hard-drinking martinet with a dim view of citizen soldiers and the antislavery cause, Humphreys was not well suited to work with Tyler. The situation came to a head after the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862, in which Humphreys threw his division into a hopeless attack across an open field against a well-protected enemy. Predictably, Humphreys’ forces were stopped cold and his division suffered in excess of 1,000 casualties in just 15 minutes. Tyler, who was wounded in the battle, resented what he believed was the needless sacrifice to help advance a West Pointer’s dreams of military glory and advancement. As a result, Tyler acquired an enemy who dedicated himself to destroying his reputation and career through a letter campaign that documented what Humphreys saw as Tyler’s cowardice and incompetence. The campaign culminated in Tyler’s arrest, and it initiated a court-martial on a variety of petty charges. While the court-martial charges fizzled, the damage had been done, and Tyler didn’t see much combat until that fateful day at Monocacy.
Tyler did, however, see considerable combat action during the first several years of the war. Although his initial action at Cross Lanes, Va., resulted in his unit being surprised and scattered, he went on to improve his tactical skills. In March 1862, his unit collided outside Kernstown, Va., with a small Confederate army under the command of the famed Gen. Stonewall Jackson. In a hard-fought, seesaw battle, Union forces finally prevailed, driving the Confederates from the field in full retreat. Tyler was at the forefront of the action, personally leading the charge that broke the enemy line. He became something of a popular sensation with the northern public when newspapers began to carry dramatic accounts of his battlefield exploits. A popular musical piece, “Colonel Tyler’s Patriotic March,” was composed, and it was then that he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. Tyler’s reputation as a hard fighter who led from the front was cemented at the battles of Port Republic, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville.
The Battle of Monocacy proved to be his last combat action as he returned to the largely administrative duties around Baltimore, but the high-profile work kept coming. The assassination of President Lincoln found Tyler deeply involved in the search and arrest of the conspirators. A detachment sent by him captured George Atzerodt, the conspirator tasked with murdering Vice- President Andrew Johnson. Atzerodt spent the night of his arrest at Tyler’s headquarters under heavy guard, where he was questioned at length by Tyler before being forwarded to Washington, D.C.
With the close of the war, Tyler was promoted to major general in recognition of his wartime service and was mustered out in August 1865. He settled in Baltimore, where he remained the rest of his life, marrying a local woman and operating a successful dairy farm. Active in the Masons and the temperance movement, he was appointed postmaster of Baltimore by President Rutherford Hayes. He held the position until May 1881, when his resignation was demanded by President James Garfield. It has been speculated that this was precipitated by a claim of inappropriate behavior by a much younger female postal clerk, but it’s also possible that this action resulted from a long-held grudge over that regimental election back in 1861. In any event, Tyler then settled into semiretirement, remaining active in the community and tending to his farm. His health began to steadily deteriorate from his war wounds, with a gradual paralysis that later became total. Death came to Erastus Tyler on January 9, 1891.
While not among the top tier of military leaders of the Civil War, Tyler proved himself to be a brave and able commander on the field of battle. At times abrasive, bellicose, and with a knack for incurring the ire of many of his superiors, he was no virtuous paladin. But he could at least claim one thing: He was, after all, the man who helped save Washington.
Kevin Bennett is a Granville resident and former president of the Granville Historical Society. As a veteran, he has a particular interest in local military history.