View source for USS Tyler

{{short description|Gunboat of the United States Navy}}

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|Ship image= USS-Tyler-1857.jpg
|Ship caption= The '' '''U. S. S. Tyler''' '' by F. Muller<!-- EDITORS NOTE: Please do not change this caption as it currently conforms to TemplateData for Infobox ship image. Thank you. --> 
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country= United States
|Ship flag= {{flagicon|United States|1863}}
|Ship name= USS ''Tyler''
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|Ship laid down= 
|Ship launched= 1857
|Ship acquired=  
|Ship commissioned= September 1861
|Ship decommissioned= 1865
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|Ship fate= Sold at [[public auction]], 1865
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship type= [[Steamboat|Sidewheel gunboat]]
|Ship tonnage= 575
|Ship length= {{convert|180|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|45|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|6|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship hold depth= {{convert|7|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=[[Steam engine]] 
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|Ship speed= {{convert|8|kn|lk=in}}
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|Ship complement=61 officers and men
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|Ship armament=*1 × 32-pounder gun
*6 × {{convert|8|in|mm|abbr=on}} guns 
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|}

[[File:Gunboat Tyler, where W.W. Stuart served during the Civil War LCCN2014646296.jpg|thumb|right|The timberclad steamer gunboat USS Tyler with crew on deck. From the Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs, Prints and Photographs Division, [[Library of Congress]]]]

'''USS ''Tyler''''' was originally a merchant steamboat named ''A. O. Tyler'', a commercial side-wheel steamboat with twin stacks and covered paddles positioned aft.  Constructed in [[Cincinnati]], [[Ohio]] in 1857, it was acquired by the [[United States Navy]], 5 June 1861 for service in the [[American Civil War]] and converted into the gunboat USS ''Tyler'' on 5 June 1861.  She was commissioned in September 1861. She was protected with [[Timberclad warship|thick wooden bulwarks]].

==Before military acquisition==
Just four days after Mississippi's secession, on the evening of 13 January 1861, the steamboat was fired upon by cannon used by militia defending Vicksburg.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.civilwar-online.com/2011/01/january-13-1861-steamboat-ao-tyler.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160126104641/http://www.civilwar-online.com/2011/01/january-13-1861-steamboat-ao-tyler.html |archive-date=2016-01-26 |title=The American Civil War: January 13, 1861: Steamboat A.O. Tyler fired on near Vicksburg}}</ref>

==On the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers==
[[File:Lexington and Tyler at Belmont.jpg|thumb|''Tyler'' with ''Lexington'' at Belmont]]
''Tyler'' served in the [[Western Flotilla]] from June 1861 to 1 October 1862, fighting for the Mississippi River.  Soon after being commissioned, ''Tyler'' participated in the attack on the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] forces in Hickman and [[Columbus, Kentucky|Columbus]] in Kentucky, doing battle with the [[CSS Jackson|CSS ''Jackson'']]. In November 1861, ''Tyler'' escorted troops transports for an [[Battle of Belmont|assault on Belmont, Missouri]]. Along with {{USS|Lexington|1861|6}}, ''Tyler'' bombarded Columbus until forced by a Confederate counterattack to cover the withdrawal of the Union troops.

In February 1862, ''Tyler'' assisted in General [[Ulysses S. Grant]]'s advance up the [[Cumberland River|Cumberland]] and [[Tennessee River]]s, helping in the capture of [[Battle of Fort Henry|Fort Henry]] and [[Battle of Fort Donelson|Fort Donelson]], securing western Kentucky for Federal forces.  Between assaults on the two forts, ''Tyler'' joined {{USS|Conestoga|1861|6}} and ''Lexington'' moving along the Tennessee River, destroying an important railroad bridge and capturing three Confederate gunboats, most notably the [[USS Eastport (1862)|CSS ''Eastport'']] which was converted into an ironclad for Union service.  After participating in the two-day action which culminated in the surrender of Fort Donelson, ''Tyler'' resumed operations on the Tennessee River in support of Grant's advance southward along the river's banks through western Tennessee.

[[File:Lexington and Tyler at Shiloh.jpg|thumb|left|''Tyler'' with ''Lexington'' at Shiloh]]
In the [[Battle of Shiloh]], when Confederate forces under General [[Albert Sydney Johnston]] surprised Grant's troops in southwestern Tennessee near [[Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee|Pittsburg Landing]] and began pushing them back into the river, ''Tyler'' and ''Lexington'' brought their guns to bear when the Confederates attempted to protect their right flank by anchoring it on the river bank. The two ships delivered a devastating enfilading fire that forced the Southern right flank to fall back. Grant's troops took advantage of the withdrawal to mount a general advance supported by naval ordnance. Thus, victory ensued where debacle seemed imminent. Grant said of this battle, "in this repulse much is due to the presence of the gunboats."

==The Mississippi and Vicksburg==
On 19 April 1862, ''Tyler'' moved farther south where she captured the Confederate transport ''Albert Robb'' and burned another Southern ship, ''Dunbar''. After Shiloh and the [[Battle of Island Number Ten|capture of Island No. 10]] on the Mississippi, the North shifted the emphasis of its war in the west to conquering that mighty river in an effort to divide the Confederacy in two. Fort Pillow fell on 4 June and [[Memphis, Tennessee]] fell on 6 June. Vicksburg, Mississippi was the next obstacle, and it took more than a year to remove it. Those efforts occupied ''Tyler'' intermittently for the ensuing 13 months. Her first action of the [[Vicksburg Campaign]] came in mid-July when she joined the ironclad {{USS|Carondelet|1861|6}} and the {{USS|Queen of the West|1854|6}} in probing the [[Yazoo River]] above Vicksburg in search of the incomplete Confederate ironclad ram [[CSS Arkansas|CSS ''Arkansas'']] which had eluded capture at Memphis and sought refuge far up the Yazoo. The falling waters of the Yazoo forced ''Arkansas'' downriver; but, by then, she was virtually complete and ready for battle.

On 15 July, the Union probe and the falling river brought ''Tyler'' and her colleagues into a collision with ''Arkansas''. After a brisk exchange of cannonades, ''Carondelet'' was disabled. Only ''Tyler'', abandoned by ''Queen of the West'', remained to suffer the full onslaught of the powerful Southern warship. Recognizing the futility in attacking her adversary unsupported, ''Tyler'' reluctantly retreated with ''Arkansas'' in pursuit. After a running fight all the way down the Yazoo, the two warships reached the Union fleet lying near the confluence of the two rivers. ''Tyler'' sought refuge among the fleet while ''Arkansas'' ran through it, delivering salvo after salvo into the aggregate of ships, and moored safely under the protection of the Vicksburg shore batteries.

During the first phase of the [[siege of Vicksburg]], ''Tyler'' participated in the joint Army-Navy expedition up the Yazoo River to establish a landward advance on the Confederate stronghold. That expedition lasted from 7 December 1862 until 3 January 1863. Though the expedition showed no immediate fruits, the land campaign, in conjunction with the waterborne attacks, eventually brought Vicksburg to her knees. In the meantime, ''Tyler'' saw action in two other operations.  The first was to open [[Arkansas]] to invasion and the second was in support of the slow strangulation of Vicksburg. In mid-January, she joined other units of the squadron in escorting Army transports to Fort Hindman which guarded Arkansas Post on the invasion route to [[Little Rock, Arkansas|Little Rock]]. Federal forces [[Battle of Fort Hindman|carried that fort]] finally on 9 January 1863 after a combined sea and land campaign. Following that expedition, the gunboat resumed a patrol routine on the Mississippi until late April.

On the 29th, she joined another expedition up the Yazoo, and it resulted in the fall of the important fortifications on Haynes Bluffs on 1 May. That operation was the gunboat's last major role in the reduction of Vicksburg which surrendered to Union forces on 4 July 1863. On 6 Jun 1863, ''Tyler'' was located near Island 82, Arkansas, on the Mississippi river and under direction of Capt. Picket. ''Tyler'' received surprise delivery of steamboat ''Lady Walton'', originally commandeered by the Confederacy for food transport, but which now flew under a flag of truce. This reception was the result of several Arkansas citizens executing a long-meditated attempt to undermine the Confederacy.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Progress of the Sanitary Commission.; 'Divine Service.' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/349778121/ |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=7 Jul 2024 |work=Chicago Tribune |publisher=Newspapers.com |page=2 |publication-place=Chicago, Illinois |publication-date=18 Jun 1863}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fitzjarrald |first=Sarah |title=Steamboating the Arkansas |url=https://uafslibrary.com/fshsj/06-02_Complete_Issue.pdf |journal=The Journal |publisher=Fort Smith Historical Society Inc |publication-place=Fort Smith, Arkansas |publication-date=Sep 1982 |volume=6 |issue=#2 |page=14}}</ref>

''Tyler'' resumed her support for Army troops upriver invading Arkansas. On the day that Vicksburg surrendered, the gunboat brought her guns to bear on an attacking Confederate force near [[Helena, Arkansas]].

==On the White River==
For the remainder of the war, she participated in the invasion of Arkansas, operating principally on the [[White River (Arkansas)|White River]]. Her last major combat with the Confederates came on 24 June 1864 far up the White River near [[Clarendon, Arkansas]], when she engaged the Southern shore batteries which damaged and captured the gunboat ''Queen City''. The beginning of 1865 found her still on the White River but by April she was at Memphis.

==Rescue efforts in the ''Sultana'' tragedy==
The ''Tyler'' was pressed into rescue duty with a volunteer crew to assist in the [[Sultana (steamboat)|steamboat ''Sultana'']]  disaster, north of [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]] on 27 April 1865, as her regular complement had recently been discharged.<ref>Harvey, Hank, retired staffer, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio, Sunday, October 27, 1996, Section C, Pages 3,6.</ref>

In June, ''Tyler'' moved to [[Mound City, Illinois]] where she remained until sold at auction there on 17 August 1865.

==See also==
{{Portal|American Civil War}}
*[[Anaconda Plan]]
*[[Union Navy]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/t/tyler.html}}
* Hank Harvey, retired staffer for The (Toledo) Blade, coverage on Sultana disaster, Sunday, 27 October 1996, Section C, Pages 3,6.
* {{cite book |author=Silverstone, Paul H. |title=Warships of the Civil War navies |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Md |year=1989 |isbn=0-87021-783-6 }}

==External links==
*[http://thisweekinthecivilwar.com/?p=928 Bombardment of Fort Henry (Feb. 2-6, 1862)]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyler}}
[[Category:Ships built in Cincinnati]]
[[Category:Ships of the Union Navy]]
[[Category:Gunboats of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:American Civil War patrol vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:1857 ships]]