One of two bullets fired at West Point, Georgia, on April 16, 1865, killed Confederate Brigadier General Robert Charles Tyler. As Tyler barked orders at his garrison of ragtag convalescents, which defended an earthwork fort named in his honor from a full brigade of Federal cavalry, he was shot at twice by sharpshooters. One bullet slammed into his chest. The second snapped his crutch in half, toppling the one-legged Southerner to the ground, where he died.

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Tyler had lost his leg to amputation following a grievous wounding at Missionary Ridge while leading Bates’ Brigade with the Army of Tennessee. He had previously been wounded at Shiloh and Chickamauga. Confederate Lt. Col. John W. Inzer, who met Tyler in 1863, stated: ‘He was a stout, robust [officer], and had firmness, determination, and courage written in every line of his face….[I] soon learned to look upon him as one of the bravest men I ever saw.’

Despite his rise in the Confederate army, Tyler’s prewar life remains shrouded in mystery. Ezra J. Warner, author of the classic Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders, once commented, ‘Tyler is by all odds the most enigmatic figure of the 425 generals of the Confederacy.’

Tyler was apparently born in Baltimore, Maryland, about 1833, although nothing is known of his early life. At age 23 he joined William Walker’s 1856 filibustering expedition to Nicaragua. He served as a first lieutenant in Walker’s infantry but remained abroad for less than a year. When Walker returned to Central America in 1860, Tyler was working as a clerk in Baltimore. He moved to Memphis, Tennessee, as civil war threatened.

On April 18, 1861, just six days after the Federal post of Fort Sumter was shelled in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, Tyler traveled to Jackson, Tennessee, where he enlisted in Company D of the 15th Tennessee Infantry Regiment. Within four months, Tyler was promoted to major and serving as regimental quartermaster. The Southern army seems to have appreciated Tyler’s Nicaraguan experiences. By autumn 1861, he was serving on the staff of Brig. Gen. Benjamin Franklin Cheatham.

Tyler’s first regimental command came in early November, when newly appointed Union Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant moved three thousand Federal troops down the Mississippi River by steamboat to Belmont, Missouri. Grant’s force threatened the Confederate garrison at Columbus, Kentucky, across the river from Belmont. As the Federal forces advanced toward Belmont, Confederate Maj. Gen. Leonidas Polk sent five thousand Rebels across the river to drive them off.

As Polk was about to send the 15th Tennessee with this force, Confederate authorities realized the regiment had no commander. Three weeks earlier, their commanding officer, Colonel Charles M. Carroll, had been court-martialed for ‘conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline.’ Found guilty, Carroll departed, leaving the 15th Tennessee without a leader. The regiment asked Polk whether Tyler, serving on Cheatham’s staff, could lead them, and when Polk assented, Tyler found himself in combat.

Tyler and his regiment boarded Hill and crossed the river to Belmont. During the crossing, the men spotted ‘Yankee’ troops moving on the far shore. Immediately, the novice Confederates opened fire — only to discover that they had fired on fellow Confederates who were wearing dark uniforms, a circumstance that would frequently endanger Southern troops as the war continued.

The shootings foreshadowed Tyler’s performance as a regimental commander. Although he was understandably unfamiliar with the dispositions of his new command, during the thick of the fighting the attacks of the 15th Tennessee were poorly coordinated, and when the regiment attempted a blocking action during the Battle of Belmont, Tyler’s men failed miserably.

Although Belmont was a disappointment for the 15th, the Confederates won a victory. Rebel leaders ignored the poor performance of the 15th, and by New Year’s Eve, the young Marylander had been promoted to lieutenant colonel of the 15th Tennessee. Tyler managed to remedy the command problems he had experienced, and his leadership improved greatly after the inauspicious start.

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