1862 October 24 "Eudora," near Leesburg, Va.

(Oct 24th)  Rather
cold this morning & heavy frost.  Head aches a good
deal, & side pained considerably last night.
Sat up, & wrote letter to Cousin Ann Blair.  Miss
L- sat part the morning with me.  Mr Braden
tells me that McClellan is building a Pontoon
bridge at Berlin on the Potomac, for what pur-
-pose, none of us can tell.  Mr Gregg was to see me
this afternoon.  Miss Jeannette & Miss L- sat part
of afternoon with me.  Has been very pleasant
today.

[Lt. John Tyler’s diary ends here.]


Identifying Lt. John Tyler by diary transcriber Mary Roy Dawson Edwards

     As one reads this document, the deference given Lt. John Tyler by every one with whom he comes in contact is noteworthy.  Some research was done to try and establish if there is a family connection with the President of the United States, John Tyler, who was in office from 4 April 1841 to 4 March 1845..

     Some personal facts gathered from his dairy are that his birthday is 13 May (page 7). On page nine on 19 May [1862], he writes “married just one month today”.  He always refers to his wife as “Jennie”.  On page ten, he notes, “After tea went to see Col Marshall, sat with him until tattoo.”  On July 30th, he writes, “Reached Tuckahoe at 9 ½ o’c.  Spent a very pleasant day with Florrie & the Mrs’ Blair’s.  In evening with Henry & Florrie [his sister] went down to the boat, and met Miss Ann B.....” ( On page ninety-three, he notes that he has written to his cousin, Ann Blair.)  Lt. Tyler refers to “my old Co. F_ lost very heavily.....” on page 29.  Also on page 29, he states that he stopped at “Dr. Hill’s for breakfast (brother of General A.P. Hill)”.  On page 35, he mentions that he “Took dinner at Jas. Barbour’s (quite a fine house). This would be Barboursville, home of Governor James Barbour. Also, General Robert Wright visits him several times while he is ill.

     Extensive use of this diary is made by Dr. Peter S. Carmichael is his book, The Purcell, Crenshaw and Letcher Artillery,  pub. in Lynchburg, Va. by H.E. Howard in 1990.  On page 169, is the following: “Tyler, John: age 25, 2/1/62, transferred from Company F, Twenty-First Virginia Infantry.  Appointed lieutenant of Letcher Artillery. 5/19/63, resigned from post because of heart problems.  Member of Pegram Bn. Association.  His wartime diary, covering the year 1862, is located at the University of Virginia.”

     Dr. Charles W. Turner, author of  Captain Greenlee Davidson, C.S.A. Diary and Letters 1851-1863, published by McClure Press in Verona,Virginia in 1975, includes a letter of Captain Davidson’s written to his mother on 21 November 1862 (pages 58-59) that refers to Captain Tyler, as follows: “You can have some idea of how nicely we are fixed when I tell you we entertained two ladies at our Camp last week and lodged one of them for the night.  The ladies were the mother and wife of Lt. C. A. Tyler.  He was attacked with fever just before we entered Maryland and we were compelled to leave him at the house of a Mr. Braden near Leesburg.  He was very ill for a long while and his father, mother and wife went on to attend him.  Shortly after they reached Leesburg, the enemy re-occupied Loudoun  Co. unexpectedly and they were completely cut off from home.”

     “The Yankees discovered Tyler and paroled him whilst sick in bed, but did not discover his parents or his wife.  They carried off one of my best Battery horses he had with him – a splendid animal one of the finest I ever saw.”

     “After the enemy advanced towards Culpeper C. H. Tyler having recovered sufficiently to travel, his father managed to bring him over into the Valley.  I happened to meet them as they were passing Camp on their way to Winchester.  They were traveling in a two horse covered road wagon and looked as if they were jolted to death.  They seemed perfectly rejoiced however at having reached our lines.  I at once insisted on the whole party accompanying me to Camp and spending the night with us.  The ladies at first ridiculed the idea of staying all night in Camp – but when I told them of the miserable accommodations they would receive at the hotels in Winchester they finally consented.  We gave our friends an elegant supper consisting of nice light biscuits, beefsteak, scrambled eggs, butter, molasses and coffee with sugar and milk.  They declared that they had not enjoyed a meal more for many a day.  Fearing that sleeping in a tent might bring on a relapse with Lt. Tyler, I carried him after supper, to a farm house near at hand and secured a place for him and his wife......”

     “.......The next morning Lt. Tyler’s wife joined us at breakfast, but he was not well enough to get up to an early breakfast.”

     “The ladies said they were never more elegantly or handsomely entertained and have promised to pay us another visit.  Two or three hours after breakfast I sent the whole party in my spring wagon to Winchester where they took the stage to Staunton.  Mrs. Tyler says she had no idea how pleasant camp life is and says she will now have something to talk about for the balance of her life.”

      One notices that Captain Greenlee refers to Tyler as “Lt. C. A. Tyler”   and two paragraphs later as “C. H. Tyler”.  However, there is no doubt that this is Lt. John Tyler, who recuperated with Mr. Noble Braden and his family at their home, Eudora, near Leesburg.

     On March 29, 1863  Captain Greenlee writes from Camp Maury to Dr. [John] Tyler,  “You had better forward your surgeon certificate in order to show the condition of your health, since your return to Richmond and upon proof of your fitness for active service, your reinstatement should follow.  It was decided sometime ago that we were entitled to four lieutenants and I had Munford commissioned as 2nd lieutenant, to rank as such from November last.  Hence for sometime past we have had four commissioned officers with the company.”

     Is Dr. Tyler the same person as  Lt. John Tyler who became ill in September 1862?  Perhaps, however we do not know for sure.  And so far, his connection with President John Tyler or some other politically prominent person has not been proven.

     According to the eminent historian, Robert K. Krick, John Tyler “belonged to the prewar socially elite “Company F” in Richmond, which surely suggests some standing in the community”.

     According to Chris L. Ferguson, author of Hollywood Cemetery: Her Forgotten Soldiers: Confederate Field Officers at Rest,  John Tyler is “buried in Sec. L, lot 26.  It’s fairly close to the tomb of President Tyler.”  Mr. Ferguson states that, “As far as I can recall, there was some connection between the two.”

     His obituary appears on page one of the Sunday, January 6, 1924 “Richmond Times Dispatch” accompanied by a photograph.  A notice of his death appears on Tuesday, January 8, 1924 on page nineteen of the “Richmond Times Dispatch”.  His obituary states that after his illness “he was appointed first lieutenant of artillery on the Invalid Corps of the C. S. A. and assigned to the staff of General James Kemper where he continued until the end of the war.”

MSS  6150