Military
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The gunboat U.S.S. Tyler gave Union defenders a decided advantage in the Battle of Helena. After arriving in Helena on July 2, 1863, she used her heavy artillery when the battle opened two days later along the lower Little Rock Road south of Battery C, silencing Confederate artillery firing on Union troops east of Battery D. As the fighting continued, Lieutenant Commander James M. Pritchett moved the Tyler up and down the Mississippi to wherever she could be most useful. When Confederates captured Battery C, the gunboat fired on the soldiers on the ridge, and when Confederates ran down Graveyard Hill to attack Fort Curtis, Pritchett redirected the Tyler's fire. After the attackers at Fort Curtis fell back, the Tyler again turned her guns on Battery C. The Confederate offensive broke, and Union troops regained the battery in no small part because of the Tyler's support. Gideon Wells, Secretary of the Navy, later presented a commendation to Pritchett for his actions during the Battle of Helena.
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Helena-West Helena, Arkansas · United States
