Brevet Major General
Alexander B. Dyer

Alexander Byrdie Dyer was born in Richmond, Virginia, on 10 January 1815, and was appointed to the Military Academy from Missouri in 1833. He graduated sixth in the class of 1837, right behind Braxton Bragg, later to be a general officer of the Confederacy. First assigned to the artillery, Dyer served in the Florida campaign against the Seminoles, and on ordnance duty at Chattanooga, Tennessee. Transferring to Ordnance in 1838, Dyer performed ordnance duties at the St. Louis and Watervliet Arsenals before successively commanding the Liberty Ordnance Depot in Missouri and the Baton Rouge Arsenal in Louisiana. He had been on foundry duty when the Mexican War broke out. Appointed Chief of Ordnance of the Army that invaded New Mexico (1846-1848), he declined a brevet first lieutenancy for gallantry in 1847, but subsequently was brevetted captain for gallantry in action in 1848. From 1848 until 1861, he was successively assistant ordnance officer at St. Louis Arsenal and commanded the North Carolina, Little Rock, and Fort Monroe Arsenals before being made a member of the Ordnance Board in 1861, on the eve of the Civil War. He had been advanced to the grade of captain in 1853. From 1861 until l864, Dyer served as commandant of the Springfield Arsenal. While at Springfield, in March 1863, Dyer was promoted to the rank of major.

During his tenure at Springfield, Dyer was responsible for expanding the output of small arms for the Union Army. Doubts about the wisdom of placing a native Southerner in such a position of responsibility were repaidly dispelled as Oyer upgraded production with energy and dispatch. In 1862, Dyer was approached by his superiors concerning the possibility of his supplanting General Ripley as Chief of Ordnance, but he declined to take the assignment because he had great respect for his chief, and because he was in the middle of a major upgrading of weapons production at Springfield.

On the retirement of General Ramsay in September 1864, however, Dyer was advanced three grades and was appointed brigadier general and Chief of Ordnance. During his ten years in that office, Dyer had to contend with the demands of inventors and unscrupulous contractors, who ultimately took their various complaints to Congress. Seeking to clear his name, Dyer asked for a court-martial. Failing in this, he requested a court of inquiry, which proved to be protracted and exhaustive. He was not only exonerated, but was declared to be an exemplary officer, worthy of emulation by all Army officers. Considerable attention was given to various precursors of the modern machine gun during Dyer's tenure. The best of these proved to be the Gatling Gun, 100 of which were purchased and tested. A few saw service on the Western frontier against hostile Indians. Dyer was brevetted a major general in March 1865, for "faithful meritorious, and distinguished services in the Ordnance Department during the Rebellion." While Chief of Ordnance, Dyer invented a new artillery projectile, but declined any personal profit, preferring to turn his interests in the new weapon over to the nation. His health began to give way in 1869 under the pressure of his responsibilities, and he died in office on 20 May 1874, when only 59 years of age.