Robert K. Byrd | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Tennessee Senate from the Fifth District | |
| In office January 6, 1879 – January 2, 1881 | |
| Preceded by | L.M. Wester |
| Succeeded by | L.T. Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 4, 1823 Roane County, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | May 2, 1885 (aged 61) Roane County, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Resting place | Bethel Cemetery Kingston, Tennessee |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Mary Lea |
| Profession | Planter |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | September 1, 1861 – September 17, 1864 |
| Rank |  Colonel |
| Commands | 1st Tennessee Volunteer Infantry |
| Battles/wars | Mexican-American War American Civil War • Mill Springs (1862) • Stones River (1862–3) • Knoxville Campaign (1863) • Atlanta Campaign (1864) |
Robert King Byrd (November 4, 1823 – May 2, 1885) was an American soldier and politician. A Southern Unionist, he commanded the Union Army's First Tennessee Infantry during the Civil War, and saw action at Cumberland Gap, Stones River, and in the Knoxville and Atlanta campaigns. He represented his native Roane County at the pro-Union East Tennessee Convention on the eve of the war in 1861, and at the Nashville convention that reorganized the Tennessee state government toward the end of the war in January 1865.
Byrd served one term (1879–1881) in the Tennessee Senate, and unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Party's nomination for governor in 1880. He was a persistent advocate for railroad construction and navigational improvements to the Tennessee River during the two decades following the war.