Pre-printed document given to members of MOLLUS –Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

The top center of the document bears the Coat of Arms of the Legion surrounded by the group’s title with appropriate swirls and linear decorations. Upper left corner shows that Tilton was member number 1060.

The preprinted document is filled in with bold legible ink stating that Brigadier General William Stowell Tilton is a first class member of the Legion. The document is dated April 6, 1869 and is signed by General George Cadwalader as Commander-in-Chief and Samuel Brown Wylie Mitchell as Recorder-in-Chief. Mitchell served as a surgeon with the 18^th Pennsylvania Infantry and the 8^th Pennsylvania Cavalry. He was also the first officer to join the Legion. Lower left side of the document has a period ink inscription by James B. Bell who was a Medal of Honor recipient for his actions with the 11^th Ohio Infantry in the fighting for Missionary Ridge and who was also the recorder of the N.Y. and Mass. Commandery.  Bottom left also has the red MOLLUS seal.

The document is yellowed a bit with age and has some faint water stains but otherwise it is in very nice shape. Document comes in a more modern black wood frame that meas. approx. 23.00 x 19.00 inches.

The owner of the document, William S. Tilton, was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts on February 1, 1828. He was educated in the local schools and was later a manufacturer and merchant in the years before the Civil War.

On September 12, 1861 Tilton was commissioned a 1st Lieutenant in the 22nd Massachusetts Infantry. The following October 2nd he was promoted to major.

The 22nd Massachusetts served in the Peninsula Campaign as part of the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 5th Corps. Tilton was wounded in the shoulder and captured on May 27, 1862, at the Battle of Gaines' Mill and was exchanged on August 15 of that year. In the meantime, he had become Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment on June 28, 1862 and in this rank led the 22^nd in the battle of Antietam.

On October 17, 1862 Tilton was promoted to Colonel and commanded his regiment at the battle of Fredericksburg the following December. In 1863, Tilton’s regiment was still serving with the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, under James Barnes, who had recently become a Brigadier General.

After the battle of Chancellorsville in May of 1863 the commander of the 1st Division, Brigadier General Charles Griffin, went on leave making Barnes the acting division commander. Tilton, by seniority, took charge of the 1st Brigade.

At Gettysburg on July 2, 1863 Tilton’s command was deployed on the right flank of Col. Jacob B. Sweitzer's 2nd Brigade between the Peach Orchard and the Wheatfield. What followed has remained controversial. When Barnes's division was under attack, he told both brigade commanders they could retreat. Sweitzer saw this as a peremptory command, but Tilton described this in his report as discretionary. Whatever the truth, Tilton said he reconnoitered and discovered a large Confederate force coming up on his left flank. This led him to order a retreat. This left a gap in the Federal line, and other veterans later criticized the actions of Tilton and Barnes.

On July 3, the 1st Brigade relieved Col. Strong Vincent's 3rd Brigade, which had passed to Col. James C. Rice after Vincent had been killed in the defense of Little Round Top. Tilton reported only 474 soldiers present for duty at Gettysburg and a loss of 109 from that number. Another estimate is that Tilton lost 125 of 655 men, a loss of 19.1%, a low percentage compared to Sweitzer's 30% reported by the same author.

After Gettysburg, Tilton retained brigade command until August 18, 1863. He reverted to regimental command until November 19, when he again resumed brigade command. In the reorganized of the Army of the Potomac in 1864 Tilton was assigned to lead his regiment in Jacob Sweitzer's Brigade of Griffin's Division. He served in that role during the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House and Cold Harbor, as well as in the early stages of the Siege of Petersburg. Tilton remained in regimental command until June 18, 1864, when he again became acting brigade commander until August 22. During this time he was engaged in action at the battles of Jerusalem Plank Road and Globe Tavern.

Tilton was mustered out of volunteer service on October 17, 1864. On December 12, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln nominated Tilton for the award of the honorary grade of brevet Brigadier General, United States Volunteers, to rank from September 9, 1864, for distinguished services during the war. The U.S. Senate confirmed the award on February 20, 1865.

In 1866 General Tilton became a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts. He was also a member of the Massachusetts Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

Tilton served as governor of the National Soldiers' Home in Togus, Maine, from 1869 to 1883 and retired to a home in Boston, Massachusetts.

William S. Tilton died in Newtonville, Massachusetts on March 23, 1889 and was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.  [ad]

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