Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States

This article is about the post-Civil War fraternity of loyal service members. For information on the early United States land force, see Legion of the United States.

The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, (MOLLUS), or simply as the Loyal Legion is a United States patriotic order, organized April 15, 1865, by officers of the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps of the United States who "had aided in maintaining the honor, integrity, and supremacy of the national movement" during the American Civil War. They stated as their purpose the cherishing of the memories and associations of the war waged in defense of the unity and indivisibility of the Republic; the strengthening of the ties of fraternal fellowship and sympathy formed by companionship in arms; the relief of the widows and children of dead companions of the order; and the advancement of the general welfare of the soldiers and sailors of the United States. The modern organization is composed of descendants of these officers (hereditary members), and others who share the ideals of the Order (associate members), who collectively are considered "Companions".

Origins

Following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865, rumors spread that the act had been part of a wider conspiracy to overthrow the legally constituted government of the United States by assassinating its chief men. Many people at first gave credence to these rumors, including three of the officers assigned to the honor guard for Lincoln's body as it was transported to Springfield, Illinois, for burial; these three men, Brevet Lt. Col. Samuel Brown Wylie Mitchell, Lt. Col. Thomas Ellwood Zell, and Captain Peter Dirck Keyser, are considered the founders of the Order. To demonstrate their loyalty, they decided to form a "Legion" modeled on the Revolutionary War Society of the Cincinnati. The Loyal Legion was organized largely during the same meetings that planned Lincoln's funeral (as well as during a mass meeting of Philadelphia war veterans on April 20), culminating in a meeting on May 31, 1865, in Independence Hall in Philadelphia, at which the name was chosen.

Originally, the Order was composed of three classes of members:

Officers who had fought in the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps of the United States in the suppression of the Rebellion, or enlisted men who had so served and were subsequently commissioned in the regular forces of the United States, constituted the "Original Companions of the First Class." The eldest direct male lineal descendants of deceased Original Companions or deceased eligible officers could be admitted as "hereditary Companions of the First Class."
"Companions of the Second Class" were the eldest direct male lineal descendants of living Original Companions or of living individuals who were eligible for membership in the First Class. (The use of the Rule of Primogeniture was abolished in 1905 for both the First and Second classes of membership, opening membership to all male lineal descendants, and later changes opened membership to male lineal descendants of siblings of eligible officers. As the former officers died off, and the Order became composed entirely of descendants, the Second Class of Companions was discontinued.)
The Third Class comprised distinguished civilians who had rendered faithful and conspicuous service to the Union during the Civil War. By the law of the Order, no new elections to this class were made after 1890.^[1]

The Loyal Legion grew rapidly in the late 19th Century and had Companions in every Northern state, and also in many of the states that had once formed the Confederacy. The Commandery in Chief was established on October 21, 1885 with authority over the 14 state commanderies then in existence. Previously, the Pennsylvania Commandery functioned as the "first among equals" of the commanderies as it was both the oldest and largest.

At its height at the very end of the 19th Century, the Order had more than 8,000 Civil War veterans as active members, including nearly all notable general and flag officers and several presidents: Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, Philip H. Sheridan, George B. McClellan, Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester A. Arthur, Benjamin Harrison, and William McKinley. The Order's fame was great enough to inspire John Philip Sousa to compose the "Loyal Legion March" in its honor in 1890.

Today, the Order serves as a hereditary society (male descendants of eligible officers) rather than as a functioning military order (though many Companions are either military veterans or even on active military duty). Among other activities, Companions organize and participate in commemorative events, provide awards to deserving ROTC cadets, and assist with preservation efforts. Of special note is that, each year, the Loyal Legion commemorates President Lincoln's birthday with a wreath-laying ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. In 2009, the MOLLUS helped coordinate an extended tribute with the help of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission to celebrate the two-hundredth anniversary of Lincoln's birthday.

There are now three basic categories of membership: Hereditary, Associate (non-hereditary), and Honorary. Just as many Original Companions of the Order were also members of the Grand Army of the Republic (the "GAR"), many current Companions of the Order are also members of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, the legal heir to the GAR.

Organizationally, the Loyal Legion is composed of a National Commandery-in-Chief and individual state Commanderies. There are currently 20 state Commanderies. States without their own Commandery are placed under the jurisdiction of an existing Commandery. Current national officers include Commander-in-Chief James Alan Simmons of Texas, Senior Vice-Commander-in-Chief Eric Armando Rojo of the District of Columbia, and Junior Vice-Commander-in-Chief Joseph T. Coleman of Pennsylvania. Recent past Commanders-in-Chief include Waldron Kintzing "Kinny" Post of New York, Jeffry Christian Burden of Virginia, and Keith Graham Harrison of Michigan.

The Loyal Legion is the third-oldest hereditary military society in the United States after the Society of the Cincinnati and the Aztec Club of 1847.

A membership medal as given to an "Original Companion" (here, Capt. Edward Taylor of the 95th Ohio Infantry). The basic design of the medal remains unchanged.
A membership medal worn by Brevet Col. Perrin V. Fox of the 1st Michigan Engineers. His son later wore this medal as a descendant member. Descendant members wore a ribbon with a blue stripe in the center until well into the twentieth century, when all members resumed using the red-center ribbon.

MOLLUS Commanders-in-Chief

Major General George Cadwalader – First MOLLUS Commander-in-Chief, 1865–1879. (Died in office.)
Major General Winfield Scott Hancock – 1879–1886. (Died in office.)
General Philip H. Sheridan – 1886–1888. (Died in office.)
Major General Rutherford B. Hayes – 1888–1893. (Died in office.)
Rear Admiral John J. Almy – 1893.
Brigadier General Lucius Fairchild – 1893–1895.
Major General John Gibbon – 1895–1896. (Died in office.)
Rear Admiral Bancroft Gherardi – 1896–1899.
Lieutenant General John M. Schofield – 1899–1903.
Major General David McMurtrie Gregg – 1903–1905.
Major General John R. Brooke – 1905–1907.
Major General Grenville M. Dodge – 1907–1909.
Lieutenant General John C. Bates – 1909–1911.
Rear Admiral George W. Melville – 1911–1912. (Died in office.)
Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur – 1912. (Died in office.)
Colonel Arnold A. Rand – 1912–1913.
Brevet Brigadier General Thomas Hamlin Hubbard – 1913–1915. (Died in office.)
Rear Admiral Louis Kempff – 1915.
Lieutenant General Samuel B.M. Young – 1915–1919.
Lieutenant General Nelson A. Miles – 1919–1925. (Died in office.)
Rear Admiral Purnell F. Harrington – 1925–1927.
Master Robert M. Thompson, USN – 1927–1930. (Died in office.)
Brigadier General Samuel W. Fountain – 1930. (Died in office.)
Brevet Major George Mason – 1930–1931.
Captain William P. Wright bio – 1931–1933. (Died in office. Last Civil War veteran to serve as MOLLUS commander-in-chief. Also was Commander in Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic from 1932 to 1933.)
Colonel Hugh Means – 1933–1935.
Colonel William Ennis Forbes – 1935–1940. (Resigned.)
Major General Malvern Hill Barnum – 1940–1941.
Mr. James Vernor, Jr. – 1941–1947 (First MOLLUS commander-in-chief who did not serve in the armed forces of the United States.)
Rear Admiral Reginald R. Belknap, USN – 1947–1951.
Mr. Donald H. Whittemore – 1951–1953
Commander William C. Duval, USNR – 1953–1957
Major General Ulysses S. Grant III – 1957–1961. (Commander-in-chief of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, 1953–1955.)
Lieutenant Colonel Donald M. Liddell, Jr., USAR – 1961–1962. (Resigned.)
Lieutenant Colonel H. Durston Saylor II, USAR – 1962–1964.
Major General Clayton B. Volgel, USMC – 1964. (Died in office.)
Colonel Walter E. Hopper, USAR – 1964–1967.
Lieutenant Colonel Lenahan O'Connell, USAR – 1967–1971
Colonel Brooke M. Lessig USAR – 1971–1973
Lowell V. Hammer – 1989–1991 (Commander-in-chief of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, 1991–1992.)
Colonel Scott W. Stucky, USAFR – 1993–1995 (Federal judge.)
Gordon R. Bury II – 2001–2003 (Commander-in-chief of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, 1986–1987.)
Keith Harrison – 2009–2011 (Commander-in-chief of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, 1994–1995.)

Prominent Companions

Note – the ranks indicated are the highest the individual held in the armed forces of the United States and not necessarily the highest rank held during the Civil War.

Presidents of the United States

Abraham Lincoln (Captain in the Illinois Militia) – Posthumously enrolled.
Ulysses S. Grant (General) – Veteran Companion.
Rutherford B. Hayes (Brevet Major General of Volunteers) – Veteran Companion and MOLLUS Commander in Chief from 1888 to 1893.
Chester A. Arthur (Brigadier General in the New York Militia) – 3rd Class Companion.
Benjamin Harrison (Brevet Brigadier General of Volunteers) – Veteran Companion.
William McKinley (Brevet Major of Volunteers) – Veteran Companion.
Herbert Hoover – Honorary Companion.
Dwight Eisenhower (General of the Army) – Honorary Companion.

Note – Presidents Andrew Johnson and James Garfield were both generals in the Union Army during the Civil War, and were thus eligible to be veteran companions of MOLLUS, but did not join the Order.

Vice Presidents

Vice President Hannibal Hamlin, who had served under President Lincoln from 1861 to 1865, was elected as a MOLLUS Companion of the 3rd Class.

Vice President Henry Wilson, who served under President Grant from 1873 until his death in 1875, was colonel of the 22nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and was a MOLLUS Companion of the First Class.

Vice President Charles G. Dawes, who served under President Coolidge from 1925 to 1929, became a First Class Companion in succession to his father, Brevet Brigadier General Rufus Dawes.

Honorary Companions

A limited number of individuals may be elected as Honorary Companions of MOLLUS. They are usually individuals who have had distinguished careers either in public service or the military.

President Herbert Hoover
President and General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower
Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz – Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations.
General of the Army Omar Bradley – Chief of Staff of the United States Army and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Lieutenant General Milton G. Baker
Lieutenant General John L. Ballantyne III
Rear Admiral Thomas V. Cooper
HRH Amadeo, Prince of Savoy

United States Army

Note – The rank indicated is the highest held either in the Regular Army or the Volunteers.

General William Tecumseh Sherman – United States Army Commanding General.
General Philip H. Sheridan – United States Army Commanding General and MOLLUS Commander in Chief, 1886–1888.
Lieutenant General John M. Schofield – United States Army Commanding General and MOLLUS Commander in Chief, 1899–1903.
Lieutenant General Nelson A. Miles – United States Army Commanding General and MOLLUS Commander in Chief, 1919–1925.
Lieutenant General John C. Bates – Army Chief of Staff and MOLLUS Commander in Chief, 1909–1911.
Lieutenant General Adna R. Chaffee – United States Army Chief of Staff.
Lieutenant General Henry C. Corbin - Adjutant General of the United States Army.
Lieutenant General Samuel B.M. Young – First United States Army Chief of Staff and MOLLUS Commander in Chief, 1915–1919.
Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur – Medal of Honor recipient and MOLLUS Commander in Chief, 1912. (Father of General Douglas MacArthur.)
Brevet Lieutenant General Winfield Scott – United States Army Commanding General (1841–1861) and hero of the War of 1812.
Major General Thomas M. Anderson – Nephew of Brevet Major General Robert Anderson.
Major General Christopher C. Augur – Veteran of the Mexican War and wounded in action at the Battle of Cedar Mountain.
Major General Frank Baldwin – Two time Medal of Honor recipient.
Major General Nathaniel P. Banks – Governor of Massachusetts and Congressman.
Major General Zenas Bliss – Medal of Honor recipient.
Major General Joseph Cabell Breckinridge, Sr. – Cousin of Vice President and Confederate general John C. Breckinridge.
Major General John R. Brooke – MOLLUS Commander in Chief, 1905–1907.
Major General Ambrose Burnside – GAR Commander-in-Chief, 1871–1873; Governor of Rhode Island and United States Senator.
Major General Daniel Butterfield – Medal of Honor recipient.
Major General George Cadwalader – First MOLLUS Commander and Chief, 1865–1879.
Major General Silas Casey – Career Army Officer.
Major General John Clem – Youngest Union soldier in the Civil War.
Major General George Armstrong Custer – Legendary Cavalryman and cultural icon.
Major General Napoleon J.T. Dana
Major General John A. Dix – Governor of New York, Secretary of the Treasury and United States Senator.
Major General Grenville M. Dodge – MOLLUS Commander in Chief, 1907–1909.
Major General William H. Emory
Major General Francis Fessenden – Lost a leg while commanding a brigade in the Red River Campaign. Mayor of Portland, Maine.
Major General James W. Forsyth – Commander of the 7th Cavalry Regiment at the Wounded Knee Massacre
Major General William B. Franklin
Major General John Gibbon – MOLLUS Commander in Chief, 1895–1896
Major General George L. Gillespie – Medal of Honor recipient, Chief Engineer and Assistant Chief of Staff of the United States Army
Major General Adolphus Greely – Arctic explorer and Medal of Honor recipient
Major General George S. Greene – Hero of Culp's Hill in the Battle of Gettysburg
Major General Schuyler Hamilton – Grandson of Alexander Hamilton
Major General Winfield Scott Hancock – MOLLUS Commander in Chief, 1879–1886
Major General Oliver Otis Howard – Founder and namesake of Howard University
Major General Henry Jackson Hunt – Commanded Union artillery during Picket's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg
Major General Erasmus D. Keyes
Major General J. Warren Keifer - U.S. Representative and veteran of the Spanish–American War
Major General William August Kobbé
Major General John A. Logan – GAR Commander-in-Chief, 1868–1871; founder of Decoration Day; United States Senator and vice presidential candidate
Major General George B. McClellan – United States Army Commanding General
Major General Wesley Merritt – Superintendent of West Point
Major General Robert Patterson – Veteran of the War of 1812, Mexican War and Civil War
Major General John Pope
Major General John C. Robinson – Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, 1877–1879; Lieutenant Governor of New York, 1873–1874; and Medal of Honor recipient.
Major General William S. Rosecrans
Major General Thomas H. Ruger
Major General Theodore Runyon - Mayor of Newark, New Jersey and Ambassador to Germany.
Major General William R. Shafter – Commander of V Corps in Cuba during the Spanish–American War.
Major General Thomas W. Sherman
Major General Henry W. Slocum
Major General David S. Stanley – Medal of Honor recipient.
Major General Samuel S. Sumner
Major General George H. Thomas – Hero of the Battles of Chikamagua, Chattanooga and Nashville.
Major General Frank Wheaton
Major General Loyd Wheaton – Medal of Honor recipient.
Major General James Harrison Wilson – Veteran of the Civil War, Spanish–American War and the Boxer Rebellion.
Major General Thomas J. Wood
Brevet Major General Adelbert Ames – Governor of and Senator from Mississippi.
Brevet Major General Russell A. Alger – GAR Commander-in-Chief, 1889–1890; Secretary of War during the Spanish–American War.
Brevet Major General Nicholas Longworth Anderson – Nephew of Brigadier General Robert Anderson and father of Ambassador Larz Anderson.
Brevet Major General Robert Anderson – Hero of Fort Sumter.
Brevet Major General Absalom Baird – Medal of Honor recipient.
Brevet Major General John G. Barnard – Distinguished military engineer.
Brevet Major General George L. Beal – Treasurer of Maine.
Brevet Major General John Milton Brannan – Career Army officer. Served in Mexican and Civil Wars.
Brevet Major General James Henry Carleton
Brevet Major General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain – Hero of Little Round Top in the Battle of Gettysburg and Governor of Maine.
Brevet Major General Philip St. George Cooke – Author of cavalry tactics.
Brevet Major General Charles Devens – Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, 1873–1875.
Brevet Major General James Deering Fessenden
Brevet Major General James Barnet Fry
Brevet Major General George W. Getty
Brevet Major General David McM. Gregg – Cavalry commander.
Brevet Major General John F. Hartranft – GAR Commander-in-Chief, 1875–1877; Governor of Pennsylvania and Medal of Honor recipient.
Brevet Major General Albion P. Howe – Veteran of both the Mexican War and the Civil War.
Brevet Major General George H. Nye – Commander of the 29th Maine Regiment.
Brevet Major General Richard W. Johnson
Brevet Major General Theodore S. Peck – Medal of Honor recipient.
Brevet Major General Galusha Pennypacker – Youngest general during the Civil War.
Brevet Major General George H. Sharpe – Secret service agent.
Brevet Major General William Wells – Medal of Honor recipient.
Brigadier General George Lippitt Andrews
Brigadier General John B. Babcock – Career officer and Medal of Honor recipient.
Brigadier General Richard Napoleon Batchelder – Quartermaster General and Medal of Honor recipient.
Brigadier General Joshua Hall Bates - Ohio state senator.
Brigadier General Louis H. Carpenter – Medal of Honor recipient.
Brigadier General Thomas Lincoln Casey – Engineer who completed the Washington Monument.
Brigadier General Charles A. Coolidge
Brigadier General Thomas L. Crittenden
Brigadier General Eugene D. Dimmick – Career officer.
Brigadier General Edgar S. Dudley
Brigadier General Richard C. Drum – U.S. Army adjutant general.
Brigadier General Charles P. Eagan – U.S. Army Commissary General court martialed during the "embalmed beef" scandal during the Spanish–American War. Expelled from MOLLUS after making disparaging remarks about General Nelson Miles before a Congressional committee investigating the scandal.
Brigadier General Lucius Fairchild – MOLLUS Commander in Chief, 1893–1895; GAR Commander-in-Chief, 1886–1887; Governor of Wisconsin and Minister to Spain.
Brigadier General Samuel W. Fountain – MOLLUS Commander in Chief, 1930.
Brigadier General Edward H. Hobson
Brigadier General Lucius F. Hubbard – Governor of Minnesota. Veteran of both the Civil War and the Spanish–American War.
Brigadier General Bernard J. D. Irwin – Medal of Honor recipient.
Brigadier General Alexander Cummings McWhorter Pennington, Jr. – Career Army officer.
Brigadier General Richard Henry Pratt – Founder of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.
Brigadier General Americus V. Rice - United States Representative.
Brigadier General Edmund Rice - Medal of Honor recipient.
Brigadier General George B. Rodney
Brigadier General Jacob H. Smith
Brigadier General Julius Stahel – Hungarian-American Medal of Honor recipient and diplomat.
Brigadier General Edwin Vose Sumner, Jr.
Brigadier General David G. Swaim – Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Army.
Brigadier General George Miller Sternberg – U.S. Army Surgeon General.
Brigadier General Egbert L. Viele – United States Representative.
Brigadier General Samuel Whitside – Major of the 7th Cavalry Regiment at the Wounded Knee Massacre.
Brigadier General Horatio Gouverneur Wright – Chief Engineer of the United States Army.
Brevet Brigadier General Charles Francis Adams, Jr. – Railroad commissioner.
Brevet Brigadier General John Jacob Astor III – Philanthropist and socialite.
Brevet Brigadier General John C. Black – Medal of Honor recipient and Commander in Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, 1903–1904.
Brevet Brigadier General Charles Brayton – Rhode Island postmaster and political boss.
Brevet Brigadier General Amasa Cobb – United States Representative.
Brevet Brigadier General Rufus Dawes – Great grandson of patriot William Dawes.
Brevet Brigadier General Samuel Fallows – Reformed Episcopal bishop.
Brevet Brigadier General John P. S. Gobin – GAR Commander-in-Chief, 1897–1898; and lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania.
Brevet Brigadier General Edwin S. Greeley – President General of the Sons of the American Revolution.
Brevet Brigadier General Albert G. Lawrence – Ambassador to Costa Rica.
Brevet Brigadier General Ario Pardee, Jr. – Defended Culp's Hill at the Battle of Gettysburg.
Brevet Brigadier General Ely S. Parker - Seneca Native American aide to General Grant.
Brevet Brigadier General Horace Porter – Medal of Honor recipient and United States Ambassador to France.
Brevet Brigadier General Samuel Miller Quincy – Mayor of New Orleans.
Brevet Brigadier General Isaac R. Sherwood - U.S. Representative
Brevet Brigadier General Augustus B. R. Sprague – Mayor of Worcester, Massachusetts.
Brevet Brigadier General Hazard Stevens – Medal of Honor recipient.
Brevet Brigadier General William S. Tilton
Brevet Brigadier General Francis A. Walker – President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Brevet Brigadier General Stephen Minot Weld Jr. – Businessman and horticulturalist
Brevet Brigadier General Joseph N. G. Whistler – Cousin of artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Colonel George Earl Church – Civil engineer, geographer and explorer
Colonel John W. Foster – Ambassador and Secretary of State
Colonel William P. Kellogg – United States Senator and Governor of Louisiana
Colonel Matthew Quay - United States Senator and Medal of Honor recipient
Colonel Wheelock G. Veazey – GAR Commander-in-Chief, 1890–1891; and Medal of Honor recipient
Colonel John Wainwright – Medal of Honor recipient
Colonel Henry Wilson – Vice President of the United States
Brevet Colonel Benjamin W. Crowninshield – Aide de camp to General Philip Sheridan
Brevet Colonel Johnston de Peyster – Raised first Union flag over Richmond in 1865
Brevet Colonel Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. – Supreme Court associate justice
Brevet Colonel Horatio Collins King - Medal of Honor recipient
Brevet Colonel Augustus Pearl Martin – Mayor of Boston
Brevet Colonel Walter S. Payne – Commander-in-chief of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War from 1885 to 1887
Brevet Colonel Elisha Hunt Rhodes – Diarist and author and also served as Senior Vice Commander-in-Chief of the GAR
Brevet Colonel Washington A. Roebling – Engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Lieutenant Colonel William Henry Harrison Benyaurd – Medal of Honor recipient.
Lieutenant Colonel Eli Lilly – Pharmaceutical chemist, industrialist and entrepreneur.
Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Lyman – Congressman from Massachusetts.
Lieutenant Colonel T. Elwood Zell – Founder of MOLLUS.
Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Henry A. du Pont – Medal of Honor recipient, industrialist and United States senator.
Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Robert Hale Ives Goddard – Businessman and reformist politician.
Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Brown Wylie Mitchell – Founder of MOLLUS.
Major Asa Bird Gardiner – Lawyer, author and controversial political figure.
Major John Mead Gould – Author, diarist and banker.
Major Charles M. Rockefeller – Medal of Honor recipient.
Major William Warner – GAR Commander-in-Chief, 1888–1889.
Major Edmund Zalinski - Inventor of the pneumatic dynamite gun.
Surgeon John Maynard Woodworth – First Surgeon General of the United States.
Brevet Major Augustus P. Davis – Founder of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.
Brevet Major Rufus King, Jr. – Medal of Honor recipient.
Brevet Major George H. Maynard – Medal of Honor recipient.
Brevet Major John Patterson Rea – GAR Commander-in-Chief, 1887–1888.
Brevet Major Adelbert B. Twitchell - Educator.
Captain John G. B. Adams – Medal of Honor recipient and GAR commander in chief, 1893–1894.
Captain Robert Burns Beath – GAR Commander-in-Chief, 1883–1884.
Captain Edward Lyon Buchwalter – Business executive.
Captain Samuel Swinfin Burdett – GAR Commander-in-Chief, 1885–1886.
Captain William W. Douglas – Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court.
Captain and Governor Elisha Dyer – Governor of Rhode Island.
Captain Peter Dirck Keyser – Founder of MOLLUS.
Captain Oscar Lapham – U.S. Representative from Rhode Island.
Captain Robert Todd Lincoln – Son of President Abraham Lincoln.
Captain George Sargent Merrill – GAR Commander-in-Chief, 1881–1882.
Captain Elias Riggs Monfort – GAR Commander-in-Chief, 1915–1916.
Captain Prince Philippe, Count of Paris (a.k.a. Philippe d'Orleans) – Claimant to French throne.
Brevet Captain Joseph B. Foraker – Governor of Ohio and United States Senator.
1st Lieutenant Francis E. Brownell - Medal of Honor recipient.
1st Lieutenant John Galloway – Medal of Honor recipient.
1st Lieutenant Charles P. Goodyear, Jr. – Son of vulcanized rubber inventor Charles Goodyear.
1st Lieutenant Charles A. Longfellow – Son of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
1st Lieutenant John L. Mitchell – United States Senator and father of aviation prophet Billy Mitchell.
1st Lieutenant John Palmer – GAR Commander-in-Chief, 1891–1892; and New York Secretary of State.
1st Lieutenant Amos Madden Thayer – Federal Judge
2nd Lieutenant Marcus A. Hanna – United States Senator and political boss.
Chaplain Charles Comfort Tiffany – Episcopal clergyman.
Chaplain Henry Clay Trumbull – Leader in the Sunday School Movement.

United States Navy

Admiral of the Navy George Dewey – Hero of the Battle of Manila Bay. Senior Navy Admiral, 1898–1917.
Admiral David G. Farragut – Hero of the Battle of Mobile Bay. Senior Navy Admiral, 1862–1870.
Admiral David D. Porter – Senior Navy admiral from 1870 to 1891.
Vice Admiral Stephen Clegg Rowan – Mexican War and Civil War veteran. Served as vice admiral from 1870 to 1889.
Rear Admiral John J. Almy – MOLLUS Commander in Chief, 1893.
Rear Admiral Cipriano Andrade – First U.S. Navy admiral born in Mexico.
Rear Admiral Theodorus Bailey
Rear Admiral John R. Bartlett – Oceanographer.
Rear Admiral George E. Belknap
Rear Admiral Gottfried Blocklinger
Rear Admiral Daniel L. Braine
Rear Admiral and Brevet Major General Samuel P. Carter – Only person to have been an admiral in the U.S. Navy and also a general in the U.S. Army.
Rear Admiral Silas Casey, III
Rear Admiral French Ensor Chadwick – President of the Naval War College.
Rear Admiral Charles Edgar Clark – Captain of the USS Oregon during the Spanish–American War.
Rear Admiral Francis A. Cook – Commander of the USS Brooklyn at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba.
Rear Admiral William S. Cowles
Rear Admiral Arent S. Crowninshield
Rear Admiral Charles Henry Davis
Rear Admiral Nehemiah Dyer – At both Battle of Mobile Bay and Battle of Manila Bay.
Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans – Commander of the Great White Fleet.
Rear Admiral Norman von Heldreich Farquhar
Rear Admiral William M. Folger
Rear Admiral Bancroft Gherardi – MOLLUS Commander in Chief, 1896–1899.
Rear Admiral James Henry Gillis
Rear Admiral Henry Glass - Led capture of Guam during the Spanish–American War.
Rear Admiral Caspar F. Goodrich – President of the Naval War College.
Rear Admiral Purnell F. Harrington – MOLLUS Commander in Chief, 1925–1927.
Rear Admiral Richard Inch
Rear Admiral Louis Kempff – MOLLUS Commander in Chief, 1915.
Rear Admiral Lewis A. Kimberly
Rear Admiral Stephen B. Luce – Founder of the United States Naval War College.
Rear Admiral Bowman H. McCalla – Captured Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in 1898.
Rear Admiral Richard Worsam Meade III – Nephew of Major General George G. Meade.
Rear Admiral George W. Melville – MOLLUS Commander in Chief, 1911–1912, survivor of the ill fated Jeannette expedition and recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal.
Rear Admiral John Porter Merrell – President of the Naval War College.
Rear Admiral George H. Preble – Nephew of Commodore Edward Preble.
Rear Admiral William Radford
Rear Admiral Alexander Rhind – Veteran of the Mexican War.
Rear Admiral Frederick Rodgers
Rear Admiral William T. Sampson – Commander of Naval Forces at the Battle of Santiago.
Rear Admiral Thomas O. Selfridge
Rear Admiral Thomas O. Selfridge, Jr.
Rear Admiral Winfield Scott Schley – Commanded cruiser USS Brooklyn at the Battle of Santiago.
Rear Admiral Charles D. Sigsbee – Commanding officer of the USS Maine.
Rear Admiral Charles Stewart – Hero of the War of 1812.
Rear Admiral Yates Stirling
Rear Admiral Charles H. Stockton – President of the Naval War College.
Rear Admiral William T. Swinburne
Rear Admiral Edward D. Taussig – Claimed Wake Island and Governor of Guam.
Rear Admiral Henry Clay Taylor – President of the Naval War College.
Rear Admiral George H. Wadleigh
Rear Admiral Henry A. Walke
Rear Admiral John G. Walker – Chief of the Bureau of Navigation.
Rear Admiral John C. Watson
Rear Admiral Frank Wildes – Captain of the cruiser USS Boston at the Battle of Manila Bay.
Rear Admiral John L. Worden – Commanding officer of the USS Monitor.
Commodore Oscar C. Badger
Commodore Edward André Gabriel Barrett
Commodore John Guest
Commodore William H. Macomb
Commodore William F. Spicer
Commodore William T. Truxton
Captain Richard Worsam Meade II – Brother of Major General George G. Meade.
Captain James S. Thornton
Master Robert M. Thompson – MOLLUS Commander in Chief, 1927–1930.

United States Marine Corps

Major General Charles Heywood – Commandant of the United States Marine Corps.
Brigadier General Henry Clay Cochrane – Veteran of the Civil War, Spanish–American War and Boxer Rebellion.
Brigadier General James Forney
Brigadier General Percival Pope – Recipient of the Marine Corps Brevet Medal.
Brigadier General Jacob Zeilin – Commandant of the United States Marine Corps.
Brevet Brigadier General Robert Leamy Meade – Nephew of Major General George G. Meade.
Colonel Robert W. Huntington – Commanded the 1st Marine Battalion at Guantanamo Bay in 1898.
Colonel Charles Grymes McCawley – Commandant of the United States Marine Corps.
Lieutenant Colonel John L. Broome
Major and Paymaster John C. Cash

3rd Class Companions

From 1865 to 1890 a limited number of civilians who contributed outstanding service to the Union during the Civil War were elected into the Order as 3rd Class Companions.

John Albion Andrew – Governor of Massachusetts.
Henry B. Anthony – United States Senator and Governor of Rhode Island.
Alexander D. Bache – Topographical engineer.
Austin Blair – Governor of Michigan.
Salmon P. Chase – Secretary of the Treasury.
Andrew Gregg Curtin – Governor of Pennsylvania.
John Watts de Peyster – Major General in the New York Militia.
William C. Endicott – Secretary of War.
John M. Forbes – Railroad magnate, philanthropist and abolitionist.
Lafayette S. Foster – United States Senator from Connecticut.
Edward Everett Hale – Unitarian clergyman and abolitionist.
John B. Henderson – United States Senator and author of the 13th Amendment.
William W. Hoppin – Governor of Rhode Island.
David Jerome – State senator from Michigan.
Benito Juarez – President of Mexico.
Frederic W. Lincoln – Mayor of Boston.
Frederick F. Low – Governor of California.
George W. McCrary – Secretary of War under President Hayes.
Frederick Law Olmsted – Secretary of the United States Sanitary Commission and designer of Central Park.
John S. Pillsbury – Founder of the Pillsbury Company and Governor of Minnesota.
Alexander H. Rice – Mayor of Boston, Congressman and Governor of Massachusetts.
Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. – Treasurer of the Union League Club and father of President Theodore Roosevelt.
William H. Seward – Secretary of State.
James Speed – Attorney General.
William Sprague – Governor of Rhode Island and United States Senator.
Edwin M. Stanton – Secretary of War.
John P. Usher – Secretary of the Interior.
Gideon Welles – Secretary of the Navy.

Hereditary Companions

Originally, the MOLLUS had Companions of the Second Class, who were the eldest sons of Companions of the First Class (i.e., veterans of the Civil War who also held a commission at some point). A Second Class Companion became a First Class Companion upon the death of his father. This practice was discontinued in 1905, when the MOLLUS Constitution was changed to allow any direct male descendant of a Union officer to become a MOLLUS Companion. The nomenclature of First Class and Second Class Companions was discarded, leaving only the qualifiers of "Original" and "Hereditary" Companions. Later, the eligibility rules were changed to allow nephews of Union officers to become a MOLLUS Companions. Furthermore, brothers of fallen officers were allowed to join as hereditary companions if there was no surviving issue.

Military and naval officers

General of the Army Douglas MacArthur – Legendary general. Son of Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur, Jr.
General Jonathan Wainwright – Medal of Honor recipient.
Lieutenant General Albert Jesse Bowley, Sr. - Veteran of the Spanish–American War and World War I.
Lieutenant General Adna R. Chaffee, Jr. – Father of the U.S. Army Armor branch.
Lieutenant General John MacNair Wright, Jr.
Vice Admiral Walter N. Vernou, USN – Veteran of the Spanish–American War, World War I and World War II.
Major General Frederick Dent Grant – Son of General Ulysses S. Grant.
Major General Ulysses S. Grant III – MOLLUS Commander in Chief, 1957–1961; Commander in Chief of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, 1953–1955 and President of the Aztec Club of 1847.
Major General Sherman Miles – Son of Lieutenant General Nelson A. Miles.
Major General Henry G. Sharpe – Quartermaster General of the Army.
Major General Clayton Barney Vogel, USMC – Founder of the Navajo Code Talkers.
Rear Admiral Charles J. Badger – Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet, 1913–1914.
Rear Admiral Reginald R. Belknap – MOLLUS Commander in Chief, 1947–1951.
Rear Admiral George Partridge Colvocoresses, USN
Rear Admiral William H. Emory, Jr., USN
Rear Admiral Richard Worsam Meade, USN
Rear Admiral Yates Stirling, Jr., USN
Rear Admiral Herbert Winslow – Son of Rear Admiral John Ancrum Winslow.
Brigadier General Charles Wheaton Abbot, Jr. – Adjutant General of Rhode Island.
Brigadier General George Andrews – Adjutant General of the United States Army.
Brigadier General William M. Cruikshank
Brigadier General Elisha Dyer, Jr., RIM – Governor of Rhode Island.
Brigadier General Webb Hayes – Medal of Honor recipient and son of President Rutherford B. Hayes.
Brigadier General Charles L. McCawley, USMC
Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, USAAS – Military air power prophet.
Brigadier General George C. Reid, II, USMC – Medal of Honor recipient.
Brevet Brigadier General George Leamy Meade, USMC - Nephew of Major General George G. Meade.
Captain Alfred Brooks Fry, USNR - Marine engineer.
Captain Arthur MacArthur III, USN – Brother of General Douglas MacArthur.
Colonel Frederick W. Galbraith, Jr. – Second National Commander of the American Legion.
Colonel Melville Shaw, USMC - Recipient of the Marine Corps Brevet Medal.
Lieutenant Colonel Russell Benjamin Harrison – Son of President Benjamin Harrison.
Lieutenant Colonel Henry L. Roosevelt, USMC – Assistant Secretary of the Navy.
Major John Alexander Logan, Jr., USV - Medal of Honor recipient.
Major Robert Powell Page Wainwright – Father of General Jonathan Wainwright.

Public officials

John Clayton Allen – United States Representative.
Ambassador Larz Anderson – Minister to Belgium and Ambassador to Japan.
Warren R. Austin – United States Senator.
Zenas Work Bliss – Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island.
Congressman Henry S. Boutell – Minister to Switzerland.
United States Senator Morgan Bulkeley – President of the Aetna Insurance Company.
Thomas M. Foglietta – U.S. Representative and Ambassador to Italy.
Albert Johnson – U.S. Representative.
Major George A. Paddock – U.S. Representative.
Lieutenant Colonel (Ret) Steve Russell – U.S. Representative
James W. Wadsworth, Jr. – United States Senator.
Stuyvesant Wainwright II – U.S. Representative.
Ambassador Henry L. Wilson – Ambassador to Mexico.
George P. Wheeler – Minister to Paraguay and Albania.
Robert J. Wynne - U.S. Postmaster General.

Others

Henry L. P. Beckwith, Jr. – Historian and genealogist.
Delevan Bates Bowley – Commander in chief of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War from 1928 to 1929.
John Nicholas Brown II – Philanthropist.
Reverend Morgan Dix – Episcopal priest and son of Major General John A. Dix.
Harry Augustus Garfield – President of Williams College and son of President and Major General James A. Garfield.
Major Theodore Lyman – Noted physicist and professor at Harvard University.
William Osborn McDowell – Founder of the Sons of the American Revolution.
Prince Philippe, Duke of Orleans – Claimant to the French throne.
Don Troiani – Artist and historian.

Associate companions

MOLLUS allows state commanderies, at their own discretion, to elect up to one third of their membership as Associate Companions.

Perley Mellor – Commander-in-Chief, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, 2012–2013.
Frank J. Williams – Retired chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court.
Jonas Arnell – Swedish orders and medals expert, former political advisor to the Swedish Parliament for the Christian Democrats.

Eligible veteran officers who did not join MOLLUS

A number of noteworthy Union officers, although eligible, did not become MOLLUS companions. These included the following:

Brigadier General and President Andrew Johnson, Major General and President James Garfield, Major General and United States Senator Francis Preston Blair, Jr., Brevet Brigadier General Kit Carson, Rear Admiral Samuel Dupont, Major General John C. Fremont, Captain Charles Vernon Gridley USN, Brevet Major General William S. Harney, Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan, Major General George Meade (elected posthumously in 2015), Major General and Governor Edwin D. Morgan, Major General Edward Ord, Major General John G. Foster, Brevet Brigadier General Thomas J. Rodman, Brevet Brigadier General Sylvanus Thayer, Captain Augustin Thompson, Rear Admiral John Ancrum Winslow, Major General John E. Wool.

Noteworthy persons eligible for hereditary companionship in MOLLUS

William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor was, and his male descendants are, eligible for hereditary membership in MOLLUS by right of his father's service in the Union Army. All other male descendants of William Backhouse Astor Sr. are eligible for membership in MOLLUS by collateral descent.

All male descendants of 19th Century railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt are eligible to join MOLLUS as collateral descendants of Vanderbilt's youngest son, Captain George Washington Vanderbilt, who graduated West Point in 1860 and died on January 1, 1864 in Nice, France without issue. These descendants include the current Duke of Marlborough and CNN reporter Anderson Cooper. Anderson Cooper is also eligible for hereditary membership in MOLLUS by right of his descent from Major General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick.

Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and his brother, CIA Director Allen Dulles were eligible for membership in MOLLUS by right of their decent from their maternal grandfather Colonel John W. Foster, who served as Secretary of State in the administration of President Benjamin Harrison.

Eligible royalty

Several Europeans of royal descent at eligible for membership in MOLLUS by right of their descent from Captain Philippe d'Orleans, the grandson of King Louis Philippe I of France.

King Felipe VI of Spain and his father, former King of Spain Juan Carlos, are eligible for hereditary companionship in MOLLUS, as are their male descendants, The same is true for Henri d'Orléans, Count of Paris (b. 1933), the current Orleanist pretender to the throne of France.

King Manuel II of Portugal (1889–1932) was eligible to become a hereditary companion of MOLLUS as his mother was a daughter of Philippe d'Orleans. He had no offspring.

Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza (b. 1945), is a claimant to the Brazilian throne and a decendnant of Philippe d'Orleans. His grandson is Peter, Hereditary Prince of Yugoslavia (b. 1980).

Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta (b. 1943), head of the House of Savoy and claimant to the throne of Italy, is eligible for Hereditary MOLLUS membership but was elected as an honorary member instead.

A number of other individuals of royal descent can join MOLLUS by right of their descent from Prince Robert, Duke of Chartres – the brother of Prince Philippe, who also served with the Union Army. These descendants include Henri, Count of Paris (1908–1999), longtime pretender to the French throne, Count Aage of Rosenborg, who served as an officer in the French Foreign Legion, and Prince Axel of Denmark.

References

↑ New International Encyclopedia

External links

Official website
MOLLUS-organized marker for Union POWs buried in Richmond, Virginia
MOLLUS-Massachusetts Photograph Collection US Army Heritage and Education Center, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania

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