American Civil War Monuments
Brigadier General Lloyd Tilghman Monument

Vicksburg National Military Park

Vicksburg, Mississippi

Photo and text courtesy of LCWRT Member Charlie Moore 

 Lloyd Tilghman was born on Jan. 18, 1816, in Rich Neck Manor, Maryland.  He enrolled at West Point at the age of 15 and graduated in 1836 at the age of 20. He resigned from the army that same year. From that time until the start of the Civil War, he worked as a railroad construction engineer in the south except for a period in which he served in the Mexican War. In 1852, he took up residence in Paducah, Ky., from where he entered Confederate service in May, 1861 with the rank of Colonel.

In February, 1862, he was put in command of Ft. Henry, located on the Tennessee River to prevent Union Naval forces from moving deeper into Confederate territory. He was later forced to surrender Fort Henry to the naval forces of Flag Officer Henry Foote and Army Brigadier General Ulysses Grant. Before the fort fell, he had wisely sent the largest portion of his forces to Fort Donelson located 12 miles to the east on the Cumberland River. 

Tilghman was captured and not exchanged until the fall of that same year. After his release, he took command of a brigade in the division of Major General William Loring.He was killed at the battle of Champion’s Hill during the Vicksburg Campaign when hit by a piece of artillery shell.He was originally buried in Vicksburg but was moved by his sons in 1902 to Woodlawn Cemetery in New York City where he wasreinterred next to his wife Augusta.