Davis Tillson

Davis Tillson (April 14, 1830 – April 30, 1895) was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Being mostly connected to his home in Rockland, Maine throughout his life, he also served as a state representative, militia leader and Freedmen's Bureau agent, eventually becoming a business magnate.

Biography Early life Tillson was born in Rockland, Maine, on April 14, 1830. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point from 1849 as a member of the class of 1853. Suffering a puncture wound in a foot, his health issues worthened so much that it was amputated in 1850. He resigned from the academy in the next year. In 1857 he was elected to the Maine House of Representatives and in the next year became Adjutant-General of the state's militia, serving on that post till the start of the American Civil War. In July 1861 Tillson was made a U.S. Customs agent by President Abraham Lincoln. He was married to Margaret E. Tillson (née Achorn) and had two daughters.

American Civil War After the American Civil War broke out, Tillson resigned from his posts, became an artillerist in late 1861, and organized the 2nd Maine Battery. Throughout the winter, him and his unit were kept in the state by the Trent Affair, eventually leaving and joining the Army of Virginia in April 1862. With that rank he went westwards as Chief of Artillery of the Department of the Ohio for a year.

Two buildings of his, the home in Rockland and a barn house in nearby Glen Cove, are still existing and are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.