| William B. Tibbits | |
| Birth Date: | March 31, 1837 |
| Death Date: | February 10, 1880 (aged 43) |
| Birth Place: | Hoosick, New York, US |
| Death Place: | Troy, New York, US |
| Placeofburial: | Oakwood Cemetery |
| Allegiance: | Union |
| Branch: | Union Army |
| Branch Label: | Branch |
| Serviceyears: | 1861–1866 |
| Rank: | Brigadier-general Bvt. Major-general (U.S.V.) |
| Battles: | |
| Battles Label: | Battles |
William Badger Tibbits (March 31, 1837 – February 10, 1880) was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He raised a company of infantry in the 2nd New York Infantry, and led it as captain, and later major, till 1863, when he was authorized to raise and lead a regiment of cavalry, the 21st New York Cavalry, and was promoted to colonel. On January 13, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Tibbits for appointment to the grade of brigadier general of volunteers, to rank from October 18, 1865, and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on February 23, 1866. On May 4, 1866, President Johnson nominated Tibbits for appointment to the grade of brevet major general of volunteers to rank from March 13, 1865, and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on May 16, 1866.
William Badger Tibbits, the youngest son of George Mortimer Tibbits, was born at Hoosick, in Rensselaer County, New York, on March 31, 1837.[1] His early youth was passed partly in Troy and partly in the country, and after having received elementary instruction at various schools, he graduated from Union college in 1859. He was engaged in business at Troy when, on the morning of April 15, 1861, news of the Rebellion starting in the South reached his ears. Heeding the Federal appeal, he at once left his office and obtained papers authorizing him to raise a company in a regiment which it was that day decided should be formed in Troy. He never returned to the business which he had abandoned, and in consequence of this abandonment the business proved to him a total loss.
His efforts as a soldier, from this point forward, were unwearied. He recruited more men for his company than any other person connected with it, and it was accepted, on April 23, 1861, as a part of the 2nd Regiment New York State Volunteers, with the following officers: Captain, William B. Tibbits; 1st Lieutenant, James Savage; 2nd Lieutenant, William Sullivan. The company was known as G company, and Tibbits was mustered into the service as captain on May 14, 1861. An idea of the nature of his services during the next seventeen months may be gained from the following recommendation:
This recommendation was duly honored by the State of New York, and Captain Tibbits was appointed major of the regiment, his commission bearing date October 13, 1862. The term of the 2nd Regiment expired in the following year, and on May 23, 1863, Major Tibbits was mustered out with the regiment, at the city of Troy. On June 17, 1863, he procured authorization papers to raise a cavalry regiment, to be known as the Griswold Light Cavalry, to serve for three years unless sooner discharged. The regiment received its name from the Hon. John A. Griswold, then the representative in Congress from the district embracing the city of Troy. About the time that the completion of the regiment was assured, a number of Major Tibbits' personal friends testified their appreciation of his bravery and merit by the gift of a sword, which bore the following inscriptions:
On January 1, 1864, Major Tibbits was mustered in as colonel of the 21st New York (Griswold Light) Cavalry, with rank as colonel from November 20, 1863. The first engagement in which the regiment took part was at New Market, Virginia, on Sunday, May 15, 1864. His services, performed early in the succeeding June, were acknowledged as follows:For the two months following the battle of Piedmont his command was constantly employed. Labors performed and dangers undergone were recognised by his superiors. That such recognition was not lacking appears by the following communication:
On the receipt of this communication it was indorsed in these terms:
The general order referred to was as follows:
This recognition of the conduct of Colonel Tibbits was made still more complimentary by being read on dress-parade to each command in Hunter's army. On October 21, 1864, the regiment received from the Hon. John A. Griswold a stand of colors, the regulation-flag and the regimental standard, both being of heavy silk, and bearing appropriate devices and embellishments embroidered upon them.
In the 1880 book, History of Rensselaer Co., New York, author Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester wrote that on November 17, 1864, Colonel Tibbits received an official communication from the War Department, conferring on him the designation of brevet brigadier-general, with rank from October 21, 1864. Historian Ezra Warner accepts this date but cites no source.[2] His reference to the Official Records only shows the August 7, 1864 letter from Major General David Hunter recommending the promotion, the same information cited by Sylvester. Historians John H. and David J. Eicher show that on December 12, 1864 Tibbits was nominated by President Abraham Lincoln for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers, to rank from October 21, 1864 and that the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on February 14, 1865.[3] However, the Eichers note that the commission was not issued, citing Hunt, Roger D. and Jack R. Brown, Brevet Brigadier Generals in Blue.. Hunt and Brown have no entry for Tibbits as a brevet brigadier general.
Not only did Tibbits services extend through the war, but after its conclusion he was ordered west, on the plains, and it was not until in September, 1865, that he received permission, while at Leavenworth, Kansas, to return to his home at Troy, and there await orders.
On January 13, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Tibbits for appointment to the grade of brigadier general of volunteers, to rank from October 18, 1865, and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on February 23, 1866.[4] Tibbits was mustered out of the volunteers on January 15, 1866. On May 4, 1866, President Johnson nominated Tibbits for appointment to the grade of brevet major general of volunteers to rank from March 13, 1865, and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on May 16, 1866.[5] [6]
Colonel Tibbits was engaged in battles or actions in Virginia at: New Market, Piedmont, Lynchburg, Hillsboro, Snicker's Gap, Ashby's Gap, Kearnestown, Winchester, Martinsburg, Charlestown, Halltown, Nineveh, Rood's Hill, and Liberty Mill or Gordonsville.
General Tibbits returned to Troy in 1866, where for several years afterwards he suffered greatly, resulting from injuries received while in the service. He died at his home in Troy on February 10, 1880, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery.The will, admitted to probate on March 24, bequeathed $100,000 for the erection and maintenance of a home for indigent soldiers of the armies of the United States of the Civil War, and for indigent old men and women, who might be admitted if the house was not filled with soldiers.[7] The gift was conditional upon the raising of $50,000 additional within five years, and the erection of the home, to be known as Tibbits Home, in or near Tibbets Avenue, in the city of Troy. The will also left $500 annually for five years to the Tibbits Veteran Corps, and the same amount to the Tibbits Cadets, and at the expiration of five years each company was set to receive $8,333.34. The Tibbits estate, left to four heirs, of whom General Tibbits was one, was the largest landed estate in the city, and had never been divided. It was estimated to amount to upward of $1,000,000.Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester, writing in 1880, makes the following appraisal of Tibbits: "a man whose sound judgment when advice was needed, whose bravery when fighting was to be done, and whose celerity in movement when action was required, won for him, in the stations which he filled, the reputation of being a skillful soldier, and, at the same time, one of the most intrepid spirits of the war."