COL John Charles Fremont Tillson

Colonel John Charles Fremont Tillson

22nd Infantry Regiment

Commanding Officer 1916 - 1920

J.C.F. Tillson was born in Elmira, New York, on May 26, 1856, the son of James and Elzina Stebbins Tillson. He graduated from the US Military Academy in 1878. Directly after receiving his comission he was sent to Ft Keogh, Montana, where he was stationed for the next 10 years.

It was...." 'the coldest place in the world.' It was a thrilling country in 1878--wild, uncivilized.

A horse and rider could gallop for miles and miles and see neither man nor habitation.

Huge herds of buffalo roamed the plains.

The army post was established there to keep the remnant of Sitting Bull's Sioux Indians,

who had been banished to Canada, out of the territory.

'The high-spirited young braves delighted in making raids into the tract under

our protection, and we had to chase them out.'

the colonel explained.

But he liked the Sioux Indians and grew to understand and respect the taciturn,

but brave and scrupulously honest red men.

'I never knew a Sioux who didn't pay his debts of money or kindness,'

the colonel declared.

The ELMIRA STAR-GAZETTE, 1938

After his assignment at Ft Keogh, JCF Tillson served at various posts around the country. He served in the Spanish-American War in the Phillipines. In 1900 he and his company held the Chien Mien gate at Peking during the Boxer Rebellion. After the rebellion was crushed he was named Military Provost Marshall of Peking. During the next ten years he again served at various postings. In 1912, promoted to Colonel, he commanded the US Expeditionary Forces in China, at Tientsin. He remained in that command until 1915, when he returned to the continental United States. He commanded the 22nd Infantry regiment in Arizona, until ordered to take his regiment in 1917 to New York.

He became commander of Fort Jay at Governors' Island, New York when his regiment was stationed there. His mission at that time was to guard the docks of New York harbor, and the railroads leading into the port. When war was declared against Germany on April 6, 1917, Colonel Tillson had long been ready for it. At one minute after war was declared he sent the 22nd Infantry to seize all of the German ships then in the harbor. A total of 16 ships were seized and their crews were taken into custody. Through his realistic grasp of the situation and advance planning, Colonel Tillson and the 22nd Infantry thus committed the first act of belligerence by the United States against Germany in World War I.

Colonel Tillson retired in 1920 and became the Superintendent of the Bath Veterans Home for the next ten years. He was married to Adelaide Meek of Franfort, Ky, whom he met and married in 1879, his second year at Fort Keogh. They had one son, JCF Tillson, Jr. On December 16, 1941, Colonel JCF Tillson died, at the age of 85. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

The Tillson family continued on in a great tradition of service to their country. Colonel Tillson's son and grandson, both also named JCF Tillson, followed in their ancestor's footsteps and graduated from the US Military Academy. Colonel Tillson's son received his commission from West Point in 1908 and his grandson received his commission from West Point in 1938.

Article in the Elmira Star-Gazette, 1938

Captain John C. F. Tillson, 10th Cavalry, Fort Apache, Arizona, in 1918

John C.F. Tillson III went on to become Major General JCF Tillson. From March to August of 1967 he commanded the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam.

A heartfelt Thank You to Grace Paris for the above information on her distinguished family.

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