The only other monument on the Champion Hill battlefield, this small stone marks the site where Confederate General Lloyd Tilghman was killed on the afternoon of May 16, 1863. Covering Bakers Creek ford — the only avenue of escape left to the Confederate army — Tilghman's Brigade pulled back from the Coker House to this ridge, known as Cotton Hill. Company G, 1st Mississippi Light Artillery (Cowan's Battery), straddled the road with two guns to the north and four guns to the south. General Tilghman dismounted, and was personally giving directions regarding the sighting of one of the guns north of the road, when he was struck by a shell fragment and instantly killed. Frederick and Sidell Tilghman, sons of the general, erected this stone at the turn of the century. General Tilghman was interred in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Vicksburg, but in 1902, at the request of his sons, his remains were disinterred and reburied in New York City. |
Last updated: March 16, 2018