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Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States

The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS), or, simply, the Loyal Legion, is a United States military order organized on April 15, 1865, by three veteran officers of the Union Army. The original membership was composed of commissioned officers of the Regular or Volunteer Army, U.S. Navy, or U.S. Marine Corps who served during the American Civil War, or who had served and thereafter been commissioned and who thereby "had aided in maintaining the honor, integrity, and supremacy of the national movement" during the Civil War.

Not to be confused with Legion of the United States or American Legion.

Major General – First MOLLUS Commander-in-Chief, 1865–79. (Died in office.)

George Cadwalader

Major General – 1879–86. (Died in office.)

Winfield Scott Hancock

General – 1886–88. (Died in office.)

Philip H. Sheridan

Major General – 1888–93. (Died in office.)

Rutherford B. Hayes

Rear Admiral – 1893.

John J. Almy

Brigadier General – 1893–95.

Lucius Fairchild

Major General – 1895–96. (Died in office.)

John Gibbon

Rear Admiral – 1896–99.

Bancroft Gherardi

Lieutenant General – 1899–1903.

John M. Schofield

Major General – 1903–05.

David McMurtrie Gregg

Major General – 1905–07.

John R. Brooke

Major General – 1907–09.

Grenville M. Dodge

Lieutenant General – 1909–11.

John C. Bates

Rear Admiral – 1911–12. (Died in office.)

George W. Melville

Lieutenant General – 1912. (Died in office.)

Arthur MacArthur

Colonel Arnold A. Rand – 1912–13. (First non-flag officer to serve as MOLLUS commander-in-chief.)

Brevet Brigadier General – 1913–15. (Died in office.)

Thomas Hamlin Hubbard

Rear Admiral – 1915.

Louis Kempff

Lieutenant General – 1915–19.

Samuel B.M. Young

Lieutenant General – 1919–25. (Died in office.)

Nelson A. Miles

Rear Admiral Purnell F. Harrington – 1925–27.

Master , USN – 1927–30. (Died in office.)

Robert M. Thompson

Brigadier General Samuel W. Fountain – 1930. (Died in office.)

Brevet Major George Mason – 1930–31.

Captain – 1931–33. (Died in office. Last Civil War veteran to serve as MOLLUS commander-in-chief. Also was Commander in Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic from 1932 to 1933.)

William P. Wright

Colonel Hugh Means – 1933–35.

Colonel William Ennis Forbes – 1935–40. (Resigned.)

Major General – 1940–41.

Malvern Hill Barnum

Mr. James Vernor Jr. – 1941–47 (First MOLLUS commander-in-chief who did not serve in the .)

United States Armed Forces

Rear Admiral , USN – 1947–51.

Reginald R. Belknap

Donald H. Whittemore – 1951–53

Commander William C. Duval, USNR – 1953–57

Major General – 1957–61. (SUVCW Commander-in-Chief, 1953–55.)

Ulysses S. Grant III

Lieutenant Colonel Donald M. Liddell Jr., USAR – 1961–62. (Resigned.)

Lieutenant Colonel H. Durston Saylor II, USAR – 1962–64.

Major General , USMC – 1964. (Died in office. Last flag officer to serve as MOLLUS commander-in-chief.)

Clayton B. Volgel

Colonel Walter E. Hopper, USAR – 1964–67.

Lieutenant Colonel Lenahan O'Connell, USAR – 1967–71.

Colonel Brooke M. Lessig USAR – 1971–73.

Charles Allan Brady Jr. – 1973–75.

Colonel Joseph B. Daugherty – 1975–77.

Thomas N. McCarter III – 1977–81.

Lieutenant Colonel Philip M. Watrous – 1981–83.

Alexander P. Hartnett – 1983–85.

William H. Upham – 1985–89. (Last commander-in-chief to serve more than two years in office.)

1st Lieutenant Lowell V. Hammer – 1989–91. (SUVCW Commander-in-Chief, 1991–92.)

Henry N. Sawyer – 1991–93.

Colonel Scott W. Stucky, USAFR – 1993–95. (Federal judge.)

The Rev. Canon Robert G. Carroon – 1995–97.

The Hon. Michael P. Sullivan – 1997–99.

Major Robert J. Bateman – 1999–2001.

Gordon R. Bury II – 2001–03. (SUVCW Commander-in-Chief, 1986–87.)

Douglas R. Niermeyer, 2003–05.

Benjamin C. Frick, Esq. 2005–07.

Karl F. Schaeffer, 2007–09.

Keith Harrison – 2009–11. (SUVCW Commander-in-Chief, 1994–95.)

Jeffry C. Burden, Esq. – 2011–13.

Waldron K. Post II – 2013–15.

Captain James A. Simmons, USAF – 2015–17.

Colonel Eric A. Rojo, USA – 2017–19.