Edward L. Molineux papers

Edward L. Molineux was born in England in 1832 and moved to Brooklyn as an infant where he stayed for the rest of his life. Molineux is best known as a Major General during the Civil War. His military career began as early as 1854, when he joined the Brooklyn City Guard and then Company B, 7th Regiment of New York. During his time in the war, he organized the 159th New York Volunteer Infantry in 1862. He assisted during the draft riots in New York, after being returned home to recover after an injury in 1863. His regiment was the first to land at Baton Rouge, Louisiana during the Red River Campaign in 1864. He was given command of the troops north of the Red River in Louisiana, from which he was given command of Fort Pulaski and Tybee where he is remembered as being instrumental in the rescue of the ship Lawrence. Later in 1864 he was made Military Commander of the District of Northern Georgia where he seized close to $10,000,000 in coin, bullion, buildings, and factories.

After the war, he was a successful businessman, working for the company F.W. Devoe & C.T. Raynolds. He became one of the "Original Companions" of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS), New York Commandery in 1886, with the objective to "foster military and naval science, promote allegiance to the United States government, perpetuate the memory of those who fought to preserve the unity and indivisibility of the Republic and to honor the memory and promote the ideals of President Abraham Lincoln." He also became president of the National Rifle Association in the 1870s and he was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Molineux died at the age of 83 in June 1915.