MILITARY ORDER OF THE LOYAL LEGION OF THE UNITED STATES

Organization and Objectives

Organization - After the establishment of the first Commandery in Pennsylvania (April 15, 1865), the following Commanderies soon followed:

New York (January 17, 1866),
Maine (April 25, 1866),
Tennessee (August 29, 1866 - Charter Revoked May 6, 1880),
Massachusetts (March 4, 1868),
Arkansas (May 6, 1866 - Charter Revoked),
California (April 12, 1871),
Wisconsin (May 15, 1874),
Illinois (May 8, 1879),
District of Columbia (February 1, 1882),
Ohio (May 3, 1882),
Michigan (February 4, 1885),
Minnesota (May 6, 1885 - Commandery Disbanded),
Oregon (May 6, 1885 - Commandery Disbanded),
Missouri (October 21, 1885),
Nebraska (October 21, 1885),
Kansas (April 22, 1886),
Iowa (October 20, 1886),
Colorado (June 1, 1877 - Commandery Disbanded),
Indiana (October 17, 1888),
Washington (January 14, 1891 - Commandery Disbanded),
Vermont (October 14, 1891 - Commandery Disbanded),
Maryland (December 8, 1904 - Commandery Disbanded),
Connecticut (1967),
Florida (1973 - Commandery Disbanded),
South Carolina (1994 - Commandery Disbanded),
Virginia (1997),
Texas (1999),
Rhode Island (2001**), and
Kentucky (2004).

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**Formally the Rhode Island Soldiers and Sailors Historical Society (1878).

Commanderies currently still exist in all of the above states except Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, South Carolina, Tennesee, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.

Mailing Address of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States:

Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States
The North American Building
121 S. Broad Street, Suite 1910
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Information regarding the Order may be obtained by either writing to the Commandery-in-Chief at the above address or by sending an e-mail to Keith G. Harrison, National MOLLUS Webmaster.

Objectives - The principal objectives of MOLLUS are 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.

Each year MOLLUS sponsors and participates in a variety of ceremonies and programs designed to promote its Objectives, including:

  1. Programs to honor President Abraham Lincoln and events memorializing the Civil War and the men and women who were active in them,
  2. Supporting efforts to preserve Civil War battlefields and sites,
  3. Presentations of literary awards to promote further research and writing about Lincoln and Civil War subjects,
  4. Erecting, restoring and maintaining plaques and monuments commemorating events and personalities of the Civil War,
  5. Presentations of ROTC awards to further the studies of military and naval science,
  6. Supporting the operation of the War Library and Museum of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States which was established by MOLLUS,
  7. Publishing a quarterly historical journal, The Loyal Legion Historical Journal, and
  8. Engaging in other patriotic and educational activities.


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KGH