Silas Titus

Silas Titus (May 30, 1811 – October 4, 1899) was a military officer who fought in the American Civil War in the Union Army.

His uncle, Platt Titus, wrapped him in a blanket and carried him on horseback to his farm in Cato, Cayuga County, New York.

[2] In 1827, when 16 years old, Titus left his uncle's farm and was hired as a clerk at the general store of W. S. Inghams at Cato.

[2] Bishop John DuBois, of New York City, traveled to Salina near Syracuse, to perform the marriage even though Titus was a Seventh-day Adventist.

The young priest accompanying the Bishop as a sherpa was John McCloskey, the first Archbishop of New York to be created cardinal.

[2][3] Silas Titus enlisted on May 13, 1861, as a first lieutenant and was commissioned into the Field and Staff of the 12th New York State Volunteers (also known as the "First Onondaga Regiment").

At 4 o'clock the morning following the 12th NY's arrival in Washington, President Abraham Lincoln and U.S. Secretary of State William Seward drove out to the camp of the 12th in a carriage.

[3] The regiment moved out of the Washington camp to Fort Albany, Virginia, where it stayed until July 1861 when it advanced on the enemy at the First Battle of Bull Run at Manassas.

Soon after Bull Run, Titus was made Adjutant of General John J. Peck's staff a position he held until the Battle of Seven Pines in June 1862.

[3] At about 4 o'clock the corps reached the Gettysburg battlefield where they were held in reserve for the night to allow the tired troops some much needed sleep.

At the battle of Williamsburg a Virginian State flag was captured by Peck's Brigade and was kept by Colonel Titus for several years after the war.