Quick Facts
Biography
Clinton Albert Cilley (February 16, 1837 – May 9, 1900) was a North Carolina lawyer and judge, and a recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions as an officer in the Union Army at the Battle of Chickamauga in the American Civil War.
Cilley joined the 2nd Minnesota Infantry as a Sergeant in June 1861, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in six months later. He mustered out in September 1866 with the rank of Major.
Cilley moved to western North Carolina at the end of the Civil War and became regional administrator for the Freedmens Bureau. Although he was essentially a carpetbagger, Cilley became very popular as a lawyer in Lenoir, North Carolina, where he was elected one of the town's first mayors. He married Emma Harper, daughter of Congressman James C. Harper.
He died May 9, 1900 and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery Hickory (Catawba County), North Carolina. His grave can be found in Section 2-E, Row 2.
Honors
The Catawba County Museum of History contains the Clinton Cilley Collection of Civil War artifacts.
Medal of Honor citation
Rank and organization: Captain, Company C, 2d Minnesota Infantry. Place and date: At Chickamauga, Ga., September 20, 1863. Entered service at: Wasioja, Minn. Birth: Rockingham County, N.H. Date of issue: June 12, 1895.
Citation:
Seized the colors of a retreating regiment and led it into the thick of the attack.