Clinton A. Cilley

Who was Clinton A. Cilley?

Clinton Albert Cilley 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, North Carolina. His grave can be found in Section 2-E, Row 2.