Battle of Champion's Hill 

On May 16, 1863, at Champion’s Hill, Mississippi, Tilghman had a force of only 1,550 men, which was being forced back by six to eight thousand men of Grant’s army. Tilghman dismounted and took command of a section of field artillery of the 1st Mississippi Light Artillery. He was in the act of sighting a howitzer when he was struck in the hip by a cannonball from the Chicago Mercantile Battery’s number two gun. 

General Tilghman lived about three hours after he was wounded and was carried to a peach tree where he died in the arms of General Powhattan Ellis. On July 4, 1863 Vicksburg, Mississippi fell to Grant’s forces after a prolonged siege. The surrender of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two. The Key to the Confederate Heartland was now in in the hands of the enemy. 

Unfortunately two months after Tilghman’s death, his son Lt. Lloyd Tilghman, Jr. was thrown from his horse, hit his head on a piece of rail iron and died instantly.

Tilghman must be commended for his bravery, his unwavering sense of loyalty and duty to his country, and to the Confederate cause.