Maj. General William Badger Tibbits, whose name the Tibbits Cadets have perpetuated and honored for 100 years, was one of the state's most distinguished Civil War soldiers, whose brilliant leadership and bravery in battle won him the rank of Major General at the age of 27.Born in Hoosac on March 31, 1837, son of George Mortimer and Sarah Bleeker Tibbits, and grandson of George Tibbits, fourth mayor of Troy, he graduated from Union College in 1859 and had begun what could have been a comfortable and rewarding life as an associate of the Samson and Tibbits Scale Co. But he quickly cast this aside when President Lincoln's first call for troops reached Troy . On April 15, 1861 , he obtained authorization to raise a volunteer company, which he did within a few days, with financial assistance from his father. The company was accepted as part of the Second New York Volunteers on April 23, with Tibbits as captain. It was mustered in as Company G on May 14, 1861, and left for the south four days later.Captain Tibbits and his men distinguished themselves in the battles of Big Bethel, Fair Oaks, Glendale, Malvern Hill, Second Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Bristow Station and Chancellorsville. In the last two battles , he was in actual command of the whole regiment. On Oct. 18, 1862 he was promoted to major, which rank he held until the Second Regiment was mustered out seven months later.But he and some other officers felt the urge to return to the conflict and Major Tibbits formed a new regiment, mustered in as the 21st New York Griswold Light Cavalry, on Jan. 4, 1864, with the then Colonel Tibbits as it's commander. Under his brilliant and fearless leadership, this unit, in it's very first engagement at New Market,Va., on May 15, 1864, saved the Union force from being cut off and destroyed. By this time the Cavalry force under his command had become a brigade, with the Sixth West Virginia Cavalry being added to his own regiment.Colonel Tibbits was promoted to Brigadier General in November, 1864, and soon after was advanced to the rank of Brevet Major General at Fort Leavenworth, Kans. Being mustered out in January, 1866, he settled in Hoosick Falls and became vice president of the Walter A. Wood Co.He served on the original executive committee of the Grand Army of the Republic, and in addition, Gen. Philip Sheridan appointed him to the committee to organize the Society of the Cavalry Corps.But his action-packed life was destined to be short. His service connected disabilities undoubtedly hastened his death on Feb. 10, 1880, one month before his 43rd birthday.In his will the General left $25,000 to be divided among the three military organizations which had asked permission to bear his name--- The William B. Tibbits Post, Grand Army of the Republic; the Tibbits Veterans' Corps, which later became Company C., 2nd Regiment, and the Tibbits Cadets.The Tibbits family, from his grandfather, George Tibbits, who was mayor of Troy from 1830 to 1836, down through the life spans of his father, George Mortimer Tibbits, and the General, set an illustrious example of public-spirited citizenship, and the City of Troy, along with the Tibbits Cadets, still honors their memory with the residential street called Tibbits Avenue. The same public-spirited qualities were characteristics of the descendents of the Tibbits family down through the years.
