This medal was created after the end of the American Civil War. The ribbon features three colors in the following order from the inside out: red, white, and blue. The medal itself is in the shape of a Maltese cross, with blue, white, and gold colours on both the observe and reverse side.
At the centre of the observe of the medal is an eagle with outstretched wings, surrounded by the legend “LEX RECIT ARMA TUENTUR” (The law rules, the arms defend).
The centre of the reverse of the medal features a column with crossed sabres, signifying it as a military medal, with the legend “M. O. LOYAL LEGION U. S./ MDCCCLXV”.
The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States （MOLLUS）is a military order founded in the wake of the American Civil War. On April 15, AD 1865, following the death of President Abraham Lincoln, three Union Army officers—Thomas Ellwood Zell, a former Lieutenant Colonel of a Pennsylvania regiment; Samuel Brown Mitchell, the Surgeon of the Eighth Pennsylvania Cavalry; and Peter Dirck Keyser, who had served in the 91st Pennsylvania Infantry—met in Philadelphia to discuss the tragic news.
At the same time, they received rumours from Washington suggesting that Lincoln’s death could be used to destroy the Union government. This prompted the three officers to call together other interested individuals to form an organisation aimed at countering potential threats to the Union and the United States.
The background to the creation of the medal: In late May AD 1865, the three officers, along with other like-minded individuals, gathered at Constitution Hall to pledge their allegiance to the Union and establish a protective organisation named the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, with the motto “Lex Recit, Arma Tuentur” （Laws Rule, Arms Defend）.
Charlemagne Tower, the recipient of this medal, was a direct descendant of the first Holy Roman Emperor through his mother’s lineage. He is the founder of what is now the town of Tower City in Pennsylvania, USA. Additionally, he was an American lawyer and businessman. His interest was in collecting rare books, particularly those related to colonial laws. By the time of his passing, he had amassed the most complete collection of colonial law books in the world.
He was highly patriotic and assisted the Union Army in recruiting during the Civil War. Despite the draft causing dissatisfaction among many farmers and miners, he steadfastly fulfilled this challenging task and ultimately helped recruit over 20,000 men for the government. His unwavering dedication to the recruitment effort earned him a citation from President Lincoln.
Additionally, during the American Civil War, Tower’s patriotism led him to join the military. He was commissioned as a captain and, within three months, organised and led a Federal infantry regiment from Pottsville. After the war, his contributions to the United States Army were recognised with the awarding of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States medal.
His controversial case (Munson–Williams case): His commercial success stemmed from his active acquisition of land in the Schuylkill Valley of Pennsylvania and his role as an officer in coal and railway companies.
However, acquiring this land was no easy feat. At that time, he became embroiled in a case. The case originated from Tower being commissioned by Monson-William to use his legal expertise to resolve ownership disputes involving 8,000 acres of land. In short, the 8,000 acres that Monson-William intended to acquire had issues with property encroachment. To resolve the legal problems, Monson offered Tower as much as half of the land’s ownership as a reward.
To prevent other competitors from targeting their land, the partners had Tower handle the purchases and register the land under nominee account to conceal the true ownership. By AD 1858, the partners had already controlled 11,000 acres of land. It was only then that the relevant land users realised what was happening and filed lawsuits against Monson-William. Thanks to Tower’s exceptional legal skills, the plan did not fall apart.
In AD 1867, Tower decided to sell the land he owned but initially found no buyers due to ownership disputes. Eventually, in March AD 1868, Tower decided to lease 1,503 acres of land to two independent coal companies, which developed the Tower Mine and Brookside Mine. The lease term was 15 years, with a rent of $0.30 per ton of coal. Additionally, Tower developed a town near the mines, naming it Towersville after himself, a name that is still in use today.
獎章正面中央處，是一隻高舉雙翅的鷹，其邊緣刻有銘文「LEX RECIT ARMA TUENTUR」（以法治國，以武護國）的字樣。
而背面中央處為一柱子，柱上有交叉的軍刀，代表了這是一枚軍事獎章，在其邊緣，亦刻有「M. O. LOYAL LEGION U. S./ MDCCCLXV」的字樣。
美國忠誠軍團（The Military Order Of The Loyal Legion Of The United States，簡稱MOLLUS），是一軍事軍團，創立背景為南北戰爭結束前夕，公元1865年4月15日，美國總統林肯去世，時任三名聯邦軍官——前賓夕法尼亞州團的中校，托馬斯·埃爾伍德·澤爾（Thomas Ellwood Zell）、第八賓夕法尼亞騎兵團的軍醫，塞繆爾·布朗·米切爾（Samuel Brown Mitchell）、以及曾服役於第91賓夕法尼亞步兵團的上尉，彼得·德克·凱瑟（Peter Dirck Keyser）——他們三人在費城會面，討論美國總統林肯過世的消息。
