by Rev. Canon Dr. Robert Girard Carroon, PCinC &
Adam P. Flint, Registrar-in-Chief
William Innes Forbes was a true Pennsylvanian and a natural to become Commander-in-Chief of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion. He lived for a time only a block from the MOLLUS headquarters at 1805 Pine Street in Philadelphia. William Innes Forbes was born on November 22, 1868 in Philadelphia, the third child of William Smith Forbes and the former Celauire Bornadou.
William graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in 1889. He joined Company D, 1st Regiment, Pennsylvania National Guard in 1892 and served for one year. He was then commissioned a Lieutenant Junior Grade in the Pennsylvania State Naval Militia and served in that unit until 1894. He then joined the First Troop, Philadelphia City Cavalry, serving with that unit as a First Lieutenant in the Spanish-American War. His military career continued during World War I, when he commanded the 57th Field Artillery in Texas. He closed his military career in 1932, at the rank of Colonel commanding the 305th Reserve Cavalry.
When not on military duty Colonel Forbes was employed as the head of the credit department of Wanamaker’s Men’s Store in Philadelphia. He married Daisy Cox Wright in 1912. In addition to his active and reserve military service, William was a great fan of the theatre and participated in the Mask and Wig Club as one of its founding performers in 1889 at its opening at the Chestnut Street Opera House. He had the leading role in the opening show, Lurline. The Forbeses owned a 5,000-acre plantation in North Carolina as well as Scrooby, their home in Villanova.
William Innes Forbes was steeped in stories of the War of the Rebellion told him by his father and other Original Companions of the Loyal Legion. Major William Smith Forbes was Surgeon in the Union Army during the war. He had been commissioned as an Acting Assistant Surgeon in the U.S. Army on May 15, 1862 and served until he resigned with the rank of Major on October 3, 1864. William Smith Forbes joined the Pennsylvania Commandery of the Loyal Legion and was assigned Insignia #10260. He died at his home at 901 Pine Street in Philadelphia on December 17, 1905.
Two days prior to his father’s death, William Innes Forbes applied for membership in MOLLUS. His application as a Companion of the First Class, by Inheritance was approved on February 15, 1906, and he was assigned Insignia #14949. Following his service in World War I, Companion Forbes became very active in the Loyal Legion. He served on the Council of the Pennsylvania Commandery from 1924 to 1926 and elected Senior Vice-Commander in 1931 and served until July 6, 1932 when he was elected Commander, a post he held until May 20, 1942.
On October 27, 1933, William Innes Forbes was elected Senior Vice-Commander-in-Chief, and on October 25, 1935, he was elected Commander-in-Chief, serving in that position for over four years, retiring on May 23, 1940. He served on the Council-in-Chief from May 20, 1942 to his death and as the elected representative of the Commandery-in-Chief on the Board of Governors of the War Library and Museum from October 21, 1942, until his death.
During his term as Commander-in-Chief, Colonel Forbes oversaw the purchase of additional land to increase the size of the Spotsylvania Battlefield. This 162-acre tract was donated by the Pennsylvania Commandery at impressive ceremonies on May 11, 1940, the 76th anniversary of the fierce struggle at the Bloody Angle. Approximately 300 members of the Pennsylvania Commandery attended the dedicatory ceremonies at which William Innes Forbes acted as master of ceremonies. Attending was Park Superintendent Branch Spalding and James H. Price, Governor of Virginia, who was introduced by M.R. Tillotson, Service Director of Region One of the National Park Service.
This magnificent donation to the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park culminated William Innes Forbes’s momentous leadership of both the Pennsylvania Commandery and the Commandery-in-Chief, but it was by no means the end of his many contributions to the Loyal Legion.
In addition to serving as Commander-in-Chief of MOLLUS, Colonel Forbes was also Commander-in-Chief of both the Military Order of World War I and the Military Order of Foreign Wars and was a member of the Sons of the Revolution.
Colonel Forbes died in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1967. Colonel Forbes’s wife, the former Dorothy Coxe, whom he married in 1912, preceded him in death in 1946. They are both buried at Westminster Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. William and Dorothy Forbes had three sons, all of whom became Hereditary Companions, William Innes Forbes, Jr., Insignia #19077; Francis Coxe Forbes, Insignia #19458; and Charles Wright Forbes, Insignia #19635. All were Companions of the Pennsylvania Commandery. In addition, William Innes Forbes’s brother, James Fitzgerald Forbes, was also a Companion of the Pennsylvania Commandery with Insignia #19988. His grandson William Frederick Forbes, Insignia #22656, currently serves the Order as the Senior Vice-Commander-in-Chief.