William W. Belknap

William Worth Belknap was born in Newburgh, New York on September 22, 1829, the son of career soldier William G. Belknap and Anne Clark Belknap. Belknap's father fought with distinction in the War of 1812, the Florida War, and Mexican–American War. Belknap attended the local schools in Newburgh, and graduated from the College of New Jersey at Princeton in 1848. After passing an examination by Judge William Cranch in 1851, Belknap was admitted to the Washington, D.C. bar, and began looking for a place to settle and begin his career. He moved west to Keokuk, Iowa, and entered into a partnership with Ralph P. Lowe. Deciding to make Iowa his permanent residence, in 1854, Belknap had a home built in Keokuk. He joined the Democratic Party and successfully ran for state office in 1856, serving in the Iowa House of Representatives from the 54th district between 1858 and 1860. Belknap was looked on as a rising Iowa Democratic leader. Belknap also joined a local company of the Iowa Home Guard, the Keokuk City Rifles, and he attained the rank of captain. ==Marriages and family==

In 1854 Belknap married Cora LeRoy, who died in 1862. They had one child together, Hugh R. Belknap, who served as a U.S. representative from Illinois. Belknap married Carita S. Tomlinson of Kentucky in January 1869; Alice Belknap was considered one of Washington society's most sought-after belles. In 1897 she reportedly converted to Judaism for her engagement to Paul May, an attaché of the Belgian legation in Washington. The engagement was broken the following year, and in June 1898 Alice Belknap married William Barklie Henry of Philadelphia. ==American Civil War==

When the American Civil War started, Belknap remained loyal to the Union as a pro-war Democrat. He first saw action in the Battle of Athens as the captain of the Keokuk City Rifles, a company of the Iowa Home Guard. He enlisted in the Union Army as a volunteer on November 7, 1861, and commissioned as a major. On December 7 he was mustered in and tasked with raising and equipping the 15th Iowa Volunteer Infantry. A rugged, charismatic and handsome man, Belknap was well-suited to the rigors of being a soldier. At over six feet tall and 200 pounds, with blue eyes, and fair hair, mustache, and beard, Belknap was regarded a natural leader described as "a fine type of Saxon-American manhood". In addition, the public speaking skills and powers of persuasion he developed as a lawyer made him an effective recruiter. Belknap was a natural soldier, whose leadership skills, loud voice, and militia experience were assets in the training of newly enlisted privates. Shiloh, Corinth, and Vicksburg In March 1862, Maj. Belknap and the 15th Iowa Volunteer Infantry were mustered into military action. Col. Reid stated that at Shiloh Belknap, "was always in the right place at the right time, directing and encouraging officers and men as coolly as a veteran" On December 24, 1863, Belknap was in command of the 11th Iowa Volunteer Infantry and the 15th Iowa Volunteer Infantry reinforcing Redbone, Mississippi, south of Vicksburg. Belknap and his Iowa troops dug in and set up earthworks and a parapet around Bald Hill. Belknap took the wounded Lampley prisoner; he was held until his death on August 24. On July 28, 1864, at the Battle of Ezra Church, Belknap was in charge of the 15th Iowa Volunteer Infantry and the 32nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which reinforced Maj. Gen. Morgan Lewis Smith's XV Corps. On July 30, Belknap was promoted to brigadier general as commander of the 4th Division, XVII Corps, and participated in Major Gen. Sherman's operations in Georgia and the Carolinas. After Atlanta was taken by the Union Army, Belknap accompanied Maj. Gen. Sherman on his March to the Sea. Belknap was promoted to Brevet Major General of Volunteers on March 13, 1865, as a reward for his bravery in the Atlanta Campaign. Having declined a regular Army commission, on August 24, 1865, Belknap was mustered out of the U.S. Army. ==Iowa Collector of Internal Revenue (1865–1869)==

In 1865, President Andrew Johnson appointed Belknap Collector of Internal Revenue for Iowa's 1st District. In this position, Belknap was responsible for collecting millions of dollars in federal taxes; collectors were paid a percentage of the revenue they brought in, which made the position lucrative and highly sought after. Belknap served for four years until he was appointed Secretary of War by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1869. During his term as Collector, which coincided with the Reconstruction Era, Belknap associated himself with the Republican Party. Belknap served with distinction; when his Collector's accounts were settled, they were accurate to within four cents. ==Secretary of War (1869–1876)==

On the advice of General of the Army William T. Sherman, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Belknap to Secretary of War on October 25, 1869, to take the place of Secretary John A. Rawlins, who had died in office of tuberculosis. Sherman himself had served briefly as acting secretary of war, after Rawlins's death. Belknap was seen as a protégé of Sherman's, having fought in the Atlanta Campaign and accompanied him on Sherman's March to the Sea. Not all of Belknap's actions were well received, however. He bypassed Sherman when making appointments, and reduced Sherman's budget, thus weakening the authority of the General of the Army position. In 1874, Sherman responded by leaving Washington and moving his headquarters to St. Louis. Major General Oliver O. Howard was also ostracized by Belknap. While stationed in Oregon, in 1874, Major General Howard candidly expressed his opinion of Belknap. Howard stated that Belknap was deceptive to "General Grant", that Belknap was not a true Republican, and that he associated nightly with "foul-mouthed" Democratic Kentucky associates. Howard also opined that Belknap was "not in favor" of the President's Indian Peace policy. That statement is likely related to a conflict, during Belknap's tenure, between the War and Interior Departments as to which would exercise control over American Indian policy. Belknap held office for 6 years, 4 months, and 7 days. War Department portrait gallery (1869) Upon assuming office in 1869, Belknap conceived the idea of creating portraits of previous civilian heads of the War Department in honor of the upcoming 1876 U.S. Centennial, and hired renowned artists Daniel Huntington, Robert Weir, and Henry Ulke. These monopoly traderships were considered good investments during the Gilded Age and were highly sought after. On July 15, the Commanding General of the Army's power to appoint traderships was repealed, empowering Belknap while further eroding Sherman's authority. One 7th Cavalry Sergeant noted that a shot of whiskey "mostly glass" cost 25 cents (.25¢ 1871 = $5.40 2019) glass, at a time when soldiers were paid a few dollars ($1.00 1871 = $21.60 2019) a month. Hostile American Indians bought supplies at these traderships, including high-quality single-shot breech-loaders and repeating rifles. At the same time, Army requisitions for rifles were filled by Belknap's War Department with inferior single-shot breech-loaders that jammed frequently, and were no match for superior breech-loaders and repeating rifles. Belknap's second wife, Carita, was socially ambitious and unwilling to live in Washington, D.C., on Belknap's $8,000 annual salary (about $157,000 in 2018). When the couple arrived in Washington from Keokuk, Iowa in 1869, Belknap rented a large house recently vacated by Secretary of State William H. Seward. In hosting large parties, a typical social requirement for cabinet members, the Belknaps overextended their invitations; one of their events had 1,200 guests, including many young army officers; the resulting raucous behavior led to extensive damage and vandalism, including destruction of curtains, couches, and other furniture. The Belknaps could not afford to pay for the damages, and were faced with leaving Washington society and reducing expenses by living in a boarding house, or finding a way to increase their income. They decided to look for additional income, and Carita engineered a plan to obtain a lucrative "cash cow" Indian tradership position at the recently built Fort Sill, located in the Oklahoma Indian Territory. Carita lobbied her husband to appoint a New York contractor, Caleb P. Marsh, to the Fort Sill tradership; John S. Evans, an experienced sutler, had already been appointed and did not want to give it up. To settle the question, Marsh drew up an illicit partnership contract that allowed Evans to keep the tradership at Fort Sill if he paid Marsh $12,000 per year in quarterly installments (approximately $236,000 in 2018). Marsh, in turn, was required to give half of his $12,000 to Carita, also in quarterly installments. All the parties agreed to the arrangement; however, Carita received only one payment before her death from tuberculosis after childbirth in December 1870. After Carita's death, Marsh continued to pay the quarterly share of the profits to Carita's younger sister Amanda, known as "Puss", who had moved in with the Belknaps, ostensibly to hold as a trust fund for the benefit of Carita's child. Belknap had been accused by Grant administration critics, including Senators Charles Sumner and Carl Schurz, of violating neutrality and selling arms to French agents. Belknap subsequently sold 54,000,000 cartridges to the French Armycartridges that would specifically fit the firearms he had previously sold to the Remington neighbor. After starting classes in 1870, Smith was immediately and severely hazed by white cadets. One of Belknap's nephews, a cadet at the academy, had been reprimanded (but not otherwise punished) for hazing Smith. In another instance, Smith was arrested and taken to a military court for fighting a white cadet, though Smith said he had merely defended himself. Major General Oliver O. Howard, an advocate for African-American civil rights and in charge of the trial, acquitted Smith and gave him a light punishment for unruly conduct. This outraged the academy's Bureau of Military Justice, who made a formal protest to Belknap on November 20, 1870. In another hazing incident, in January 1871, Smith was arrested for supposedly not holding his head up when marching, again after being severely harassed by white cadets. This time he was convicted; his case was then appealed to Belknap. Smith was then denied a chance to retest and was forced out of West Point. Belknap admired Ruger's performance as West Point Superintendent and stated, "I am pretty satisfied with the success of your management, and private conversations with officers of all grades, & with civilians too, who have been there since your accession..." Other African Americans followed Smith's entrance into West Point and Henry O. Flipper became the first to graduate from the academy in 1877. In 1997, President Bill Clinton attempted to acknowledge and right the wrong done to Smith by awarding him a posthumous commission as a second lieutenant. Aiding Chicago fire victims (1871) From October 8 to October 10, 1871, a devastating fire burned and destroyed much of Chicago, killing hundreds of people and causing $200,000,000 (nearly $4 billion in 2018) in damages. Over 100,000 citizens were left destitute and homeless. Belknap took prompt action on October 9, ordering food sent from St. Louis, tents from Jefferson Barracks, and two companies of troops from Fort Omaha to help keep peace and order. During January 1872, the War Department was kept on high alert, concerned with the potential for violent confrontation in New Orleans between Gov. Henry Clay Warmoth's faction and that of George W. Carter, former speaker of the Louisiana House. Warmoth supported social equality and voting rights for African Americans, but southern conservatives considered him a corrupt northern carpetbagger. To prevent disorder Major General William H. Emory, Louisville District Commander, in charge of New Orleans, decided that federal troops were needed to prevent violence. Belknap informed General-in-Chief William T. Sherman, supporting Emory's request. Sec. Belknap advised President Grant that Emory was the best to make the decision about use of the forces. On January 12, Grant, wanting to stay out of state politics, told the mayor of New Orleans through the War Department that he would not declare martial law in Louisiana. Carter's men dispersed, believing that Emory would use U.S. military force to keep the peace. On January 16, Att. Gen. George H. Williams told Gov. Warmoth that Grant would take sides only if there was a "clear case of legal right and overruling necessity." When Emory communicated Grant's message to both Gov. Warmoth and Carter, they dispersed their factions and kept peace for 10 months. Belknap, under influence from the Keokuk Packet steamliner company, was opposed to its completion. He desired that the bridge be torn down, so steamers would not have to lower their smokestacks to sail under it. Belknap argued that according to federal law, the Secretary of War had the authority to prevent obstruction of the Mississippi River. Belknap was embarrassed, stood up blushing, bowed to President Grant, and left the meeting. Preserved Mathew Brady Civil War photos (1874) In 1872, photographer Mathew Brady went bankrupt; his possessions, including photographs and negatives, were sold to satisfy creditors. In 1874, the owner of a warehouse in New York City offered a set of over 2,000 Brady negatives for sale; Belknap authorized their purchase for $2,500. The negatives were not packed or transported with care, and by the time the War Department took possession, about one-third of them were damaged or destroyed. Brady subsequently complained to Belknap that none of the $2,500 had gone to him or any of his creditors. During the discussion, Brady offered to sell a second set of negatives; Congress appropriated up to $25,000 for the purchase, and after reviewing the materials and obtaining advice from a War Department attorney as to their value, Belknap authorized payment in full. As a result of Belknap's initiative, the War Department acquired over 6,000 images of the Civil War era, including photos of prominent military and government officials, battlefields, and defensive works. This collection was subsequently combined with other collections of Brady photos which were purchased by the federal government; they were later catalogued, and are maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration and the Library of Congress. Yellowstone expedition (1875) During the summer of 1875, Belknap decided to explore Yellowstone the nation's first national park, created as the result of a law signed by President Grant on March 2, 1872. Accompanying Belknap were Colonel Randolph B. Marcy, Lieutenant Colonel James W. Forsyth, and Chicago businessman William E. Strong. Doane left Fort Ellis, where he was stationed, and made preparations for Belknap's party's arrival at Mammoth Hot Springs. On July 26, Belknap's party reached Fort Ellis and proceeded to meet Doane. Belknap's party included 24 soldiers and two ambulances. The two-week expedition proved to be troublesome as Doane was unable to find big game to hunt and after briefly viewing the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Belknap's party had to wait several hours before Doane finally found the trail. Great Sioux War (1876) In late July 1874, a U.S. Army expedition under Col. George A. Custer discovered gold in the Black Hills. Soon many gold miners were trespassing on land granted to the Indians under the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie. In June 1875, President Grant attempted to resolve the problem by offering Indians $100,000 per year to lease their land or $6,000,000 for the Black Hills. On February 8, 1876, Generals Crook and Terry were ordered to start winter military campaigns against hostile Indians and the Great Sioux War commenced. On March 1, 1876, Crook, in freezing weather, marched north from Fort Fetterman near Douglas, Wyoming to attack Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse and their Indian followers on the Powder River. The following day, March 2, Belknap abruptly resigned office over the Fort Sill trader post-scandal. From March 3 to March 7 the War Department was run ad interim under Secretary of Navy George M. Robeson. On March 8, 1876 Alphonso Taft was appointed by Grant Secretary of War. The Great Sioux War ended in April 1877 under President Rutherford B. Hayes. Corruption, resignation, and House impeachment (1876) investigated Belknap's War Department On February 29, 1876, rumors that Belknap was receiving profits from traderships reached Representative Hiester Clymer, chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War. In response, Clymer launched an investigation into the War Department. Although Clymer and Belknap were friends and had been college roommates, Clymer was a racist against black Americans who strongly opposed Republican Reconstruction. During Belknap's tenure, the Army was used in combination with the Justice Department to prosecute the Ku Klux Klan, a policy opposed by most Democrats. Caleb P. Marsh testified to the Clymer Committee that Belknap had personally taken Fort Sill tradership profit payments as part of the partnership agreement between Marsh and John S. Evans. On February 29, 1876, Belknap and his counsel went before Clymer's committee, but Belknap declined to testify. On the morning of March 2, Treasury Secretary Benjamin Bristow told President Grant of Belknap's impending impeachment. After Grant finished breakfast, Secretary Belknap and Secretary Chandler arrived at the White House. Belknap was extremely anxious, openly wept, and confessed to Grant. Belknap handed Grant a one-sentence resignation letter. Grant personally wrote a letter accepting Belknap's resignation, which he placed on a White House mantel at 10:20a.m. Although Belknap's resignation initially caused commotion among House members, it did not prevent action by the Clymer committee. The chairman of the House Managers cited authority that as a rule, the law does not recognize fractions of a day and the House saw no cause to make an exception in this case. The committee unanimously passed resolutions to impeach Belknap and drew up five articles of impeachment to be sent to the Senate; thus Belknap had both resigned and would be impeached at "the same time" on March 2, 1876, by a unanimous vote of the House of Representatives. This was the first of two times in US history that a cabinet secretary was ever impeached, the second being the impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas in 2024. Speaker of the House Michael C. Kerr wrote to the Senate that Belknap resigned "with intent to evade the proceedings of impeachment against him," although within a few years of the 1797 impeachment of Senator Blount a number of officers including several judges had been threatened with impeachment and resigned to avoid it, after which the proceedings against them were abandoned. On March 29 and April 4, 1876, George Armstrong Custer testified before the Clymer Committee, which continued to gather evidence for the Senate trial. Custer's testimony was a national media sensation because he accused both Grant's brother and the Secretary of War of corruption. Although Belknap had resigned, he had many political allies in Washington, D.C., including Grant. Custer had previously arrested Grant's son Fred, an Army officer, on the charge of drunkenness. As the result of that incident and his testimony to the Clymer Committee, Custer incurred Grant's displeasure. It took more than a month for Custer to resolve the situation and obtain Grant's permission to return to duty, leading his regiment in the expedition that would culminate with Custer's death at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Upon Belknap's sudden resignation in March, Grant had to hastily ask his secretary of navy George M. Robeson to run the War Department ad interim, which lasted a week. Grant then appointed Alphonso Taft Secretary of War; Taft was an attorney and former judge; unfamiliar with military matters, he reluctantly agreed to serve to stabilize the War Department, and Grant promised to nominate him later for another, more suitable position. In May, Grant kept his word when he created a vacancy in the attorney general's post by naming the incumbent, Edwards Pierrepont, to serve as Minister to England; he then appointed Taft to serve as attorney general, and J. Donald Cameron to succeed Taft as secretary of war. ==Senate trial, house arrest, and Senate acquittal==

Starting on April 5, 1876, Belknap was tried by the Senate with President pro tempore Thomas W. Ferry presiding. For several weeks senators argued over whether the Senate had jurisdiction to put Belknap on trial since he had already resigned office in March. Belknap's defense managers argued that the Senate had no jurisdiction; the Senate ruled by a vote of 37–29 that it did. Belknap was charged with five articles of impeachment, and the Senate listened to over 40 witnesses. With 40 votes needed for conviction, 25 senators voted no on each of five counts, while the yes votes were 35, 36, 36, 36, and 37, thus acquitting Belknap by failing to reach the required two-thirds majority. All Senators agreed that Belknap took the money from Marsh, but 23 who voted for acquittal believed the Senate did not have jurisdiction. Grant's speedy acceptance of Belknap's resignation undoubtedly saved him from conviction. After the trial, Belknap's wife and children traveled extensively in Europe. Former senator Matthew H. Carpenter of Wisconsin, who had defended Belknap at the Senate trial, said that Belknap was entirely innocent and that if he outlived Belknap he would clear Belknap's name. Carpenter was reelected to the Senate in 1879, but was in ill health; he died in February 1881 and never produced any new evidence. On March 4, 1876, one month before his Senate impeachment trial, Grant's Attorney General Edwards Pierrepont had Belknap arrested; as a foe of the Tweed Ring in New York, Pierrepont was seen as a lawyer of integrity, and Grant named him as attorney general to promote reform and anti-corruption within Grant's administration. Grant, who as former commanding general put more scrutiny into military matters than presidents usually did, had ordered Pierrepont to launch a criminal investigation into Belknap's War department. Much to Belknap's anger, Pierrepont put an armed guard around his home to ensure he did not attempt to flee. In May 1876, Grant named Pierrepont Minister to Britain, and appointed his Secretary of War Alphonso Taft to be attorney general. ==Washington, D.C., indictment (1876–1877)==

After Belknap's Senate acquittal on August 1, the guards around his house were removed; he was indicted by a grand jury on the same day, and set for trial in the District of Columbia federal court. However, journalists and other observers were of the view that the district courts were unlikely to convict, given the number of Grant administration officials who had been accused of corruption and received little or no punishment. Wells moved for dismissal; on February 8, 1877, Belknap's case, indictment No. 11,262, was dismissed by Justice Arthur MacArthur Sr. No longer facing the possibility of conviction and imprisonment, Belknap decided not to follow through on his threat to sue Pierrepont. ==Later career==

Having been disgraced by the Senate trial, Belknap sought to escape from the scrutiny and disapproval of Washington society by moving to Philadelphia. The Belknaps remained married; Amanda and the children visited the Catskills, Coney Island, and other resorts, and Belknap saw them periodically. During the 1880 presidential race, he was among those lampooned in a Puck magazine cartoon (Grant the Acrobat, by Joseph Ferdinand Keppler) opposing Ulysses S. Grant's bid for a third term. One historian, L.D. Ingersoll, however, defended Belknap in 1880, saying "General Belknap came out of the terrible ordeal with "troops of friends" still standing behind him, notably old army comrades in the army and those who were especially familiar with his conduct of the general affairs of the War Department. These with many public men of the highest standing, insist that he is a much abused man." Belknap remained popular among his fellow Civil War veterans; in 1887, Belknap coauthored the book History of the Fifteenth Regiment, Iowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry. ==Death, burial and memorial==

Belknap died suddenly from a massive heart attack in Washington, D.C. on Sunday October 12, 1890. Prior to his death, Belknap had played cards with his friends on Saturday night, then retired upstairs for the evening. The War Department was notified and received with "genuine sorrow" the news of Belknap's death, since Belknap had been a popular Secretary of War. The ceremony was conducted by St. John's Episcopal Church. The site features a granite gravestone with a bronze relief memorial designed by sculptor Carl Rohl-Smith. The bronze relief (2 ft. x 2 ft.) bust shows Belknap wearing a dress uniform with his hair parted on the right side as well as a long, full beard. ==Historical reputation==

Prior to Belknap's 1876 shocking resignation, Belknap's reputation was one of a war hero who honorably served the Union Army. There were no rumors of corruption while he served under Johnson as a Treasury collector. Even up to 1876, Belknap, under Grant, was believed to be a faithful judicious Secretary of War, publicly recognized for aiding and protecting 100,000 homeless Chicago fire victims. In 2003 biographer Edward S. Cooper described Belknap as a man of virtues and flaws. According to Cooper, Belknap "willingly turned to graft to support the social ambitions of his wives" while living a lavish lifestyle in Washington, D.C., at the expense of soldiers and Indians during the Gilded Age. Belknap is positively credited by Cooper for creating and expanding the weather bureau, reforming the military justice system, and for preserving Mathew Brady's photographic record of the Civil War. Belknap's abrupt and controversial resignation in March 1876 caused an unprecedented succession of four Secretaries of War within a 13-month time period: Belknap, Alphonso Taft, J. Donald Cameron, and George W. McCrary. In Keokuk, Belknap is remembered for being one of its "colorful citizens" and he has two streets named after him. He was commended by his Army colleagues for his coolness under fire during the Civil War, but his reputation suffered as the result of his forced resignation as Grant's Secretary of War, which took place under a cloud amid suspicions of misconduct. in Keokuk – Built 1854 Belknap's name resurfaced in January 2021, due to the similarity between Belknap's 1876 impeachment trial and President Donald Trump's 2021 impeachment trial, since both had left office by the time the trial had commenced. Andra Belknap, a Belknap descendant, said, "William Worth Belknap was by many accounts a hero of the Civil War. He served the Union Army, and during the Battle of Shiloh, he was injured and had his horse shot down under him. And still, he continued in battle. During the Battle of Atlanta, he personally took a Confederate officer prisoner (supposedly dragging the man by the collar across the battlefield). His Civil War heroism, however, has been largely forgotten by history — even forgotten by his own family. His impeachment is what remains in the history books." ==Legacy==

A collection of his family's records and papers and several boxes of letters received by Belknap are located at Princeton University, where he was a member of the class of 1848. His son Hugh R. Belknap served as a U.S. congressman from Illinois. ==List of Indian campaigns, battles, and wars involving the United States==

• Yavapai Wars (1861–1875) • Comanche Campaign (1867–1875) • Battle of Summit Springs (1869) • Marias Massacre (1870) • Camp Grant massacre (1871) • Modoc War (1872–1873) • Battle of Salt River Canyon (1872) • Battle of Turret Peak (1873) • Red River War (1874–1875) • Second Battle of Adobe Walls (1874) • Battle of the Upper Washita River (1874) • Battle of Palo Duro Canyon (1874) • Battle of Sunset Pass (1874) • Battle of Snake Mountain (1874) • Las Cuevas War (1875) • Great Sioux War (1876–1877) Note: Although the Great Sioux War began in February 1876 under Belknap's tenure, no significant battles were fought between the beginning of the war and up to his sudden resignation in March. The war, lasting until April 1877, took place under five cabinet secretaries. Four under President Grant: Belknap, George M. Robeson (ad interum), Alphonso Taft, and J. Donald Cameron, and one under President Rutherford B. Hayes, George W. McCrary. ==See also==