William W. Belknap
Union Army general
Died when: 61 years 21 days (732 months)Star Sign: Libra
William Worth Belknap (September 22, 1829 – October 12, 1890) was a lawyer, soldier in the Union Army, government administrator in Iowa, and the 30th United States Secretary of War, serving under President Ulysses S.
Grant.Belknap was impeached on March 2, 1876, for his role in the trader post scandal.A native of New York, Belknap graduated from Princeton University in 1848, studied law with a Georgetown attorney, and passed the bar in 1851.
He moved to Iowa, where he practiced law in partnership with Ralph P.Lowe.Belknap entered politics as a Democrat and served one term in the Iowa House of Representatives.
When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, Belknap joined the Union Army.A tall burly man, Belknap was a natural Union Army leader and recruiter.
A veteran of the Iowa Militia who had attained the rank of captain, he was commissioned as a major in the 15th Iowa Volunteer Infantry.
He took part in numerous engagements, including Shiloh and Corinth, served as a regimental, brigade, division, and corps commander, and served in high-level staff positions.
By the end of the war, Belknap had been promoted to brigadier general of volunteers and received a brevet promotion to major general.
After declining a regular Army commission, Belknap was appointed Iowa's Collector of Internal Revenue by President Andrew Johnson; he served with distinction for four years.
In 1869, President Ulysses S.Grant appointed Belknap as Secretary of War.During his tenure, Belknap ordered portraits of all the previous Secretaries, intending to create a complete collection in honor of the United States Centennial.
In 1871, Belknap was investigated by Congress, after he was directly involved in the sale of arms and munitions to France, while the United States was ostensibly neutral during the Franco-Prussian War.
The same year, Belknap had arranged aid for victims of the catastrophic Chicago Fire.During the Reconstruction Era, Belknap's War Department and the U.S. military worked under the supervision of President Ulysses S.
Grant and the United States Attorney General's office to occupy the former Confederacy and attempt to implement changes in government and the economy, while protecting freedmen from an increasingly violent insurgency.
Belknap supported Grant's Reconstruction policy, which most Democrats opposed.In 1875, Grant, Belknap, and other members of Grant's administration secretly agreed to remove troops from the Black Hills after gold was discovered.
The US had protected the area from white settlers as part of a US treaty with the Lakota.The withdrawal of troops allowed a gold rush of white settlers to take place, and the US took de facto possession after the Lakota refused to sell their sacred lands.
In 1876, the trader post scandal at Fort Sill led to Belknap's sudden resignation, impeachment by the Democratic-controlled House, and trial by the Senate.
While a majority of senators voted to convict, they lacked the two-thirds required, and Belknap was acquitted.Belknap's Washington D.
C. federal trial was dismissed by Judge Arthur MacArthur Sr., grandfather of General Douglas MacArthur.Belknap resumed practicing law in Washington; he continued to be popular among Iowa Civil War veterans and was active until he died of a heart attack in 1890.
One historian described Belknap as a man of both virtues and flaws, a talented lawyer, administrator, and military officer, but whose personal corruption overshadowed his positive qualities.
Belknap's heroic Union Civil War service has been largely forgotten by historians.
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