Trivia 1-28-19 Who Was He?

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This officer was the last of the Brevet Brigadier Generals confirmed for Civil War service. After
being censured for accepting a bribe for an academy appointment, he resigned from congress.
He died in the 20th century.
Who is he?

credit: @sarladaise
 
My guess is that he was John T. Deweese. I could not find anything that said that he was the last of the Civil War Brevet Brigadier Generals confirmed, but it was pretty late, in 1869, and the other details are fitting.

From Wikipedia:

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"He resigned his seat in 1870 when he was censured by the House of Representatives on March 1, 1870, for selling an appointment to the Naval Academy. He switched parties and became a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1876, resumed the practice of law and died in Washington, D.C., July 4, 1906. He is interred in Arlington National Cemetery."

"Entering the Union Army in 1861, he served as a Second Lieutenant in Company E, 24th Indiana Volunteer Infantry from 1861 to 1862. He was then commissioned as Captain, Company F, 4th Indiana Volunteer Cavalry, and eventually rose to Lieutenant Colonel of the unit. He was brevetted Brigadier General, US Volunteers on March 13, 1865 for "gallant and meritorious services during the war". However, his brevet was not confirmed by the United States Senate until March 3, 1869. He was elected to the United States Congress from North Carolina, and served from 1868 to 1870, when he resigned following censure by the House for selling a Naval Academy appointment."
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7383777/john-thomas-deweese
 
I think our guy is John Thomas DeWeese. He died in 1906 and Deweese's congressional career ended abruptly on 28 Feb. 1870, when he resigned his seat without explanation. The reasons soon became clear as the House Committee on Military Affairs reported that he had accepted a $500 bribe in return for recommending a cadet for admission to the Naval Acadamy. I.can find no documentation that he was the last BG but his date is March 1865 so it is close to the end of the war. However there are many others with the same BG date.
 
He is John Thomas Deweese (June 4, 1835 – July 4, 1906).

Source: Find a Grave

This was a rather confusing search: From the question it sounds to me like he was censured first and resigned afterwards; that's how Find a Grave has it too. From various texts, though, I found that he resigned first and was censured in absentia (see e.g. Congress of the United States: Oversight, Processes and Procedures by Carol S. Plesser; CRS Report for Congress - Expulsion, Censure, Reprimand, and Fine: Legislative Discipline in the House of Representatives, p. CRS-13, first sentence after subheading).
 
I've been studying censures from the House and Senate (fascinating bunny trails on their own). There are only 3 men I can find who were censured for their conduct in relation to military academy appointments:
Benjamin Whittemore, John Deweese, and Roderick Butler.

All were censured in March 1870, and Whittemore and Deweese both resigned in shame. Butler stubbornly held onto his seat but was defeated for re-election a few years later.

Of the 2 who resigned (Whittemore and Deweese), only Deweese lived to the 20th century. (Butler did, too, but he didn't resign, so he doesn't count.)

Everything I found kept saying Deweese's highest rank was as colonel of Indiana Cavalry regiments, but apparently, he did receive a brevet brigadier general rank in March 1865. I don't know that he was the last to receive such a rank since I found a lot of people still receiving brevets after the war. But maybe it's referencing those who received a brevet rank while the war was still ongoing?

In any event, I'm going with John T. Deweese as my answer.

Source 1
Source 2
Source 3
https://history.house.gov/Institution/Discipline/Expulsion-Censure-Reprimand/#censure
https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/D/DEWEESE,-John-Thomas-(D000291)/
https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/W/WHITTEMORE,-Benjamin-Franklin-(W000427)/
https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/B/BUTLER,-Roderick-Randum-(B001188)/
 
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