William Worth Belknap
Born: September 22, 1829
Birthplace: Newburgh, New York
Father: William Goldsmith Belknap 1794 – 1851
(Buried: Oakland Cemetery, Keokuk, Iowa)
Mother: Anne Clark 1801 – 1858
(Buried: Oakland Cemetery, Keokuk, Iowa)
1st Wife: Cora Leroy 1837 – 1862
(Buried: Oakland Cemetery, Keokuk, Iowa)
2nd Wife: Caroline S. “Carita” Tomlinson 1836 – 1870
(Buried: Oakland Cemetery, Keokuk, Iowa)
3rd Wife: Amanda Tomlinson 1840 – 1916
(Buried: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia)
Children:
William Goldsmith Belknap 1855 – 1874
(Buried: Oakland Cemetery, Keokuk, Iowa)
U.S. Congressman Hugh Reid Parker 1860 – 1901
(Buried: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia)
Alice Belknap Henry Van Kaathoven 1874 – 1962
(Buried: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia)
Education:
1848: Graduated from Princeton University
Occupation before War:
1851 – 1854: Attorney in Washington, D.C.
1854 – 1861: Attorney in Keokuk, Iowa
Member of the Democratic Political Party
1857 – 1858: Iowa State Representative
Served in City Rifles Militia, rising to the rank of Captain
Civil War Career:
1861: Pro – War Democrat at the start of the war
1861: Major for raising and equipping the 15th Iowa Volunteers
1861 – 1862: Major of 15th Iowa Infantry Regiment
1862: 15th Iowa Infantry Regiment received into Union Army Service
1862: Wounded during the Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee
1862: Served in the Battle of Corinth, Mississippi
1862 – 1863: Lt. Colonel of 15th Iowa Infantry Regiment
1863 – 1864: Colonel of 15th Iowa Infantry Regiment
1863: Served in the Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi
1864: Served in the Battle of Atlanta, Georgia
1864 – 1865: Brigadier General of Union Army Volunteers
1864: Served in Sherman’s March to the Sea in Georgia
1865: Brevetted Major General for Gallantry in Atlanta Campaign
1865: Declined a commission in the United States Army
1865: Mustered out of the Union Army on August 24th
Occupation after War:
1865 – 1869: Collector of Internal Revenue in District of Iowa
1869 – 1876: United States Secretary of U.S. War Department
1876 – 1877: Served indictment in Washington, D.C.
1877: Justice Arthur McArthur Sr. dismissed his indictment
Railroads Attorney in Keokuk, Iowa
1880: Opposed a Grant Third Term
Popular among Union Army Civil War Veterans
Co – Author of History of the Fifteenth Regiment Iowa Volunteers
Died: October 12, 1890
Place of Death: Washington, D.C.
Cause of Death: Massive Heart Attack
Age at time of Death: 61 years old
Burial Place: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia
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