★  Belknap, William W.

William Worth Belknap

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Belknap.jpg


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
Belknap 1.jpg
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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He resigned from Grant's Cabinet (Secretary of War) after being impeached for "malfeasance". He was selling government positions and contracts. He was however acquitted by a narrow vote not by any belief in his innocence but by his prior resignation.
 
He resigned from Grant's Cabinet (Secretary of War) after being impeached for "malfeasance". He was selling government positions and contracts. He was however acquitted by a narrow vote not by any belief in his innocence but by his prior resignation.
One of the true scumbags in the Grant Administration; I was surprised when researching my thread on Texas Forts following the war to find him accompanying Phil Sheridan to Fort Clark at Brackettville for a secret conference with then-colonels Wesley Merritt and Ranald Mackenzie to allow the latter to "invade" Mexico in pursuit of raiding Apache and other tribesmen. I wouldn't have expected Belknap to have been that energetic!
 
Belknap was said to be a tall,burly man. and a natural leader and recruiter.His 15th Iowa was in the 3rd Brigade with the 11th,13th, and parts of the 16th Iowa Infantry Regiments. The brigade was under the command of a Colonel Crocker.
 
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