page_title: William W. Belknap
section_title: House investigation, corruption, and resignation 1876
hierarchical_section_title: William W. Belknap / Secretary of War (1869–1876) / House investigation, corruption, and resignation 1876
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait photo of the Honorable Rep. Hiester Clymer
context_page_description: William Worth Belknap was a lawyer, soldier in the Union Army, government administrator in Iowa, and the 30th United States Secretary of War under President Ulysses S. Grant.
  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 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.
context_section_description: 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 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 10:20 A.M.
  Clymer's committee was informed at 11:00 A.M. of Belknap's resignation. Although Belknap's resignation caused great commotion among House members, it did not prevent action by the Clymer committee. The committee unanimously passed resolutions to impeach Belknap and drew up five articles of impeachment to be sent to the Senate. Belknap, by then a private citizen, was impeached by a unanimous vote of the House of Representatives. Speaker of the House Michael C. Kerr wrote to the Senate that Belknap resigned "with intent to evade the proceedings of impeachment against him." Belknap's case was constitutionally unprecedented and would serve as reference for nine other civilian officials' resignations before trial, including President Richard Nixon.
  On March 29 and April 4, 1876, George 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 and lead the expedition that culminated with 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 interum, 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 in order 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.
caption: Democratic Congressman Hiester Clymer investigated Belknap's War Department
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