Orville E . Babcock Orville Elias Babcock ( December 25 , 1835 – June 2 , 1884 ) was an American Civil War General in the Union Army . He graduated third in his class as United States Military Academy in 1861 . Babcock served in the Corps of Engineers throughout the Civil War . He was promoted to Brevet Brigadier General in 1865 . Babcock served as aide - de - camp for Lieut . Gen . Ulysses S . Grant and participated in the Overland Campaign . After Grant became President in 1869 , Babcock was appointed his Private Secretary — in modern terms , the chief of staff — and served until 1876 . In 1869 , Babcock was sent on a mission by President Grant to explore the possibility of annexing to the United States the mostly African island nation of Santo Domingo . Babcock ' s tenure under President Grant was filled with controversy concerning involvement with the manipulation of both cabinet departments and appointments . Grant supported Babcock when he was accused of corruption . Grant ' s shielding of Babcock from political attack stemmed primarily from their shared experiences on the battlefield during the American Civil War . Indicted in the Whiskey Ring , Babcock was defended by President Grant in a historical deposition in 1876 that resulted in acquittal . Babcock was also appointed Superintendent of Public Buildings and Inspector of Lighthouses . Babcock served as chief engineer overseeing plans for the construction of Mosquito Inlet Lighthouse until 1884 , when he drowned off Mosquito Inlet in Daytona Beach , Florida . His reputation is a combination of efficiency , loyalty to Grant , and involvement in corruption and scandal . Early life . Orville E . Babcock was born on December 25 , 1835 in Franklin , Vermont , a small town located near the Canadian border close to Lake Champlain . Babcock ' s father was Elias Babcock , Jr . and his mother was Clara Olmstead . While growing up in Vermont he received a common education . At the age of 16 , Babcock was appointed to the West Point Military Academy ( USMA ) , where he graduated third in a class of 45 on May 6 , 1861 . Civil War . Constructed Washington D . C . defense works . At the outbreak of the American Civil War , immediately upon graduation from USMA , Babcock was promoted Brevet Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers , and was assigned duty in Washington , D . C . to protect the city from attack . Working as an Assistant Engineer , Lieutenant Babcock constructed military fortifications to strengthen the national capitol ' s defenses . On July 13 , 1861 , Babcock was assigned to the Department of Pennsylvania . The following months through June and August , Lieutenant Babcock was assigned to the Department of the Shenandoah and constructed military fortifications on the Potomac River and the Shenandoah Valley and served as aide - de - camp under Major General Nathaniel P . Banks . From August through November , Lieutenant Babcock , worked on military defenses surrounding Washington D . C . since there was at that time dire apprehension the Confederate Army would capture the nation ' s capitol . Peninsular campaign . On November 17 , 1861 , Babcock was promoted to First Lieutenant , Corps of Engineers , and a week later was assigned to the Army of the Potomac . During the months of February and March , 1862 , while General Banks moved to Winchester , Virginia , Babcock set up military fortifications at Harper ' s Ferry and guarded pontoon bridges crossing the Potomac River . During the Peninsular Campaign , Babcock served bravely at the Siege of Yorktown with the Army of the Potomac ' s Engineer Battalion and was breveted as a captain to rank from May 4 , 1862 . For the next seven months , Babcock built bridges , roads , and field works . For his service , in November , 1862 , Babcock was promoted to Chief Engineer Left Grand Division of the Army of the Potomac . In December 1862 , during the Battle of Fredericksburg , Babcock served on Brigadier General William B . Franklin ' s engineering staff . Vicksburg , Blue Springs , Cambell ' s station . On January 1 , 1863 , Br . Cap . Babcock was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel , and was named the Assistant Inspector General of the VI Corps until February 6 , when he was named the Assistant Inspector General and Chief Engineer of the IX Corps . As Chief Engineer of the IX Corps Lieut . Col . Babcock surveyed and projected the defensive fortifications at Louisville and Central Kentucky . Moving westward to help secure the Mississippi River from Confederate control and divide the Confederacy in two , Lieut . Col . Babcock fought with the IX Corps at the Battle of Vicksburg and the Battle of Blue Springs , and the Battle of Campbell ' s Station . Knoxville campaign . After fighting in the Knoxville Campaign , at the Battle of Fort Sanders , he became the Chief Engineer of the Department of the Ohio and promoted to Brevet Major on November 29 , 1863 . Overland Campaign . On March 29 , 1864 Babcock was promoted to lieutenant colonel and became the aide - de - camp to Lieutenant General Ulysses S . Grant where he participated in the Battle of the Wilderness , the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House and Battle of Cold Harbor . These battles were part of the Union armies Overland Campaign against General Robert E . Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia For his gallant service at the Battle of the Wilderness , Babcock was later brevetted as a colonel . On August 9 , 1864 , Babcock , while stationed at Union headquarters in City Point , was wounded in the hand after Confederate spies had blown up an ammunition barge moored below the city ' s bluffs . As Grant ' s aide - de - camp , Babcock ran dispatches between Grant and Major General William T . Sherman during Sherman ' s march to the sea campaign . For his meritorious contributions in the Civil War , on March 13 , 1865 , Babcock received two brevets - first to Brevet Colonel , and then to Brevet Brigadier General . Babcock delivered Grant ' s surrender demand to General Robert E . Lee at Appomattox , Virginia , and escorted Lee to his meeting with Grant at the Appomattox Court House . Babcock chose the place at Appomattox where Lee and Grant would meet for the surrender of the Army of Virginia . Postbellum . Final promotions , marriage , and family . After the War , Babcock remained on Grant ' s staff throughout America ' s turbulent Reconstruction Period . On July 25 , 1866 , Brig . Gen . Babcock was commissioned Colonel of Staff and aide - de - camp for General - in - Chief of the Army , Ulysses S . Grant . On March 21 , 1867 Babcock received a Regular Army commission as a major in the Corps of Engineers . On November 6 , 1866 , Babcock married Anne Eliza Cambell in Galena Illinois . Their marriage produced four children : Campbell E . Babcock , Orville E . Babcock , Jr . , Adolph B . Babcock , and Benjamin Babcock . Benjamin died during infancy . President Grant ' s private secretary . In 1868 , Ulysses S . Grant was elected the 18th President of the United States . In 1869 , Babcock was appointed Grant ' s private secretary . Babcock worked directly for President Grant . Babcock , one of a few men who had daily access to President Grant at the White House , had unprecedented influence over President Grant and planted suspicions in Grant that enemies were out to politically destroy his administration . His influence even extended indirectly into many cabinet departments and he was at odds with reformers , that included Secretary Fish and Secretary Bristow , who both had desired to save Grant ' s reputation from scandal . When cabinet appointments came available , Grant listened to Babcock ' s recommendations . Santo Domingo . After his appointment , in 1869 , Babcock was involved in the attempt to annex the Dominican Republic . While Grant believed the southern blacks might want to seek refuge in the Dominican Republic , Babcock , without informing the current Secretary of State , Hamilton Fish , negotiated an agreement with the Dominicans . This attempt for a treaty split Senator Charles Sumner away from the Radical Republican Party . During the negotiations , Babcock treated the Negro leaders on Santo Domingo as equals . Corruption : Whiskey Ring . During the early 1870s there was a profit - making tax evasion swindle on the part of whiskey distillers to defraud the United States government millions of dollars each year . This organized network of tax fraud and bribery , known as the Whiskey Ring , extended nationally and involved " the printing , selling , and approving of forged federal revenue stamps on bottled whiskey . " Secretary Bristow , whom President Grant put in charge of the Treasury in 1874 , immediately discovered the corruption , investigated , indicted and forcefully prosecuted members of the ring . Secretary Bristow , along with Attorney General Pierrepont , was intent on prosecuting the ring leaders . One of these suspected ringleaders was Babcock . In December 1875 , Babcock was indicted in St . Louis as a member of the Whiskey Ring , but was acquitted , partially due to testimony given by Grant and partially due to the prosecution leaking important documents to Babcock . After the Whiskey Ring trial , Grant learned that Babcock had been involved with a plot to corner the gold market in 1869 . President Grant then distanced Babcock from the White House retaining the position Superintendent of Public Works . In 1874 , prior to indictment in the Whiskey Ring scandal , Babcock apparently had laundered Whiskey Ring profit money from distillers by purchasing grove land in Crystal Lake , Florida . Safe burglary conspiracy . In September 1876 , Babcock was named in the Safe Burglary Conspiracy case when a critic of the Grant Administration was framed by bogus secret service officers and thieves . Babcock was acquitted during the trial . President Grant , at public urging , removed Babcock from the White House . Inspector of Light Houses and Death . In 1877 , Babcock was appointed Inspector of Light Houses at Mosquito Inlet , Florida . As part of this job , Babcock , a capable engineer , was responsible for the planning and building of the Mosquito Inlet Lighthouse . Before construction could begin , Babock drowned in Mosquito Inlet when the boat ferrying him to shore from a schooner overturned during a storm . He was 48 .