Orville E.

Babcock
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Orville Elias Babcock

Orville E. Babcock

Born December 25, 1835

Franklin, Vermont

Died June 2, 1884 (aged 48)

Mosquito Inlet, Florida

Place of burial Arlington National Cemetery

Allegiance United States of America

Union

Service/branch United States Army

Union Army

Years of service 1861–1884

 Rank  Colonel
 Brevet Brigadier General

Unit United States Army Corps of Engineers

Battles/wars American Civil War

 Peninsular Campaign

Siege of Yorktown

 Battle of Fredericksburg

 Siege of Vicksburg

 Battle of Blue Springs

 Knoxville Campaign

Battle of Fort Sanders

 Overland Campaign

Other work Private Secretary for President Ulysses S. Grant (1869–1877)

Orville Elias Babcock (December 25, 1835 – June 2, 1884) was an American engineer
and general in the Union Army during the Civil War. An aide to General Ulysses S.
Grant during and after the war, he was President Grant's private secretary at the White
House, Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds for Washington D.C., and a Florida-
based federal inspector of lighthouses. Babcock continued to serve as lighthouse
inspector under Grant's successors Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield,
and Chester A. Arthur.
A native of Vermont, Babcock graduated third in his class at West Point in 1861, and
served in the United States Army Corps of Engineers throughout the Civil War. As
Assistant Engineer and aide-de-camp for district commander Nathaniel P. Banks, in
1862 Babcock worked on fortifications to aid in defending the nation's capitol from
Confederate attack. Babcock later served as aide-de-camp for Ulysses S. Grant and
participated in the Overland Campaign. He was promoted to brevet brigadier general in
1865 and continued on Grant's staff during Reconstruction. In 1867, Babcock warned
Grant of a white supremacist insurgency that used Confederate symbolism to intimidate
blacks in the South.
After Grant became President in 1869, Babcock was assigned Grant's Secretary to the
President of the United States—in modern terms, the chief of staff—and he served until
his departure from the White House in 1876. Young and ambitious, critics considered
Babcock the Iago of the Grant administration. He remained on the Army rolls during his
service in the White House, which limited the ability of Congress to oversee or influence
his activities. This circumstance became an issue when he was accused of crimes while
in office. In addition to his position in the White House, Grant appointed Babcock
Superintendent of Public Buildings and Grounds for Washington, DC. In 1869, Grant
sent him on a mission to explore the possibility of annexing the island nation of Santo
Domingo to the United States, but the Senate, led by Charles Sumner, rejected the
proposal.
Babcock's tenure under Grant was controversial. He was criminally indicted twice over
corruption charges. Grant shielded Babcock from political attack out of a loyalty bond
that stemmed primarily from their shared battle experiences during the Civil War.[1] After
Babcock was indicted as a member of the Whiskey Ring in 1875, Grant provided a
written deposition on Babcock's behalf—a first for a sitting president—which was
admitted at Babcock's 1876 trial, and resulted in his acquittal. Upon his return from St.
Louis, Grant gave in to pressure from Secretary of State Hamilton Fish and forced
Babcock to leave the White House. A second indictment, in 1876, over the Safe
Burglary Conspiracy, ended in an acquittal, but further alienated Babcock from
Republicans who favored government reform, while public opinion turned against him.
Despite dismissing him from the White House, Grant did not desert his wartime
comrade; in February 1877, he appointed Babcock Inspector of Lighthouses for the
Federal Lighthouse Board's Fifth District, a low-profile post that did not attract undue
public attention. In 1882, President Chester A. Arthur additionally appointed Babcock as
Inspector of Lighthouses for the Sixth District. Babcock was the chief engineer
overseeing plans for the construction of the Mosquito Inlet Lighthouse. He died on duty
in 1884 when he drowned off Mosquito Inlet in Daytona Beach, Florida. Babcock's
historical reputation is mixed; his technical engineering expertise, efficiency, bravery in
battle, and Union loyalty were offset by his involvement in corruption, deception, and
scandal. Contrary to most of his contemporaries, Babcock also held no racial animosity,
which played a part in his advocacy of Grant's plan to annex Santo Domingo.

Contents

 1Early life
 2Civil War (1861–1865)
o 2.1Constructed Washington D.C. defense works
o 2.2Peninsula campaign
o 2.3Vicksburg, Blue Springs, Campbell's Station
o 2.4Knoxville campaign
o 2.5Overland Campaign
o 2.6Appomattox: Lee surrenders to Grant
 3Reconstruction
o 3.1Final promotions, marriage, and family
o 3.2Reported on South (1867)
 4President Grant's personal secretary (1869–1876)
o 4.1Gatekeeper to Grant
o 4.2Santo Domingo annexation
 4.2.1Visited island
  4.2.2Treaty negotiations
 4.2.3Failed to pass Senate
o 4.3Corruption
 4.3.1Gold corner (1869)
 4.3.2Whiskey Ring (1875-1876)
 4.3.2.1St. Louis Trial
 4.3.2.2Return to Washington D.C.
 4.3.3Safe burglary conspiracy (1876)
o 4.4Public buildings and grounds (1873–1877)
 5Inspector of lighthouses (1877–1884)
o 5.1Presidential election (1880)
o 5.2Mosquito Inlet lighthouse and drowning
 6Historical reputation
 7See also
 8References
 9Sources
 10External links

Early life[edit]
Orville E. Babcock was born on December 25, 1835 in Franklin, Vermont, a small town
located near the Canada–US border close to Lake Champlain. Babcock's father was
Elias Babcock Jr. and his mother was Clara Olmsted.[1] While growing up, he received a
common education in the schools of Berkshire, Vermont.[2] 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.[2] His high class ranking enabled Babcock to select his
branch, and he chose the Engineers, as did most top graduates of his era. [3][4]

Civil War (1861–1865)[edit]

Constructed Washington D.C. defense works[edit]
The American Civil War was beginning as Babcock was graduating; he was
commissioned as a Brevet Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers, and assigned
to duty as an Assistant Engineer for the military district that included Washington. His
first mission was the undertaking of efforts to improve the defensive works of
Washington, D.C. and protect the city from attack.[1] On July 13, 1861, Babcock was
assigned to the Department of Pennsylvania. [1] In August, he received his commission
as a second lieutenant, to date from his West Point graduation in May; he was assigned
to the Department of the Shenandoah, and constructed military fortifications on
the Potomac River and in the Shenandoah Valley while also serving as aide-de-
camp under Major General Nathaniel P. Banks.[1] From August through November,
Babcock worked again on improving the fortifications surrounding Washington,
responding to increased apprehension the Union capital was vulnerable to attack and
capture by the Confederate Army.[2]
Peninsula campaign[edit]
Orville E. Babcock (left)
and Orlando M. Poe (right),
Union Engineers in Ft. Sander's salient. Photograph by Barnard, 1863–1864.

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.[2] 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.[2] During the Peninsula
Campaign, Babcock served bravely at the Siege of Yorktown with the Army of the
Potomac's Engineer Battalion and was brevetted as a captain to rank from May 4, 1862.
[2]
 For the next seven months, Babcock built bridges, roads, and field works. For his
service, in November, 1862, Babcock was promoted to Chief Engineer of the Left Grand
Division of the Army of the Potomac.[2]
In December 1862, during the Battle of Fredericksburg, Babcock served on Brigadier
General William B. Franklin's engineering staff.[1]
Vicksburg, Blue Springs, Campbell's Station[edit]
On January 1, 1863, Babcock was promoted to permanent captain and
brevet 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.[2] As Chief Engineer of the IX Corps, Babcock surveyed and
projected the defensive fortifications at Louisville and Central Kentucky.[2] Moving
westward to help secure the Mississippi River from Confederate control and divide the
Confederacy in two, Babcock fought with the IX Corps at the Battle of Vicksburg and
the Battle of Blue Springs, and the Battle of Campbell's Station.[2]
Knoxville campaign[edit]
 Battle of Fort Sanders

Babcock was part of XXIII Corps, and served under Union engineer Captain Orlando M.
Poe. Poe and Union engineers, that included Babcock, built several fortifications in the
form of bastioned earthworks near Knoxville. One was Fort Sanders, just west of
downtown Knoxville across a creek valley. It was named for Brig. Gen. William P.
Sanders, mortally wounded in a skirmish outside Knoxville on November 18, 1863. [5] The
fort, had an innovative design, and was a salient in the line of earthworks that
surrounded three sides of the city, rose 70 feet (21 m) above the surrounding plateau
and was