Orville E. Babcock

Orville Elias Babcock
Orville E. Babcock
Born	(1835-12-25)December 25, 1835 Franklin, Vermont
Died	June 2, 1884(1884-06-02) (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: Battle of Fredericksburg Peninsular Campaign Siege of Yorktown 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)

American Civil War:

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 at the United States Military Academy 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 Babock 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. After Grant became President in 1869, Babcock was appointed Superintendent of Public Buildings and Grounds for Washington, DC and Secretary to the President of the United States—in modern terms, the chief of staff—and he served in both posts until 1876. Upon his appointment Babcock was young and ambitious, and considered the Iago of the Grant administration. In 1869, Grant sent Babcock on a mission to explore the possibility of annexing the island nation of Santo Domingo to the United States.

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 Babcock 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. When Babcock was indicted as a member of the Whiskey Ring in 1875, Grant intended to travel to St. Louis and testify on his behalf. Dissuaded by his cabinet on the grounds that taking part in person at a trial would demean the presidency, Grant still insisted on providing 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. The news coverage of the Whiskey Ring and other Grant administration scandals caused public opinion to turn against Babcock. Having gone so far as to provide what was almost certainly false testimony in order to save Babcock from disgrace, Grant lost trust in him. This loss of faith, combined with the negative public attention, led Grant to dismiss Babcock from the White House. Even though Grant fired Babcock as his private secretary, he did not desert his wartime comrade; he appointed Babcock Inspector of Lighthouses for the Federal Lighthouse Board's 5th and 6th Districts, a low-profile post that did not attract undue public attention. Babcock continued in this position under Presidents Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, and Chester A. Arthur without controversy. During his tenure, Babcock was the chief engineer overseeing plans for the construction of Mosquito Inlet Lighthouse. He died in 1884 when he drowned off Mosquito Inlet in Daytona Beach, Florida.