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11 days ago

In 1876, the Secretary of War resigned in tears in the Oval Office, the House impeached him anyway, and the whole mess ended up sending George Armstrong Custer to his death. His name was William Belknap. He was a Union general from Iowa who served as Ulysses S. Grant's Secretary of War for seven years. He and his wife were fixtures of Washington society, famous for expensive clothes and lavish parties on a cabinet salary that didn't come close to covering them. The money came from the frontier. Every Army post in the West had a trader, a civilian with an exclusive license to sell goods to the soldiers stationed there. With no competition, a post trader could charge whatever he wanted. Soldiers had nowhere else to go. These licenses were worth a fortune, and the Secretary of War decided who got them. Belknap's wife Carrie made a deal with a New York contractor named Caleb Marsh. Belknap would give Marsh the trading post at Fort Sill in Indian Territory. But the man already running it didn't want to leave. So they worked out an arrangement. The existing trader kept the store and paid Marsh $12,000 a year to be left alone. Marsh then sent half of that to the Belknaps. Carrie died in 1870. The payments kept coming, now to Belknap, supposedly for the care of their infant son. The baby died the next year. The payments kept coming. Belknap then married Carrie's sister. The payments still kept coming. Out on the frontier, soldiers paid inflated prices for everything from flour to boots so the Secretary of War could keep throwing parties. In early 1876, a House committee caught on. Marsh testified about the whole arrangement. On March 2, Belknap rushed to the White House and handed Grant his resignation. Grant, who liked him personally, accepted it on the spot. A few hours later, the House voted unanimously to impeach him anyway. That set up a question nobody had ever answered. Can you put a man on trial for impeachment after he's already left office? The Senate voted that yes, it could. Belknap was tried. A majority of senators voted to convict, but it fell short of the two-thirds needed. Most of the senators who voted to acquit said they did it because he'd already resigned, not because he was innocent. That precedent came up again in 2021. Now here's where Custer comes in. Custer had been hearing complaints about post traders for years. He thought the system was robbing his men. That spring, he came to Washington and testified before Congress about the corruption, and his testimony touched on Grant's own brother Orvil, who had been tied to trading post deals. Grant was furious. Custer was supposed to help lead the upcoming campaign against the Lakota and Cheyenne. Grant pulled him from command. Custer begged. His superiors, Generals Alfred Terry and William Sherman, pushed for him. Grant finally relented and let him go, but only as commander of his regiment, not the whole expedition. A few weeks later, on June 25, 1876, Custer rode into the valley of the Little Bighorn. Belknap was never charged with a crime. He went back to practicing law, died in 1890, and was buried at Arlington. It's called the Belknap scandal, and almost nobody learns about it.

EchoesofWarYT's tweet photo. In 1876, the Secretary of War resigned in tears in the Oval Office, the House impeached him anyway, and the whole mess ended up sending George Armstrong Custer to his death.

His name was William Belknap. He was a Union general from Iowa who served as Ulysses S. Grant's Secretary of War for seven years. He and his wife were fixtures of Washington society, famous for expensive clothes and lavish parties on a cabinet salary that didn't come close to covering them.

The money came from the frontier.

Every Army post in the West had a trader, a civilian with an exclusive license to sell goods to the soldiers stationed there. With no competition, a post trader could charge whatever he wanted. Soldiers had nowhere else to go. These licenses were worth a fortune, and the Secretary of War decided who got them.

Belknap's wife Carrie made a deal with a New York contractor named Caleb Marsh. Belknap would give Marsh the trading post at Fort Sill in Indian Territory. But the man already running it didn't want to leave. So they worked out an arrangement. The existing trader kept the store and paid Marsh $12,000 a year to be left alone. Marsh then sent half of that to the Belknaps.

Carrie died in 1870. The payments kept coming, now to Belknap, supposedly for the care of their infant son. The baby died the next year. The payments kept coming. Belknap then married Carrie's sister. The payments still kept coming.

Out on the frontier, soldiers paid inflated prices for everything from flour to boots so the Secretary of War could keep throwing parties.

In early 1876, a House committee caught on. Marsh testified about the whole arrangement. On March 2, Belknap rushed to the White House and handed Grant his resignation. Grant, who liked him personally, accepted it on the spot.

A few hours later, the House voted unanimously to impeach him anyway.

That set up a question nobody had ever answered. Can you put a man on trial for impeachment after he's already left office? The Senate voted that yes, it could. Belknap was tried. A majority of senators voted to convict, but it fell short of the two-thirds needed. Most of the senators who voted to acquit said they did it because he'd already resigned, not because he was innocent.

That precedent came up again in 2021.

Now here's where Custer comes in.

Custer had been hearing complaints about post traders for years. He thought the system was robbing his men. That spring, he came to Washington and testified before Congress about the corruption, and his testimony touched on Grant's own brother Orvil, who had been tied to trading post deals.

Grant was furious. Custer was supposed to help lead the upcoming campaign against the Lakota and Cheyenne. Grant pulled him from command.

Custer begged. His superiors, Generals Alfred Terry and William Sherman, pushed for him. Grant finally relented and let him go, but only as commander of his regiment, not the whole expedition.

A few weeks later, on June 25, 1876, Custer rode into the valley of the Little Bighorn.

Belknap was never charged with a crime. He went back to practicing law, died in 1890, and was buried at Arlington.

It's called the Belknap scandal, and almost nobody learns about it.

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