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 military 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 capital 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 1866, Babcock took an extensive tour of the U.S. Army western military posts and confronted Mormon leader Brigham Young over polygamy in Utah, believing the religious sect held "fanatical views". 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 and associated with four scandals. Grant shielded Babcock from political attack out of a loyalty bond that stemmed primarily from their shared battle experiences during the Civil War. 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 toward blacks, which played a part in his advocacy of Grant's plan to annex Santo Domingo.
Early life 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.Dictionary of American Biography (1928), Babcock, Orville E., p. 460 Among his siblings was Lorenzo A. Babcock, the first attorney general of Minnesota Territory. While growing up, he received a common education in the schools of Berkshire, Vermont. 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. His high class ranking enabled Babcock to select his branch, and he chose the Engineers, as did most top graduates of his era.
Civil War (1861–1865)
Constructed Washington D.C. defense works 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. On July 13, 1861, Babcock was assigned to the Department of Pennsylvania. 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. 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.
Peninsula 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 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. 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.
In December 1862, during the Battle of Fredericksburg, Babcock served on Brigadier General William B. Franklin's engineering staff.
Vicksburg, Blue Springs, Campbell's Station
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. As Chief Engineer of the IX Corps, 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, 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
Babcock was part of XXIII Corps, and served under Union engineer Captain Orlando M. Poe. Poe and Union engineers, including 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. The fort, had an innovative design, and was a salient in the line of earthworks that surrounded three sides of the city, rose above the surrounding plateau and was protected by a ditch wide and deep. An almost insurmountable vertical wall rose above the ditch, slippery and frozen. Inside the fort were 12 cannons and 440 men of the 79th New York Infantry. In front of the ditch, telegraph wires were strung at knee height across tree stumps, possibly the first use of such wire entanglements in the Civil War, to entangle Confederate soldiers who would assault the fort.
The Battle of Fort Sanders was brutal by 19th Century standards. The Confederates moved to within 120–150 yards of the salient during the night of freezing rain and snow and waited for the order to attack. Entangled by the telegraph wire, Confederate soldiers were shot by Union soldiers atop the wall. After crossing the ditch, the Confederates were unable to dig footholds. Men climbed upon each other's shoulders to attempt to reach the top of the wall. Union soldiers rained fire into the attackers, including musketry, canister, and artillery shells were thrown like hand grenades. A succession of color bearers was shot down as they planted their flags on the fort. For a brief time, three flags reached the top, those of the 16th Georgia, 13th Mississippi, and 17th Mississippi. After 40 minutes of battle, the Confederates broke and retreated. The battle ended in a lopsided Union victory, giving Babcock notoriety.
After fighting in the Knoxville Campaign at the Battle of Fort Sanders, Babcock became the Chief Engineer of the Department of the Ohio and was promoted to brevet major on November 29, 1863.
Overland Campaign
Babcock was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the regular army on March 29, 1864, and became the aide-de-camp to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant participating in Overland Campaign against General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Babcock served in the Battle of the Wilderness, the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, and the Battle of Cold Harbor. For his gallant service at the Battle of the Wilderness, Babcock was appointed brevet lieutenant colonel, U.S. Volunteers, to rank from May 6, 1864. 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.Catton (1969), p. 349. 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.
Appomattox: Lee surrenders to Grant On April 9, 1865, after being defeated at the Battle of Appomattox, Commanding Confederate General Robert E. Lee formally surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant. Babcock personally chose the site of surrender at the McLean House, personally escorted Lee to the meeting, and witnessed Grant and Lee discussing and signing the surrender terms.
For his meritorious contributions in the Civil War, Babcock was appointed brevet colonel, to rank from March 13, 1865. On July 17, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Babcock for brevet brigadier general in the regular army, to rank from March 13, 1865, and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on July 23, 1866.Eicher, 2001, p. 732.
Reconstruction
Final promotions, marriage, and family
After the War, Babcock remained on Grant's staff throughout America's turbulent Reconstruction Period. On July 25, 1866, Babcock then was commissioned colonel of volunteers and aide-de-camp for the 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.