Records of the Office of the Secretary of War. 1791 - 1948. Letters Sent by Secretary of War William Belknap, 9/1871 - 10/1873

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Records of the Office of the Secretary of War. 1791 - 1948. Letters Sent by Secretary of War William Belknap, 9/1871 - 10/1873

1871-1873

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/627853

This series consists of copies of informal and unofficial letters sent to Army officers, heads of War Department bureaus, Cabinet members, Members of Congress, officials of veterans' organizations, city mayors, and other private citizens concerning invitations to ceremonial events; the search for portraits of previous Secretaries of War; and requests for information relating to a particular soldier, appointments, and pension claims. Several letters were entered in this volume because the Secretary of War considered them private. Included, for example, are letters to several of Belknap's friends in Keokuk, Iowa, explaining the award of a Government contract to a certain firm; a request for an unofficial report on the October 1871 Chicago fire; and letters to several officers who served under Belknap during the Civil War, asking them if they believed Union troops had been responsible for the burning of Columbia, South Carolina, in 1865.

3 linear inches

eng, Latn

National Archives at Washington, D.C

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6494857

National Archives at Washington, D.C

Related Entities

There are 1 Entities related to this resource.

Belknap, William Worth, 1829-1890

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69024zk (person)

William Worth Belknap was born in Newburgh, New York on September 22, 1829, the son of career soldier William G. Belknap and Anne (Clark) Belknap. Belknap's father had fought with distinction in the War of 1812, Florida War, and Mexican–American War. Belknap attended the local schools in Newburgh, and graduated from Princeton University in 1848. In addition to attending Princeton with Hiester Clymer, the Democratic Congressman who later led the investigation into Belknap's War Department corrupt...