LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2006 October Grand Format Autographs #629  / 

25124

Ulysses S. Grant and William Belknap Commission

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:350.00 USD Estimated At:1,400.00 - 1,800.00 USD
Ulysses S. Grant and William Belknap Commission
<B>Ulysses S. Grant and William W. Belknap Commission Signed</B></I> "<I>U. S. Grant</B></I>" as president and "<I>Wm. W. Belknap</B></I>" as secretary of war. One page, 15.5" x 19.25". Washington, February 11, 1875. Matted and ornately framed under glass. Overall size, 23.5" x 28.5". On vellum. Recorded and signed at top left: "<I>E. D. Townsend</B></I>" as Adjutant General. Appointment of William H. Clapp as Captain in the Sixteenth Regiment of Infantry. Embossed blue paper seal affixed at upper left. Military vignettes at top and bottom. Folds, else in fine condition. <BR><BR>In a message to the U.S. Senate dated January 16, 1875, President Grant nominated First Lieutenant Clapp to be Captain. The nomination was referred to the Senate Committee on Military Affairs which reported favorably on February 2nd. On February 3, 1875, the Senate consented to the nomination. Clapp had previously been promoted to First Lieutenant "for gallant and meritorious services at the battle of Chickasaw Bayou, December 29th, 30th, and 31st, 1862" and to Brevet Captain "for gallantry at the siege of Vicksburg, Miss." From April 2, 1885 to May 12, 1885, Captain Clapp served as Commanding Officer of Fort Davis, Texas, built in 1854 and named in honor of then-Secretary of War Jefferson Davis.<BR><BR>William W. Belknap was Grant's Secretary of War from 1869 to March 2, 1876, when he handed his resignation to President Grant just minutes before the House of Representatives was scheduled to vote on his impeachment for allegedly receiving money in return for appointments to military trading posts in Indian territory. Later that day, the House voted unanimously to impeach Belknap, the only time in U.S. history that a cabinet member was impeached. The Senate convened its trial in early April, with Belknap present, after agreeing that it still had jurisdiction over former government officials. On August 1, 1876, the Senate rendered a majority vote against Belknap on all five articles. Each vote fell short of the necessary two-thirds, however, and he was acquitted. Some senators who voted not guilty did so because Belknap had already resigned.
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