Background
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 Olmstead.
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 Olmstead.
While growing up in Vermont he received a common education. 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 military career began in 1861 with his graduation from West Point and his assignment to the engineer corps as a second-lieutenant. At the opening of the Civil War he assisted in organizing and instructing a battalion of engineers, in which he commanded a company. On June 13, 1861, he was ordered to the headquarters of the Department of Pennsylvania, in July to the Department of the Shenandoah, and in November to the Army of the Potomac.
In 1862 Gen. W. B. Franklin, then in charge of the left grand division of the Army of the Potomac, placed Babcock on his staff. In January 1864, Babcock was made acting chief engineer of the Department of the Ohio, with headquarters at Knoxville, to have entire charge of positions, defenses, bridges, and so forth. Shortly afterward he was attached to Grant's staff as an aide-de-camp. During his advance in rank from the position of a second-lieutenant in 1861 to that of a brigadier-general by brevet in 1865, Babcock apparently enjoyed the enthusiastic approval of his superiors.
Grant used Babcock in a wide variety of circumstances to carry orders and counsel, to gather information, and to survey positions. Thus in 1864 he sent Babcock to observe Sherman's army and then to Secretary Stanton to convey news and information that might be useful. The tenacity with which Grant later shielded his staff officer against attacks becomes understandable in the light of these experiences in the field, as when Grant sent Babcock--"in whom I have great confidence"--to Burnside during the operations about Spottsylvania Court House, with instructions to give every assistance in his power. On June 6, 1865, Grant recommended promotion "for meritorious services in the defense of Knoxville, Tenn. , and especially for gallant conduct in the defense of Fort Sanders, . .. gallant conduct in the battle of the Wilderness, . .. gallant conduct in the battles in front of Petersburg, and in the pursuit and capture of the Army of Northern Virginia. "
For several years he was private secretary to President Grant, and superintendent of buildings and grounds in the city of Washington. While holding the former office he visited Santo Domingo (1869) in the interest of Grant's attempt to annex the island. At this time Babcock became associated with a group of men in the Internal Revenue Service who were defrauding the government of great sums of money. In particular, he was friendly with John McDonald, supervisor of Internal Revenue at St. Louis, known to be one of the leaders of the "Whisky Ring, " and had received costly presents from McDonald. On December 9, 1875, the grand jury at St. Louis returned a true bill against Babcock "for conspiracy to defraud the revenue. " Grant found it impossible to believe that his old army friend and aide had been guilty of such practises. He accordingly volunteered a deposition to the effect that he knew of nothing suggesting guilt on Babcock's part, and that he believed his secretary innocent. Subsequently, in February 1876, the court returned a verdict of not guilty, and Babcock returned to his duties at the White House for a short time, but soon left permanently. He retired to private life and was drowned at Mosquito Inlet.
Babcock also has been noted positively for his association with the antislavery views of the Radical Republicans, and for his dealings with African Americans from a position of equality, a trait which was uncommon for the white people of his era, even those who opposed slavery.
Just after the close of the war, on November 8, 1866, Babcock was married in Galena, to Annie Eliza Campbell.
