General Milton Smith Littlefield was dubbed the "Prince of the Carpetbaggers" during the Reconstruction Era in the southern state of North Carolina.
Background
He was born on July 19, 1830 in Ellisburgh, New York.The corruption scandal was brought forth after George W. Swepson and Littlefield defrauded the state by $4 million, after the North Carolina Legislature of granted $27.8 million in Railroad bonds.
Career
He was a Union General during the United States Civil War. Along with Swepson, Littlefield was indicted for the fraud but was never convicted. He died on March 7, 1899.
According to a court record filed on March 29, 1886, on March 18, 1872, John H. Miller sued Littlefield in Duval County, Florida over a debt of fifty thousand dollars.
His lust for profiteering was exhibited in his Civil War service, having charge of recruitment of black troops in the Department of the South, he sought to have freedmen pressed into service and appropriated the enlistment bounty many of these "recruits" were due. Allegedly he used these misappropriations to fund these financial schemes.
There were also related findings with the Pensacola, Florida Railroad lines, as well as suits involving Calvin Littlefield, who filed to have the bonds given over to him.