Belknap requests a fresh pair of trousers

Heading: (Belknap, William)
Author:
Title: William W. Belknap carte-de-visite from The Brady National Gallery with an official requisition form signed by Belknap requesting a fresh pair of trousers
Place Published: Washington, DC
Publisher:The Brady National Gallery
Date Published: No date
Description:

Albumen photograph CDV framed with signed civil war requisition form. 10.3x6 cm (4x2¼"); form: 6x17 cm (2¼x6¾"); together in Optium Museum Acrylic glass frame: 20.8x22 cm (8¼x8¾"), paneled with glass at reverse.

With Civil War requisition form dated March 7, 1864, signed by Belknap, requesting one pair of cavalry trousers. William Worth Belknap was a lawyer, soldier in the Union Army, government administrator in Iowa, and the 30th United States Secretary of War under President Ulysses S. Grant. In 1875, Grant, Belknap, and other members of Grant's administration secretly agreed to remove troops from the Black Hills after gold was discovered. The US had protected the area from white settlers as part of a US treaty with the Lakota. The withdrawal of troops allowed a gold rush of white settlers to take place, and the US took de facto possession after the Lakota refused to sell their sacred lands. In 1876, the trader post scandal at Fort Sill led to Belknap's resignation, impeachment by the Democratic-controlled House, and trial by the Senate.
Condition Report: Light wear; requisition form chipped at ends.