X-Nico

6 unusual facts about United States Secretary of War


Alexander Slidell Mackenzie

Mackenzie was captain of the USS Somers when it became the only U.S. Navy ship to undergo a mutiny which led to executions, including Philip Spencer, the nineteen-year-old son of the Secretary of War John C. Spencer.

Clark Henry Wells

During this time, sent a letter to the United States Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, that accused Maj. Granville O. Haller, former commander of George B. McClellan's headquarters guard, of disloyal sentiments to the Union.

David John Nevin

However, in April 1863 his sentence was disapproved by the Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton and he was released from arrest, and restored to his command.

John Baptist Smith

In recognition of the valuable contribution that Sgt. Smith had made, the Secretary of War assigned him for special duty with General Whiting at Wilmington.

Stanton College Preparatory School

The school was a wooden structure and was named in honor of Edwin McMasters Stanton, President Abraham Lincoln's second Secretary of War.

William A. Winder

In October 1866, he tendered his resignation, believing that the "Secretary of War was unfriendly to him."


5th Michigan Volunteer Cavalry Regiment

Russell A. Alger served as commander of the 5th Michigan Cavalry beginning in February 1863; he later became the Governor of Michigan, U.S. Secretary of War, and a U.S. Senator.

Cape Poinsett

The cape was plotted from air photos taken by USN Operation Highjump, 1946–48, and named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) after Joel R. Poinsett, Secretary of War under President Martin Van Buren, who was instrumental in the compilation and publication of the large number of scientific reports based on the work of the United States Exploring Expedition.

Clovis E. Byers

The I Corps headquarters staff moved to Brisbane by air in August 1942, travelling on the same aircraft as former United States Secretary of War Patrick J. Hurley and the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Peter Fraser.

Commanding General of the United States Army

The gap from 11 March 1862, to 23 July 1862, was filled with direct control of the army by President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, with the help of an unofficial "War Board" that was established on 17 March 1862.

Elting E. Morison

1960 - Elting E. Morison - Turmoil and Tradition, a biography of Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of State in the Hoover Administration and later Secretary of War in the Roosevelt Administration, Parkman Prize of the Society of American Historians.

Enos D. Hopping

A personal and political friend of Secretary of War William L. Marcy, Hopping was appointed a brigadier general in the Regular Army by President James K. Polk on March 3, 1847.

Horace Dean

As a result, Governor MacDonnell wrote in 1855 to Jefferson Davis, American Secretary of War to clarify the matter and Davis rejected Dean's claims.

Lockheed XC-35

The Air Corps brass were so confident in the new technology that they allowed the XC-35 to be used as an executive transport for Louis Johnson, the assistant secretary of war and future Secretary of Defense.

Munson Report

The Munson Report was circulated to several Cabinet officials, including Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, Attorney General Francis Biddle, and Secretary of State Cordell Hull.

Sarah Gibson Blanding

Her positions: consultant to the U.S. Secretary of War as member of the Joint Army and Navy Committee on Welfare and Recreation (1943-1946); member of the President's Commission on Higher Education under President Truman; and member of the Public Advisory Board of the Economic Cooperation Administration.

United States Senate special election in Pennsylvania, 1861

Sen. Cameron resigned on March 4, 1861, to become United States Secretary of War in the Abraham Lincoln administration, vacating the seat.

William Babcock Hazen

Hazen offered testimony in one of the procurement corruption scandals that rocked the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant, which resulted in the resignation of Grant's Secretary of War, William W. Belknap.

William L. Clayton

He was a member of the Interim Committee appointed to advise Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson and President Harry S. Truman on problems expected to arise from the development of the atomic bomb and he was an economic advisor to Truman at the Potsdam Conference.

Wright Flyer III

Four days later, they wrote to the United States Secretary of War William Howard Taft, offering to sell the world's first practical fixed-wing aircraft.


see also

Jacob Dickinson

Jacob M. Dickinson (1851–1928), United States Secretary of War, 1909–1911