Babcock, Orville E.

Babcock, Orville E.

(1835–84) Union soldier; born in Franklin, Vt. An 1861 West Point graduate, he became an aide-de-camp to General Grant in 1864 and soon became a confidant of the commander-in-chief. He was acquitted of fraud charges in the "Whiskey Ring" scandal of the 1870s, largely as a result of Grant's intercession.