12. U.S. House, Committee on Education and Labor, “Charges against General Howard,” Congressional Globe, 41st Cong., 2d Sess., House report no. 121 [July 13, 1870]. (23 p.)


Report of a committee charged with investigating the charge that Oliver O. Howard, Commissioner of the Freedmen’s Bureau, had embezzled funds in the amount of $600,000. The accusation was made on the floor of the House of Representatives by Congressman Fernando Wood of New York during the debate on whether the Bureau should be abolished. The Committee concluded that the charges against Howard were “groundless and causeless.” The committee also decided that Gen. Howard had administered the Bureau “with fidelity, integrity, and ability.”