Charles Griffin - Postbellum

Postbellum

After the war, Griffin's rank reverted to colonel in the regular army, in command of the 35th U.S. Infantry. He briefly commanded the Department of Maine before being sent west to Galveston, Texas. He served as assistant commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau for Texas in 1867, serving under Philip H. Sheridan.

He became entangled in political issues and registered both black and white voters under the Reconstruction Acts in the spring of that year. He strictly enforced the ironclad oath of allegiance (forcing men to publicly swear that they had never served the Confederacy) as the basis for jury selection. Dissatisfied with the performance of appointed Governor James W. Throckmorton, Griffin persuaded General Sheridan to remove him from office and replace him with a Republican and loyal Unionist, Elisha M. Pease. Together, they used their power and position to remove several Democratic antebellum state officeholders who had supported the Confederacy, replacing them with other Unionists.

Griffin was assigned command of the Fifth Military District, replacing Sheridan, and was ordered to report to New Orleans. However, before he could leave for Louisiana and his new headquarters, he died in an epidemic of yellow fever that swept through Galveston. He is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C..

Fort Griffin on the Texas frontier was later named in his honor.