(Freedmen's Bureau) where he served as Chief Superintendent of the Freedmen's Bureau for Memphis, Tennessee. On January 13, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Runkle for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers, to rank from November 9, 1865, and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on March 12, 1866. He served as the Chief Superintendent of the Freedmen's Bureau for Memphis, Tennessee during the violent Memphis Riots of 1866 on May 1, 1866, where, since he had few troops available, he was powerless to protect the black Union veterans who had been mustered out of the army the previous day. On January 7, 1869, Runkle became the head Superintendent of Freedmen's Affairs, State of Kentucky. Since the government had announced plans to terminate Freedmen's bureau operations in Kentucky, Runkle and his caretaker staff presided over bureau school closings and the dispersal of the remaining funds, which were completed in the summer of 1870, although the veterans' claim offices remained open through June 1872. While serving as both an active duty army major and as a disbursing officer of the Freedmen's Bureau for the State of Kentucky in 1870, he was placed on the retired list as major, but continued as a disbursing officer until he was arrested and tried before a court-martial for financial irregularities on the part of his sub-agents for "alleged failures to pay, or to pay in full". Court-martial The court-martial found Runkle guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman and of violating the March 2, 1863, c. 67, § 1, Act of Congress. His sentence was imprisonment, payment of a fine, and dismissal from the army, where he had been serving on the retired list and drawing retired pay. The Secretary of War, William W. Belknap, reviewed the proceedings and in 1873 issued an order approving Runkle's conviction, but in consideration of his war service and wounds, granted Runkle executive clemency in the name of the President and eliminated the fine and prison sentence. However, his dismissal from the army remained in effect. Under the law at that time, any court martial sentence involving an officer's dismissal in peacetime needed to be confirmed by the President and there was no indication in this order that the conviction was confirmed by President Ulysses S. Grant himself. On the same day that he was cashiered, Runkle petitioned President Grant, complaining that his sentence