“In 1860, Arthur was appointed to the military staff of Governor Edwin D. Morgan as engineer-in-chief. The office was a patronage appointment of minor importance until the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861, when New York and the other northern states were faced with raising and equipping armies of a size never before seen in American history. Arthur was given the rank of brigadier general and assigned to the quartermaster department.”—Wikipedia
Dear Olde Chet! To think that for all these years I thought he was just another crooked Collector of the Port of New York, the sweetest patronage deal in 19th C America. Thanks Germanicus!
However, he will never replace Ben Butler in my recollections.