Excerpt from "Gentleman Boss: The Life and Times of Chester Arthur"

In honor of Chester Arthur Appreciation Day, an excerpt from a book about him.

The Civil War is raging and Chester is the brigadier general of New York.

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After New York's initial thirty-eight regiments were recruited, all sorts of adventurers flocked to Washington to wangle commissions to raise troops. The War Department was desperate for manpower and frequently authorized prominent citizens to raise a regiment. Once permission was recieved, these gentlemen dubbed themselves high-ranking officers, set up headquarters, surrounded themselves with subordinates (who often purchased their commissions), passed out handbills, and began to recruit. At one point there were near a hundred such organizations in the state.

One such successful applicant was "Billy" Wilson, an aldderman who represented one of New York City's most crime-ridden areas. Wilson recruited a gang of toughs from his district who proceeded to plunder local restaurants in full uniform. Police were unwilling to crack down on Wilson and his boys because of their great popularity in the vicinity. The harassed restaurant owners finally appealed to the state for relief, and Governor Morgan ordered Arthur to put a stop to Wilso's marauding.

Upon request, Billy appeared one day at Arthur's office and swaggered through the door in a colonel's uniform. When told of Arthur's objections to his recent activities, Wilson bellowed:

"Neither you nor the governor has anything to do with me. I am a colonel in the United States service, and you've got no right to order me."

"You are not a colonel," Arthur replied indignantly, "and you will not be until you have raised your regiment to its quote of men and received your commission."

"Well, I've got my shoulder-straps anyway," said Wilson, "and as long as I wear them, I don't want no orders from any of you fellows."

At that, Arthur rose to his feet, ripped the straps from Wilson's shoulders, flung him into a chair, and had him put under arrest.

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Arthur's work during the Civil War is often considered to be his best work. He was honest and efficient as brigadier general and quartermaster general through 1863.

It isn't until after this when he began to fall into the political machine of Roscoe Conkling and become a strong supporter of the spoils system.