Civil War-era handwritten draft of a document in pencil by Arthur, unsigned, one page, 7.75 x 7.5, no date. Document pertaining to the 115th Reg. Volunteers (the “Iron Hearted Regiment”) in Captain Cowen’s Company. Arthur writes: "I hereby certify that I have examined the above account of O. W. Childs, for compensation & expenses, as a member of the Board of Engineers convened by His Excellency the Governor in December 1861 to consider & report upon plans for the defence of the Harbor of New York—and that the said account is correct and just" In very good to fine condition, with splitting to the ends of the folds, and a semicircular area of paper loss to the right edge, affecting a couple of words.
The catalyst that launched Chester A. Arthur’s political career, which occurred twenty years before he became President, was the stellar reputation he earned as engineer-in-chief of the state of New York during the Civil War. In 1860, the governor of New York appointed Arthur to be the engineer-in-chief of the state, with the rank of quartermaster general in the New York Volunteers. One of Arthur's first jobs was to oversee the rebuilding of the New York Harbor, making it more defensible and better equipped. Arthur served in that post with great efficiency, and was responsible for provisioning and housing the several hundred thousand soldiers supplied by the state to the federal cause, as well as for the defenses of New York. In this role, Arthur dealt with hundreds of private contractors and military personnel. The military service played to his advantage; he gained a reputation for efficiency, administrative genius, and reliability. Upon his retirement from military duty in 1863, Arthur returned to his law practice, making him wealthy by the war's end. He would later serve as the chief counsel to the New York City Tax Commission, and then as Collector of the Port of New York. In 1880, Arthur was elected Vice President to James Garfield, and the following year, he was sworn in as the 21st President of the United States, following Garfield’s assassination.
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