NY National Guard general honors president Chester Arthur

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Major General Michel Natali, right, and Command Sgt. Major Edwin Garris place a wreath from the White House at the gravesite of President Chester Arthur, during a ceremony at Albany Rural Cemetery

MENANDS, NEW YORK (10/04/2024) (readMedia)-- The New York National Guard marked the 195th birthday of Chester Arthur, the 21st President of the United States, during a ceremony at Albany Rural Cemetery on Friday, October 4.

Army Major General Michel Natali, the assistant adjutant general, presented a wreath from President Joseph Biden at Arthur's memorial as taps sounded and a color guard and honor cordon presented arms.

Natali, and New York Army National Guard Command Sgt. Major Edward Garis, were carrying on a tradition that began in 1967. That year President Lyndon Johnson began sending wreaths to be placed on the graves of his predecessors on their birthdays.

In his remarks Natali told the 20 people gathered for the ceremony, that Arthur, who was born on October 5, 1829, in Vermont, has special significance for the New York National Guard.

As a lawyer, Arthur helped modernize the New York State Militia, the predecessor of the National Guard, and then went on to serve as a brigadier general during the Civil War.

He served as judge advocate of the militia's second brigade in 1857, and in 1860 he was appointed the engineer in chief for the governor

When the Civil War broke out Arthur supervised the construction and maintenance of fortifications guarding New York Harbor.

Then he went on to serve as inspector general, visiting New York troops in the field, Natali said.

Most importantly, Arthur was named quartermaster general for the militia, responsible for clothing, equipping and providing weapons for many of the 300 regiments of 1,000 Soldiers each, New York raised for the war, Natali said.

A representative of the Sons of Union Veterans, a Civil War commemorative group, also placed a wreath at the grave to mark Arthur's Civil War service.

Arthur, Natali said, had roots in the Albany, New York area. He taught school in nearby towns and earned his law degree at Union College in Schenectady.

He also played a key role in early civil rights litigation, Natali pointed out. As a young lawyer in 1854, he represented a Black woman in a case which ended segregation in public transportation in New York City, he said.

Arthur was deeply involved in Republican politics but did not serve in elected office until he became vice president in 1880. When President Jame Garfield was shot and died, Garfield stepped into the role of president.

Arthur was very much alone in this role, Albany historian and author David Pietruska, said in his remarks. He represented a minor faction in Republican politics, Garfield had been widely respected, and Arthur had no friends in government, he told the audience.

In his remarks, Pietruska quoted Elihu Root, and important figure in 19th century American politics and friend of Arthur who noted that when he became president in September 1881 "he was alone"

"He was bowed down by the weight of fearful responsibility and crushed to the earth by the feeling, exaggerated but not unfounded, that he was surrounded by dislike, suspicion, distrust and condemnation, "Pietruska said, quoting Root.

But by the end of his term in office, Arthur was praised for creating the federal civil service, reenergizing the U.S. Navy by pushing the construction of modern ships, and going after corruption in government, Natali said.

He left office in 1885 but died in New York City in Arthur died in New York City in November 1886 due to complications from kidney disease. He was buried in Albany Rural Cemetery where his wife, who died in 1880 from pneumonia, was interred previously.

Writer Mark Twain praised Arthur upon his death.

"I am but one in 55,000,000; still, in the opinion of this one-fifty-five-millionth of the country's population, it would be hard to better President Arthur's administration," Twain wrote.

In 1889, the elaborate marker featuring a granite sarcophagus and bronze statue of a weeping angel was placed on the cemetery plot where Arthur, a two-year old son, and his wife were already buried. His son, Chester Arthur II, was interred there following his death in 1937.

Photographs from the ceremony can be downloaded here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nyng/albums/72177720320891578