H. C. Whitney wrote in 1866: “I was in Washington in the Indian service
for a few days before August, 1861, and I merely said to President
Lincoln one day: ‘Everything is drifting into the war, and I guess you
will have to put me in the army.’
“The President looked up from his work and said, good-humoredly:
‘I’m making generals now; in a few days I will be making quartermasters,
and then I’ll fix you.’”