John Aaron Rawlins John Aaron Rawlins ( February 13 , 1831 – September 6 , 1869 ) was an United States Army general during the American Civil War , a confidant of Ulysses S . Grant , and later U . S . Secretary of War . Biography . Born in Illinois , Rawlins practiced law there after being admitted to the bar in 1854 . In 1861 , at the outbreak of the Civil War , Rawlins met Ulysses S . Grant , who was raising a regiment from Galena to answer President Abraham Lincoln ' s call for troops . He initially served as a volunteer aide - de - camp , but at Grant ' s request , Rawlins joined the United States Army as a captain and assistant adjutant general under Grant ' s command . Rawlins remained with Grant throughout the war , in roles of increasing responsibility and rank , including Chief of Staff of the Army of the Tennessee and of the Military Division of the Mississippi . He was known for his great attention to detail , as well as being a stickler for proper protocol . He was promoted to brigadier general on August 11 , 1863 . When Grant was promoted to general in chief of all the Union armies , Rawlins became Chief of Staff of the General Headquarters of the United States Army . He was promoted to brevet major general on February 24 , 1865 , to brigadier general in the regular army March 3 , and brevet major general in the regular army on April 9 . Rawlins remained with Grant even after the general was elected President , serving as Grant ' s first Secretary of War . However , Rawlins had contracted tuberculosis , and his failing health caused his term in office to be brief ( March 11 – September 6 , 1869 ) . His doctors recommended that Rawlins go to Arizona , where the dry desert climate would allow him to live longer . Rawlins refused , wishing to stay at Grant ' s side as his Secretary of War . He died in Washington and was buried in Congressional Cemetery , but his remains were later relocated to Arlington National Cemetery . A statue , " General John A . Rawlins " was erected in Washington , D . C . in 1874 . The town of Rawlins , county seat of Carbon County , Wyoming , is named for him , as well as Rawlins County , Kansas . Personal relationship with Grant . Rawlins devoted his efforts to maintaining Grant ' s public image during the war . Grant was known before the war for trouble with alcoholism , but it was revealed , in a letter from Rawlins to Grant ( which Grant never saw ) , that Grant maintained his sobriety during his command of the Army . In this letter , made public in 1891 — several years after Grant ' s death — Rawlins wrote , " I find you where the wine bottle has been emptied , in company with those who drink , and urge you not to do likewise . " Rawlins noted that this advice was " heeded , and all went well " , thus proving that Grant was not impaired by drink when his decision - making was critical . There was speculation that by the time Rawlins died , he and Grant had grown distant and that Grant no longer needed Rawlins ' s constant fussing over his image . When Rawlins died , only his temporary successor as Secretary of War , General William Tecumseh Sherman , was at his bedside . In his memoirs , written shortly before his death , Grant only mentioned Rawlins twice , and essentially ignored their professional and personal relationship . Surviving members of Grant ' s former staff were outraged at the fact that Grant would snub someone who had been as loyal to him — literally to the death — as Rawlins had been . The most likely explanation for this is given by historian E . B . Long , who wrote , " It might be that Grant did not wish to praise Rawlins too profusely because of the current reports picturing Rawlins as the protector of Grant from his own bad habits . "