After Leroy Walker?

[atlantis]

After Leroy Walker resigned as secretary of war why wasn't the assistant secretary of war selected as his replacement instead it went to B Judah.

Your thoughts/insights.

 

[Bruce Allardice]

After Leroy Walker resigned as secretary of war why wasn't the assistant secretary of war selected as his replacement instead it went to B Judah.

Your thoughts/insights.

Walker resigned in Sept. of 1861. The position of Assistant Sec. of War was not created until Jan. of 1862.

 

[atlantis]

Walker resigned in Sept. of 1861. The position of Assistant Sec. of War was not created until Jan. of 1862.

Was the resignation of Walker the impetus for creating position of Assistant Sec. of War.

 

[Bruce Allardice]

Was the resignation of Walker the impetus for creating position of Assistant Sec. of War.

Maybe part of it. More likely:
The Union/US had assistant secretaries of war already. The Confederate army was expanding rapidly and perhaps the exigencies of the war required some assistants in the War Office.

 

[atlantis]

Maybe part of it. More likely:
The Union/US had assistant secretaries of war already. The Confederate army was expanding rapidly and perhaps the exigencies of the war required some assistants in the War Office.

But why Judah he had no military background at all. and no real executive branch experience to speak of, the AG office was pretty quiet.

 

[Bruce Allardice]

But why Judah he had no military background at all. and no real executive branch experience to speak of, the AG office was pretty quiet.

Edwin Stanton didn't have a military background either. And had as much (as little) executive experience as Judah Benjamin.
The assistant Secretaries of War CSA included Robert Ould (a lawyer and prewar militia general) and John A. Campbell (ex-Justice of the US Supreme Court). Not a lot of military experience there, either. The assistants appear to have been chosen for the legal expertise, as a lot of legal questions plagued the War Department.