 Already a brigadier general of the state militia at the onset of the Civil War, he met with what he perceived (and declared) to be prejudiced resistance from Abraham Lincoln when he attempted to raise regiments for the Union Army.In 1861, de Peyster traveled to Washington, D.C., to solicit a commission as a brigadier general of the Regular Army and offered to raise two regiments of artillery, which he felt best suited his expertise and physical condition.He was met with little interest after New York had already filled its national recruitment quota of 75,000 men.