from the army. He also tried to combat corruption on the part of the Office of Indian Affairs whose local officials frequently misappropriated funds. These practices made Dimon unpopular with civilians in the region and created political difficulties for his superior officer, Brig. Gen. Alfred Sully, who frequently ordered Dimon to change his practices. Discouraged by these difficulties, Dimon requested a medical leave during September 1865. In his absence, the morale of the 1st U.S. Volunteers deteriorated when they learned that, despite the war's end, they would not be mustered out. Dimon returned to Fort Rice in October 1865 to find that many desertions had taken place and discipline was all but non-existent. News soon arrived, however, that the regiment would be mustered out after all and Dimon led what remained of the 1st U.S. Volunteers back to Fort Leavenworth. The regiment, including Dimon, was mustered out on November 27, 1865. On January 13, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Dimon for the award of the honorary grade of brevet brigadier general, U.S. Volunteers, to rank from March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious services and the U.S. Senate confirmed the award on March 12, 1866. Post-war life Dimon's most notable position in civilian life was once again achieved through his connection to Benjamin Butler. In 1869, Butler founded the U.S. Cartridge Company in Lowell, Massachusetts, and secured major government contracts to produce small arms ammunition. Butler hired Dimon to manage the company in the mid-1870s and, under Dimon's direction, the company grew. By the 1880s it had a work force of approximately 250 and had expanded its operations to include the production of the "Lowell Battery Gun," a weapon similar to the Gatling gun. Towards the end of his life, Dimon engaged in a political career, becoming the 37th mayor of Lowell in 1901. He died while holding that office in 1902 of throat cancer. See also List of Massachusetts generals in the American Civil War Massachusetts in the American Civil War Notes References External links Charles Augustus Ropes Dimon Papers. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. 1841 births 1902 deaths Union Army generals People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War Mayors of Lowell, Massachusetts People from Fairfield, Connecticut