During the Battle of Gettysburg, the 19th Massachusetts Infantry, under his command, played an important role in filling a breach in the Union lines during Pickett's Charge.

[1] Born in Salem, Massachusetts, Devereux attended Harvard College and the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Devereux became adjutant to Illinois National Guard Maj. Simon Bolivar Buckner, later a Confederate general during the Civil War and eventually a governor of Kentucky.

[2] Both Devereux and Ellsworth were acutely interested in the Zouave method of drill, inspired by the French Army units of the same name which fought in North Africa and wore elaborate uniforms influenced by Algerian fashions.

Inspired by Ellsworth's Chicago Cadets, Devereux enhanced the Salem company's prestige by transforming it into a Zouave unit and training its members in precision drill.

Almost immediately after their arrival, the Salem Light Infantry, designated Company J of the 8th Massachusetts, was ordered aboard the USS Constitution to protect the vessel from attack by Confederate sympathizers.

The Navy soon towed the Constitution, with Devereux's Salem company on board, to New York City where she would be less vulnerable to those seeking to destroy the Union in order to preserve slavery.

Returning to Maryland, Devereux and his company rejoined the 8th Massachusetts, aiding in repairing railroads and serving guard duty outside of Baltimore.

To prepare the regiment for action, Devereux enlisted the aid of several members of the Salem Light Infantry company to serve as drill masters.

[6] After their first winter of service on picket duty in the vicinity of Washington, D.C., the 19th Massachusetts was attached to the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, of the II Corps in the Army of the Potomac.

In the brutal fighting, the 19th Massachusetts captured four Confederate regimental flags which Devereux personally delivered to his brigade commander after the battle.

Devereaux was nominated by President Andrew Johnson on February 21, 1866, for the award of the honorary grade of brevet brigadier general, U.S.

[15][16] Arthur Devereux went back to a business career after the war, first in Boston, then in New York and eventually settling with his wife and children in Cincinnati, Ohio.

[2] His wife, Clara, pursued a career in journalism, writing editorials and a social column for the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, among other publications, and became one of the best-known woman journalists of her time.

She was assisted by their daughter, Marion, who later took up her mother's mantle and wrote an influential social column during the early 20th century which, according to a more recent journalist, "made Cincinnati aristocrats quake for 29 years.