Benjamin Butler

Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American

Butler, a successful trial lawyer, served in the Massachusetts legislature as an antiwar Democrat and as an officer in the state militia. Early in the Civil War he joined the Union Army, where he was noted for his lack of military skill and his controversial command of New Orleans, which made him widely disliked in the South and earned him the "Beast" epithet. Although freeing an enemy's slaves had occurred in previous wars, Butler came up with the idea of doing so by designating them as contraband of war,^[1] an idea that the Lincoln administration endorsed and that played a role in making emancipation an official war goal. His commands were marred by financial and logistical dealings across enemy lines, some of which may have taken place with his knowledge and to his financial benefit.

Butler was dismissed from the Union Army after his failures in the

In Massachusetts, Butler was often at odds with more conservative members of the political establishment over matters of both style and substance. Feuds with Republican politicians led to his being denied several nominations for the governorship between 1858 and 1880. Returning to the Democratic fold, he won the governorship in the 1882 election with Democratic and Greenback Party support. He ran for president on the Greenback Party and the Anti-Monopoly Party tickets in 1884.

Early years

Benjamin Franklin Butler was born in Deerfield, New Hampshire, the sixth and youngest child of John Butler and Charlotte Ellison Butler. His father served under General Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812 and later became a privateer, dying of yellow fever in the West Indies not long after Benjamin was born.^[2] He was named after Founding Father Benjamin Franklin. His elder brother, Andrew Jackson Butler (1815–1864), served as a colonel in the Union Army during the Civil War and joined him in New Orleans.^[3] Butler's mother was a devout Baptist who encouraged him to read the Bible and prepare for the ministry.^[2] In 1827, at the age of nine, Butler was awarded a scholarship to Phillips Exeter Academy, where he spent one term. He was described by a schoolmate as "a reckless, impetuous, headstrong boy", and regularly got into fights.^[4]

Butler's mother moved the family in 1828 to

After an extended courtship, Butler married Sarah Hildreth, a stage actress and daughter of Dr. Israel Hildreth of Lowell, on May 16, 1844. They had four children: Paul (1845–1850), Blanche (1847–1939), Paul (1852–1918) and Ben-Israel (1855–1881).^[8] Butler's business partners included Sarah's brother Fisher, and her brother-in-law, W. P. Webster.^[9]

In 1844, Butler was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society.^[10]

Law and early business dealings

Butler quickly gained a reputation as a dogged criminal defense lawyer who seized on every misstep of his opposition to gain victories for his clients, and also became a specialist in bankruptcy law.^[7] His trial work was so successful that it received regular press coverage, and he was able to expand his practice into Boston.^[11] George Riley worked at his Boston law office.^[12]

Butler's success as a lawyer enabled him to purchase shares in Lowell's Middlesex Mill Company when they were cheap.

The two regiments Massachusetts sent to Maryland were the

When two Massachusetts regiments had been sent overland to Maryland, two more were dispatched by sea under Butler's command to secure

The Union occupation of Fort Monroe was considered a threat to Richmond by Confederate General Robert E. Lee, and he began organizing the defense of the Virginia Peninsula in response.^[41] Confederate General John B. Magruder, seeking to buy time while awaiting men and supplies, established well-defended forward outposts near Big and Little Bethel, only 8 miles (13 km) from Butler's camp at Newport News as a lure to draw his opponent into a premature action.^[42] Butler took the bait, and suffered an embarrassing defeat at the Battle of Big Bethel on June 10. Butler devised a plan for a night march and operation against the positions but chose not to lead the force in person, for which he was criticized.^[43] The plan proved too complex for his inadequately trained subordinates and troops to carry out, especially at night, and was further marred by the failure of staff to communicate passwords and precautions. A friendly fire incident during the night gave away the Union position, further harming the advance, which was attempted without knowledge of the layout or the strength of the Confederate positions.^[44] Massachusetts militia general Ebenezer W. Peirce, who commanded in the field, received the most criticism for the failed operation.^[45] With the withdrawal of many of his men for use elsewhere, Butler was unable to maintain the camp at Hampton, although his forces retained the camp at Newport News.^[46] Butler's commission, which required approval from Congress, was vigorously debated after Big Bethel, with critical comment raised about his lack of military experience. But his commission was narrowly approved on July 21, the day of the First Battle of Bull Run, the war's first large-scale battle.^[47] The battle's poor outcome for the Union was used as cover by General Scott to reduce Butler's force to one incapable of substantive offense, and it was implicit in Scott's orders that the troops were needed nearer to Washington.^[48]

In August, Butler commanded an expeditionary force that, in conjunction with the United States Navy, took Forts Hatteras and Clark in North Carolina. That move, the first significant Union victory after First Bull Run, was lauded in Washington and won Butler accolades from President Lincoln. Butler was sent back to Massachusetts to raise new forces.^[49] That thrust Butler into a power struggle with Governor Andrew, who insisted on maintaining his authority to appoint regimental officers, refusing to commission (among others) Butler's brother Andrew and several of the general's close associates. The spat instigated a recruiting war between Butler and the state militia organization.^[50] The dispute delayed Butler's return to Virginia, and in November he was assigned to command ground troops in Louisiana.^[51]

While in command at Fort Monroe, Butler had declined to return to their owners

In an ordinary year, it was not unusual for as much as 10 percent of the city's population to die of yellow fever. In preparation, Butler imposed strict quarantines and introduced a rigid program of garbage disposal. As a result, in 1862, only two cases were reported.^[60]

Civil administration difficulties

Many of his acts, however, were highly unpopular. Most notorious was

The effect of Butler's order was to revoke a special status for "respectable" women who were presumed "ladies" under the social mores of the time,[62] and that had mandated that any "respectable" woman (i.e., a non-prostitute) be permitted any provocation.^{[citation needed]} Under General Order 28, however, if a woman insulted or showed contempt toward a U.S. soldier, acting in an un-"lady"-like behavior, the special status no longer applied, and she could be treated as a common prostitute. Men were arrested and imprisoned, some even hanged, for actions that the women were thus enjoined from performing. The order produced the desired effect, as few women were willing to be treated like men,^{[citation needed]} but the order was seen as draconian and provoked outrage in the South.^{[citation needed]}

He was nicknamed "Butler the Beast" by Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard (despite Beauregard's leaving his wife under Butler's personal care) or alternatively "Spoons Butler", the latter nickname deriving primarily from an incident in which Butler seized a 38-piece set of silverware from a New Orleans woman who attempted to cross Union lines^[63] while using a pass that permitted her to carry nothing more than the clothing on her person. Butler's insistence on prosecuting the woman as any other person "aiding the Confederacy" provoked angry jeers from white residents of New Orleans, who amplified a narrative that he used his power to engage in the petty looting of New Orleanians.^[21]

Cotton seizures

Shortly after the Confiscation Act of 1862 became effective in September, Butler increasingly relied upon it as a means of grabbing cotton. Since the Act permitted confiscation of property owned by anyone "aiding the Confederacy," Butler reversed his earlier policy of encouraging trade by refusing to confiscate cotton brought into New Orleans for sale. Firstly, he conducted a census in which 4,000 respondents failing to pledge loyalty to the Union were banished. Their property was seized and sold at low auction prices in which his brother Andrew was often the prime buyer. Next, the general sent expeditions into the countryside with no military purpose other than to confiscate cotton from residents who were assumed to be disloyal. Once brought into New Orleans, the cotton would be similarly sold in rigged auctions. To maintain correct appearances, auction proceeds were dutifully held for the benefit of "just claimants", but the Butler consortium still ended up owning the cotton at bargain prices. Always inventive of new terminology to achieve his ends, Butler sequestered, or made vulnerable to confiscation, such "properties" in all of Louisiana beyond parishes surrounding New Orleans.^[64]

Censorship of newspapers

Butler censored New Orleans

Butler continues to be a disliked and controversial figure in New Orleans and the rest of the South.[71]

Louisiana Native Guard

On September 27, 1862, Butler formed the first African-American regiment in the US Army, the

Butler's popularity with the Radicals meant that Lincoln could not readily deny him a new posting. Lincoln considered sending him to a position in the Mississippi River area in early 1863, and categorically refused to send him back to New Orleans.^[74] In November 1863, he finally gave Butler command of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina based in Norfolk, Virginia. In January 1864, Butler played a pivotal role in the creation of six regiments of U.S. Volunteers recruited from among Confederate prisoners of war ("Galvanized Yankees") for duty on the western frontier.^[75] In May, the forces under his command were designated the Army of the James. On November 4, 1864, Butler arrived in New York City with 3,500 troops of the Army of the James. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton had "requested that Grant send troops to New York City to help oversee the election there. Stanton's concern arose from the city's perennial political and racial divisions, which had erupted during the 1863 draft riots,"^[76][77] and because of fear of Confederates coming from Canada to burn the city on Election Day. Grant selected Butler for the assignment. "Even though he knew nothing about the plot [to burn the city] and did nothing to prevent it, Butler's mere presence with his 3,500 troops" demoralized the leaders of the conspiracy, who postponed it until November 25, when it failed.^[78]

The Army of the James also included several regiments of United States Colored Troops. These troops saw combat in the Bermuda Hundred campaign (see below). At the Battle of Chaffin's Farm (sometimes also called the Battle of New Market Heights), the USCT troops performed extremely well. The 38th USCT defeated a more powerful force despite intense fire, heavy casualties, and terrain obstacles. Butler awarded the Medal of Honor to several men of the 38th USCT. He also ordered a special medal designed and struck, which was awarded to 200 African-American soldiers who had served with distinction in the engagement. This was later called the Butler Medal.

Bermuda Hundred campaign

In the spring of 1864, the Army of the James was directed to land at Bermuda Hundred on the James River, south of Richmond, and from there attack Petersburg. This would sever the rail links supplying Richmond, and force the Confederates to abandon the city. In spite of Grant's low opinion of Butler's military skills, he was given command of the operation.

Butler's force landed on 5 May, when Petersburg was almost undefended, but Butler hesitated. While he dithered, the Confederates assembled a substantial force under General P. G. T. Beauregard. On 13 May, Butler's advance toward Richmond was repulsed. On 16 May, the Confederates drove Butler's force back to Bermuda Hundred, "bottling up" the Federals in a loop of the James River. Both sides entrenched; the Federal troops were safe but impotent, and Beauregard sent most of his troops as reinforcements to Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

Despite this fiasco, Butler remained in command of the Army of the James.

Fort Fisher and final recall

Although Grant had largely been successful in removing incompetent political generals from service, Butler could not be easily gotten rid of.^[79] As a prominent Radical Republican, Butler was a potential replacement of Lincoln as presidential nominee.^[80] Lincoln had even asked Butler to be the nominee for vice president.^[79]

In December 1864, troops from the Army of the James were sent to attack Fort Fisher in North Carolina with Butler in command. Butler devised a scheme to breach the defenses with a boat loaded with gunpowder, which failed completely. He then declared that Fort Fisher was impregnable. However, Admiral David Dixon Porter (commander of the naval element of the expedition) informed Grant that it could be taken easily if anyone competent were put in charge.

This mismanagement finally led to his recall by General Grant in early 1865. As Secretary of War

General Butler claimed that Lincoln approached him in 1865, a few days before his assassination, to talk about reviving colonization in Panama.[84] Since the mid-twentieth century, historians have debated the validity of Butler's account, as Butler wrote it years after the fact and was prone to exaggerating his prowess as a general.^[85] Recently discovered documents prove that Butler and Lincoln did indeed meet on April 11, 1865, though whether and to what extent they talked about colonization is not recorded except in Butler's account.^[86]

Financial dealings

Negative perceptions of Butler were compounded by his questionable financial dealings in several of his commands, as well as the activities of his brother Andrew, who acted as Butler's financial proxy and was given "almost free rein" to engage in exploitative business deals and other "questionable activities" in New Orleans.^[21] Upon arriving in the city, Butler immediately began attempts to participate in the lucrative inter-belligerent trade. He used a Federal warship to send $60,000 in sugar to Boston where he expected to sell it for $160,000. However, his use of the government ship was reported to the military authorities, and Butler was chastised. Instead of earning a profit, military authorities permitted him to recover only his $60,000 plus expenses. Thereafter, his brother Andrew officially represented the family in such activities. Everyone in New Orleans believed that Andrew accumulated a profit of $1–$2 million while in Louisiana. Upon inquiry from Treasury Secretary Chase in October 1862, the general responded that his brother actually cleared less than $200,000 (~$4.76 million in 2023).^[87] When Butler was replaced in New Orleans by Major General Nathaniel Banks, Andrew Butler unsuccessfully tried to bribe Banks with $100,000 if Banks would permit Andrew's "commercial program" to be carried out "as previous to [Banks's] arrival."^[88]

Butler's administration of the Norfolk district was also tainted by financial scandal and cross-lines business dealings. Historian Ludwell Johnson concluded that during that period: "... there can be no doubt that a very extensive trade with the Confederacy was carried on in [Butler's Norfolk] Department.... This trade was extremely profitable for Northern merchants ... and was a significant help to the Confederacy.... It was conducted with Butler's help and a considerable part of it was in the hands of his relatives and supporters."^[89]

Shortly after arriving in Norfolk, Butler became surrounded by such men. Foremost among them was Brigadier General George Shepley, who had been military governor of Louisiana. Butler invited Shepley to join him and "take care of Norfolk." After his arrival, Shepley was empowered to issue military permits allowing goods to be transported through the lines. He designated subordinate George Johnston to manage the task. In fall 1864, Johnston was charged with corruption. However, instead of being prosecuted, he was allowed to resign after saying he could show "that General Butler was a partner in all [the controversial] transactions," along with the general's brother-in-law Fisher Hildreth. Shortly thereafter, Johnston managed a thriving between-the-lines trade depot in eastern North Carolina. There is no doubt that Butler was aware of Shepley's trading activities. His own chief of staff complained about them and spoke of businessmen who "owned" Shepley. Butler took no action.^[90]

Much of the Butler-managed Norfolk trade was via the Dismal Swamp Canal to six northeastern counties in North Carolina separated from the rest of the state by Albemarle Sound and the Chowan River. Although cotton was not a major crop, area farmers purchased bales from the Confederate government and took them through the lines where they would be traded for "family supplies." Generally, the Southerners returned with salt, sugar, cash, and miscellaneous supplies. They used the salt to preserve butchered pork, which they sold to the Confederate commissary. After Atlantic-blockaded ports such as Charleston and Wilmington were captured, this route supplied about ten thousand pounds of bacon, sugar, coffee, and codfish daily to Lee's army. Ironically, Grant was trying to cut off Lee's supplies from the Confederacy when Lee's provender was almost entirely furnished from Yankee sources through Butler-controlled Norfolk.^[91] Grant wrote of the issue, "Whilst the army was holding Lee in Richmond and Petersburg, I found ... [Lee] ... was receiving supplies, either through the inefficiency or permission of [an] officer selected by General Butler ... from Norfolk through the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal."^[92]

Butler's replacement, Major General

His law firm also expanded significantly after the war, adding offices in New York City and Washington. High-profile cases he took included the representation of Admiral David Farragut in his quest to be paid by the government for prizes taken by the Navy during the war, and the defense of former Secretary of War Simon Cameron against an attempted extortion in a salacious case that gained much public notice.^[101]

Butler built a mansion immediately across the street from the United States Capitol in 1873–1874, known as the Butler Building.^{[102][103][104]} One unit of the building was constructed to be fireproof so that it could be rented as storage for valuable and irreplaceable survey records, maps, and engraving plates of the United States Coast Survey (renamed the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1878), whose headquarters in the Richards Building was directly next door.^[104][105] The building was used by President Chester A. Arthur while the White House was being refurnished.^[103][106] On April 10, 1891, the Department of the Treasury purchased the building from Butler for $275,000, (~$8.43 million in 2023) and it became the headquarters of the U.S. Marine Hospital Service, with its Hygienic Laboratory (the predecessor of the National Institutes of Health) occupying its top floor.^[104][107]

Early postbellum political activities

At the urging of his wife, Butler actively sought another political position in the Lincoln administration, but this effort came to an end with Lincoln's assassination in April 1865.^[108] Soon after he became president, however, Andrew Johnson sought Butler's legal advice as to whether he could prosecute Robert E. Lee for treason, even though General Grant had granted Lee parole at Appomattox. "On April 25, 1865, Butler wrote a lengthy memorandum to Johnson explaining why the parole Lee received from Grant did not protect him from being prosecuted for treason.... Butler argued that parole was merely a military arrangement that allowed a prisoner 'the privilege of partial liberty instead of close confinement.... Indeed the Lieutenant General [Grant] had not authority to grant amnesty or pardon even if he had undertaken to do so.'"^[109]

In March 1866, Butler argued in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the United States in Ex parte Milligan, in which the Court held, against the United States, that military commission trials could not replace civilian trials when courts were open and where there was no war.^[110]

United States House of Representatives (1867–75 and 1877–79)

Popular from his reputation as a general,

Butler served four terms (1867–75) before failing to be reelected (after hostile Republicans led by Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar succeeded in denying him renomination for his congressional seat in 1874).[113] He was then elected in 1876 and served a single additional term. As a former Democrat, he was initially opposed by the state Republican establishment, which was particularly unhappy with his support of women's suffrage and greenbacks. The more conservative party organization closed ranks against him to reject his two attempts (in 1871 and 1873) to gain the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts.^[114]

Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

Butler was an early and fierce supporter of impeaching President Johnson.

As a congressional candidate, by October 1866 Butler was traveling to multiple cities across the United States delivering speeches in which he promoted the prospect of impeaching Johnson.^[115][116] He detailed six specific charges that Johnson should be impeached for.^[115] These were:

• Seeking to overthrow the government of the United States, doing so by attempting to bring Congress "to disgrace" by refusing to execute or carry out the laws that it had passed which he disagreed with, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Freedmen's Bureau bills^[115]
• Corruptly using his powers to appoint and remove officers^[115]
• Declaring peace in the American Civil War without the consent of Congress^[115]
• Corruptly using his pardon powers and restoring to former Confederates property seized by the United States in the Civil War^[115]
• Failing to enforce the Civil Rights Act of 1866^[115]
• Complicity in the
  New Orleans massacre of 1866^[115]

By the end of November 1866, Congressman-elect Butler was promoting the idea of impeaching Johnson on eight articles.^[117] The articles that he proposed charged Johnson with:

• "Degrading and debasing...the station and dignity of the office of Vice-President and that of vice president" by being publicly
  drunk at "official and public occasions"^[117]
• "Officially and publicly making declarations and inflammatory harangues, indecent and unbecoming in derogation of his high office, dangerous to the permanency of our republican form of government, and in design to excite the ridicule, fear, hatred, and contempt of the people against the legislative and judicial departments therof"[117]
• "Wickedly, tyrannically, and unconstitutionally...usurping the lawful rights and powers of the Congress"^[117]
• "Wickedly and corruptly using and abusing" the constitutional power of the President by making recess appointments with the "design to undermine, overthrow and evade the power" of the Congress to advice and consent on such appointments^[117]
• "Improperly, wickedly, and corruptly abusing the constitutional power of pardons" with his
  the Treasury, well knowing the appointees to be ineligible to office"^[117]
• "Knowingly and willfully neglecting and refusing to carry out the constitutional laws of Congress" in the former Confederate states "in order to encourage men lately into rebellion and in arms against the United States to the oppression and injury of the loyal true citizens of such States"^[117]
• "Unlawfully, corruptly, and wickedly confederating and conspiring with one
  New Orleans massacre of 1866.^[117]

While Butler was not included on the select committee appointed to author the articles of impeachment for Johnson after he was impeached in February 1868, he independently wrote his own article of impeachment. He did so at the urging of Thaddeus Stevens, a member of the select committee who felt that Radical Republicans on the select committee were conceding too much to moderates in limiting the scope of the violations of law that the articles of impeachment the committee was drafting would charge Johnson with.^[120] The article Butler wrote cited no clear violation of law, but instead charged Johnson with attempting, "to bring into disgrace, ridicule, hatred, contempt, and reproach the Congress of the United States."^[120] The article was seen as being written in response to speeches that Johnson had made during his "Swing Around the Circle".^[121] Butler's article was initially rejected by a 48–74 vote on March 2, 1868. However, it was subsequently adopted as the tenth article of impeachment by a 88–45 vote after it was reintroduced by the impeachment managers the following day.^{[120][122][123]} It was the only article of impeachment that any Republican congressman voted against.^{[124][123][125][126]}

Butler was elected by the House serve as be one of the managers (prosecutors) for the impeachment trial of Johnson before the

Later on May 16, 1868, The House enabled an investigation by the impeachment managers into alleged "improper or corrupt means used to influence the determination of the Senate". Butler led this investigation, approving summons for several eyewitnesses the same day that the investigation was authorized.^[132] Butler looked into the possibility that four of the seven Republican Senators who voted for acquittal had been improperly influenced in their votes. He uncovered some evidence that promises of patronage had been made and that money may have changed hands but was unable to decisively link these actions to any specific senator.^[133]

On May 26, 1868, Johnson was acquitted on the second and third articles voted on, and the trial was adjourned. On August 3, 1868, Johnson wrote that Butler was "the most daring and unscrupulous demagogue I have ever known."^[131] Butler's performance as a prosecutor has been regarded as subpar, and this has been cited as a factor that contributed to Johnson's acquittal.^[134] After the trial resulted in an acquittal, Butler continued the impeachment managers' investigation into possible corrupt influence on the trial, conducting hearings on reports that Republican senators had been bribed to vote for Johnson's acquittal.^[135] He published the final report of the investigation on July 3, 1868, having failed to prove the alleged corruption that had been investigated.^[136]

Civil Rights Act of 1871

Butler wrote the initial version of the

Butler managed to rehabilitate his relationship with Ulysses Grant after the latter became president, to the point where he was seen as generally speaking for the president in the House. He annoyed Massachusetts old-guard Republicans by convincing Grant to nominate one of his protégés to be collector of the Port of Boston, an important patronage position, and secured an exception for an ally, John B. Sanborn, in legislation regulating the use of contractors by the Internal Revenue Service for the collection of tax debts. In 1874, Sanborn would be involved in the Sanborn Contract scandal, in which he was paid over $200,000 (~$4.86 million in 2023) for collecting debts that would likely have been paid without his intervention.^[140]

Other actions

In 1871, Butler sponsored an appearance by suffragette

Butler made four unsuccessful attempts at being elected governor of Massachusetts between the years 1871 and 1879.

In 1871 and 1874, he attempted to receive the Republican nomination, but the more conservative party organization closed ranks against him to deny him the nomination.^[114]

Butler again ran unsuccessfully for governor of Massachusetts in 1878, this time as an independent with Greenback Party support. He had unsuccessfully also sought the Democratic nomination. He was denied the Democratic nomination by the party's leadership, which refused to admit him into the party. Despite this, Butler did receive the nomination of a populist rump group of Democrats that disrupted the main convention, forcing it to adjourn to another location.^[143] He was renominated by the populist Democrats in similar fashion in 1879. In both years, Republicans won against the divided Democrats.^[144]

Because Butler sought the governorship in part as a stepping stone to the presidency, he opted not to run for it again until 1882.^[144]

Term in office

In 1882, Butler successfully litigated Juilliard v. Greenman before the Supreme Court. In what was seen as a victory for Greenback supporters, the case confirmed that the government had the right to issue paper currency for public and private debts.^[145]

In 1882, Butler again ran for governor of Massachusetts, this time being elected by a 14,000 margin after winning nomination by both Greenbacks and an undivided Democratic party.^[146] As governor, Butler was active in promoting reform and competence in administration, in spite of a hostile Republican legislature and Governor's Council.^[147] He appointed the state's first Irish-American judge, its first African-American judge, George Lewis Ruffin,^[114] and appointed the first woman to executive office, Clara Barton, to head the Massachusetts Reformatory for Women. He also graphically exposed the mismanagement of the state's Tewksbury Almshouse under a succession of Republican governors.^[148] Butler was somewhat notoriously snubbed by Harvard University, which traditionally granted honorary degrees to the state's governors. Butler's honorarium was denied because the Board of Overseers, headed by Ebenezer Hoar, voted against it.^[149]

Butler's bid for reelection in 1883 was one of the most contentious campaigns of his career. His presidential ambitions were well known, and the state's Republican establishment, led by Ebenezer and

Butler parlayed his victory in the Juilliard v. Greenman decision into a run for president in 1884. Butler was nominated by the Greenback and Anti-Monopoly parties,^[151] but was unsuccessful in getting the Democratic nomination, which went to Grover Cleveland.^[152] Cleveland refused to adopt parts of Butler's platform in exchange for his political support, prompting Butler to run in the general election rather than withdrawing in deference to Cleveland.^[153] He sought to gain electoral votes by engaging in fusion efforts with Democrats in some states and Republicans in others,^[154] in which he took what were perceived in the contemporary press as bribes $25,000 from the campaign of Republican James G. Blaine.^[155] The effort was in vain: Butler polled 175,000 out of 10 million votes cast in the election, which Cleveland won.^[156]

Later years and death

In his later years Butler reduced his activity level, working on his memoir, Butler's Book, which was published in 1892.^[157] Butler's Book has 1,037 pages plus a 94-page appendix consisting of letters. In it, "Butler focused by far the majority of his attention on the war years, vigorously defending his often-maligned record." He arranged "with his longtime friend and ally James Parton [author of General Butler in New Orleans] that Parton would finish the book if Butler died before it was done. (As it happens, Parton died first, in October 1891)."^[158]

Butler died on January 11, 1893, of complications from a

His daughter Blanche married Adelbert Ames, a Mississippi governor and senator who had served as a general in the Union Army during the war. Butler's descendants include the famous scientist Adelbert Ames Jr., suffragist and artist Blanche Ames Ames, Butler Ames, Hope Butler, and George Plimpton.

Legacy

According to biographer Hans L. Trefousse:

Butler was one of the most controversial 19th-century American politicians. Demagogue, speculator, military bungler, and sharp legal practitioner--he was all of these; and he also was a fearless advocate of justice for the downtrodden, a resourceful military administrator, and an astonishing innovator. He was passionately hated and equally strongly admired, and if the South called him "Beast," his constituents in Massachusetts were fascinated by him.... As a leading advocate of radical Reconstruction, Butler played an important role in the conflict between president and Congress. His effectiveness was marred by the frequency with which engaged in personal altercations, and his conduct as one of the principal managers of the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson was dubious. Nevertheless he deserves recognition as a persistent critic of southern terrorism and is one of the chief authors of the Civil Rights Act of 1875.^[162]

Black newspapers eulogized him "consistently as a 'friend of the colored race,' 'a staunch and enthusiastic advocate' of Black progress, and 'one of the few American statesmen who have stood as a wall of defense in favor of equal rights for all American citizens.' ... The New England Torchlight put it simply: 'The white South hated him. The black South loved him.'"^[163]

Ideology ("Butlerism")

Butlerism was a political term in the United States during the Gilded Age applied as a pejorative by its opponents^[164][165] that referred to the political causes of Butler. A populist movement, it was criticized for its "spirit of the European mob," and appealed to support for women's suffrage, Irish nationalism, an eight-hour work day, monetary inflation, and the usage of greenbacks to pay off the national debt.^[166]

The ideology and political themes of Butlerism, which opposed

Opponents of Butler derided the ideology as involving "no principle which is elevating, it inspires no sentiment which is ennobling."[164] In turn, defenders of Butlerism retorted:

There is one thing that this unholy alliance cannot efface, that General Butler has pluck and brains, and they will find that the more people believe in men of that make-up. The country today needs more "Butlerism" and less "toadyism."

Attacks on Butlerism included one by Kentucky Democrat John Y. Brown in February 1874, who complained: "If I wished to describe all that was pusillanimous in war, inhuman in peace, forbidden in morals, and infamous in politics, I should call it 'Butlerism.'"^[165] Brown subsequently faced a censure for his remarks, and bickering on the House floor soon followed.

Electoral history

Gubernatorial

See also

• List of American Civil War generals (Union)
• List of Massachusetts generals in the American Civil War
• Massachusetts in the American Civil War
• General Butler (ship)
• New Hampshire Historical Marker No. 145: Deerfield Parade
• Butler House (Pueblo, Colorado)

References

Bibliography

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• ISBN 978-0-393-34775-3
  .
• Orcutt, William Dana (January 1918). "Ben Butler and the 'Stolen Spoons'". North American Review. CCVII (66).
• Poland, Charles P. Jr. (2006). The Glories Of War: Small Battles and Early Heroes Of 1861. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse.
  ISBN 1-4184-5973-9
  .
• Quarstein, John V.; Mroczkowski, Dennis P. (2000). Fort Monroe: The Key to the South. Charleston, SC: Tempus Publications.
  ISBN 978-0-7385-0114-7
  .
• Quarstein, John V. (2011). Big Bethel: The First Battle. Charleston, SC: History Press.
  OCLC 710903915
  .
• Richardson, Darcy (2004). Others: Third-Party Politics from the Nation's Founding to the Rise and Fall of the Greenback-Labor Party. New York: iUniverse.
  OCLC 237051049
  .
• Schlup, Leonard; Ryan, James G., eds. (2003). Historical Dictionary of the Gilded Age. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
  OCLC 367956722
  .
• ISBN 9781416547495
  .
• OCLC 371213
  .
• Trefousse, Hans L. (1969). The Radical Republicans: Lincoln's Vanguard for Racial Justice. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
  OCLC 170051
  .
• Trefousse, Hans L. (1999). "Butler, Benjamin". Dictionary of American National Biography. Vol. 4. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 91–93.
  OCLC 39182280
  .
• Trelease, Allen (1971). White Terror: The Ku Klux Klan Conspiracy and Southern Reconstruction. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press.
  OCLC 136081
  .
• Wells, Bruce (2011). The Bermuda Hundred Campaign: The Creole and the Beast. Charleston, SC: History Press.
  OCLC 755712553
  .
• West, Jr., Richard S. (1965). Lincoln's Scapegoat General: A Life of Benjamin F. Butler, 1818–1893. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
  OCLC 241783
  .
• ISBN 9780807117255
  .

Primary sources

• Butler, Benj. F. (1892). Autobiography and Personal Reminiscences of Major-General Benj. F. Butler: Butler's Book. A. M. Thayer. -- Other versions and formats available at Archive.Org
• Private And Official Correspondence Of Gen. Benjamin F. Butler During The Period Of The Civil War (1917). vol 1 online, vol 2 online, vol 3 online, vol 4 online, vol 5 online, in five volumes
• Butler, Benjamin F. "The Story of the 'America'", Harper's New Monthly Magazine, July 1885 The America was a sailing (as opposed to a steam) yacht, which competed in races.

Further reading

• Eicher, John H., and
  ISBN 0-8047-3641-3
  .
• Hearn, Chester G. When the Devil Came Down to Dixie: Ben Butler in New Orleans. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1997.
  ISBN 0-8071-2180-0
• Holzman, Robert S. Stormy Ben Butler. Macmillan, 1954.
  OCLC 1198303
• Horowitz, Murray M. "Ben Butler and the Negro: 'Miracles Are Occurring'", Louisiana History, Vol. 17, No. 2 (Spring, 1976), pp. 159–186.
• ISBN 9781469668048
  .
• Long, Alecia P. "General Butler and the Women," The New York Times, June 18, 2012
• Nash Jr., Howard P. Stormy Petrel: The Life and Times of General Benjamin F. Butler, 1818 - 1893. Rutherford, New Jersey: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1969.
  OCLC 49599
• Nolan, Dick (1991). Benjamin Franklin Butler: The Damnedest Yankee. Novato, California: Presidio Press.
  OCLC 23017163
  .
• Parton, James. General Butler in New Orleans: History of the Administration of the Department of the Gulf in the Year 1862: With an Account of the Capture of New Orleans, and a Sketch of the Previous Career of the General, Civil and Military. New York: Mason Brothers, 1864. This is "an uncritically admiring study of Butler's command of the occupation in New Orleans," by his "friend James Parton." Leonard, Elizabeth D., Benjamin Franklin Butler: A Noisy, Fearless Life, p. 143.
• Shapiro, Samuel, "'Aristocracy, Mud, and Vituperation': The Butler-Dana Campaign in Essex County in 1868," The New England Quarterly, vol. 31, no. 3 (September 1958), pp. 340–360.
• Simpson, Brooks D. "Lincoln and His Political Generals," Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association, Volume 21, Issue 1, Winter 2000, pp. 63–77.
• Summers, Mark Wahlgren. Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion: The Making of a President, 1884. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000.
  ISBN 978-0-8078-2524-2
  .
• Warner, Ezra J. (1964). Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press.
  ISBN 0-8071-0822-7
  .
• Weiss, Nathan. "THE POLITICAL THEORY AND PRACTICE OF GENERAL BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BUTLER" (PhD dissertation, New York University; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, June 1961. 6201519)
• Werlich, Robert. "Beast" Butler: The Incredible Career of Major-General Benjamin Franklin Butler. Washington: Quaker Press, 1962.
  OCLC 2334697
  In footnote 1 of "Ben Butler: A Reappraisal" (see External links), Harold B. Raymond writes, "Werlich's book is devoted to sensational denunciation of almost every aspect of the general's career, but lacks documentation or serious evaluation."
• Wineapple, Brenda. The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation. Random House, 2019.

External links

• Sarah Hildreth: Wife of Union General Benjamin Franklin Butler

Wikiquote has quotations related to Benjamin Butler.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Benjamin Franklin Butler (politician).

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Butler, Benjamin Franklin".

Library resources about
Benjamin Butler

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• Online books
• Resources in your library
• Resources in other libraries

By Benjamin Butler

• Online books
• Resources in your library
• Resources in other libraries

• United States Congress. "Benjamin Butler (id: B001174)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Benjamin F. Butler in Encyclopedia Virginia
• Story of the bust of Butler at the Smithsonian Institution
• Image of Benjamin Butler from "1888 Presidential Possibilities" card set
• Benjamin F. Butler Papers, 1818–1893 Archived June 7, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College.
• Private and official correspondence of Gen. Benjamin F. Butler : during the period of the Civil War Vol. I at archive.org, Vol. II, Vol. III, Vol. IV, Vol. V
• Goodheart, Adam (April 1, 2011). "How Slavery Really Ended in America". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved April 5, 2011. Account of Butler's sheltering of slaves at Fort Monroe.
• Raymond, Harold B., "Ben Butler: A Reappraisal",
  Colby Library Quarterly
  , Series VI, No. 11 (September 1964), pp. 445–479.
• Trefousse, Hans L. (1957). Ben Butler: The South Called Him Beast! New York: Twayne
• Jefferson Davis
• C-SPAN lecture on Benjamin Butler by Professor Brian Matthew Jordan (Oct. 22, 2017)
• Butler's Record A campaign pamphlet for the 1879 governor elections.

Party political offices
Preceded by Erasmus Beach	Democratic nominee for Governor of Massachusetts 1859	Succeeded by Erasmus Beach
Preceded by William Gaston	Democratic nominee for Governor of Massachusetts 1878, 1879	Succeeded by Charles Thompson
Preceded by Charles Thompson	Democratic nominee for Governor of Massachusetts 1882, 1883	Succeeded by William Crowninshield Endicott
Preceded by Israel W. Andrews	Greenback nominee for Governor of Massachusetts 1882, 1883	Succeeded by Matthew J. McCafferty
Preceded by James B. Weaver	Greenback nominee for President of the United States 1884	Party dissolved
Military offices
New office	Commander of the Army of the James 1864–1865	Succeeded by Edward Ord
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by John B. Alley	Member from Massachusetts's 5th congressional district 1867–1873	Succeeded by Daniel W. Gooch
Preceded by Nathaniel P. Banks	Member from Massachusetts's 6th congressional district 1873–1875	Succeeded by Charles Thompson
Preceded by John Bingham	Chair of the House Judiciary Committee 1873–1875	Succeeded by J. Proctor Knott
Preceded by John K. Tarbox	Member from Massachusetts's 7th congressional district 1877–1879	Succeeded by William A. Russell
Political offices
Preceded by John Long	Governor of Massachusetts 1883–1884	Succeeded by George D. Robinson