Major General Benjamin Butler (USA)

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Major General Benjamin Franklin Butler (USA)

Benjamin Franklin Butler was born in Deerfield, New Hampshire on 5 November 1818. He was described as "a reckless, impetuous, headstrong, boy" regularly getting into fights and often facing expulsion from school. He graduated Colby College in Maine in 1838, and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1840, where he established a large practice representing workers in legal actions, though he also sometimes represented mill owners. He first attracted attention by advocating the passage of a law establishing a ten-hour work day for laborers, but he also opposed labor strikes over the matter.

As a Democrat, he supported the Compromise of 1850 and regularly spoke out against the abolition of slavery. He was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1853, and then to the Senate of the Commonwealth in 1859. He was nominated for governor in 1859 and ran on a pro-slavery, pro-tariff platform narrowly losing to incumbent Republican Nathaniel Prentice Banks. He attended the 1860 Democratic National Convention in Charleston, South Carolina voting for Jefferson Davis to run for the presidential nomination, as well as candidates such as John C. Breckinridge. He entered the Massachusetts Militia in 1839, and was promoted to brigadier general in 1855 even though he had no formal military training.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Butler used banking contacts to ensure that loans needed for militia operations would be conditioned on his appointment to a brigadier generalship. He played an important role because he and the 8th Massachusetts were some of the first troops to reach Washington DC, protecting the capital in case Maryland seceded. He was appointed a major general on 16 May 1861, being one of the first appointed by President Abraham Lincoln.

He was assigned command of Fort Monroe and the Department of Virginia. On 27 May, he sent a force 8 miles north to occupy the town of Newport News. Confederate General John B. Magruder established well-defended forward outposts near Big and Little Bethel to lure Butler into premature action. Butler took the bait and suffered an embarrassing defeat at the Battle of Big Bethel on 10 June. Following the First Battle of Bull Run, Butler's force was stripped down to reinforce Washington.

While in command of Fort Monroe, Butler became the first to identify slaves who escaped into Union lines as “contraband of war,” despite the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. In August 1861, Butler led a successful amphibious assault on the Hatteras Inlet in North Carolina. He was sent back to Massachusetts to raise more troops getting into a power struggle with Governor Andrew.

In May 1862, he commanded the force that occupied New Orleans after the city had already surrendered to Admiral David G. Farragut. He devised a plan for relief of the poor, demanded oaths of allegiance from anyone who sought any privilege from the government, and confiscated weapons. However, Butler was very anti-semitic in his dealings with the Jewish population. In preparation for the yearly yellow fever epidemic, which usually killed as much as 10% of the population, Butler imposed strict quarantines and introduced a rigid program of garbage disposal. As a result, in 1862, only two cases were reported.

He issued the notorious General Order No. 28 on 15 May 1862, which stated that any lady in New Orleans who showed contempt for Union soldiers would effectively be treated as though she were a prostitute. This law drew great controversy in both the North and South, caused Confederate president Jefferson Davis to label Butler an outlaw, and earned him the nickname “Beast Butler.” He was also nicknamed "Spoons Butler" after an incident in which he seized a 38-piece set of silverware from a New Orleans woman attempting to cross Union lines. While her pass permitted her to only carry the clothing on her person, the single set of silverware would have normally been considered protected personal valuables.

He seized cotton and censored newspapers. He seized $800,000 that had been deposited in the office of the Dutch consul, imprisoned the French champagne magnate Charles Heidsieck, and suspended George Coppell of Great Britain for refusing to cooperate with the Union. He ignored a direct order from President Lincoln to restore a sugar shipment claimed by Europeans. On 7 June 1862, Butler execute William B. Mumford, who had torn down a United States flag place by Admiral Farragut on the U.S. Mint in New Orleans. Most expected Butler to pardon him, but Butler refused promising to care for his family if necessary. After the war, Butler fulfilled his promise to Mumford's family.

He was recalled in December 1862. His popularity with Radical Republicans meant Lincoln could not deny him a new posting. In November 1863, he was given command of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina, which would become known as the Army of the James. In January 1864, he was pivotal in the creation of six regiments of U.S. Volunteers recruited from among Confederate prisoners of war, "Galvanized Yankees".

He command a number of U.S. Color Troops regiments which he deployed during the Battle of Chaffin's Farm (New Market Heights). The troops performed extremely well and he awarded a number of men the Medal of Honor and designed a new medal for 200 other African-American soldiers, later called the Butler Medal.

Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant ordered Butler to attack in the direction of Petersburg from the east, destroying rail links supplying Richmond and distracting Robert E. Lee, while Grant attacked from the north. Butler's force, the Army of the James, bogged down east of Richmond in the Bermuda Hundred area, immobilized by P.G.T. Beauregard's inferior Confederate force.

In December, the Army of the James was sent on an amphibious expedition against Fort Fisher. Grant had originally designated Maj. Gen. Godfrey Weitzel to lead the expedition, but Butler, as commander of the department demanded that he lead the troops himself. Butler bungled the attack from 23 - 27 December 1864.

Lincoln and Grant were unable to remove Butler before the 1864 Presidential Election since Butler, as a Radical Republican, had been under consideration as a possible opponent to Lincoln. After the election, Grant asked Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton and then Lincoln directly for permission to terminate Butler. In General Order No. 1, Lincoln relieved Butler from command of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina. Grant named Maj. Gen. Edward O.C. Ord the new commander of the Army of the James.

Instead of returning to Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler went to Washington and plead his case before the Joint Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War. He argued that he had been right to call of the attack on Fort Fisher claiming the fort impregnable. To his embarrassment, Maj. Gen. Alfred H. Terry captured the fort on 15 January, with news arriving during the committee hearing. Butler resigned in November 1865.

He returned to politics serving in Congress from 1867 - 1875 and again in 1876. He was selected as one of the managers of the impeachment of President Johnson before the Senate. He wrote the initial version of the Civil Rights Act of 1871, though the bill was defeated. He proposed the Civil Rights Act of 1875, a far-reaching law banning racial discrimination in public accommodations; the Supreme Court of the United States declared the law unconstitutional in the 1883 Civil Rights Cases.

He was elected governor of Massachusetts in 1882. He was active in promoting reform and competence in administration, appointed the state's first Irish-American and African-American judges, and appointed the first woman to executive office, Clara Barton, to head the Massachusetts Reformatory for Women. In 1884, he ran for President as the candidate for the Greenback and Anti-Monopoly parties.

He died on 11 January 1893 in Washington, D.C., a wealthy man.

161029 Benjamin Butler.jpg

161029 Benjamin Butler comparison.jpg
 
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Haha, thanks. I actually went back and added some more blues (suggested by Zuzah), I'll post an updated one later. I've just been comparing my work to his and his still has that extra pop on most compared to mine, though in a few instances I think mine are better :wink: Sometimes my skin comes out looking too orange :frown:
 
Yeah, no problem. I thought that looked like a cool photo to do. Hopefully I can find a really top resolution photo to work on. Sometimes they are easier than you think :wink: The hard part is getting that life spark. Sometimes it just happens, others it is never just right :frown:
 
Eww...

Why would one spend talent on this guy? Surely, there is a Union officer worth looking at, without cringing?

I guess I'm supposed to say, "thanks for posting."
 
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