Butler

Butler, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, lawyer, general, congressman, and governor of Massachusetts, was born at Deerfield, New Hampshire, 5th November 1818. His father, who had been captain under General Jackson, died soon after, and in 1828 his mother removed to Lowell, Massachusetts, which has ever since been his residence. Graduating at Waterville College, Maine, in 1838, and admitted to the bar in 1840, he became noted as a criminal lawyer, a champion of the working-classes, and an ardent Democrat. He served in the legislature in 1853, and in the state senate in 1859. At the Democratic National Conventions in 1860 at Charleston and Baltimore he strove to conciliate the southern leaders; but after secession he prepared for war, and as brigadier-general of militia responded to President Lincoln's call for troops with five regiments. On 16th May 1861 he was appointed major-general of volunteers, with the command of the department of Virginia. He refused to return the slaves who came to his headquarters at Fortress Monroe as being 'contraband of war.' Early in 1862 he commanded a military expedition against New Orleans, and after Farragut's fleets had passed the forts, took possession of the city on 1st May. The citizens were passionately devoted to the Confederate cause, but General Butler's prompt, vigorous, and severe measures crushed all opposition, maintained order, and preserved public safety. In December he was superseded, but in November 1863 received a command in Virginia. His operations on the south side of the James in May 1864 were frustrated by the arrival of General Beauregard from Charleston. The canal which he had almost completed at Dutch Gap was disapproved by naval officers. In December, in his expedition against Fort Fisher, near Wilmington, North Carolina, a futile attempt was made to breach the walls by the explosion of a powder-boat. Returning to civil life, General Butler was elected to congress in 1866, and was prominent in the Republican efforts for the reconstruction of the southern states and the impeachment of President Johnson. During his twelve years' service he warmly advocated the issue of greenbacks as national currency. In 1878 and 1879 he was nominated for governor of Massachusetts, but defeated; in 1882 he was elected, but in 1883 was defeated. His nomination for president in 1884 was not taken seriously by the people. See his Autobiography (1892) and the Life by Bland (1879). He died at Washington, 13th January 1893.