For those who did not have a chance to join our '98 picnic, let me briefly describe the Butler room in the Ames Mansion at the Borderland State Park, located between the border of Sharon and Easton, Massachusetts. Butler's daughter Blanche married Adelbert Ames who commanded the famed 20th Maine regiment before Joshua Chamberlain. Ames got rich by making shovels, of which Butler was a major stockholder with the company. In Butler's room, we saw the oil painting of his portrait, his uniforms, swords, pistols, flag and 3 citations from 3 Presidents, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln and William McKinley. Of course we saw the famous general order # 28, which held the ladies of New Orleans, liable of "plying their avocation" if they continued to show disrespect to the passing Union soldiers.
When Rear Admiral Farragut was doused with "not very clean water" from a chamber pot by a lady, Butler, as the military commander of the occupying force, issued the order # 28. The whole New Orleans roared, and called him "beast", for Butler was also cross-eyed and half-bald. But his order was effective, and the insults stopped. A citizen, William Mumford dragged the Star and Stripes through the street and torn it to tatters. Butler found Mumford guilty and hanged him. The city protested vehemently but the defiant acts against the Union ceased, and the civil order was restored. He also pressured the Southerners to take the oath of Allegiance to the Union.
Do you know how Butler got the command of the Mass. brigade? Here is the story. Butler was the Colonel commanding the 6th Lowell militia. When Secretary of war Simon Cameron telegraphed Mass. Governor John Andrew on 4/15/1861 requisitioning 1,500 militiamen, Butler received words that his 6th regiment was to report at Faneuil Hall the following day, he immediately made his plan. Butler wired Cameron, a fellow Democrat, asking him when Cameron called a brigade of Mass., he should call for a brigadier-general as well. The requisition came through. Butler reasoned that if each regiment would have to be commanded by colonel, the colonels would have to be commanded by a brigadier general. On 4/16/61 morning, Butler went to see James Carney, president of the Bank of Mutual Redemption of Boston. Ben knew it would take money to move troops from Mass. to Washington. He persuaded the banker to loan him money, with the stocks of his mill as collateral, and advanced the State the necessary funds for transporting the troops, without waiting for the slow legislative action, with a stipulation that the loan was good only if Butler received the high command. There were several men more senior and had more military experience than Butler. When the treasurer of the Commonwealth, Henry Oliver, burst into Gov. Andrew's office and screamed that there were no available fund, Butler took out his trump card and laid it on the table. Timing is everything. Andrew could not wait for the slow process of Legislative approval on this emergency fund, so he had no choice but appointed Butler as Brigadier General on 4/17/61. So Ben got the top job by hassling, by his quick thinking and by his daring move. He commanded 6,000 men. Butler was the first Union commander to break the "siege" of Washington. En route Baltimore, his 6th Mass regiment was attacked by a mob and returned fire. The first blood was shed. Butler's name was spread all over the newspapers across the country. Suddenly, everybody knew his name, the "savior" of the Union's capital.
Rumors suggested that Butler liked to put his hand into the cookie jars. He also earned another nickname, "Spoons" Butler in New Orleans, for pocketing silver spoons. But nobody could present any proof of the accusation, then or later. In other words, Butler was never caught. We ought to understand why he liked money. He lost his father when he was a baby. His mother lived in poverty, raising her orphan children. It might be this inferior complex motivated him to uplift himself to the wealthy class, and thus, pushing him to make money. He causally suggested to Gov. Andrew that his troops needed winter uniforms and mentioned a mill in Lowell could meet the demand. But he did not reveal that he was a major stockholder of that mill. Thus, he made money through his connection.
In his youth, when he applied for West Point, Congressman Caleb Cushing told Ben that there were no vacancies, etc. The experience taught him a big lesson, that without connection and political power, he could go nowhere. He ended up hating West-Pointers and determined to grasp political power. Ben not only was "street smart", he was also "book smart". He started to read Robinson Crusoe at 4 years old and had a photographic memory. He graduated from Waterville (Colby) College, and read law in two years instead of the normal three. He corrected his examiner / judge's decision on a case by citing the appropriate precedent. He was never intimidated by some opponent lawyer's reputation and made himself a formidable figure in the legal world. He could try a simple case in a complicated way, with his resourcefulness and audacity. For example, He got a simple case of a sailor contracting scurvy. Butler presented the whole sanitary law, navigation, usage of the Navies, logbooks, new treatises of maritime laws, testimony of mariners and physicians, and marked on a big map for the jury to trace the ship's course, showing the ship bypassed many islands with abundance of vegetables. Thus, the captain of the ship was negligent and liable for causing the sailors to contract scurvy. Ben won and beat one of the most brilliant lawyers of the century, Rufus Choate.
Ben acted everything contrary to convention. Just before the war, he promoted Jefferson Davis to run for the U. S. Presidency. Davis was more interested in his Mississippi Home State than the National office. On 4/27/61, Butler commanded the Department of Annapolis. Since the loyalty of Maryland was not assured, he ordered the U.S.S. Constitution to be towed to a safe place, Boston. Then, the Naval Academy was moved to Newport, RI. On 5/16/61, Lincoln handed out the first Major General position to Butler, and Butler outranked even George McClellan. Ben was assigned to Fortress Monroe in Virginia. Butler's mind always works on innovation. He acquired 12 brand new Gatling guns. He invited John LaMountain of Troy, NY to establish his "air force", balloon surveillance. Ben supplied LaMountain with metals and acid (to make hydrogen), material and equipment. When someone asked him what to do with the slaves, Ben wanted them to work and fortified the fort. Surprised at the answer, the person argued whether it would violate the Fugitive Slave Act. One should never argue the law with Butler. One did it at one's peril. Ben said that since Virginia had seceded, it became a foreign country, and the Fugitive Slave Act won't apply. In addition, he invented an ingenious theory. Since the slaves were "contraband of war", Ben could confiscate them for the Union. Thus, he was the first Union official who "emancipated" the slaves.
After the defeat in Bull Run, the Union desperately needed a victory, and Butler answered the call. In 8/26/61, Butler's army joined force with Flag Officer Silas Stringham's Navy and landed on Cape Hattera, capturing the Fort. Butler was also the first General who organized the black freedmen to join the Army, in South Carolina and in Louisiana. His actions pre-dated the formation of the famous 54th Mass. black regiment.
The best move that Ben did in Ship Island was doing nothing. He let Farragut run the show. Farragut found that Butler cooperated in everything. When Farragut needed ballast, Butler bypassed the slow pace of the Ordinance Department and bought them in the open market, getting the needed supplies quickly. Farragut discovered he had only soft coal and Butler gave him anthracite. When Farragut asked whether a transfer of anthracite from Army to the Navy would be contrary to regulations. Ben replied that he never read nor paid attention to any regulations. He would only do things that made sense and cared less about the bureaucracy. What an unconventional and colorful person! Butler definitely deserved a share of glory on Farragut's capture of New Orleans.
His military record was not bad. He never lost any big battle. Big Bethel was only a small battle and the defeat won't affect the overall standing of the Union's military strategy. On Bermuda Hundred, Butler got bog down. He didn't win but he didn't lose either. At Ft. Fisher, North Carolina, he ordered his men to withdraw, unwilling to sacrifice their lives against the strong fortress. It was a stalemate. He did not win, but he did not lose either. But Grant relieved Butler from command. Compare Butler's war records with those of Hooker and Banks, Ben's records look fabulous.
In 1864, Lincoln would like to choose a Democrat as his running mate, so that he could gain more votes from a wider spectrum of population. He first asked Butler. This time, Ben didn't bring his crystal ball. He declined the offer, and even joked that he would only accept if Lincoln could guarantee that Lincoln would leave office in three months time. Lincoln was assassinated within a month of his second term. Thus Butler lived to kick himself, giving up his chance to become the President of the United States.
During the Overland campaign, do you know who was the second highest ranking General after Grant? It wasn't Meade nor Sherman. It was Ben Butler.
After the war, Butler was elected Governor of Mass. He appointed the first Irish Catholic, M.J. McCafferty, to a judicial office, and the first black, George Ruffin, to judgeship, breaking all the unwritten rules of the era.
In 1997, when Massachusetts Governor William Weld resigned his office, he did his "lone man's walk" from the State House through the front door, walking out alone. It was a tradition established by Gov. Butler. He was not well liked by his peer. When his term was over, nobody wanted to accompany him to exit the State House. Butler didn't care about this insult, and proudly walked out of the State House all by himself. Thus, Butler started this unusual tradition for the future exiting Mass. Governors.
He had accumulated $7,000,000 starting from nothing. He had accomplished what he had set out to do: to be wealthy, grasping military power and political power. Butler had achieved many "first" records. Whether you love him or hate him, you could not deny that he was indeed an unconventional and colorful fellow. (1998) (Used several books as reference.)
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