The Wilmington campaigns were part of a Union effort to take Wilmington, North Carolina , from the Confederates . Wilmington was the last major port on the Atlantic seacoast available to the Confederacy. Fort Fisher guarded the Cape Fear River and in order to capture Wilmington, Fort Fisher had to fall.
110-454: On 7 December 1864, Union troops under command of General Benjamin Butler were sent to take the fort . Before the troops arrived, Admiral David D. Porter sent USS Wyalusing and two escort ships on an expedition to try to capture Rainbow Bluff and a Confederate ram. But Porter didn't know that there were Water mines in the river. Both of the escorts were sunk by the mines and the expedition
220-571: A felon deserving capital punishment , who, if captured, should be "reserved for execution". Although Butler's governance of New Orleans was popular in the North, where it was seen as a successful stand against recalcitrant secessionists, some of his actions, notably those against the foreign consuls, concerned Lincoln, who authorized his recall in December 1862. Butler was replaced by Nathaniel P. Banks . The necessity of taking sometimes radical actions and
330-456: A "contraband" did not mean full freedom, many people living under slavery considered it a step in that direction. The day after Butler's decision, many more people emancipated themselves by escaping and finding their way to Fort Monroe and where they appealed to become "contraband". As the number of formerly enslaved people grew too large to be housed inside the Fort, the contrabands built housing outside
440-557: A 38-piece set of silverware from a New Orleans woman who attempted to cross Union lines while using a pass that permitted her to carry nothing more than the clothing on her person. 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
550-478: A considerable part of it was in the hands of his relatives and supporters." 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
660-481: A few days before his assassination, to talk about reviving colonization in Panama. 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. 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
770-456: A follow-up expedition led by Maj. Gen. Alfred H. Terry and Brig. Gen. Adelbert Ames (Butler's future son-in-law) captured the fort on January 15, and news of this victory arrived during the committee hearing; Butler's military career was over. He was formally retained until November 1865 with the idea that he might act as military prosecutor of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. General Butler claimed that Lincoln approached him in 1865,
880-575: A hearing before the Joint Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War in mid-January. At his hearing Butler focused his defense on his actions at Fort Fisher. He produced charts and duplicates of reports by subordinates to prove he had been right to call off his attack of Fort Fisher, despite orders from General Grant to the contrary. Butler claimed the fort was impregnable. To his embarrassment,
990-619: A large oak tree. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was read to the contrabands and free blacks there, for which the tree was named the Emancipation Oak . By 1863, a total of four schools had been set up in the Camp by the American Missionary Association , including one at the former home of disgraced President John Tyler . For most of the contrabands, full emancipation did not take place until
1100-505: A lawyer enabled him to purchase shares in Lowell's Middlesex Mill Company when they were cheap. Although he generally represented workers in legal actions, he also sometimes represented mill owners. This adoption of both sides of an issue manifested itself when he became more politically active. He first attracted general attention by advocating the passage of a law establishing a ten-hour day for laborers, but he also opposed labor strikes over
1210-531: A local lawyer. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1840 and opened a practice in Lowell. 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). Butler's business partners included Sarah's brother Fisher, and her brother-in-law, W. P. Webster. In 1844, Butler
SECTION 10
#17328760043531320-471: A lure to draw his opponent into a premature action. 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. The plan proved too complex for his inadequately trained subordinates and troops to carry out, especially at night, and
1430-690: A month and females $ 4, specific to that command. In August, the US Congress passed the Confiscation Act of 1861 , which declared that any property used by the Confederate military, including enslaved people, could be confiscated by Union forces. The next March, its Act Prohibiting the Return of Slaves forbade returning enslaved persons to Confederate enslavers, whether private citizens or the Confederate military. The word of this policy spread quickly among enslaved communities in southeastern Virginia. While becoming
1540-715: A new relationship between African Americans and the U.S. government." The status of Southern-owned slaves became an issue early in 1861, not long after hostilities began in the American Civil War . Fort Monroe , in Hampton Roads , Virginia , was a major Union stronghold which never fell to the Confederate States of America , despite its close proximity to their capital city, Richmond. On May 24, 1861, three men, Frank Baker, Shepard Mallory and James Townsend, escaped enslavement by crossing Hampton Roads harbor at night from
1650-592: A position in the Mississippi River area in early 1863, and categorically refused to send him back to New Orleans. 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
1760-593: A prominent Radical Republican, Butler was a potential replacement of Lincoln as presidential nominee. Lincoln had even asked Butler to be the 1864 nominee for vice president, as did Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase , who sought to replace Lincoln as president. In reply to Lincoln's offer, Butler said, "Tell him ... I would not quit the field [resign as major general] to be Vice-President, even with himself as President, unless he will give me bond with sureties ... that he will die or resign within three months after his inauguration. Ask him what he thinks I have done to deserve
1870-518: A regiment of Negroes that much of the art of war sooner than he could have taught the same number of students from Harvard or Yale." The regiment would serve Butler effectively during the Siege of Port Hudson . Butler organized three regiments totaling 3,122 soldiers and officers. Butler's popularity with the Radicals meant that Lincoln could not readily deny him a new posting. Lincoln considered sending him to
1980-674: A substantial force under General P. G. T. Beauregard . On 13 May, Butler's advance toward Richmond was repulsed. On May 16, the Confederates drove Butler's force back to Bermuda Hundred, bottling up the Union troops in a loop of the James River. Both sides entrenched; the Union troops were safe but impotent, and Beauregard sent most of his troops as reinforcements to Lee's Army of Northern Virginia . Had Butler been more aggressive in early May, he might have taken Petersburg or even Richmond itself and ended
2090-489: 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. Contraband (American Civil War) Contraband was a term commonly used in the US military during the American Civil War to describe a new status for certain people who escaped slavery or those who affiliated with Union forces. In August 1861,
2200-507: Is not recorded except in Butler's account. 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. Upon arriving in the city, Butler immediately began attempts to participate in
2310-469: The 1860 Democratic National Convention at Charleston, South Carolina , Butler initially supported John C. Breckinridge for president but then shifted his support to Jefferson Davis , believing that only a moderate Southerner could keep the Democratic party from dividing. A conversation he had with Davis prior to the convention convinced him that Davis might be such a man, and he gave him his support before
SECTION 20
#17328760043532420-483: The 7th New York Militia , Butler directed his men to restore rail service between Annapolis and Washington via Annapolis Junction , which was accomplished by April 27. He also threatened Maryland legislators with arrest if they voted in favor of secession, and he seized the Great Seal of Maryland , "without which no legislation could become law." Butler's prompt actions in securing Annapolis were received with approval by
2530-673: The Anti-Monopoly Party tickets in 1884 . 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. He
2640-478: The Freedmen's Colony of Roanoke Island , North Carolina . In Roanoke Island, approximately 3,500 formerly enslaved people worked to develop a self-sufficient community. A unique view of a temporary contraband camp, in this case located in the town square of Opelousas, Louisiana from April to May 10, 1863, appears in a report submitted to Louisiana's Confederate governor Henry W. Allen and published 1865. The account
2750-473: The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 because of Virginia's secession. "I am under no constitutional obligations to a foreign country," he said, "which Virginia now claims to be." Furthermore, slaves used as laborers for building fortifications and other military activities could be considered contraband of war. "Lincoln and his Cabinet discussed the issue on May 30 and decided to support Butler's stance". It
2860-626: 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 . 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
2970-804: The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution , which abolished slavery except as punishment for a crime, was ratified on December 6, 1865. Contraband camps developed around many Union-held forts and encampments. In 1863, after the Emancipation Proclamation and authorization of black military units, thousands of free black people began to enlist in the United States Colored Troops . The Army allowed their families to take refuge at contraband camps. The black troops ultimately comprised nearly ten percent of all
3080-613: The U.S. House of Representatives and running several campaigns for governor before his election to that office in 1882 . 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
3190-630: The Union Army and the US Congress determined that the US would no longer return people who escaped slavery who went to Union lines, but they would be classified as "contraband of war," or captured enemy property. They used many as laborers to support Union efforts and soon began to pay wages. These self-emancipated freedmen set up camps near Union forces, often with army assistance and supervision. The army helped to support and educate both adults and children among
3300-550: The Union Army , politician, lawyer, and businessman from Massachusetts . Born in New Hampshire and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts , Butler was a political major general of the Union Army during the American Civil War and had a leadership role in the impeachment of U.S. president Andrew Johnson . He was a colorful and often controversial figure on the national stage and on the Massachusetts political scene, serving five terms in
3410-524: The United States , she may be treated similarly to a "woman of the town plying her avocation," i.e., a prostitute . This was in response to various acts of verbal and physical abuse inappropriate of "respectable" women, including mocking the funeral cortège of a fallen soldier, spitting in the faces of U.S. officers, pouring chamber pots full of human excrement on patrolling U.S. soldiers, and, in one notorious case, pouring urine on Admiral David Farragut ,
Wilmington campaigns - Misplaced Pages Continue
3520-539: The state legislature in 1852. His support for Franklin Pierce as president, however, cost him the seat the next year. He was elected a delegate to the 1853 state constitutional convention with strong Catholic support, and was elected to the state senate in 1858, a year dominated by Republican victories in the state. Butler was nominated for governor in 1859 and ran on a pro-slavery, pro-tariff platform. He lost to incumbent Republican Nathaniel Prentice Banks . In
3630-530: The "Southern villain" at bay. General Butler's written statements and communications with the War Department requesting guidance on the issue of fugitive slaves did not use the term "contraband." As late as August 9, 1861, he used the term "slaves" for fugitives who had come to Fort Monroe. Gen. Butler did not pay these men wages for work that they began to undertake, and he continued to refer to them as "slaves." On August 10, 1861, Acting Master William Budd of
3740-407: The 1863 draft riots ," 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. The Army of
3850-664: The 8th, which left Philadelphia the next day amid news that railroad connections around Baltimore were being severed. Butler and the 8th traveled by rail and ferry to Maryland's capital, Annapolis , where Governor Thomas H. Hicks attempted to dissuade them from landing. Butler landed his troops (who needed food and water), occupying the Naval Academy . When Hicks informed Butler that no one would sell provisions to his force, Butler pointed out that armed men did not necessarily have to pay for needed provisions, and he would use all measures necessary to ensure order. After being joined by
3960-581: The Army of the James. "Embarrassed and outraged, Butler broke off all relations with Grant and set out to destroy him." In 1867, when it seemed that Grant might run for president, Butler "employed detectives in an effort to prove that Grant was 'a drunkard, after fast horses, women and whores.' Grant, he announced, was 'a man without a head or a heart, indifferent to human suffering and impotent to govern.'" Rather than report to Lowell, Butler went to Washington, where he used his considerable political connections to get
4070-560: The Board of Visitors of West Point . These positions did not give him any significant military experience. After Abraham Lincoln was elected president in November 1860, Butler traveled to Washington, D.C. When a secessionist South Carolina delegation arrived there he recommended to lameduck President James Buchanan that they be arrested and charged with treason. Buchanan rejected the idea. Butler also met with Jefferson Davis and learned that he
4180-457: The Confederacy," Butler reversed his earlier policy of encouraging trade by refusing to confiscate cotton brought into New Orleans for sale. First, 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
4290-513: The Confederate army in Virginia, Butler confiscated the newspaper and imprisoned Seymour for three months. On June 7, 1862, Butler ordered the execution of William B. Mumford for tearing down a United States flag placed by Admiral Farragut on the United States Mint in New Orleans . In his memoirs, Butler maintained that "[a] party headed by Mumford had torn down the flag, dragged it through
4400-539: The Confederate-occupied Norfolk County, Virginia , and seeking refuge in Fort Monroe. Prior to their escape, these three men had been forced to help construct an artillery battery at Sewell's Point , aimed at Fort Monroe. The Commander of Fort Monroe, Major General Benjamin Butler , refused to return Baker, Malloy, and Townsend to their owners' agent who requested their return. Prior to the War,
4510-629: 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 and withdrew his troops without authorization. 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 Grant in early 1865. As Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton
Wilmington campaigns - Misplaced Pages Continue
4620-772: The James River ship canal and the mouth of the Nansemond River . Butler also expanded Camp Hamilton, established in the adjacent town of Hampton, Virginia , just beyond the confines of the fort and within the range of its guns. 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. 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
4730-558: 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
4840-435: 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
4950-587: 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 , 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
5060-477: The South, which concocted stories about him that were conflations of biographical details involving not just Butler but also a namesake from New York and others. When two Massachusetts regiments had been sent overland to Maryland, two more were dispatched by sea under Butler's command to secure Fort Monroe at the mouth of the James River . After being dressed down by Scott for overstepping his authority, Butler
5170-525: The US Army's top general, Winfield Scott , and he was given formal orders to maintain the security of the transit links in Maryland. In early May, Scott ordered Butler to lead the operations that occupied Baltimore. On May 13 he entered Baltimore on a train with 1000 men and artillery, with no opposition. That was done in contravention of Butler's orders from Scott, which had been to organize four columns to approach
5280-429: The Union Army. His military career before the Civil War began as a private in the Lowell militia in 1840. Butler eventually rose to become colonel of a regiment of primarily Irish American men. In 1855, the nativist Know Nothing governor Henry J. Gardner disbanded Butler's militia, but Butler was elected brigadier general after the militia was reorganized. In 1857 Secretary of War Jefferson Davis appointed him to
5390-538: The Union Navy commander. "Butler's 'Woman Order' was immediately effective. Insults by word, look or gesture abruptly ceased.... Throughout the South, however, the Woman Order evoked a universal shout of execration". 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
5500-617: The administration of that city he showed great firmness and political subtlety. He devised a plan for relief of the poor, demanded oaths of allegiance from anyone who sought any privilege from government, and confiscated weapons. However, Butler's subtlety seemed to fail him as the military governor of New Orleans when it came to dealing with its Jewish population, about which the general, referring to local smugglers, infamously wrote, in October 1862: "They are Jews who betrayed their Savior , & also have betrayed us." In an ordinary year, it
5610-520: The area, Butler decided to halt the landings. He called off the campaign on 27 December, ignoring General Grant 's orders to besiege the fort if an attack failed. The Union troops retreated back to their ships and returned to Hampton Roads and Fort Monroe. When the December expedition against Fort Fisher failed, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler was relieved of command. Maj. Gen. Alfred Terry was placed in command to make another attempt to take Fort Fisher several weeks later. General Terry selected Porter to land
SECTION 50
#17328760043535720-426: The city by land and sea. General Scott criticized Butler for his strategy (despite its success) as well as his heavy-handed assumption of control of much of the civil government, and he recalled him to Washington. Butler shortly after received one of the early appointments as major general of the volunteer forces. His exploits in Maryland also brought nationwide press attention, including significant negative press in
5830-587: The contrabands so that they could be quartered in the camp, and when black men living there were systematically forced to join the Union Army. By the end of the war in April 1865, less than four years later, an estimated 10,000 people escaped slavery and applied to gain "contraband" status, with many living nearby. Across the South, Union forces managed more than 100 contraband camps, although not all were as large. The 1,500 contrabands behind federal lines at Harpers Ferry were kidnapped and re-enslaved when Confederates took
5940-472: The convention split over slavery. Butler ended up supporting Breckinridge over Douglas against state party instructions, ruining his standing with the state party apparatus. He was nominated for governor in the 1860 election by a Breckinridge splinter of the state party, but trailed far behind other candidates. Although he sympathized with the South, Butler stated, "I was always a friend of southern rights but an enemy of southern wrongs" and sought to serve in
6050-650: 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. Butler censored New Orleans newspapers . When William Seymour,
6160-576: The crowded base. The first was Camp Hamilton, a military encampment just outside the walls of the fort. A larger encampment was built in the ruins of the City of Hampton (which had been burned by Confederate troops after learning of the plan to house the contrabands there). They called their new settlement the Grand Contraband Camp . It gained the nickname "Slabtown" due to being built from the remnants of Hampton . Conflicts arose when Union troops evicted
6270-539: The editor of the New-Orleans Commercial Bulletin , asked Butler what would happen if the newspaper ignored his censorship, an angry Butler reportedly stated, "I am the military governor of this state — the supreme power — you cannot disregard my order, Sir. By God, he that sins against me, sins against the Holy Ghost." When Seymour published a favorable obituary of his father, who had been killed serving in
6380-408: The exercises of squad drill and the manual of arms, while in the midst of all these scenes blue-coated officers and men were seen in amorous dalliance with the colored Aspasias of the town, exhibiting, in their degradation, a contempt for the commonest decencies of life. Nor was the spectacle less humiliating in the church. From its sacred chancel a half-crazy negro, with the voice of a Stentor and
6490-626: 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). 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." Butler's administration of
6600-525: The fire of Peter the Hermit , declaimed in a barbaric jargon to an auditory whose appreciation was manifested in wild shouts and screams. The declamation of the preacher, in which the name of God was connected with ideas of heathen superstition, seemed to light up in the minds of his hearers the dormant spark of African barbarism which had smouldered for generations. Contraband refugee camps have been described as "simultaneously humanitarian crises and incubators for
6710-454: The first African-American regiment in the US Army, the 1st Louisiana Native Guard , and commissioned 30 officers to command it at the company level. This was highly unusual, as most USCT regiments were commanded by white officers only. "Better soldiers never shouldered a musket," Butler wrote, "I observed a very remarkable trait about them. They learned to handle arms and to march more easily than intelligent white men. My drillmaster could teach
SECTION 60
#17328760043536820-469: The first ashore, and soon capturing a Confederate battery and two reserve battalions. After setting up a defensive line, Ames ordered N. Martin Curtis' brigade to reconnoiter the fort to see if it could be attacked. Curtis found the land wall lightly defended and was prepared to attack, but was prevented from doing so by Ames. By then, believing the fort to be too strong to assault, and with another storm forming in
6930-459: 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. 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
7040-526: The general's close associates. The spat instigated a recruiting war between Butler and the state militia organization. The dispute delayed Butler's return to Virginia, and in November he was assigned to command ground troops in Louisiana . While in command at Fort Monroe, Butler had declined to return to their owners fugitive slaves who had come within his lines. He argued that Virginians considered them to be chattel property , and that they could not appeal to
7150-531: The gunboat USS Resolute first used the term in an official US military record. On September 25, 1861, the Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles issued a directive to give "persons of color, commonly known as contrabands", in the employment of the Union Navy pay at the rate of $ 10 per month and a full day's ration . Three weeks later, the Union Army followed suit, paying male "contrabands" at Fort Monroe $ 8
7260-550: The highest ranking volunteer major generals in the Union army; next to Grant himself, he was the ranking field officer in the Eastern theater, and command of the Army of the Potomac would default to him in Grant's absence. For that reason, Grant remained with the army as much as possible and only made trips away from the front when it was absolutely necessary. In December, troops from the Army of
7370-459: 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
7480-411: 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
7590-401: The matter. He instituted a ten-hour work day at the Middlesex Mills. During the debates over the ten-hour day a Whig -supporting Lowell newspaper published a verse suggesting that Butler's father had been hanged for piracy . Butler sued the paper's editor and publisher for that and other allegations that had been printed about himself. The editor was convicted and fined $ 50, but the publisher
7700-586: The memory of the then inhabitants of the town. In one place groups of human beings, with melancholy faces, were crouched on the earth around some decaying embers; in another, men, women and children were moving in some African dance to the discordant chant of a hundred voices; in another, crowds were reclining in listless idleness on the ground, in every attitude that betrays the vacant mind; in another, half clad men and women were feasting and rioting amidst peals and shouts of unearthly merriments; in another, awkward field hands, grotesquely dressed, were being taken through
7810-474: The ministry, but eventually rebelled against the idea. In 1836, Butler sought permission to go instead to West Point for a military education, but he did not receive one of the few places available. He continued his studies at Waterville, where he sharpened his rhetorical skills in theological discussions and began to adopt Democratic Party political views. He graduated in August 1838. Butler returned to Lowell, where he clerked and read law as an apprentice with
7920-549: The owners of the slaves would have been legally entitled to request their return (as property) under the federal 1850 Fugitive Slave Act . But Virginia had declared (by secession ) that it was no longer was part of the United States. General Butler, who was an attorney , took the position that, if Virginia considered itself a foreign country, then the Fugitive Slave Act did not apply, and he was under no obligation to return
8030-503: The petty looting of New Orleanians. "[F]or years after the Civil War steamships plying the lower Mississippi were furnished with chamber pots bearing the likeness of 'Beast Butler'". 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
8140-539: The presidential election was over, so the administration no longer had to be concerned about Butler's running for president, and, in General Order Number 1, Lincoln relieved him from command of the Department of North Carolina and Virginia and ordered him to report to Lowell, Massachusetts. Grant informed Butler of his recall on January 8, 1865, and named Major General Edward O. C. Ord to replace him as commander of
8250-637: The prospect of impeaching Johnson . After Johnson was impeached in early 1868 , Butler served as the lead prosecutor among the House-appointed impeachment managers in the Johnson impeachment trial proceedings . Additionally, as Chairman of the House Committee on Reconstruction, Butler authored the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 and coauthored the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1875 . In Massachusetts, Butler
8360-455: The punishment ... of being made to sit as presiding officer over the Senate, to listen for four years to debates more or less stupid, in which I can take no part or say a word...." There was no good place to put Butler; sending him to Missouri or Kentucky would likely end in disaster, so it was considered safer to leave him where he was in Virginia. More worrying was the fact that Butler was one of
8470-401: 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 May 5, when Petersburg was almost undefended, but Butler became unnerved by the presence of a handful of Confederate militia and home guards. While he dithered, the Confederates assembled
8580-552: The refugees. Thousands of men from these camps enlisted in the United States Colored Troops when recruitment started in 1863. One particular contraband camp, which had 6,000 "runaway negroes", was in Natchez, Mississippi, and was visited by General Ulysses S. Grant with some of his family and staff in 1863. By the end of the war, more than one hundred contraband camps were operating in the Southern United States , including
8690-421: The responsibility of making the attempt to take Wilmington. General Bragg prepared 6,000 men in the city. General Schofield had 12,000 men. The Union and the Confederates battled from February 11 until February 22. Bragg was forced to surrender Wilmington to the Union troops. Benjamin Butler (politician) Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American major general of
8800-473: The royal box at the opera, the most comprehensive view of the scenes passing beneath. Morning and evening, as he promenaded his spacious gallery, in all the glitter of military button and strap, he passed in review the living panorama before him, which was to furnish such valuable acquisitions to the confiscated plantations on the Lafourche and the coast. The scenes which he so complacently surveyed will long live in
8910-418: The streets and spit on it, and trampled on it until it was torn to pieces. It was then distributed among the rabble, and each one thought it a high honor to get a piece of it and wear it." Butler added that these actions were "against the laws of war and his country." Before Mumford was executed, Butler permitted him to make a speech for as long as he wished, and Mumford defended his actions by claiming that he
9020-536: The support he received in Radical Republican circles drove Butler to change political allegiance, and he joined the Republican Party . He also sought revenge against the more moderate Secretary of State Seward, whom he believed to be responsible for his eventual recall. Butler continues to be a disliked and controversial figure in New Orleans and the rest of the South. On September 27, 1862, Butler formed
9130-415: The three men; he would hold them as "contraband of war". By taking this position, Butler implicitly recognized the Confederacy as a foreign country. President Abraham Lincoln did not — he did not recognize secession as legitimate — but he nevertheless had "Simon Cameron, the secretary of war, [telegraph] Butler to inform him that his contraband policy 'is approved.'" As early as 1812, the term "contraband"
9240-436: The town. From a camp on Roanoke Island that started in 1862, Horace James developed the Freedmen's Colony of Roanoke Island (1863–1867). Appointed by the Union Army, James was a Congregational chaplain who, with the freedmen, tried to create a self-sustaining colony at the island. Within the Grand Contraband Camp , the pioneering teacher Mary S. Peake began to teach both adult and child contrabands to read and write. She
9350-412: The troops in the Union Army. By the end of the war, more than one hundred contraband camps had been developed in the South. Many were assisted by missionary teachers recruited from the North by the American Missionary Association and other groups who, together with free blacks and freedmen, agreed that education of the formerly enslaved people was of the highest priority. The teachers often wrote about
9460-457: The troops. Union Marines landed, and fought their way up the beach. Soldiers engaged at point-blank range, and the beach was taken and the right side of the fort fell into Union hands. Then, after horrendous melee combat on the left side, the Confederates retreated to Fort Buchanan. That fort surrendered too and the way up the Cape Fear River was clear. Then, General John Schofield was given
9570-415: The war a year early, although his two West Pointer corps commanders Maj. Gen "Baldly" Smith and Quincy Gilmore also did not perform well or make up for Butler's limitations as a general. Despite this fiasco, Butler remained in command of the Army of the James. Although Grant had largely been successful in removing incompetent political generals from service, Butler could not be easily gotten rid of. As
9680-599: The war's first large-scale battle. 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. 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,
9790-453: The war. Butler also worked to secure a leadership position should the militia be deployed. He first offered his services to Governor Andrew in March 1861. When the call for militia finally arrived in April, Massachusetts was asked for only three regiments, but Butler managed to have the request expanded to include a brigadier general. He telegraphed Secretary of War Simon Cameron , with whom he
9900-536: The western frontier. 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
10010-478: 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. 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 ,
10120-516: Was abandoned. Colonel William Lamb was charged with defending Fort Fisher. The Union troops numbered about 6,500 men, and the Confederates had about 7,000. Due to a number of delays caused by storms, the attack didn't begin until 23 December. In the interim, General Braxton Bragg reinforced the Fort Fisher garrison. The Navy began bombarding the fort and the Union troops started landing on Christmas morning, with Brig. Gen. Adelbert Ames ' division
10230-425: Was acquainted, suggesting that Cameron issue a request for a brigadier and general staff from Massachusetts, which soon afterward appeared on Governor Andrew's desk. He then used banking contacts to ensure that loans that would be needed to fund the militia operations would be conditioned on his appointment. Despite Andrew's desire to assign the brigadier position to Ebenezer Peirce , the bank insisted on Butler, and he
10340-632: Was acquitted on a technicality. Butler blamed the Whig judge, Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar , for the acquittal, inaugurating a feud between the two that would last for decades and significantly color Butler's reputation in the state. Butler, as a Democrat, supported the Compromise of 1850 and regularly spoke out against the abolition of slavery . At the state level, he supported the coalition of Democrats and Free Soilers that elected George S. Boutwell governor in 1851. This garnered him enough support to win election to
10450-542: Was acting out of a high sense of patriotism. Most, including Mumford and his family, expected Butler to pardon him. The general refused to do so, but promised to care for his family if necessary. (After the war, Butler fulfilled his promise by paying off a mortgage on Mumford's widow's house and helping her find government employment.) For the execution and General Order No. 28, he was denounced (December 1862) by Confederate President Jefferson Davis in General Order 111 as
10560-517: Was described by a schoolmate as "a reckless, impetuous, headstrong boy", and regularly got into fights. Butler's mother moved the family in 1828 to Lowell, Massachusetts , where she operated a boarding house for workers at the textile mills . He attended the public schools there, from which he was almost expelled for fighting, the principal describing him as a boy who "might be led, but could not be driven." He attended Waterville (now Colby ) College in pursuit of his mother's wish that he prepare for
10670-487: Was dismissed from the Union Army after his failures in the First Battle of Fort Fisher , but he soon won election to the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts. As a Radical Republican he considered President Johnson's Reconstruction agenda to be too weak, advocating harsher punishments of former Confederate leadership and stronger stances on civil rights reform. He was also an early proponent of
10780-539: Was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society . 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 . His trial work was so successful that it received regular press coverage, and he was able to expand his practice into Boston . George Riley worked at his Boston law office. Butler's success as
10890-426: 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. Massachusetts militia general Ebenezer W. Peirce , who commanded in the field, received the most criticism for the failed operation. With
11000-568: Was later made standard Union Army policy to not return fugitive slaves. This policy was soon extended to the Union Navy. Butler directed the first Union expedition to Ship Island , off the Mississippi Gulf Coast, in December 1861, and in May 1862 commanded the force that conducted the capture of New Orleans after its occupation by the Navy following the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip . In
11110-525: 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. Butler's mother was a devout Baptist who encouraged him to read the Bible and prepare for the ministry. In 1827, at the age of nine, Butler was awarded a scholarship to Phillips Exeter Academy , where he spent one term. He
11220-461: Was next assigned command of Fort Monroe and of the Department of Virginia . On May 27, Butler sent a force 8 miles (13 km) north to occupy the lightly defended adjacent town of Newport News, Virginia at Newport News Point, an excellent anchorage for the Union Navy . The force established and significantly fortified Camp Butler and a battery at Newport News Point that could cover the entrance to
11330-499: Was not in Washington at the time, Grant appealed directly to Lincoln for permission to terminate Butler, noting "there is a lack of confidence felt in [Butler's] military ability". Grant also voiced his suspicions about corruption going on in Butler's department, including smuggling of supplies to Lee's army, and that Butler arbitrarily arrested anyone who noticed what was going on, although, due to Butler's formidable political connections, nothing came of Grant's complaints. By this point,
11440-443: Was not the Union man that Butler had previously thought he was. Butler then returned to Massachusetts, where he warned Governor John A. Andrew that hostilities were likely and that the state militia should be readied. He took advantage of the mobilization to secure a contract with the state for his mill to supply heavy cloth to the militia. Military contracts would constitute a significant source of profits for Butler's mill throughout
11550-446: 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. Many of his acts, however, were highly unpopular. Most notorious was Butler's General Order No. 28 of May 15, 1862, that if any woman should insult or show contempt for any officer or soldier of
11660-476: 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
11770-496: Was sent south to ensure the security of transportation routes to Washington. The nation's capital was threatened with isolation from free states because it was unclear whether Maryland , a slave state, would also secede. The two regiments Massachusetts sent to Maryland were the 6th and 8th Volunteer Militia. The 6th departed first and was caught up in a secessionist riot in Baltimore, Maryland on April 19. Butler traveled with
11880-605: Was the first Black teacher hired by the American Missionary Association , which also sent numerous Northern white teachers across the South to teach newly emancipated Black people both during the Civil War and in the Reconstruction era . The area where Peake taught in Elizabeth City County later became part of the campus of Hampton University , a historically black college . Defying a Virginia law against educating slaves, Peake and other teachers held classes outdoors under
11990-497: Was used in general language to refer to illegally smuggled goods (including enslaved people). However its use was given a new context during the American Civil War after Butler's decision. One of the first uses of the term by the press is Thomas Nast's illustration "Contraband of War" published in the New York Illustrated News, June 15, 1861. General Butler is depicted with "contraband" clutching his leg while holding
12100-411: Was written by a Confederate officer from St. Landry Parish , most likely Gen. John G. Pratt : The accomplished officer who presided over the scenes daily enacted in this barracoon was the "Military Governor of Opelousas," Col. Chickering , of the 41st Massachusetts regiment , who occupied the most conspicuous residence, fronting the entrance of the church. From his eligible position he had, as from
#352647