Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893

Union Army general; Republican Congressman; governor of Massachusetts.

Union general in the Civil War; Congressman; Governor of Massachusetts (1883-84)

Benjamin Franklin Butler was a United States (U.S.) Army officer who was major general of the Department of the Gulf.

Butler attended Colby College (1838) and returned to Lowell, Massachusetts where he studied law. Admitted to the bar in 1840, he began a successful practice focusing on criminal cases. His practice gradually extended so that he maintained an office (Butler and Farr) in Boston. He later became successfully involved in politics and became prominent for his escapades during the Civil War.

American lawyer, army officer, and politician. During the Civil War, controversial commander of Union forces occupying New Orleans in 1862; member of U.S. Congress 1866-1875, governor of Massachusetts 1882-1883, and founder of a successful law practice in 1840 which continued until his death.

Benjamin F. Butler was a General in the United States Army during the Civil War.

American Army officer and politician.

Lawyer and territorial probate judge, Pomeroy, Washington.

First volunteer major general appointed by Pres. Abraham Lincoln on 16 May 1861; in 1862 he commanded the force that occupied New Orleans after it was captured by the U.S. Navy; removed from command of the Department of the Gulf on 17 Dec. 1862.

Army officer, Massachusetts governor, and U.S. representative; active in Greenback and Anti-Monopoly parties.

Born in Deerfield, N.H.; members of Massachusetts House of Representatives (1853); Massachusetts Senate (1859); fought in Civil War; U.S. Congressman (1867-1875, and 1897); Governor of Massachusetts (1882).

Army officer, U.S. representative from and governor of Massachusetts, and military governor of New Orleans.

Butler was an American politician and Union general in the Civil War.

American Army Officer and Politician.

Born in Deerfield, N.H., Benjamin F. Butler attended Waterville College (now Colby College) in Maine, graduating in 1838. Prior to the Civil War he practiced law and served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the Massachusetts Senate as a Democrat. Early in the war he served as commander of the Massachusetts Militia and played a significant role in thwarting efforts of Confederate sympathisers in Maryland to bring that state into the Confederate fold. Commissioned a major general by President Lincoln, Butler was assigned command of the Department of Virginia, with headquarters at Fort Monroe. He later commanded the force that occupied New Orleans after it was captured by the Navy. Bitterly resented by the citizens of New Orleans for the severity and firmness of his rule, Butler was relieved of his command in late 1862 by General Nathaniel Banks. Following the war Butler was a Republican Member of the U.S. House of Representatives and served as governor of Massachusetts from 1883-1884. He ran for president as a member of the Greenback and Anti-Monopoly parties in 1884.

Army officer, governor of Mass., congressman. Member of the Mass. House of Representatives, 1853; Mass. senate, 1859; Brigadier General of the Mass. militia at the start of the Civil War; occupied Baltimore in 1861, commander in capture of New Orleans, 1862, military governor of New Orleans, 1862; controversial politics and regulatory tactics led to charges of corruption and graft; in command eastern Va. and North Carolina districts, 1863; sent to N.Y. to preserve order during election 1864; member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Mass. 1867-75, 1877-79; governor of Mass., 1882; U.S. President nominee of anti-monoply party 1884.

Attorney, Lowell and Boston, Massachusetts; Massachusetts state representative, 1853; state senator, 1859; major-general, Union Army, Civil War; Massachusetts congressman, 1867-1875, 1877-1879; Massachusetts governor, 1882.

American army officer and politician.

Massachusetts legislator, Federal general, U.S. congressman, and governor of Massachusetts.

Butler was a lawyer, army officer and politician. During the Civil War he served as the military governor of New Orleans (1862). He served as commander of the districts of eastern Virginia and North Carolina, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1867-1875; 1877-1879), and served as governor of Massachusetts (1882-1884).

Benjamin Franklin Butler was born in 1818 and grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts. In the 1850s, he got involved in politics and quickly developed a reputation for ruthlessness, switching political parties whenever it suited his interest. After losing his bid for governor of Massachusetts in 1860, he received permission to form a state regiment. Despite having no military training or experience, Butler was made a brigadier-general in the tiny militia, which he then parlayed into the rank of U.S. Army general after the Civil War began. After military successes in Maryland and North Carolina, General Butler was given command of the occupation forces in New Orleans. But he then displayed the same ruthlessness and unconventional thinking that characterized his earlier political career, and was relieved of command by President Lincoln at the end of 1862. He was elected to Congress in 1868 and led the charge for President Andrew Johnson's impeachment and served as the lead prosecutor in Johnson's Senate trial. After numerous unsuccessful attempts, he was finally elected governor of Massachusetts in 1882. He served only a two-year term, then unsucessfully ran for president in 1884. He died in early 1893 at the age of 76.

Benjamin F. Butler was a U.S. general during the Civil War who served as military administrator of New Orleans, La., between May and December 1862. On June 7, 1862, he had executed one William B. Mumford for tearing down a United States flag placed by Admiral David G. Farragut on the United States Mint in New Orleans.

Born in Deerfield, New Hampshire, Benjamin Franklin Butler (1818-1893) established a law practice in Lowell, Massachusetts, after being admitted to the bar in 1840. A Democrat politically, Butler served as a delegate to the Democratic national conventions in 1848 and 1860, while also being elected to the House of Representatives in 1853 and to the Senate in 1859. During the Civil War, he was appointed brigadier general of the Massachusetts militia and soon promoted to major general in the Union Army. Assuming command of Fort Monroe, he led engagements in North Carolina and New Orleans, and was known for his harsh treatment of southerners. Butler’s refusal to return fugitive slaves to their masters led to the coining of the term contrabands. Following the war, he returned to his political career, serving as a Republican representative in Congress from 1867 through 1879. Although winning the Democratic nomination for governor of Massachusetts in 1882, Butler was defeated a year later as well as during his bid in the presidential elections of 1884 on the Greenback ticket.

Sources:

Benjamin Franklin Butler. NNDB. Accessed August 19, 2011. http://www.nndb.com/people/171/000102862/ .

Butler, Benjamin Franklin, (1818-1893). Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed August 19, 2011. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=b001174 .

Biographical Note

Biography

Benjamin Franklin Butler was born in 1818, but his father died when he was an infant, leaving the family penniless. Butler grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts, where his mother ran a boarding house. After failing to get into West Point, Butler studied for the ministry at Waterville College, but after graduation he decided to become a lawyer instead. In the 1850s, Benjamin Butler got involved in politics, and quickly developed a reputation for ruthlessness, switching political parties whenever it suited his interest. His bid for governor of Massachusetts in 1860 garnered him a mere four percent of the vote. However, he quickly received permission to form a state regiment to help ensure order at President Abraham Lincoln's inauguration. Despite having no military training or experience, Butler was made a brigadier-general in the tiny militia, which he then parlayed into the rank of U.S. Army general after the Civil War began.

After military successes in Maryland and North Carolina, General Butler was given command of the occupation forces in New Orleans. His tenure in the city was highly controversial, as he displayed the same ruthlessness and unconventional thinking that characterized his earlier political career. Having earned the nickname "Beast" Butler, he was relieved of command by President Lincoln at the end of 1862. Butler returned to the Northeast, where he built a huge following for his political ambitions, becoming so popular that President Lincoln offered him the Vice Presidential spot on the 1864 ticket. Butler turned him down, believing the army provided better opportunities than the vice presidency could. However, a long string of military defeats led Butler to resign in frustration at the end of 1864, and after Lincoln's assassination, Butler became one of President Andrew Johnson's fiercest opponents. Elected to Congress in 1868, Butler led the charge for Johnson's impeachment and served as the lead prosecutor in Johnson's Senate trial.

Although Johnson was acquitted, Benjamin Butler remained in Congress, often championing civil rights causes. Then, after numerous unsuccessful attempts, he was finally elected governor of Massachusetts in 1882. He served a two-year term, and then ran for president in 1884 as the candidate for the Greenback-Labor and Anti-Monopoly parties, receiving about two percent of the vote. He died in early 1893 at the age of 76.