04894 - Major General Benjamin Butler ; 'Beast Butler' [LC-DIG-cwpb-04894]
Benjamin Franklin Butler was born in 1818 and named for Ben Franklin. Upon the death of his father when he was a year old, Butler’s mother operated a boarding house in Lowell Massachusetts. By the time he was 21 he had passed the bar and began practicing law. Soon married he became prominent in the Massachusetts legal and political scene. Due to his political connections he joined the militia in 1839 and by 1855 had received a political appointment as Brigadier General, but had no actual or practical field experience.
At the start of the Civil War his unit was activated and he led his troops to Baltimore to assist with repairs to railroad damage caused by recent riots. Within weeks he was promoted to Major General and was the third highest among the volunteers to hold the rank. A month after his promotion Butler, along with the rest of the Union forces was defeated at Bull Run.
His fortunes soon improved when he began to work with the Navy and commanded expeditionary forces along the North Carolina coast and later into the Gulf of Mexico. By May of 1862 his forces captured New Orleans and Butler took charge of the City. During this time he acquired his nickname of the “Beast” when he issued General Order No. 28.
When the city was captured the civilian inhabitants began to openly insult the Union forces. The men were dealt with harshly, but the women were ignored. This only encouraged the women to increase their taunts and insults. On May 15th, 1862 General Order No. 28 was issued as follows:
As the officers and soldiers of the United States have been subject to repeated insults from the women (calling themselves ladies) of New Orleans in return for the most scrupulous non-interference and courtesy on our part, it is ordered that hereafter when any female shall by word, gesture, or movement insult or show contempt for any officer or soldier of the United States she shall be regarded and held liable to be treated as a woman of the town plying her avocation.
With the effect of this meaning that women insulting Union forces would be considered prostitutes the result immediately accomplished two things. First the insults to the troops ceased, second the condemnation from the South and even internationally was strongly against Butler. Soon after he imposed censorship of the local newspapers and even arrested clergy that would not pray for support of Lincoln.
The political fallout of these, and other, orders caused Butler to lose his command of New Orleans by December of that year. For most of the rest of the war Butler commanded troops in Virginia and North Carolina but by early 1865 a number of combat failures led Grant to call for his removal. In early January Butler was relieved of command and sent to Massachusetts for the remainder of the war.
Following the war Butler was elected to Congress and served from 1867 – 1875 as a Republican. After two failed attempts to become Governor the Democrats (he had been a Democrat prior to the war) and the independent Party “Greenbacks” nominated him for a successful bid in 1882. In 1884 the “Greenbacks” nominated him for President as they split with the Democrats. This attempt not only was the end of the “Greenbacks” but he end of Butler’s political career. Butler returned to practicing law and was earning as much as 100,000 a year at the time of his death in in 1893.
![04894 - Major General Benjamin Butler ; 'Beast Butler' [LC-DIG-cwpb-04894]](/img/s/v-10/p1466041946-3.jpg)