enjamin Butler was born in Deerfield, New Hampshire, and graduated from
Waterville College (now Colby College) in 1838. After admission to the Massachusetts bar
in 1840, he began a successful practice in Lowell, gaining a widespread reputation as a
talented trial lawyer. Active in the Democratic party, he served one term as state
representative in 1853, one term as state senator in 1858, and ran unsuccessfully for
governor in 1859. The following year, he supported John Breckinridge, the Southern
Democrat, for president and again ran unsuccessfully for governor, this time on the ticket
of the Breckinridge faction.When the Civil War began, though, Butler was quick to
volunteer his services to the Union cause. A brigadier-general of the Massachusetts
militia, he led forces that occupied Baltimore unopposed and, as a major-general, captured
Forts Hatteras and Clark in North Carolina. He coined the term "contraband" to
designate escaped slaves who crossed Union lines.
Butlers most famous (or infamous) connection with the war was his controversial
tenure as commander of the occupation forces in New Orleans in 1862. He seized the posh
St. Charles Hotel as his initial headquarters, confiscated $800,000 from the Dutch
consulate (which he insisted had been intended for purchase of Confederate war supplies),
hanged a man for taking a Union flag down from a flagpole, and inflicted other strictures
that caused New Orleans residents to label him "Beast," "Brute," and
"Spoons" (for his alleged tendency to steal silverware). The regulation that
raised the most ire was his "Woman Order" which stipulated that women who
insulted Union soldiers would be treated as prostitutes. In December, he was replaced by
General Nathaniel Banks.
In late 1863, Butler was given the command of the Department of Virginia and North
Carolina. In October 1864, he was sent to New York City to prevent or control election
riots. Criticized for his inability in the field (Grant accused him of getting
"bottled up"another nickname that stuck), Butler retired from the army and
returned to Massachusetts in December 1864.
After the war, Butler returned to Congress as a Republican, serving from 1867 to 1875
and from 1877 to 1879. He enthusiastically backed the Radical Reconstruction policies of
the Congressional Republicans. A vociferous, unrelenting critic of President Johnson, he
authored the tenth article of impeachment aimed at the Presidents verbal attacks on
Congress. At the suggestion of the ailing Thaddeus Stevens, Butler became the lead House
prosecutor at Johnsons removal trial in the Senate. The Massachusetts
Congressmans poor performance, however, has often been cited as a factor in
Johnsons acquittal.
Butler was an almost perennial candidate for governor of Massachusetts, running
unsuccessfully in 1871, 1873, 1874, 1878, and 1879, before being elected in 1882. In his
final bid for office, he was the Presidential nominee of the Greenback-Labor and
Anti-Monopoly parties in 1884, polling less than 2% of the popular vote. Butler died in
Washington, D.C.