Benjamin Franklin Butler

BUTLER, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, lawyer and politician, b. Deerfield, N.H., Nov. 5, 1818. Waterville Coll., Me., 1838. Zephaniah, his grandfather, was a Revol. officer. He studied law at Lowell, [Mass.]; was adm. to the bar in 1841, and practised law in [Mass.] until April, 1861, with nigh reputation, especially in criminal cases. He became identified with the Democ. party, was active in politics; was a member of the Mass. legisl. in 1853, and of the State senate in 1859-60, of the Const. Conv. of 1853, and in 1860 was a delegate to the Democ. pres, convention at Charleston, and afterward at Baltimore, in which he supported the nomination of Breckinridge. As brig.gen. of [Mass.] militia, April 17, 1861, he marched with the [Mass.] 8th regt. to Annapolis, brought out the frigate " Constitution," and was placed in com. of the dept. of Annapolis, including the city of Baltimore; made maj.-gen. of vols. May 16, and transferred to the com. of Fortress Monroe, and the dept. of Eastern Va. To some slaves who came to the fort for protection, Butler applied the famous phrase "contraband of war." Aug. 22, he proceeded with an exped. against Forts Hatteras and Clark on the coast of N.C., which fell on the 29th. He then organized an exped. for the capture of New Orleans; left Boston, Feb. 20, 1862, and on the surrender of Fort St. Philip and Fort Jackson to Flag-officer Farragut, May 1, took possession of the city, and by a vigorous administration reduced it to order and security. He was removed in Nov. 1862. In the latter part of 1863, he obtained com. of the dept. of Va. and N.C. He operated on the south side of the James River against Richmond, intrenching himself at City Point and Bermuda Hundred, 5 May, 1864. He was attacked on the 16th near Drury's Bluff, and forced back to his intrenchments, so that he could not take the offensive. He com. the land force in the unsuccessful exped. against Fort Fisher in Dec. 1864. M.C. 1866-71 ; one of the managers of the impeachment of Pres. Johnson, 1868. — See Parton's Butler in New Orleans; Greeley’s Amer. Conflict.

SOURCE: Francis S. Drake, Dictionary of American Biography, p. 148-9.  Note:  In the original article Massachusetts was abbreviated as Ms., which is now the modern postal abbreviation for Mississippi.  In such instances I have substituted Mass. within brackets to avoid confusion.