The first person with the Butler surname to set foot on American soil was most likely Richard Butler, a member of the Amadas and Barlowe Expedition that landed near Roanoke Island, North Carolina in 1584.
Over the next 277 years, many thousands of Butlers, primarily from Ireland and England, immigrated to America. They fought with valor and distinction in the American Revolution, War of 1812, Indian Wars, and Mexican War. Many Butlers sacrificed their lives to help build a new nation based on freedom.
By 1861, many Butler families were well-established in states and territories as far west as California. But, the American Civil War was on the horizon. For the first time, American Butlers weren’t going to war united against a common enemy. Many close and distant relatives would be pitted against each other.
The following is a Butler-centric look at the 7,024 Butlers that fought on both sides of the Civil War from 1861 to 1865.
Confederate Butlers vs. Union Butlers
Major General Matthew Calbraith Butler (left) and Major General Benjamin Franklin Butler (right).
Butlers fought on both sides of the Civil War but favored the Union by almost 2:1. Butler families contributed 2,521 (36%) of their husbands and sons to fight for the Confederacy. For the Union, Butler families contributed 4,503 (64%) of their husbands and sons.
Matthew Calbraith Butler (1836-1909)
The highest-ranking Confederate Butler was Major General Matthew Calbraith Butler of South Carolina. Early in his military career, field commander Wade Hampton III said that he was the finest cavalry officer he had ever seen. Matthew lost his right foot at the Battle of Brandy Station in 1863 and was wounded at the Battle of Bentonville in 1865.
After the Civil War, Matthew served three terms as a United States Senator representing South Carolina. In 1898, he returned to military service as a major general in the United States Army during the Spanish-American War. He oversaw the evacuation of Spanish troops from Cuba during his tenure. Near the end of his life, he became president of the Hidalgo Placer Mining and Milling Company in Mexico.
Benjamin Franklin Butler (1818-1893)
The highest-ranking Union Butler was Major General Benjamin Franklin Butler of Massachusetts. When the Union captured New Orleans during the Civil War, the city was occupied under his command. The ladies of New Orleans protested his occupation of their city by emptying chamber pots from upper floor windows onto the heads of union soldiers as they walked through the streets of the French Quarter. Benjamin responded by announcing that any woman found insulting union troops would be considered a prostitute and arrested. This didn’t sit particularly well with the citizens there so they made and sold chamber pots with his picture on the bottom to show their displeasure.
After the Civil War, Benjamin continued to fight for civil rights. As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Chairman of the House Committee on Reconstruction, he authored the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 and was a co-author of the Civil Rights Act of 1875. He was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 1882 and ran for president in 1884.
Butler Civil War Geography
States with the most Confederate Butlers:
Georgia (347), Virginia (344), and Mississippi (303).
States with the most Union Butlers:
New York (549), Ohio (383), and Illinois (373)
(710) Butlers were members of “U.S. Colored Troops.”
Most Divided State for Butlers:
Kentucky – 42% Confederate Butlers, 58% Union Butlers.
Butler Battlefield Roles in the Civil War
Primary Sources:
- Search For Soldiers – The Civil War (U.S. National Park Service). (n.d.). NPS.GOV.
- O’Neill, A. (2019, August 13). U.S Civil War Army Sizes 1861-1865 | Statista. Statista.
- List Of American Civil War Generals (Confederate) – Wikipedia. (n.d.).
- List Of American Civil War Generals (Union) – Wikipedia. (n.d.).
- Begley, P. R. (2001, March 1). Butler, Matthew Calbraith – South Carolina Encyclopedia.
- F., B. (n.d.). Benjamin F. Butler | American Battlefield Trust. American Battlefield Trust.
- Image 2: Background vector created by freepik
