2.) Benjamin Butler– Oh look everyone, another political general on the list. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Politically appointed generals, like Dan Sickles, was commonplace during the Civil War. Why? Well, part of this is a result of the sheer size of the armies being fielded in the Civil War. In 1861, there was only one American general who had fielded a large army in battle: the ailing 74-year-old Commanding General Winfield Scott, hero of the War of 1812 and the Mexican-American War, as well as the author of the Anaconda Plan. But even then, Scott had commanded an army of close to 10,000 men. The Civil War would see armies growing to 75,000 men in size. That means that there was a large need for junior officers and officers to command the smaller breakdowns in the army (corps, divisions, brigades, regiments, etc.). Politicians saw this as a way to boost their political cred as well as getting a little bit of glory for themselves. And Old Benjamin Butler was no different.
Before the war, Butler was a lawyer and a politician. He was a Democrat in Massachusetts, which before 1860 was quite impressive seeing as how the Democrats were a pro-Southern interest party. He was pro-slavery, and was a militia commander as well, rising (well, elected by the members of the militia) to the rank of Brigadier General in 1857. Militias in 19th Century America were actually pretty big and pretty common; militias played a major role in the defense of the United States until the formation of a large professional army following the end of World War 2. Militias were also social organizations, but you have to remember: there was no large professional army. The standing army in 1860 was 10,000 soldiers, and that was spread from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.
Butler first saw service in early 1861, following the attack on Fort Sumter. He had command of two militia regiments, and accompanied the 6th and 8th Massachusetts Volunteers to Baltimore. On the way, they were forced to disembark, and were redirected to Annapolis.
Maryland in 1861 was a violent place. The first major clash between North and South is depicted as occurring in July 1861. But in April 1861, Maryland was in upheaval. Maryland was a border state, a slave state, and they were on the fence about secession. Railways were cut leading into Maryland from the rest of the union, and there was a great fear that Washington would be cut from the rest of the north. Imagine: The Civil War ending before it even began? Now, the likelihood of that happening was slim, but it was still a possibility. Butler, with his two regiments of volunteers, landed in Annapolis. The Governor of Maryland was opposed to this, and wanted Butler to leave; in fact, he went so far as to order him away. But Butler stayed. And not only did he stay, but he took over command of the city. He used force to obtain supplies for his men, and after linking up with the 7th New York Militia, he marched onto the town of Annapolis Junction. The railways that had been cut between Annapolis and Washington were reinstated by Butler. With his men, he then marched into Baltimore. Baltimore was going through an intense riot; the state was in a Civil War of its own, one that would play itself out throughout the war. Along with those actions, Butler threatened to arrest any Maryland legislator who voted for secession. General Winfield Scott did not like how Butler carried himself in Baltimore, and voiced his concerns. This did not, however, stop Butler.
Butler would see his first action against Confederate forces on June 10, 1861. By this time he had been given command of Fort Monroe, Virginia, and placed in charge of the Department of Virginia. Facing him was Confederate General John Magruder. Both men were on the Virginia Peninsula, a peninsula that, a year later, would become site of the rise of Robert E. Lee and the downfall of George McClellan. Magruder was outnumbered on the peninsula, but felt that he could defeat Butler if he tricked him into attacking before he was ready. Butler, no military training except for being a militia commander, drew up a very extensive and intricate plan to defeat the Confederates. The Confederates, mind you, needed to protect Richmond from the Union.
Butler’s plan was a night march, to launch a dawn attack. The brilliant plan fell apart in the early morning hours of June 10th. A friendly fire incident occurred, and with their position given away and their failure to fully scout the land before they moved out, the assault on Big Bethel was a failure. His forces suffered a total of 76 casualties, while the Confederates suffered only 8. Butler suffered further criticism because he was not with his forces when they attacked, but was instead within the walls of Fort Monroe. The First Battle of Bull Run occurred on July 21st, 1861 and with the Union defeat soldiers were taken from Butler’s command to support the Union forces around Washington.
Butler was able to remain in command of a force in the field because of his success in August 1861. In a joint Army-Navy operation commanded by him, Butler was able to capture both Fort Hatteras and Fort Clark in North Carolina. Most people don’t remember much about this victory; in the grand scheme of things, it’s a footnote in the history of The Civil War. However, this did wonders for Northern morale. This victory came on the heels of the embarrassment of First Bull Run. Butler’s stock, naturally, went up. He was seen as a hero in Washington.
From there, Butler was sent to his next assignment: capturing New Orleans. New Orleans, Louisiana, was a key position in the Confederacy, and was crucial to Winfield Scott’s Anaconda Plan. New Orleans sits at the mouth of the Mississippi River, which in the 19th Century, was a major highway for trade and transportation. The Mississippi River also split the Confederacy in two. Split the Confederacy in two, you can begin to strangle it. Slowly strangle, yes, but strangle all the same. The Mississippi River would become a blood bath until the Union finally secured the entire river in 1863 with the fall of Vicksburg. On May 1st, 1862, New Orleans fell to Union forces following seven days of fighting both on land and at sea. Butler entered New Orleans as a conqueror, and acted the part.
When he was in Fort Monroe, Virginia, the former pro-South Democrat exacted justice on the south. He began the practice of not returning escaped slaves to their masters in Virginia, instead labeling them as “contraband” because they were chattel, or property, and wanting to take them out of circulation for the southern war effort. He continued the practice in New Orleans, as well as some other forms. He instituted the oath of allegiance, forcing Southerners to pledge their allegiance back to the Union. He also helped promote efforts to curb Yellow Fever outbreaks.
However, Butler is more remembered as a tyrant. One of his most infamous acts while in charge of New Orleans was his General Order No. 28, which read: “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.” This order was in response to the women of New Orleans spitting on Union forces and even pouring chamber pots over their heads. This order had a psychological impact. Women in the Victorian age, especially in the South, were held up on pedestals in high society. Modern ideas of chivalry were, back then, truths and customs to die over. But there was a caveat: women of society were treated to their social class. Prostitutes were not treated as ladies of high society. This order made it possible for the women of New Orleans to go backwards on the social ladder. And in a land where social class meant everything, this was an abomination. Butler was quickly nicknamed “Beast Butler”.
Butler’s deprivations only started there. He censored newspapers, confiscated cotton and sold them in rigged auctions, where he personally ended up pocketing the profit. Butler also exacted his control over foreign delegates, seizing money from the Dutch Consulate and imprisoning French and English representatives in New Orleans. On June 7th he executed a New Orleans man for removing a flag from the US Mint in New Orleans. Following this act, Confederate President Jefferson Davis declared Butler a felon, and gave an order that if Butler was to be captured, he would be executed. This order remained throughout the war.
Some in the North thought he was doing a good job, punishing the Confederates as he should. However, his actions against foreign nationals was concerning. The US, especially in 1862, was ill-prepared for a war with international powers. In all honesty, they were still barely able to handle the conflict with the South. The fear was that Butler would cause an international incident, one that would bring France or England into the war. This being before the Emancipation Proclamation made it a real possibility. If France or England decided to declare war on the United States, the outcome of the Civil War would have been very different, and victory may not be certain. So in December 1862, Lincoln brought Butler back to the north. By the time he was brought back, Butler was almost as hated as Abraham Lincoln in the south, and in some places even worse.
Butler would be shelved, waiting in the wings for reassignment until November 1863. In November he was returned to Virginia, and took over command of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina. He was back in Norfolk, Virginia, where he had begun the war. In May 1864, after some politicking, Butler was able to gain command of the Army of the James. Butler was effectively back in the field.
Butler’s army moved forward in the late summer of 1864 to aid General Ulysses S. Grant in his siege of the city of Petersburg. The Siege of Petersburg is probably the most modern battle fought in the Civil War. Petersburg, Virginia, was a rail hub for Richmond. It was a key city in Richmond’s defense, and if Grant could capture the city, he would effectively isolate Richmond from the rest of the Confederacy.
Leading up to Petersburg, Grant had been punishing Lee. Where Lee fought a war of maneuver, Grant fought a war of attrition. Where Lee moved, Grant hit him. All throughout the spring and summer of 1864, Grant clashed with Lee. The Overland Campaign of 1864 was violent and bloody. Grant lost most battles, but he did something that past Army of the Potomac commanders did not do; if an assault was repulsed, he went around Lee. Lee’s army suffered heavy casualties, pyrrhic victories if you will. So when Grant finally maneuvered into position around Petersburg, the Army of Northern Virginia was a shell of itself. The Confederates erected trenches around the city, and Grant countered with trenches of his own. Grant needed more men to support his forces, and the Army of the James was tagged in to help.
Grant first ordered Butler in May of 1864 to launch an assault toward Petersburg. This was in conjunction with Grant’s Overland Campaign. While Grant had Lee occupied north of Richmond, Butler was tasked with moving on Petersburg and keeping Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard occupied. This was all part of Grant’s strategy, which was to attack the Confederates on all fronts. In doing so, the Confederates would not be able to reinforce all their soldiers. While Butler attacked from the area of Norfolk, Virginia and Grant attacked from the north, Sherman struck south into Georgia; Franz Sigel marched down the Shenandoah Valley; George Cook in West Virginia; and Nathaniel Banks attacking into Alabama. Butler’s goal was to cut the Petersburg-Richmond Railroad, an important lifeline to Richmond and a tough goal to achieve. Butler would again utilize joint Army-Navy operations, something that he had done before on a number of occasions.
Butler began his assault at the fishing village of Bermuda Hundred. Bermuda Hundred, which the campaign would be named after, was southeast of Richmond and northeast of Petersburg. It sat at the confluence of the Appomattox and James Rivers. Butler landed on May 5th, just as Grant launched his assault against Lee in the first battle of the Overland Campaign, the infamous Battle of the Wilderness. Opposing him was the Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia, under the famous General P.G.T. Beauregard, the man who fired the first shots on Fort Sumter in 1861. Under his command in Petersburg was the division of Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett. Supplementing the army were teenagers and other invalids. On paper Butler should have marched right through the Confederates. From May 6th to May 20th, 1864, Butler tried to fight his way from Bermuda Hundred toward the rail lines. After initial success at the Battle of Port Walthall Junction, Butler was repelled and held back at the battles of Swift Creek, Chester Station, Proctor’s Creek, and finally Ware Bottom Church. By May 20th, Butler’s Bermuda Hundred Campaign had ended and was an utter failure. The only thing the Union could point to as a success was their ability to hold onto their trenches around Bermuda Hundred.
Confederates defending the New Market Road, with goals including the capture of Forts Harrison, Gregg, and Gilmer. Now the forts on these lines were nothing more than dirt redoubts, heavily reinforced and defended with heavy artillery.
On September 29th, while Grant was launching an assault which would be known as the Battle of Peeble’s Farm, Butler launched a surprise attack across the James River. Using pontoon bridges, his army crossed the bend in the river, and launched their attacks on New Market Heights. Opposing the Army of the James was none other than the famous Texas Brigade, which had earned fame at battles such as Gaines Mill, Antietam, Gettysburg, and Chickamauga. These were Lee’s shock troops. Union forces began to suffer heavy casualties. But Butler’s plan was working. New Market Heights fell to the Union forces, and Fort Harrison fell. The Texas Brigade, only 1,800 strong now this late in the war, began to fall back onto Fort Gregg. The Union suffered heavy casualties, especially amongst their officer corps. Once inside the fort, they had become disorganized, and their assault was stymied here. Only one brigade was able to launch a renewed attack on the Confederate forces that had taken up position in a second line of trenchwork. Made up of a brigade of United States Colored Troops, their assault was valiant but overall failed. With assistance from the small Confederate Riverine force, the Army of the James halted their advance at the New Market Heights and Fort Harrison.
Robert E. Lee was thrown off guard by this action. The Union forces had been able to gain a foothold in his first line of trenches, and had gone a step closer to capturing Richmond, Virginia. In a desperate attempt, Lee sent reinforcements from Petersburg to retake Fort Harrison. On September 30th, 10,000 Confederate soldiers attempted to retake the fort. However, the assault was ill coordinated, and the attack was easily repulsed by the defenders. As a result, the Union forces suffered 3,372 casualties out of 26,000 that had participated in the battle, while the Confederates suffered 2,000 out of 14,500. These were more casualties that the soldier depleted South could not afford to lose. Butler also did his job splendidly; on top of securing New Market Heights and Fort Harrison, Grant was able to secure Peeble’s Farm and the noose of trenches around Richmond and Petersburg tightened further.
Following the victory at the Battle of New Market Heights (also known as the Battles of Chaffins Farm and Battle of Fort Harrison), Butler’s Army of the James was repositioned to take Fort Fisher, which sat outside of Wilmington, North Carolina. Fort Fisher had been nicknamed the “Gibraltar of the Confederacy”, and for good reason. It took up 14,500 feet, and was surrounded by 10 foot parapets. Surrounding the fort as well were abatis (sharpened logs that were stacked and slowed down attacking soldiers), land mines, and deep ditches. Inside the fort was fifty cannons, including fifteen Columbiads, which were large artillery pieces, and a 150-pound Armstrong gun, all of which was behind a 60-foot mound of earth overlooking the sea. The garrison was made up of 1,400 soldiers, commanded by Col. William Lamb. The fort would be reinforced by General Braxton Bragg, who brought battle hardened veterans from the Army of Northern Virginia.
Butler’s plan was two-fold: he was going to launch his initial assault with the USS Louisiana, an old warship that was loaded with explosives and disguised as a Confederate blockade runner so it could get close. The ship would be purposefully run aground below the walls of the fort and detonated. If all went well, the blast would create a breach in the walls of the fort and incapacitate some of the deadly guns inside. Following the explosion, Butler would land his army under intense Naval covering fire, and would capture the fort. The fall of Fort Fisher would help further sap forces from the Confederacy, as well as capture the last Confederate port city on the Atlantic at Wilmington, North Carolina.
The whole operation was a disaster. In a situation where timing was everything, the weather was not taken into account. Instead of the Army and Navy arriving simultaneously, the Army arrived before the Navy. The Navy was supposed to arrive first, before the Army transports, in order to detonate the Louisiana. The delays were due to winter storms that had been brewing off of the coast of North Carolina. The Army was forced to send their transports back to Beaufort, North Carolina, which had become an impromptu refueling/staging area. While the Army was there, the Navy sailed back out to face Fort Fisher. At midnight on December 23rd, 1864, the USS Louisiana was towed up to Fort Fisher and lit on fire. However, the ship detonated harmlessly off shore. The next morning, the US Navy opened up with a bombardment on the fort in hopes of breaking down it’s earthworks.
The age of brick and stone forts were coming to a close. The artillery barrage the US Navy laid on Fort Fisher would have devastated it if it had been a brick and mortar fort; however, earthworks were being used more and more. The earth forts around Petersburg and other ones that had been built up and down the Atlantic coast, as well as those in the Western Theater, absorbed artillery fire instead of buckled under it. The defenders could sit in relative comfort (about as much comfort as you could be under artillery fire) while their enemies rained thousands of shells on them. On the 23rd, the US Navy fired over 10,000 shells into Fort Fisher with minimal damage caused. Meanwhile, the defenders of Fort Fisher were able to score direct hits on at least three of the sixty US Warships that faced them, the largest armada assembled by the US Navy against a Confederate fort.
Following the bombardment, Butler’s men arrived on transports. Instead of landing all of his men as was the plan, Butler decided to only land a reconnaissance party. On December 25th, 1864, the division of Brigadier General Adelbert Ames landed under naval fire. Their goal was to determine if an attack on Fort Fisher could still be carried out. Butler was worried that with the detonation of the Louisiana and the following Navy bombardment, that the Confederates would know that an assault was coming. Ames landed north of Fort Fisher, capturing an artillery battery protecting the northern approach to the fort as well as capturing the 4th and 8th North Carolina Junior Reserves, part of the garrison of Fort Fisher which had been cut off from the fort by Ames. Ames then set up a defensive line north of the fort, and sent forward a brigade to determine how heavily defended the fort was. What he discovered was that the land wall that formed the northern part of Fort Fisher was lightly defended. The Gibraltar of the Confederacy had a weakness, one that could still be exploited!
Brig. Gen. Ames held back on launching an assault on the fort, and instead passed his information on to Maj. Gen. Butler. Butler not only refused to assault the fort, but instead withdrew Ames’ division from their area north of the fort. Butler had heard that the Confederates were sending reinforcements to the fort, and along with concerns for another winter storm approaching, determined that the fort was impregnable and would not fall. The siege of Fort Fisher would end on December 27th, 1864, another utter disaster.
When Butler had disasters in the past, his job was protected. During the war he went from being an antiwar Democrat to becoming a Republican. In doing so, his job had been saved by Abraham Lincoln himself. Butler still had a lot of political influence, influence that Lincoln needed in his bid for reelection in 1864. Sometimes people don’t realize that Lincoln was not guaranteed victory in either one of his elections, especially in 1864. The victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg in 1863 were not forgotten per se, but despite those two victories the war was still dragging on in 1864. People were growing tired of the war, and were looking at other options. Lincoln’s chief opponent would be the Democratic Presidential candidate, former General George B. McClellan. Lincoln needed all of his Republican allies on board if he was to win the election and win the war. But now the election was over, and his presidency was secured. Lincoln, who I would equate to Butler as being Butler’s Guardian Angel, was no longer guarding him in December 1864. On January 8, 1865, at the request of General Grant, President Lincoln removed Butler from command of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina and sent him back to Massachusetts. Maj. Gen. Edward Ord assumed command of Butler’s post. On January 15th, 1865, Maj. Gen. Alfred Terry, a longtime subordinate of Butler’s, successfully captured Fort Fisher. Butler’s military career was over.
Upset by his dismissal, Butler returned to Washington and requested a hearing with the Joint Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War. This was a typical political committee; politicians with no military experience judging the actions of military professionals. Because politicians don’t get their hands in anything they aren’t supposed to, right? On top of that, the committee was dominated by Radical Republicans. They preferred political generals, disliked West Point generals, and didn’t believe in Military Science. It is kind of like the director of the EPA not liking the environment; it doesn’t make any sense. One of the most famous hearings was that of Maj. Gen. Dan Sickles, who went before the committee and told them that he had won the battle of Gettysburg and that not only did General Meade almost lose the battle, but that General Meade should be removed from his position and brought up on charges. At the meeting, he tried to defend his actions at Fort Fisher, tried to say that General Grant had a personal vendetta against him, and added that the fort was impregnable and he had documented proof. However, the fall of Fort Fisher during his hearing actually ended his hearing.
Butler, however, brought undo attention to him. Side business dealings came to light, including massive amounts of goods that he smuggled from Norfolk, Virginia, and New Orleans, Louisiana, to Massachusetts to be sold off for personal profit. Not only smuggled, but used Union warships to do so. Black markets run by Gen. Butler were discovered by his replacements in both cities, as well as involvement from his brother, Andrew Butler. Butler was even found to have engaged in trading goods with the Rebel army, with some reports saying that $100,000 of goods were traded daily. However, with the end of the war the reports garnered little interest and there were no legal repercussions.
Following the war, Butler returned to politics. He would serve in Congress representing Massachusetts, and be involved in the impeachment hearings of Andrew Johnson. He would also play a large role in the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1871, a.k.a. the Ku Klux Klan Act. The bill officially suspended habeas corpus when combating the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK in the Reconstruction South was a strong terrorist organization; what is seen today is only a shadow of its former self. Butler promoted charities for veterans of The Civil War, including overseeing the National Home for Disabled Veterans. He served as a governor of Massachusetts, and tried to run for President in 1884 on the Democratic ticket. However, the Democrats backed the future 22nd and 24th President of the United States, Grover Cleveland. Butler died in 1893, at the age of 74.
Butler is Number 2 on this list for a number of reasons: first off, he was a poor general. His only real tactical victory would have to be the Battle of Chaffin Farm. The fall of New Orleans and the fall of Fort Monroe were joint Army-Navy operations, but the men usually credited with those victories were the admirals, especially Admiral Farragut in the fall of New Orleans. Butler had little tactical control over those engagements, except for Fort Fisher, which was a disaster. The failure of the Bermuda Hundred Campaign is also important to note. In his administrative duties as a Military Governor, he was no better. He was involved in the black market of occupied Southern cities, and on top of that he nearly created international incidents in blatant disregard to direct orders. Butler came close to being Number 1 on the list, but if you look at his failures and their impact on the progression of the war, they weren’t huge. His business dealings didn’t threaten the Union to the point of collapse, and Fort Fisher fell anyway.
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