Iowa capitol reporter. [volume] (Iowa City, Iowa) 1841-1855, 1848-06-21
Biographical Sketch Of
GEN. VIM. @. BUTLER
BY FRANCIS P. BLAIR.

AuC icChHS - uulStISdl WHICH pIoHlptS us
to learn something Of even an ordinary ac-
quaintance in whom interest is felt. 1t
will indulge, therefore, only q natural and
proper curiosity to introduce the subject
Of this notice BY a short account of a fam
lily whose striking traits survive in him SO
remarkably.
General Buffers grandfather, Thomas
Butler, was born 9th April, 1870, in Kill
kenny, Ireland. Hemarried there in l742.
Three OF his five sons who attained man
hood, Richard, William and Thomas, were
born abroad. Pierce, the father of Cen
eral William 0. Butler, and Edward, the
youngest son, were born in Pennsylvania.
1t is remarkable that all these men, and
all their immediate male descendants, with
a single exception, were engaged in the
military snryice of this country.
The eldest, Richard, was lieutenant col
onel of Norgan's celebrated rifle regiment,
and to him it owed much Of the high char
acter that gave it a fame Of its own, apart
from the other corps of the revolution
The cool, disciplined valorr which gave
steady and deadly discretion to the rifles
Of this regiment, was derived principally
from this officer, who devoted himself to
the drill Of his men. He was promoted to
the full command of regiment some time
during the war, and in that capacity COM.
manded Wayne's left in the attack on Sto-
ny Point. About the year 1890 he was
appointed major-general. On the 4th Of
November, 1871, he was killed in Gen.
st. Clair's bloody battle with the Indians.
His combat with The Indians, after he was
shot, gave such a peculiar interest to his
fate, that representation of himself and
the group surrounding him was exhibited
throughout the Union in wax figures. No
tees OF this accomplished soldier will be
found in Marshall's life of Washington,
pages 290, 81, and 42O. In Gen. St.
Clair's report, in the American Museum,
volume xi, page a., appendix.
William Butler, the second son, was an
officer throughout the revolutionary war,
rose to the rank of colonel, and was in
many Of the severest battles. He was the
iavorite of the family, and was boasted of
by this race of heroes as the coolest and
boldest man in battle they had ever known.
When the army was greatly reduced in
rank and file, and there were many super
fluous officers, they organized themselves
into separate corps, and elected him to
the command. General Washington de-
clined receiving this novel corps of COM
missioned soldiers, but, in proud testi-
monial, did honor to their devoted patri-
otism.
OF Thomas Butler, the third son, we
CLEAN the following facts from the Ameri-
can Biographical Dictionary. In the year
l776, while he was a student of law in
the Office Of the eminent Judge Wilson Of
Philadelphia, he left his pursuit and join
ed the army as subaltern. He soon OBJ
tanned the command of a company, in which
he continued to the close of the revolu-
tionary war. He was in almost every ac-
ton fought in the middle States during the
war. At tie battle Of Brandywine he
received the thanks Of Washington on the
field of battle, through his aid-de-camp,
Gen. Hamilton, for his intrepid con'uct in
rallying detachment Of retreating troops,
and giving the enemy a severe fire. AT
the battle of Monmouth he received the
thanks of Gen. Wayne for defending
deflle, in the face of severe fire from the
enemy. while Col. Richard Buffers resi-
ment made good its retreat.
At the close Of the war he retired into
private life, as farmer, and continued in
the enjoyment of rural and domestic hap
piness until 1871, when he again took the
field to meet the savage foe that menaced
our western frontier. He commanded
battalion in the disastrous battle of Nov. 4,
1871, in which his brother fell. Orders
were given by Gen. St Clair to charge
with the bayonet, and Major Butler, tho
his leg had been broken by ball, yet on
horseback, led his battalion to the charge
1t was with difficulty his surviving BROTH
er, Captain Edward Butler. removed him
from the field. In 1892 he was continued
in the establishment as major, and in 1894
he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant
colonel commandment Of the 4tf sub-legion.
He commanded in this year Fort Fayette,
at Pittsburg, and prevented the deluded
insurgents from taking it-more by his
name than by his forces, for he had but
few troops. The close Of his life was en-
Uttered with trouble, In 1903 he was
arrested by the commanding general (Wil-
kinson at Fort Adams, ofrthe Mississip-
pi, and sent to Maryland, where he was
tried by court-martial, and acquitted of
all the charges, save that Of wearing his
hair. He was then ordered to New Or
leans, where he arrived, to take command
Of the troops, October Goth. He was
again arrested mex. month; but the court
did not sit until July Of the next year, and
their decision is not known. Colonel But
Ter died Sept. 9TH, 1905. Out Of the ar
rest and persecution Of this sturdy veteran
Washington Irving (Knickerbocker) has
worked up fine piece Of burlesque, in
which General Wilkinson's character is
delineated, in that of the vain
and pompous General Won Pulfenburg.
Percival Butler, the fourth son, father
Of General VIM. o. Butler, was born at
Carlisle Pa, in 1850. He entered the ar
my as lieutenant at the age of eighteen;
was with Washington at Valley Forge;was