Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1848-08-16
- Biographical Sketch Of =
GEN: VINO: BUTEEKI,
OF KENTUCKY.
BY FRANCIS P. BLAIR.

:
by FRANCIS P. BLAIR.
In memoirs of individuals Of distinction
tits usual to look back to their ancestry
The feeling is universal which prompts us
to learn something Of even an ordinary &C
.quaintance in whom interest is felt. ]
will indulge, therefore only a natural ant
proper curiosity to introduce the subject OF
this notice by Il short account of a family
whose striking traits survive in him so re
mnrkably.
General Buffers grandfather, Thomas
Butler was born 9th April, 1920, in Kill
kenny, Ireland. He married there il
1742. Three of his five sons who at
tained manhood, Richard, William, and
Thomas we're born abroad. Percival, the
father of Gen. VIM. 0. Butler and Ed
ward the youngest son, were born in
Pennsylvania. 1t is remarkable that all
these men, and all their immediate male
descendants, with one exception, were en-
gagged in the military service OF, this coun-
try.
The eldest, Richard, was lieutenant CO.
lionel of Morgan's celebrated rifle regiment,
and to him it owed much of the high char
ncter that gave it a fame Of its own, apart
from the other corps Of the revolution. The
cool disciplined vaIor which gave steady
and deadly direction TO the rifles Of this
regiment, was derived principally from
this officer, who devoted himself TO the
drill OF his men. He was promoted 10 the
full co:n,n1nj of a regiment soma tins du-
ring the war, and in that capacity COM
manded AVayne's left in the attack on
Stony Point. About the year I79o, he
was appointed major general. On the
HK 81 November, 17y1, he was killed in
Cen St. Clair bloody bottle with tho In
s.iians. Ills combat with the Indians. al
ter he was shot, gave such n peculiar in
,erest to his fate, that representation oil
himself and the group surrounding him
was exhibited throughout the Union III
wax figures. Notices Of this accomplish
ed soldier will be found in Marshnll's Life
ot Washington, pages 29J,3ll,420. ln
Gen. ST. CIair's report, in the American
Museum, volume ri, page II, appendix.
William Butler, the second son, was all
officer throughout the revolutionary war,
rose TO the rank OF colonel and was in ma
nv of the severest battles. lie was the
tavori,o Of the family, and was boasted OF
hy his race of heroes as the coolest and
beldest man in the battle they had ever
, known. When tho army was greatly re-
duced i'm rank and file, and there were ma.
Nv superHuous officers, they organized
themselves into a sePeratc corps, and elec
ted him TO the command General W ash
ington declined receiving this novel corps
of commissioned soldiers, but in a proud
Testimonial did honor 10 his devoted patrl-
otisn.
OF Thomas Butler the third son, we
CLEAN the following facts from the AInerl-
can Biographical Diction ry- In the year
l776, willis, he was student Of law in
the office Of the eminent Judge Wilson, o.
Philadelphia, he left his pursuit and Jolnee
the army as subaltern. lie soon obtain
ed the command ola company, III which
he continued to the close of the revolution
arv war, Fl was in almost every actor
fought in the middle States during the war
At The battle of Brandywine, he received
the tMnks Of Washington on the field o
battle, through his aidde camp, Gen. Ham
-ilton. for his intrepid conduct in rallyin.
detachment of retreating troops, an
giving the enemy a severe fire. AT tn
battle of Monmouth he received the thank
of Gen Wayne for defending q defile, il
the face of a severe fire from the enemy
while Col Richard Buffers regiment mad
good its retreat.
At the close of the war he retired int
nriyate life, as farmer, and continued Il
the endowment of rural and domestic hap
pine.s Ii the year 179l, when he agai
look 4 Nd to meet the savage Toe tina
snenaced our western frontier. He com
xnanoed battalion in the disastrous battle
Of Nov ember 8, 1871, in which his brott
er fell. Orders were given by Gen. 81
Clair, 70 charge with the bayonet, an
Major Butler though his leg had been bro
ken by ball, yet on horseback, led hi
battalion to the charge. ltwas with di
ficulty his surviving brother, Captain e.
ward Butler, removed him from the fiel,
In 1892. he was continued in the establis
ment as major and in, 1794 he was pr
NOTED to the rank Of Lieutenant colon
commandant of the 4th sub-legion. 1
commanded in this year Fort Fayet:e,
Pittsburgh, and prevented the deluaeo
sargents from taking it-more by his mar
than by his for he had but lew !foo! %
The close of his life was embittereo WI
trouble. In 1903 he was arrested by
commanding general (Wilkinson at r
Adams, on the Mississippi, and sent
MARYLAND, where he was tried by cou
martial. and acquitted Of all the charg
save that Of aoearimg has hair. lie +"
then ordered to New Orleans, where
arrived 10 take command Of the troo
October Doth. He was again arres
next month; but the court did not sit