The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1893-01-12

sommanu enseren washington on the eth
sxciting an enthusiasm Of which no idea can |
be conveyed In words.
May 10, 1854, General Butler took possession |
Of Baltimore, finding the late turbulent city |
Rs quiet as Lowell. and three days later he |
was commissioned jor general of volun- |
teers, commanding he department. of Eastern
Virginia, with headquarters at Fortress Mon |
roe. There he issued the famous order. or
decision, that 'as slaves are property in Vir-
g'nia, fugitive slaves " ho enter our lines are |
contraband of war" and many year passed
before the freedmen ceased to be called "con-
trabands.r The first movement ordered by
him resulted In the repulse at hi: Bethel,
which at thar time as thought great disaE-
ten i,lt he soon regained prestige by aiding in
tue capture of Forts Hatteras and Clark, on
the coast of North Carolina.
March q 1862, the so callei Butler expedi-
ton reached AMI took possession of Ship
island April IL IL started up the Mississippi,
and May took formal possession of New Or
leans. For the next twanty months General
Butler was the most talked atout and most
thoroughly hated man in America. He has un-
doubtedly been threatened with sudden oeath
oftener than any other m n In the world, ex-
cept the czar of Russia, but verified the
praverb by living long.
His first important act was to sezs ss00,O00,
whit had be IN deposited in the oe"e OF the'
Dutch consul, on the ground that it was for
Confederate u es. With this and money sub
seauently obtained by asking banks and
merchants FOR an amount equal to what they
had subscribed for the Confed+racy, he fed
and provided for the poor of the city and paid
for administering the local government. On
the ID h OF May he issued the famous Order
q" known as the Woman Order - to the ef-
feet than "any female who shall by word,
gesture or movement insult or show contempt
for any officer soldier Of tn. u tied States,
ha rnSya PtiaA pl hatL tai Ivaat ta6
as woman of the town plying her vocation"
Another order tNo. go com anded the pas
tors to keep their churches open, and forbade
a dayof fasting and prayer for one jefferson
Davis" On the 7th of June William Munford
was HANGED for having torn down the Ameri-
can flag from its place on the mint. That act
was done in the interval between the en-
trance of the squad who raised the flag and
the final occupation of the city, on which ac-
count its legality was and still is questioned.
For these and other acts Jefferson Davis Of
fered a reward for Buffers capture bat 1t is
too soon to make up verdict on his New Or
leans doin gs.
Dec. l6, 1862. he was recalled, and he al
ways believed 1T was at the instigation If
Louis Napoleon. Late in 1868 he was placed
in command of the coast division of Virginia
and North Carolina, his command being after
wardl DESIGNATED as the Army of the
James," 1t was in this era that he devised the
famous Dutch Gap canal.
In December, 1854 General Butler Joined In
the failure at Fort Fisher of which 80
much has recently been said, and soon after
was removed from command by General
Grant.
- Butier's Political Life.
Before the war General Butler was Demo-
crat, and as such, in the Cha lesion conven-
tion, voted fifty-two times for Jefferson Davis.
After the war, in 1858, he was elected to ton
gress by the Republicans, but though he strug-
glea long and earnestly for it, they would
never give bi the governorshir. In congress
| he was hard and successful fighter till the
Hayes admins ration came In; then the issues
| on which he had fou glit seemed to become OBJ
solete all al zee, and or the new issues he
was singularly unfortunate. In 1882 there
was CLEAN Of saccass; by combination of
Democrats and. .Greenbackers he became gov
| ernor of Massachusetts. His term as governor
as picturesque throug rout. IL is best re-
membered perhaps, by reason of the expo
sures of the abuses in the management of the
| Tewksbury almshouse. The next years. vote
showed that his politicas power was on the
wane. and the vote for him for president on
/ the Green5ack-Labor ticket In 1884 proved
| that it was no. only aiming, but was aoout
| 'waned out " The eafter he ranked as what
one might call an Ind= pendent Democratic
| Labor-GreenbacEer.
] Butler as n LAWYER.
| Wbsneyes Benjamin +. Butler was not
| fighting as u soldier or ia the political arena
| he practiced law. aud ais reputation in this
| profession was that of an extrt mely shrewd
| and aple man. Very early in his career he
| gained reputation as a. skillful cross exam
| iner VolusEes III ght be flied with amusing
| stories of the encounters between severe law
| yers and the smart witness" and Buffers
career would furnish many.
| His early practice was largely for the poor,
but since the " ar he hats earned in some years
a. much as S15o,0W ~ in fees, his fee in one case
| being $1,000. The more int icate and diff-
cult the case, the better he seemed to relish IL.
| His mind, fully equipped with all legal weap-
ons, raced over every commonplace road lead
/ ing to probable victory and then found enjoy
ment in seeking out ths most extraordinary
/ path, and IL the sane re. ult could be reached
| by that course. General Butler took it with
| the greatest delight
/ Buller's Domestic Life.
i In lS43 General Butler,married NJ iss Blanche
Hildreth, daughter OF a Clncin natl clergyman.
/ who had chosen b stage for q profession
| General Butler prevailed upon her TO give up
b pro ession within few weeks after she
had made her debut Their devotion to each
| other was matter of note, and Mrs. Buffers
death few years since was inaeed severe
blow to the general.
/ It is not the leas. of the Butler paradoxes
| thai the stern old lawyer, general and politi-
| cian, ,shouid tie the father of two persons loved
and admired by all who know them. There
| was time when Miss Blanche Butler was
certainly the most popular young lady In
| Washington. Poets and correspondents cele-
| brated her beauty and winning ways and she
| might easily have become the leader of n
| brilliant social circle. But her tastes did not
lie in that direction. She married General
Adelbert Ames.
/ Those who meet Paul Butler for the first
time are generally surpr ,sed TO learn that he
is General Buffers son. He is probably the
most popular young man in Lowell.