Matthew Butler Matthew Calbraith Butler ( March 8 , 1836April 14 , 1909 ) was an American military commander and politician from South Carolina . He served as a major general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War , postbellum three - term United States Senator , and a major general in the United States Army during the Spanish - American War . Early life and career . Butler was born at Eagle ' s Crag near Greenville , South Carolina , to a large and prominent family of politicians and military men . His grandfather was U . S . Congressman William Butler . His mother , Jane Tweedy Perry of Rhode Island was the sister of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry , and Matthew Calbraith Perry , for whom Matthew Calbraith Butler is named . His father , William Butler , Jr . , was also a Congressman beginning in 1841 . His uncle Andrew Butler , was a U . S . Senator from South Carolina and uncle Pierce Mason Butler was Governor of South Carolina . One of Matthew Butler ' s first cousins was Congressman Preston Brooks , who assaulted Senator Charles Sumner in 1856 on the floor of the U . S . Senate with a gutta - percha cane because Sumner had insulted Senator Andrew Butler , at whose home Matthew lived as a young man . Butler was the nephew of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry and Matthew Calbraith Perry , and the son - in - law of South Carolina Governor Francis Wilkinson Pickens . Two of Butler ' s first cousins twice removed were James Bonham ( killed at the Battle of the Alamo ) and Confederate General Milledge Luke Bonham . In 1848 Butler went with his father to Arkansas , but returned in 1851 to live with his uncle , who resided in Edgefield , South Carolina . He received his initial education in the city ' s Edgefield Academy , and then attended the South Carolina College , graduating in 1856 . He then studied law , was admitted to the state ' s bar association in 1857 , and then began practicing as a lawyer in Edgefield . On February 25 , 1858 , Butler married Maria Calhoun Pickens , the daughter of Francis Pickens . He was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1860 , but resigned in 1861 when the American Civil War began . During the Civil War in the Confederate Army Butler served in the cavalry in Hampton ' s Legion , attaining Captain , June 12 , 1861 and then Major in July 21 , 1861 . He then joined the 2nd South Carolina Cavalry as Colonel , August 22 , 1862 . In many major actions with Hampton ' s Legion and the 2nd SC Cavalry , he lost his right foot at Brandy Station to rifle fire . He later attained the rank of Brigadier General in February 1864 and was thereafter referred to as " General Butler " in the postwar period . Postbellum . Financially ruined as a result of the war , Butler resumed his career as a lawyer in Edgefield and served in the South Carolina House of Representatives beginning in 1866 . He became a member of the Democratic Party and ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1870 . In 1877 , as Reconstruction ended and the Democratic Party regained control of the state , he was elected by the South Carolina state legislature to the United States Senate . He also played a role in the Hamburg Massacre . He served in the U . S . Senate for three terms , from 1877 to 1895 , but lost the Democratic primary in 1894 to Benjamin Tillman . He served on the Senate Foreign Relations , Territories , Military Affairs , Naval Affairs , Interstate Commerce , Civil Service and Retrenchment committees . Butler then practiced law in Washington , D . C . , until 1898 , when he was appointed major general of U . S . Volunteers during the Spanish - American War , one of a handful of former Confederate officers to serve in the U . S . Army during that campaign . After the American victory that year , he supervised the evacuation of Spanish troops from Cuba . He was honorably discharged from the U . S . Army on April 15 , 1899 . In 1899 General Butler joined the Pennsylvania Commandery of the Military Order of Foreign Wars . In 1903 , Butler was elected vice president of the Southern Historical Society , and in 1904 he relocated to Mexico , where he served as president of a mining company . Two years later he married Nannie Whitman , after his wife Maria had died years before . Butler died in 1909 while semi - retired in Washington , D . C . His body was returned to Edgefield , South Carolina , where he was buried in the city ' s Willow Brook Cemetery . The Matthew C . Butler Camp # 12 of the South Carolina Society of the Military Order of the Stars and Bars is named in his honor .