UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW

The Corresponence of James McNeil Whistler

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Benjamin Franklin Butler, 1818-1893

Nationality: American
Date of Birth: 1818
Place of Birth: New Hampshire
Date of Death: 1893
Place of Death:

Identity:

Butler was an American politician and Civil War general.

Life:

As military governor of Baltimore in 1861 Butler arrested JW's patron, Walter Winans, and as military governor of New Orleans in 1862 he became a notorious target of Southern anger (and acquired the nickname 'Spoons'). He was removed from his command in North Carolina in 1864 for general incompetence. He served in Congress as a Republican 1866-1879, and became governor of Massachusetts in 1882.

Bibliography:

American National Biography, New York and Oxford, 1999.