ALS - MAJOR GENERAL BENJAMIN F. BUTLER

$195.00

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Item Code: 490-6595

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Dated “Jany  22 1862.” Mounted on beige card, 6” x 9.5.  Addressed to “Dear Sir.” One page, in ink on lined paper, 4.5” x 6.5. Text:

“My dear Sir….I think possible I may be able to affect Major Martins exchange at any rate I will try / Yours Truly / Benj. F. Butler / Major Genl /Com D./ Fwd John Cochran / Atty Genl. N.Y.”

A politician first and last, Benjamin F. Butler was one of more controversial Union generals of the Civil War. Although successful in bringing Massachusetts regiments to the relief of Washington in April 1861, he was an abysmal battlefield commander who, out of political considerations, was nonetheless promoted upward throughout the war. Though an efficient administrator, he enriched himself via graft, most notably while Union Military Governor of New Orleans in 1862. In the end, he was dismissed in disgrace by U.S. Grant after badly botching an assault Ft. Fisher at Wilmington, NC, in late December 1864.I

In the post-war period Butler reverted to politics, converting to Radical Republicanism, returning to the Democratic fold in the 1870s. Capturing the governorship of New Jersey in 1881, he attempted to use it as a springboard to securing the 1884 Democratic Presidential nomination. But with no luck, losing out to Grover Cleveland, and losing a second time as an independent candidate. Retiring from the fray, Butler died in 1893, leaving an estate of 7 million, much of it dubiously acquired while war-time governor in New Orleans.

This January 1862 letter dates and catches the rascally Butler just prior to his departure for the Crescent City. A solid collectible.  [jp][ph:L]

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