E 513 
 .M442 
 Copy 1 
 
E 513 
 .M442 
 Copy 1 
 
 THE 
 
 . >. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 BETWEEN 
 
 THE GOVERNOE AND GEN. BUTLEE. 
 
 FROM THE BOSTON POST. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 PRINTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE BOSTON POST. 
 
 42, Congress Street. 
 
 1862. 
 
61.504 
 
 En 3 
 
o 
 
 THE ANDREW AND BUTLER 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 For some weeks tlie public mind, incited thereunto by official 
 Gubernatorial messages, and unofficial Gubernatorial action, 
 through numerous attaches, and the clamor of semi-official 
 newspapers, has been seriously exercised in regard to what 
 these various organs have been pleased to designate as the 
 "conflict between the State and General Governments." So 
 far as the ordinary mind is able to grasp at the meaning of this 
 phrase, it seems probable that it is intended to convey the idea 
 of a contest between the Governor of Massachusetts and the 
 powers at Washington, represented, in Massachusetts, by Major- 
 General Butler, and growing out of declared irregular and ille- 
 gal action on the part of General Butler in the recruitment of 
 troops in Massachusetts. It is charged that the General has 
 been guilty of such irregular and illegal action, and has added 
 to such action the crime of discourtesy to the authorities of the 
 State, and all the sympathizers with the "silent" opinions of 
 His Excellency have made haste to give garbled extracts of the 
 General's authority in the premises, to suggest improprieties, 
 and inuendo outrages on his behalf towards the object of their 
 adoration. We have given careful attention to the documentary 
 evidence, and this may enable us to place before the pubHc a 
 true statement of the real case divested of all extraneous and 
 unnecessary matter. And in doing this it may be well to make, 
 in the first instance, a clear exposition of the precise position 
 occupied by Gen. Butler in New England, his authority to act 
 and then proceed to examine his acts thereunder, with reference 
 to their regularity or irregularity, legality or illegality. 
 
The authority, under which Gen. Butler commenced the 
 recruitment of troops in New England, is contained in the 
 following : 
 
 " War Department, Sept. 10, 1861. 
 
 Major-General B. F. Butler is hereby authorized to raise, organize, arm, 
 uniform, and equip a Volunteer force for the War, in the New-England 
 States; not exceeding six (6) regiments of the maximum standard, of such 
 arms, and in such proportions, and in such manner as he may judge expedient : 
 and for this purpose his orders and requisitions on the Quartermaster, Ord- 
 nance, and other Staff Departments of the Army, are to be obeyed and 
 answered : provided the cost of such recruitment, armament, and equip- 
 ment does not exceed, in the aggregate, that of like troops, now or here- 
 after raised, for the service of the United States. 
 
 (Signed) SIMON CAMERON, Secretary of War. 
 
 Approved, Sept. 12, 18G1. 
 
 (Signed) A. LINCOLN." 
 
 Let it be observed that the approval of the President, appar- 
 ent upon the foregoing, has not been considered of sufficient 
 importance, by the semi-official organs of His Excellency, to 
 warrant its publication ; although that functionary had notified 
 his approval of the power to the President, upon his application 
 of Sept. 11. 
 
 Here, then, upon the 12th of September, it is clear that Gen. 
 Butler, with the Governor's consent, is authorized "to raise, 
 organize, arm, uniform, and equip," in New England^ " six regi- 
 ments," of such arms, and in such proportions, and in such 
 manner, '•'■as he may judge expedient.^'' 
 
 Is it possible that this power, so large, is to be exercised under 
 the supervision of His Excellency? Not quite. But the 
 General is to purchase and pay for the arms, equipments, &c., 
 required by these regiments, so raised by him. Is any duty left 
 for the Governor in the raising, organization, arming, uniforming, 
 and equipping of this force ? Not much. 
 
 Standing here, it is evident that the highest authority in the 
 land, with the Governor's consent, has authorized the General 
 to go forward without regard to the Governors of the States, 
 in so for as the raising, organizing, arming, uniforming, and 
 equipping of this force is concerned. 
 
But four days after this broad authorization, upon the 16th 
 day of September, the General Order No. 78 was promulgated 
 by the War Department, which the semi-official organs of the 
 Governor, and the Governor himself, sees fit to publish in the 
 following manner : — 
 
 " Wab Department. 
 Adjutant-General's Office, Washington, Sept. 16, 1861. 
 General Order No. 78. 
 
 I. All persons having received authority from the "War Department to 
 raise volunteer regiments, batteries, or companies, in the loyal States, are, 
 with tlieir commands, hereby placed under the orders of the Governors of 
 those States, to whom they will immediately report the present condition of 
 their respective organizations. These troops will be organized, or re- 
 organized, and prepared for service by the Governors of their respective 
 States, in the manner they may judge most advantageous to the interests of 
 the General Government. 
 
 By order, 
 
 (Signed) L. THOMAS, Adjutant General.'' 
 
 Remark, in the first place, that copies of General Orders not 
 being in every one's hands, it would not be credulity to suppose 
 that this was the whole of Order No. 78. It is not so, as will 
 appear presently, but it was all that woukl serve for the purposes 
 of misrepresentation ; it is therefore garbled by the Governor 
 and his satellites. 
 
 But it is upon this Order, that reliance is placed to prove 
 irregularity in the conduct of Gen. Butler subsequently to the 
 Order, and to place him, from that time, under the orders of the 
 Governor, in the recruitment of his men, and their organization. 
 
 It Avill hardly be believed that in four days after issuing such 
 a power as had been entrusted to the General, the Government 
 would think it necessary to absolutely abrogate it, as would be 
 the case, if this Order is to apply to him. This would be to 
 sup^^ose the Government too unstable in opinion for excellence 
 or success. That it was not the intention of the Government 
 appears from the answers to the Governor's aj^peals. 
 
 It is certain, that at this time, there were many persons, scat- 
 tered through the loyal States, engaged in raising regiments 
 and batteries, under authority from the War Department. To 
 these individuals this Order was intended to apply, and this 
 
would have been apparent to the most casual observer, if, with 
 the i^ortion of the Order i^ublished to mislead, the next section 
 had appeared, to wit : 
 
 " Volunteer officers who have complied or may hereafter comply with the 
 conditions of their respective acceptances from the War Department, and 
 who have not received commissions from the President of the United States, 
 will be commissioned by the Governors of the respective States by furnish- 
 ing the regiments, batteries, or independent companies to which these offi- 
 cers are attached." 
 
 To most persons it would be evident, that in this Order, the 
 Department is dealing with men who had been for some time 
 in the field of operation. It is addressed to men who can 
 " immediately report the present condition of their respective 
 organizations." What had Gen. Butler " to report " four days 
 after having received his authority ? It deals with persons who 
 " have complied or may hereafter comply with the condition of 
 their respective acceptances." What " acceptance " was there 
 for the General under his power ? 
 
 But there is a General Order issued fourteen days subsequent 
 to this, and as late as October 1st, being No. 86, which Order is 
 never referred to by those persons who would fasten irregularity 
 upon Gen. Butler, which places it beyond doubt, that General 
 Order No. 78 had no reference to Gen. Butler. It is this : — 
 
 " War Department. 
 Adjutant-General's Office, Washington, Oct. 1, 1861. 
 General Order No. 86. 
 
 I. The six New-England States will temporarily constitute a separate 
 military department, to be called the Department of New England. Head- 
 quarters, Boston. Major-General B. F. Butler, United- States Volunteer 
 Service, while engaged in recruiting his division will comm,and." 
 
 It does not seem to require much argument to show, that, 
 after this Order, there could be small necessity for the General 
 to report to the Governor, or that he was not placed under the 
 orders of the Governor, in the recruitment of his men. 
 
 From the 1st of October no change has taken place in the 
 positions of Gen. Butler and the Governor, except so far as all 
 troops in New England are placed under the General's orders. 
 Gen. Butler, then, has authority to " raise, organize, arm, uniform, 
 
and equip " six regiments in New England, as " he may judge 
 expedient," and is the Commander of the Military Department 
 of New England. 
 
 What has he done under that authority? During the latter 
 part of September and the first part of October he made his 
 arrangements for the recruitment of his troops. Anxious to do 
 nothing in any way to effect the dignity of His Excellency, and 
 acting upon what he supposed to be the spirit of the Guberna- 
 torial promise, upon the 21st of October, he issued General 
 Orders, containing, among immaterial details, the following 
 matter : — 
 
 " And with the consent, by telegram, to the War Department, of their 
 Excellencies the Governors of the several States wherein the troops are 
 proposed to be raised — the Commanding General of the Department 
 of New England proposes to recruit not exceeding six regiments of 
 the maximum number of the various arms ; and, for that purpose, has au- 
 thorized recruitment in the several States of Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
 Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. 
 
 *'In order to correct any mistake or misunderstanding, the officers re- 
 cruiting are empowered to enlist men in the service of the United States 
 upon the terms following — and no other : — 
 
 " The troops are to be regiments or corps of the several States in which 
 they are enlisted, and are to be deemed a part of the quota thereof. The 
 officers to be commissioned by the Governors of the several States, accord- 
 ing to the Constitution and Laws thereof, and of the United States. Pay to 
 be thirteen dollars ($13.00) per month, and one hundred dollars ($100.00) 
 bounty, at the end of the War, to the honorably-discharged soldier. All 
 the troops of this Division to be paid at least one month's pay before they 
 leave their respective States or the camp of instruction, so as to be able to 
 leave that sum with their families. 
 
 "In Massachusetts, towns and cities are empowered, by an Act of the 
 Legislature, to relieve the families and relatives, within a certain degree, 
 of every inhabitant of the State who shall enlist in the service ; and, in the 
 other New-England States, bounties are offered and provision made for the 
 support of the families of the enlisted soldier, and the troops raised under 
 this Order will be entitled to all the bounty and relief provided by law for 
 the volunteers of the several States. Especially will this be the case in 
 Massachusetts, were there doubts otherwise, since his Excellency Governor 
 Andrew telegraphed to the War Department that he ' would help Gen. But- 
 ler to the utmost' in his recruiting." 
 
 In this, it is seen, he looks to the Governor for commissions, 
 and expressly puts it, that these troops " are to be deemed a 
 
part of the quota " of tlie State. It throws to the winds the 
 Gubernatorial pretence that his course embarrasses the State 
 recruitment ; for every regiment raised by him counts for the 
 State. Gov. Andrew assigns to him the 26th, w^ith 750 men ; 
 it is accepted and filled up by Gen. Butler. A battery, with 
 20 men, is assigned to him ; it is accepted and filled up by the 
 General. The Governor then offered to assign to him the 28th 
 regiment, but coupled with this, finally, the condition that Gen. 
 Butler should stop recruiting in the Commonwealth. This part 
 of the correspondence does not appear in the portion laid be- 
 fore the Legislature. Had Gen. Butler consented to this, he 
 had shut himself oflT from a right, without benefit to the State. 
 For it is to be observed that the terms of his authorization do 
 not limit him to a particular number of regiments from a par- 
 ticular State ; and whatever regiments were recruited by him 
 in Massachusetts, vv^ere to go, as we have seen, to the credit of 
 the Massachusetts quota. From this point, on or about the 1st 
 of November, General Butler proceeded with his enlistment 
 through that month and the month of December ; and, in spite 
 of all difficulties, — increased by the constant and unwearied 
 efforts of the State Department, which labored to discourage 
 enlistments, by informing town authorities that no aid could be 
 furnished by towns, and asserting that no commissions would 
 issue to officers, — succeeded in raising two regiments, equal, in 
 all respects, to any which have gone from the State. Every- 
 thing to throw discouragement upon an entea'prise designed for 
 the common benefit, by slur, inuendo, and falsity, has been free- 
 ly resorted to by men and newspapers pretending to have the 
 interests of the country at heart, — and swift to question the 
 reliability of those whose sentiments ran counter to their own. 
 Without success. Applications at Washington for the removal 
 of Gen. Butler, based upon falsehoods, emanating from the Gov- 
 ernor, were retained unanswered ; and nothing remained to be 
 done, by the Executive of the State, but to play the dog in the 
 manger with regard to commissions for the officers. To this 
 let us apply ourselves, and let us first deal with the facts con- 
 nected with the officers of Manning's Battery, so called. It has 
 been officially stated that Gen. Butler hurried this battery off 
 without notifying His Excellency, and that the men proposed 
 for officers were unfit for their positions. What are the facts ? 
 
r 
 
 The gentleman proposed for captain was elected because of 
 State-House recommendation, and the others were supposed to 
 be wholly lit. Selections had not been made of these officers, 
 in full, up to Nov. 12. On that day His Excellency left for 
 Washington, from which place he did not return until Saturday 
 evening, the 23rd of November. On the 16th of November, 
 the Constitution was chartered, at heavy expense, to take troops 
 to Ship Island, and on the 21st she sailed with this battery. 
 Their names could not be sent to His Excellency, floating about 
 the country. Gen. Butler returned from Washington on the 
 25th, and on the 27th the names were sent to the Governor. 
 After long delay, and another application, the Governor return- 
 ed that he could not commission them for various reasons ; 
 and he had sent to Washington that there were on file at the 
 State House, charges against them so gross as to show their un- 
 fitness, — a charge against the General. To this it was answered, 
 very well, say that these men shall not be commissioned, and 
 other names shall be forwarded, though the charges, whatever 
 they are, are believed to be untrue. This led to an interview 
 with a State official, in which the General offisred to make new 
 nominations, as he had done by letter ; but left everything to 
 His Excellency ; and, these gross charges on file, undisproved 
 and unexplained, the Governor sends commissions for every one 
 of these officers. Had these charges existence ? If so, why did 
 the commissions issue at last, the charges undisproved ? Had 
 they no existence, why did His Excellency declare that they 
 had ? Was the Governor's course adopted by him to injure the 
 General, without cause, and so injure the common cause ? Is 
 there a man in place small enough for such conduct ? 
 
 " Who could not blush, if such a man there be ? 
 Who would not weep, if J. A. A. were he ? " 
 
 Commissions were required for the Eastern and Western 
 Bay-State Regiments. An election of officers for one company 
 was held, and its results placed before His Excellency, who re- 
 fused to commission them, and intimated his design to refuse to 
 commission any officers for these regiments. The Evening 
 Mendax, instructing the people, correctly quoted from the law 
 of the United States in regard to the commissioning of officers, 
 
 as follows : 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 " The Governors of the States furnishing volunteers under this Act, shall 
 commission the field, staff, and company ofiicers requisite for the said vol- 
 unteers ; but in cases where the State authorities refuse or omit to furnish 
 volunteers at the call or on the proclamation of the President, and volun- 
 teers from such States offer their services under such call or proclamation, 
 the President shall have power to accept such services, and to commission 
 the proper field, staff, and company officers." 
 
 But it forgot to state that the quota of Massachusetts, under 
 the Presidential call under this law, is thirty-three regiments ; 
 and that this quota, even with these regiments, is unfilled ; and 
 that these regiments were to be counted in the quota of Massa- 
 chusetts. That, under this law, the raismg of the troops does 
 not necessarily devolve upon Governors ; and that, consequent- 
 ly, if a body of men, recognized by the General Government as 
 part of the quota of the State, are refused officers by the Gov- 
 ernor, this amounts, in substance, to a refusal or omission to 
 furnish volunteers under the call, to that extent ; and opens the 
 door for the exercise of the Presidential power. This was the 
 view early taken by the powers at Washington, and this view 
 has been acted upon by these powers. 
 
 So much for the irregularity and illegality of the course of 
 General Butler. Engaged in an enterprise sanctioned by the 
 General Government, endeavoring to carry out his authority in 
 a manner beneficial to the Commonwealth, trusting to the 
 promises of aid gratuitously ofiered by the Governor, how has 
 he been treated by that Governor from the inception of his 
 design ? Let the " correspondence " about which there has been 
 such an ado, now published, at the call of His Excellency, show. 
 What is that correspondence ? So much of it, some nine letters, 
 as is dated prior to Sept. 10th, has apparently little to do with 
 General Butler. At that date he had no power in I^ew Eng- 
 land. The first that we find bearing upon the General, is the 
 Governor's answer to the President of Sept. 11, consenting to 
 the authority given to Gen. Butler, upon which consent the 
 President acts, upon the 12th. On the 23d is the ofier of the 
 Irish Regiment to Gen. Butler. There seems to have been no 
 communication from the General to the Governor until the 5th 
 of October, when he sends to the Governor that he is to assume 
 command of the Department, and on the 8th of October, begs 
 an interview. What was the Governor doing all this time ? 
 
11 
 
 Issuing an order on the 23d of September forbidding enlistments ; 
 (where does he get the power to prevent a citizen from enUsting 
 in the United-States Service where he wishes?) Warning Gen. 
 Sherman, on the 24th, that Gen. Butler intends to steal his sol- 
 diers ; sending, upon the 5th of October, to Gen. Butler his views 
 upon the disastrous consequences of independent enlistment, 
 the folly of which views the result has made apparent ; and 
 upon the same date querelously telegraphing to Washington to 
 know the extent of the General's powers. Pretty active work, 
 and showing great disposition to aid the General in his enter- 
 prise, even before he had a word from him. The next few days 
 seem to have been passed in attempts upon the part of the 
 General to see the Governor, who does violence to his inclina- 
 tions and natural tastes in persistently refusing to see Gen. 
 Butler, and heaps misery upon his own head in dechning to 
 allow him to occupy the rooms of the State House occupied by 
 Gen. Wilson while recruiting. Judge of the truth of the 
 Governor's desire to aid by the truth of the intensity of his 
 affection for the General manifest in these things. 
 
 An interview impossible, on the 12th of October Gen. Butler 
 writes, and to that letter no ansioer was returned. Courteous 
 and cordial ! At this time the Attorney General thinks that 
 families of Gen. Butler'' s Division are entitled to State aid. 
 On the 25th of October, Gen. Butler, his of the 12th unan- 
 swered, lays his condition before His Excellency, and upon the 
 26th the Governor declines to commission his officers. Nothing 
 then passed between these parties until ISTov. 6, Gen. Butler 
 requests an answer to his of Oct. 12th, and receives one refusing 
 the request in that letter upon the same day. From that date 
 to the 27th November, the Governor is busy in writing, by him- 
 self and others, to the Adjutant General of the Army, and vari- 
 ous persons in this State, denying Gen. Butler's joo?/jer to recruit., 
 and endeavoring to displace him from command. Upon the 
 last-named date, he is asked to commission, the officers of the 
 Battery, handed over hy himself To this there was no answer. 
 This is courtesy. Upon Dec. 27th, Gen. Butler renews by 
 correspondence in person^ the request in the letter of November 
 27th. He is answered through the Mihtary Secretary, setting 
 forth their removal from the State, and general incompetency 
 from want of character, and otherwise, as reasons for refusal. 
 
12 
 
 We have seen that the Governor's own absence accounts for 
 the first of these reasons, and Capt. Mannmg was the State's 
 choice. That letter was returned for discourtesy, in that it 
 should have come from the Governor himself And this leads 
 to correspondence which must speak for itself, it being only nec- 
 essary to say that it is singular to find a man who can, having 
 received an answer to a communication through a channel 
 selected by himself, find fault after the following manner at 
 receiving an answer through the same channel, without feeling 
 the necessity of preserving the proprieties himself We refer to 
 the wail in the telegram to Mr. Sumner, of Jan. 14 : — " My 
 letters should be directly and not indirectly answered by the 
 President or Department. — John A. Andrew." If the President 
 should in j^erson answer all his letters, we should despair of his 
 attention to anything beyond, and the President is greater .than 
 the Governor upon the admission of the Military Secretary even 
 in his letter of the 20th December. We can give the rest of 
 that telegram : " The Legislature has called on me for whole 
 correspondence. I hold back lest the public interest may suffer, 
 though my own interest would be promoted by publishing. 
 Telegraph me what you think. (Signed.) John A. Andrew." 
 Considering that the call by the Legislature was upon the 13th, 
 the " holding back " was not excessive. This matter of etiquette 
 discussed, takes up the time to the 1st of January, the Governor 
 taking up his leisure time in refusing to obey the Department's 
 order. On that day he commissioned the officers of the battery 
 without disproof of any charges. And here this correspondence, 
 so far as the General is personally concerned, ends, the letter 
 bringing before His Excellency the peccadillo of one of his 
 appointments, for his information, counting for little in the 
 controversy, so called. 
 
 Where lies the outrage in the General's conduct ? He sought 
 the Governor, and was rejected ; he applies civilly for commis- 
 sions — he is unanswered ; re-applications are " indirectly " an- 
 swered ; and civil attempts to explain language, upon request, 
 are treated like attack. No vilifications of the Governor appear 
 on the record at Washington — none here. How stands it with 
 his Excellency ? Busy every moment in attacking the General, 
 from the instant of his authority to the present, at home and 
 abroad, and checking his enterprise in every way. Why? 
 
13 
 
 Ostensibly for the honor of Massachusetts, really to preserve a 
 supposed personal dignity threatened. The truth of the whole 
 matter lies in this, that the Governor having received so much 
 praise for sagacity and foresight for the celebrated Order No. 4, 
 and the overcoats, both suggestions of other brains laboriously 
 forced upon him, is unwilHng to be placed in a position which 
 would preclude him from assuming whatever of glory might 
 attend this expedition, and therefore brings forward, at this most 
 unpropitious moment, the ghost of State Rights, which the 
 nation is striving so energetically to lay. The play is over, the 
 curtain drops, and the Manager is welcome to the profits. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER. 
 
 [from the boston post.] 
 
 Messrs. Editors : All the papers affiliated with the State House, 
 and the gilded gentlemen surrounding the Governor, appear just now 
 to he, as the hoys say, " pitching into" Greneral Butler. I have not 
 met G-en. Butler for a long time, hut I do like to see fair play, and it 
 seems to me this Massachusetts soldier is not receiving it. 
 
 General Butler is a hold, driving, impulsive, and somewliat rash man; 
 he has those Murat-like qualities which, when fully trained, ensure 
 daring deeds in the field of danger. But these very cpialities which 
 in the blaze of battle are often like an inspiration, lead also in ordinary 
 matters frequently to excitable and somewhat irregular ways of doing 
 things. 
 
 Now it seems to me that the forgetful public is fixing its gaze too 
 much on these trivial irregularities, and forgetting all about his sacrifices 
 and services. They forget, that at the first blast of war, with the first 
 lowering of the Flag at Sumter, he left an extremely lucrative pro- 
 fessional business and rushed to the rescue of Washington. Only a 
 day or two after the blood of Massachusetts had crimsoned the streets 
 of Baltimore, at that moment of great national agony, he started from 
 here, determined to go right through Bloody Baltimore, or lose his 
 life in the effort. Washington was practically as much cut off 
 from the North, as if an earthquake had suddenly sunk Maryland be- 
 tween Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. Twenty millions 
 of Northerners, utterly cut off from their Capital, stood helplessly still, 
 
14 
 
 waltiiio- to see its ftite. Gen. B., when lie got to Philadelphia, thought 
 of the Annapolis road to Washington. Caring nothing for the fact that 
 to get to Annapolis, he must go first to Havre de Grace, which was 
 said to be defended by more rebel Marylanders than he had men, he 
 pushed OQ. The Xew York 7th Regiment refused to go with him, so 
 he went witli only the Massachusetts 8th Kegiment. His boldness 
 scared away the enemy who were hanging around, as he embarked 
 at Havre de Grace. 
 
 Arrived at Annapolis, he created the railroad way to Washing- 
 ton. By his originality of thought, his enterprise, his startling audac- 
 ity, he established that road, got his men througli on it, got the 
 famous N. Y. 7th Reghncnt through, and appeared on the Avenue 
 with the soldiers of Massachusetts, to the inexpressible relief of the 
 beleaguered Government. 
 
 Without the least of the hesitating vacillation of which in others we 
 have seen so much, he rushed back again to Annapolis, arriving there 
 on Saturday evening. Next morning, at 5 A. M., he was on his way to 
 seize the Belay House, which position was the key to Maryland. The 
 military suddenness and secrecy of the movement alone made it suc- 
 cessful ; for the rebels, twenty thousand strong, lay at Harper's 
 Ferry but a few hours off. How quickly and finely those things were 
 done let Major Winthrop's appreciating record in the Atlantic Montli- 
 ly bear witness. 
 
 Then his seizure of Baltimore was a very plucky thing, and raised 
 the heart of the whole North. With the Massachusetts 6th Begiment 
 and the New York 8th, he buMquXj appeared in Baltimore at 7 P. M., 
 one ra'ny afternoon. The engines on the railroad from the Belay 
 House, were headed towards Harper's Ferry, and the spies of the 
 enemy killed tlieir horses in racing to inform them they were to be 
 attacked. Next morning, Baltimore saw Butler's c^xmon in position, 
 overlooking them on Federal Hill. He issued a proclamation which 
 nobody but Baltimoreans ever found fault with. He summoned the 
 shaky City Government before him as the representative of the Federal 
 flag. Cool and courageous, he sent word to Fort McHenry to keep the 
 batteries ready with hot shot, and to fire when the first gun should 
 sound on Federal Hill. Mayor Brown and the rebels in the City 
 Government were appalled at the display of so much energy and dar- 
 ing, /.nd to crown his moral conquest of Baltimore, he sallied out of 
 his entrenchments on horseback, accompanied only by two Aids and 
 three artillery officers, and rode thus alone and defiant through the very 
 
15 
 
 streets of that then insurgent city, where the stains of Massachusetts 
 blood were yet vivid and ghastly. 
 
 It was no wonder that regular army officers characterized that ride, 
 as one of the most signal and dangerous examples of bravery possible 
 in the whole war. For Baltimore was then one vast fort. Marshal 
 Kane was reigning there, and in nearly every house were guns, and 
 knives, and powder. From any window or door, in all his ride, Butler 
 might have been picked out of his saddle by a Minnie ball ; but, as he 
 calmy said at the hotel where he dined, he had put his life into the 
 cause, and he meant to go through with it. 
 
 Now all this was rash, but it is brave rashness that conquers ; and 
 it conquered Baltimore. There never was any more trouble in Bal- 
 timore till Gen. Cadwallader, who was not rash nor defiant, but 
 "regular" and proper, took command with six times the soldiers that 
 Butler had ; then, Baltimore grew troublesome again. 
 
 Now it is a fact, that though Gen. Scott scolded considerably about 
 this audacious feat of General Butler's, he expressed his cordial and 
 hearty admiration of his soldierly, executive qualities; and declared, 
 substantiaUy, that he had not met any Volunteer officer more full of 
 fire and power to carry out in action the calmer thoughts of his 
 (Scott'sJ brain. 
 
 The Bethel fight was 2i fatality. The officers and the men were all 
 totally green under fire. So were the enemy. But, with green men 
 on both sides, the entrenched enemy resting untired behind ramjmris, 
 always whips. So they did at Bull Eun, Yet McDowell was pro- 
 moted after it to be a Major General. 
 
 But at Fortress Monroe, Butler seized, on the very second day, and 
 occupied, Newport News a position the Government still clings to. 
 
 He would have done more, much more, if the Government would 
 have allowed him. But with the Government determined to do noth.. 
 ing for nine months, (till all should be ready for a grand advance) , 
 Butler's restless bravery was dangerously combustible, at Fortress 
 Monroe. So the regidar regularity of the safe New Yorker, Gen. 
 Wool, was substituted for the dangerous audacity of the Massachusetts 
 Gen. Butler, and — nothing has been done, so nobody has been hurt. 
 
 At Hatteras, it was Gen. Butler who saw instantly how immensely 
 important those Forts might be made. It was he, who, in de- 
 fiance of the paper orders, " took the responsihility,^^ like Andrew Jack- 
 son, of holding them; electrified the country by so doing; made a most 
 favorable impression upon Europe by the act, the first that had 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 16 
 
 013 703 182 6 
 
 broken the long black bead roll of defeats and do-nothings; and then 
 lie hastened to Washington to get permission to do the very thing that 
 Burnside is now probably about to do, namely, advance upon Neiohern, 
 N. C, seize it, intrench there, and hold on; thereby hastening the 
 climax of this awful expenditure of money and blood, by full six 
 months. But the Grovernment could not be brought up to this splen- 
 did celerity of movement and of victory. 
 
 The fact is, qualities lil^e Butler's are- the qualities which tell tri- 
 umphantly, if they can only be backed up by men, and means, and op- 
 portunities. But if they are hampered, and clogged, and interfered with , 
 their very daring and excitablenesr only make them seem more irregular. 
 Even here in Massachusetts — in spite of all the efforts of the military 
 gentlemen of the State House, who march through peaceful streets to 
 polka music, — here, Gren. Butler rode before our eyes the other day, at 
 the head of regiments, which he had raised, of extraordinary solidity 
 and soldierly appearance. 
 
 But, because he has had the misfortune not to please the State House 
 poople, every organ through which the State House speaks, must open 
 upon him, sneer at him, belittle hih past services, play off cheap and safe 
 wit at him. People sitting down in complacent security, who have never 
 lost a dinner during the war, can write heavily and elaborately, to 
 prove that he has done nothing — never will do anything — -and never 
 can do anything — oP real danger and martial service to his country. 
 
 Now, Messrs. Editors, I am no indiscriminate admirer of Gen. Butler. 
 But, I think ho is not having justice done him. His faults are patent. 
 But his merits, his services, and his offerings of himself, his property, 
 his honor, and his life, to his country, are not to be sneered out of 
 memory, or out of history, by people who never saw a cannon, except 
 as a paaceful plaything — nor looked upon an armed enemy, except 
 through a telegraphic telescope. I know little and care less for the 
 details of the squabble between the Governor and the General. All I 
 know is, that he has raised regiments in four of the New England 
 States, and has only found trouble and abuse in one — his own. And 
 I believe, confidently, if he can only get a fair chance, that although 
 he may make mistakes, still his sword will flash out a bright path for 
 him from all his troubles ; just as in the earliest hours of the war, its 
 gleam flashed into view the only road to Washington. The originator 
 of the now national definition of " the contraband" and the Conqueror 
 of Baltimore, can hardly be killed by the paper pellets of the State 
 House. Fair Play. 
 
E 513 
 .n442 
 Copy 1 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 013 703 182 6 •