# Benjamin F. Butler — Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant character guide

> Benjamin F. Butler in Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant by Ulysses S. Grant.

**Role:** minor

**Also known as:** Butler, General Butler, Major-General B. F. Butler, Major-General Butler

**First appearance:** 0003-i

## Who they are

Union general and politician, controversial commander in the South.

## In the story

### [The Military Situation—Plans For the Campaign—Sheridan Assigned to Command of the Cavalry—Flank Movements—Forrest at Fort Pillow—General Banks's Expedition—Colonel Mosby—An Incident of the Wilderness Campaign](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/personal_memoirs_of_ulysses_s_grant_se/chapters/xlvii)

Butler commands the Army of the James, tasked with advancing up the James River against Richmond and Petersburg. Grant visits him at Fort Monroe before the campaign.

### [Commencement of the Grand Campaign—General Butler’s Position—Sheridan’s First Raid](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/personal_memoirs_of_ulysses_s_grant_se/chapters/xlviii)

Commands the Army of the James; seizes Bermuda Hundred but is later contained by Beauregard, leading to the 'bottle' analogy.

### [Left Flank Movement Across the Chickahominy and James—General Lee—Visit to Butler—The Movement on Petersburg—The Investment of Petersburg](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/personal_memoirs_of_ulysses_s_grant_se/chapters/lvi)

Commands the Department of Virginia and North Carolina; Grant coordinates with him for the river crossing and sends orders to sink stone boats in the James.

### [LXI: Expedition Against Fort Fisher](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/personal_memoirs_of_ulysses_s_grant_se/chapters/lxi)

Leads the first failed expedition; criticized for abandoning the landing and squandering favorable conditions.

### [Arrival of the Peace Commissioners—Lincoln and the Peace Commissioners—An Anecdote of Lincoln—The Winter Before Petersburg—Sheridan Destroys the Railroad—Gordon Carries the Picket Line—Parke Recaptures the Line—The Line of Battle of White Oak Road](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/personal_memoirs_of_ulysses_s_grant_se/chapters/lxiii)

Quoted remark about Confederate conscription 'robbing both the cradle and the grave'; earlier conversation about difficulty of raising more men.

### [Report of Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant, of the United States Armies 1864–65](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/personal_memoirs_of_ulysses_s_grant_se/chapters/report-of-lieutenant-general-u-s-grant-of-the-united-states-armies-1864-65)

Receives Grant's detailed instructions for the spring campaign, including operations on the south side of James River.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/personal_memoirs_of_ulysses_s_grant_se/characters/benjamin_f_butler
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/personal_memoirs_of_ulysses_s_grant_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/personal_memoirs_of_ulysses_s_grant_se/characters