1. Matthew Calbraith Butler was a Confederate soldier, an American military commander, attorney and politician, and slaveholder from South Carolina.
24 Facts About Matthew Butler
1. 2.
Matthew Butler's uncle Andrew Butler was a US Senator from South Carolina and uncle Pierce Mason Butler was Governor of South Carolina.
3.
Matthew Butler said it was because Sumner had insulted Senator Andrew Butler, at whose home Matthew lived as a young man.
4.
In 1848 Matthew Butler went with his father to Arkansas but returned in 1851 to live with his uncle, who resided in Edgefield, South Carolina.
5.
Matthew Butler received his initial education in the city's Edgefield Academy, and then attended the South Carolina College, where he was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, graduating in 1856.
6.
Matthew Butler studied law, was admitted to the state's bar association in 1857, and began practicing as a lawyer in Edgefield.
7.
Matthew Butler was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1860, but resigned in 1861 when the American Civil War began.
8.
Matthew Butler was the daughter of Francis Wilkinson Pickens, who was elected as governor of the state.
9.
Matthew Butler attained the rank of brigadier general in February 1864 and was referred to as "General Butler" in the postwar period.
10.
Matthew Butler led a brigade in Wade Hampton's division of the Cavalry Corps.
11.
When Hampton took command of that corps, Matthew Butler became division commander.
12.
Financially ruined as a result of the war, Matthew Butler resumed his career as a lawyer in Edgefield.
13.
Matthew Butler was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives beginning in 1866.
14.
Matthew Butler became a member of the Democratic Party and ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1870 during the Reconstruction era.
15.
Matthew Butler was a member of the pro-black Union Reform party.
16.
In July 1876, Matthew Butler defended two white farmers in court in their complaint of being denied free passage on Main Street of Hamburg, South Carolina, when the local chapter of the black militia, part of the National Guard, was parading on Independence Day.
17.
In court, Matthew Butler demanded that militia members turn over their arms to him, which they refused.
18.
Matthew Butler served in the US Senate for three terms, from 1877 to 1895, but lost for re-election in the South Carolina legislature to Benjamin Tillman, who was popular after serving as governor.
19.
In 1890 while serving in the Senate, Matthew Butler introduced a bill to provide federal aid to African Americans who would emigrate to Africa to promote segregation, sparking a national debate.
20.
Matthew Butler was one of a handful of former Confederate officers to serve in the US Army during that war.
21.
Matthew Butler was honorably discharged from the US Army on April 15,1899.
22.
In 1899 General Matthew Butler joined the Pennsylvania Commandery of the Military Order of Foreign Wars.
23.
In 1903, Matthew Butler was elected vice president of the Southern Historical Society.
24.
Matthew Butler's body was returned to Edgefield, South Carolina, where he was buried in the city's Willow Brook Cemetery.