J.H. Butler

Federal (USA)

Lieutenant

John Hartwell Butler

(1838 - 1910)

Home State: Connecticut

Command Billet: Battery Commander

Branch of Service: Artillery

Unit: 2nd United States Artillery, Battery G

Before Antietam

A druggist in Hartford before the War, he was appointed 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd US Artillery, on 22 May 1861 and promoted 1st Lieutenant on 10 June.

On the Campaign

He commanded the battery in Maryland.

The rest of the War

He commanded the battery at Gettysburg in July 1863, and suffered "loss of left foot from wound in line of duty" - probably near Culpeper in November. He was cited by brevet for gallantry at the battle of Glendale, Virginia (6/62: Captain) and action near Culpeper, Virginia (11/63: Major). He retired his commission on 7 February 1865.

After the War

He re-entered the Army in 1867, appointed Captain in the 42nd US Infantry on 22 January. He retired as Mounted Captain on 14 May 1870.

By 1880 he was agent for a cotton mill in Manchester, CT.

References & notes

Military history from Heitman.1 His photo is from the MOLLUS-Massachusetts Collection.2 His foot mentioned by Higginson,3 with further details gathered by Goellnitz.4 Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1880. His gravesite is on Findagrave.

Birth

1838; Worcester, MA

Death

01/23/1910; Hartford County, CT; burial in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Hartford, CT

Notes

1 Heitman, Francis Bernard, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army 1789-1903, 2 volumes, Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 1903, pg. 269 [AotW citation 1173]

1 US Army, Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC), Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS)-Massachusetts Photograph Collection, Published 2009, <https://arena.usahec.org/web/arena>, Source page: pg. 5010 [AotW citation 1174]

3 Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, Massachusetts in the Army and Navy during the war of 1861-1865, 2 vols., Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Co., State Printers, 1895-6, Vol. 2, pg. 405 [AotW citation 1175]

4 Goellnitz, Jenny, Draw the Sword: the Gettysburg Monument Project, Published 1998, first accessed 20 January 2001, <http://www.drawthesword.goellnitz.org/>, Source page: /2008/05/2nd-united-states-artillery-battery-g/ [AotW citation 1176]

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