(MILITARY CIVIL WAR) Butler Benjamin F Post war letter orde

Sale 2534 - Lot 324

Price Realized: $ 938

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200

"MEDALS FOR THE COLORED TROOPS" (MILITARY--CIVIL WAR.) Butler, Benjamin F. Post-war letter ordering some of his Butler Medals for his former soldiers. Letter Signed "Benj F Butler" to General J.B. Kinsman in Washington. One page, 8 x 5 inches; lacking integral blank, moderate wear and finger-soiling. Washington, DC, 29 March 1869

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Benjamin Franklin Butler (1818-1893) had been a union major general during the Civil War, best known for his controversial work as military governor of occupied New Orleans. He had large numbers of African-American troops under his command, and in 1865 paid for the production of 208 "Butler Medals" out of his own pocket to present to those who were "Distinguished for Courage" in the 1864 campaign to capture Richmond. By 1869, Butler was serving as a United States Representative for Massachusetts, and apparently learned of more of his old soldiers in need of recognition. He wrote to his wartime staff member Josiah Burnham Kinsman (1824-1912), who had also served as Superintendent of Negro Affairs. Kinsman was brevetted as a major general at the end of the war, and left the service. Butler wrote in full: "Will you have the kindness to order from Boston, or wherever they may be, the medals for the colored troops? I want to distribute some of them." The medals are quite scarce on the market today.