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THE MINI-BEAST—GEORGE H. BUTLER (1838–1886)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 April 2015
Abstract
George H. Butler was a Gilded Age writer, diplomat, and soldier, who was also a poster boy for what Richard Stott identifies as the “jolly fellow.” Butler parlayed a witty writing style to enter journalism, and with the help of his influencial uncle, Benjamin Butler, he obtained a diplomatic posting as consul general to Egypt. Overly fond of alcohol, George Butler participated in several newsworthy fights, often involving deadly force. His life serves as an archetype for out-of-control manliness, which was contrary to gender expectations of polite society in 1870s America.
- Type
- Essays
- Information
- The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , April 2015 , pp. 222 - 242
- Copyright
- Copyright © Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 2015
References
NOTES
1 “Obituary George H. Butler,” New York Times, May 12, 1886, 2.
2 We found no reference that Butler ever advanced beyond the rank of First Lieutenant, yet his uncle, writing to President Grant on January 19, 1873, uses “Colonel Butler.” Simon, John Y., ed., The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, vol. 22, June 1, 1871 to January 31, 1872 (Carbondale, IL, 1998)Google Scholar [Hence Grant Papers], 192.
3 “The Nephew of his Uncle,” Cairo Daily Bulletin, October 31, 1872, 1.
4 Mark Twain's Autobiography, Part 2 (Whitefish, MT, 2003), 218–19Google Scholar. The 1850 Census lists George as twelve years old and his father's occupation as “none.” Ten years later, his father was a “real estate broker” and George an “engineer.” See also Nancy Stone, “In Memory of Mark Twain on the Anniversary of his Death,” Lake Gazette 14 (August 4, 2010), No. 27, online version.
5 “Rose Eytinge's Poisoning,” Daily Courier [St. Louis] (June 24, 1876), 1, notes he was educated “in a Catholic College in Georgetown.”
6 For more on Broderick, see Quinn, Arthur, The Rivals: William Gwin, David Broderick and the Birth of California (New York, 1994)Google Scholar; Richards, Leonard L., The California Gold Rush and the Coming of the Civil War (New York, 2008)Google Scholar; Scott, Richard, Jolly Fellows: Male Milieus in Nineteenth-Century America (Baltimore, 2009), 150–54Google Scholar; David C. Broderick: A Political Portrait (San Marino, CA, 1969)Google Scholar.
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8 According to Chester G. Hearn, Andrew Butler was persona non-grata to Massachusetts Governor John A. Andrew, so the Senate never confirmed his commission. This may have been a “golden insult” as lack of official status allowed Andrew tremendous leeway in his brother's administration of occupied New Orleans. See When the Devil Came Down to Dixie: Ben Butler in New Orleans (Baton Rouge, 2000), 48Google Scholar, 183.
9 Marshall, Jesse Aims, ed., Private and Official Correspondence of Gen. Benjamin F. Butler. vol. I, April 1860 – June 1862 [hence Correspondence ... Butler] (Norwood, MA, 1917), 101–2Google Scholar. Sarah Jones Hildreth was a prominent actress of the 1830s/40s; she left the stage after marrying Butler in 1844.
10 Ibid. George worked with Lieutenant Robert Butler (no relation) of the 10th Infantry at Bethel Church (June 10, 1861). Both were aides to General Pierce. “A Defense of General Butler,” New York Times, June 13, 1861, 1.
11 Johnson, Robert U. and Buel, Clarence C., eds., Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. vol. II (New York, 1887): 146Google Scholar; Jesse Aims Marshall, Correspondence … Butler, 114.
12 In May 1862, his own officers brought Pierce up on charges, accusing him of incompetence and “improper conduct.” The latter because he allowed soldiers to sing racy songs and provided burlesque shows for their entertainment. As will be shown, George Butler was very hostile to burlesque acts in 1869 New York. Bowen, James L., Massachusetts in the War, 1861–1865 (Springfield, MA, 1889), 137Google Scholar; John H. and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands (Palo Alto, CA, 2001), 422Google Scholar; Lowry, Thomas P., Curmudgeons, Drunkards and Outright Fools; The Courts Martials of Civil War Union Colonels (Lincoln, NE, 2003), 199–203Google Scholar.
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15 “A Defense of General Butler,” New York Times, June 13, 1861, 1; “Other Accounts, Fortress Monroe,” New York Times, June 12, 1861, 1; “Our Army at Fortress Monroe,” Harper's Weekly, June 29, 1861, 413;
16 Butler Letters, vol. II: 423.
17 After considerable provocation, Butler issued General Order No. 28, which declared women who showed disrespect to federal soldiers would be treated as prostitutes. This earned him the nickname “Beast Butler”; he was also called “Spoons Butler,” an allusion to his confiscation of Confederate properties. Hearn, When the Devil Came Down to Dixie, remains a fun book that expands on these points.
18 “An Old Confederate Dead,” New York Times, July 4, 1887; Correspondence ... Butler, vol. II: 423, 530; Cornell, John A., The Pioneers of Beverly (Dundas, ONT, 1887), 16Google Scholar; Syrett, John, The Civil War Confiscation Acts (New York, 2005), 82–83CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Winters, John D., The Civil War in Louisiana (Baton Rouge, 1963), 137–38Google Scholar. General William F. Smith and James T. Brady, a lawyer, were appointed in December 1864. Most of their findings are in the National Archives, Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s–1917, RG 94.11, Other AGO Records, 1861–74.
19 Hearn, When the Devil Came Down to Dixie, 30.
20 “Smartest damn rascal,” cited in Smith, Michael T., “The Beast Unleashed: Benjamin Butler and the Conceptions of Masculinity in the Civil War North,” New England Quarterly, 79 (June 2006): 275–76Google Scholar. See also “Law Reports; the Will of Col. A. J. Butler,” New York Times, June 1, 1864, 1. Benjamin Butler claimed only $35,921 remained of his brother's estate after all debts and obligations had been met.
21 The National Archives reported no records pertaining to George H. Butler's service with the Massachusetts volunteers or U.S. regulars. Civil War historian James A. Morgan called this “unusual,” and considering Butler's checkered career, plus his uncle's influence, even “suspicious.” Morgan to Dunn, E-Mail correspondence, June 22, 2009; Butler is mentioned a few times in regimental correspondence; see Returns from Regular Army Infantry Regiments, 1821–1916, Tenth Infantry, 1855–1862, microfilm roll 113, National Archives. See also Heitman, Francis Bernard, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, from its Organization, September 29, 1789, to March 2, 1903 (Washington, DC, 1903)Google Scholar, vol. I: 269; Col. Scott, Robert N., ed., The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Series I, Vol. XXV, Part I. Reports (Washington DC, 1889), 526Google Scholar; U.S. Adjutant General. General Orders of the War Department Embracing the Years 1861, 1862, & 1863, vol. II (New York, 1864): 488Google Scholar.
22 Haynes, John Edward, Pseudonyms of Authors Including Anonyms and Initialisms (New York, MDCCCLXXXIL), 43Google Scholar, 81; Miller, Tice L., “Identifying the Dramatic Writers for Wilkes' Spirit of the Times, 1859–1902,” Theatre Survey, 20 (May 1979): 130–33CrossRefGoogle Scholar; “Obituary”; “Law Reports.”
23 Wilkes had been a close friend of Broderick; see Richards, The California Gold Rush, 27, 30. For background on Wilkes and the more colorful news media of mid-nineteenth-century America, see Cohen, Patricia Cline, Gilfoyle, Timothy J., and Horowitz, Helen Lefkowitz, The Flash Press: Sporting Male Weeklies in 1840s New York (Chicago, 2008), 258CrossRefGoogle Scholar, n.3.
24 “Chamberlain and George Wilkes,” Seen and Heard, vol. I (November 20, 1901): 27.
25 For a biography of Wilkes, see Saxton, Alexander, The Rise and Fall of the White Republic. Class Politics and Mass Culture in Nineteenth-Century America (London, 2003), 205–26Google Scholar.
26 Tice L. Miller, “Identifying the Dramatic Writers,” 130.
27 Cited in Saxton, The Rise and Fall of the White Republic, 216.
28 Nevins, Alan, Hamilton Fish. The Inner History of the Grant Administration (New York, 1936), 280Google Scholar, 585; Saxton, Rise and Fall of the White Republic, 216, 447. For details on the Grant-Butler alliance, see Mallan, William D., “The Grant-Butler Relationship,” Mississippi Valley Historical Review, 41 (September 1954): 259–76CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
29 For a first-rate examination of 1860s Bohemians and their connections to culture and politics, see Lause, Mark A., The Antebellum Crisis and America's First Bohemians (Kent, OH, 2009), 62Google Scholar, 188.
30 The New York Times obituary claims Pfaff called his rathskeller “Bohemia.” The Vault at Pfaff's http://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/pfaffs/people/pintro/ is an excellent website that helped the writers track down many nineteenth-century sources. See also “Current Memoranda,” Potter's American Monthly (September 1875), 714; “In and About the City. The Death of Charles I. Pfaff,” New York Times, April 26, 1890,1; G.J.M., “Bohemianism: The American Authors Who Meet in a Cellar,” Brooklyn Eagle, May 25, 1884, 9.
31 “Ex-Consul Butler,” New York Times, September 26, 1872, 8.
32 “Washington Topics. Good Stories about Butler,” Daily Alta California, May 24, 1886, 1.
33 “Theatre and Things Theatrical. Tammany Hall is a Dance Hall,” Spirit of the Times, December 26, 1868, 304.
34 “C & GW” in Seen and Heard, I (November 20, 1901): 27; Miller, “Identifying the Dramatic Writers” 131–32. For an excellent introduction to the world of mid-nineteenth-century theater criticism, see Miller, Tice L., Bohemians and Critics: American Theatre Criticism in the Nineteenth Century (Lanham, MD, 1981)Google Scholar.
35 Winter, William, Other Days: Being Chronicles and Memories of the Stage (New York, 1908), 115Google Scholar.
36 Bowles, editor of the Springfield Republican, argued the press should be like “a dreadful mastiff rather than a crouching spaniel.” “The Arrest of Mr. Samuel Bowles,” New York Times, December 29, 1868, 8; McAlpine, R. W., The Life and Times of Col. James Fisk Jr. (New York, 1872), 168Google Scholar, 333; Swanberg, W. A., Jim Fisk. The Career of an Improbable Rascal (New York, 1959), 38Google Scholar, 168n, 179; Winter, Other Days, 116.
37 For a detailed account of this earlier “British invasion,” see Tamara L. Smith, Too Foul and Dishonoring to Be Overlooked: Newspaper Responses to Controversial English Stars in the Northeastern United States, 1820–1870, (Ph.D. diss., University of Texas at Austin, 2010). See also George Wilkes, “How to Settle with England,” Spirit of the Times, February 13, 1869.
38 Rodger, Gillian, Champagne Charlie and Pretty Jemima. Variety Theatre in the Nineteenth Century (Urbana-Champaign, 2010), 162–63Google Scholar. For more on nineteenth-century American burlesque, see Allen, Robert G., Horrible Prettiness. Burlesque and American Culture (Chapel Hill, 1991)Google Scholar. See also Gänzl, Kurt, Lydia Thompson: Queen of Burlesque (London, 2002)Google Scholar.
39 “Mr. Henderson and the British Burlesque System,” New York Times, June 7, 1869, accessed Nov. 12, 2012.
40 Dudden, Faye E., Women in the American Theatre: Actresses & Audiences, 1790–1870 (New Haven, 1994), 170Google Scholar. See Niblo's obituary—“An Old New Yorker Dead,” New York Times, August 22, 1878.
41 Cited in Smith, Too Foul and Dishonoring, 162.
42 Gillian Rodger, Champagne Charlie, 231, n.29. For more on Logan's views, consult Logan, Olive, Apropos of Women and Theaters: With a Paper or Two on Parisian Topics (New York, 1869)Google Scholar. See more generally Smith-Rosenberg, Carroll, Disorderly Conduct: Visions of Gender in Victorian America (New York, 1985)Google Scholar.
43 Richard White, “The Age of Burlesque,” Galaxy (August 1869), 256.
44 Cited in Allen, Horrible Prettiness, 131.
45 Allen, Horrible Prettiness, 129–30; Gänzl, Lydia Thompson, 115; “Personal,” New York Times, October 13, 1868.
46 Very few 1869 newspapers provided bylines, so Henderson did not immediately know of Butler's authorship. Allen, Horrible Prettiness, 129–30; “The Battle of the Blondes. Renewal of the Henderson-Butler Controversy. Arrest of Defendant Butler,” New York Times, November 16, 1869; and “Light Reading about a Light Manager—The Shovel-Nosed Shark in the Sea of Vice,” Spirit of the Times, May 22, 1869, 4.
47 “Battle of the Blondes,” New York Times, June 6, 1869.
48 “Bully Butler's Exploits in the East,” Brooklyn Eagle, June 15, 1871, 2.
49 “A Theatrical Difficulty in New York,” National Intelligencer [Washington, D.C.] June, 3 1869, 1; “Personal,” Daily Alta California, June 14, 1869).
50 “Battle of the Blondes,” New York Times, June 3, 1869; Welsh, Deschler, The Theatre (New York, 1886), vol. I: 253Google Scholar, claims Butler had been snubbed by one of the Thompson troupe, who had instead shown an interest for Henderson, which led to a “war to the knife” via “Butler's bitter pen.”
51 “Correspondence,” Anglo-American Times, June 19, 1869, 11; “The Henderson-Butler Case; The Accused Appears Voluntarily and Enters Bail,” New York Times, June 2, 1869.
52 Did Butler teach Henderson and Thompson a lesson in “American” manners? On February, 24 1870, after being attacked in print by Wilbur F. Storey, editor of the Chicago Times, the duo, along with two accomplices, ambushed Storey in front of his home, while Thompson and a fellow actress beat him with a horsewhip. Then, as Storey reached for his pocket, Henderson ordered him to stop or, “I will shoot you like a dog!” Allen, Horrible Prettiness, 19–20; “An Editor Assaulted.” Chicago Tribune, February, 25 1870, 4.
53 “The Butler-Henderson Case,” New York Daily Tribune, June 2, 1869, 2.
54 United States v. Farragut, 89 US 406 (1874). See also “Political Campaign. Butler's Prize Money,” New York Times August 25, 1878, 1; “Prize Money Fraud; How Butler Outwitted the Government,” New York Times, October 14, 1878, 1. On the term “Butlerize,” which might also come from his Civil War days in New Orleans, see Russell, Francis, “Butler the Beast,” American Heritage 19 (April 1968): 2Google Scholar; Wright, John D., The Language of the Civil War (Phoenix, AZ, 2001)Google Scholar.
55 [Letter], San Francisco Alta California, June 2, 1867. http://www.twainquotes.com/18670602.html.
56 Benjamin Butler resented Grant's poor opinion of his Civil War military career, but the hostility was smoothed over by mutual political goals, and the intervention of Wilkes. “An Affecting Reconciliation,” Brooklyn Eagle, August 15, 1868, 2; Merill, L. T., “General Benjamin F. Butler in Washington,” Records of the Columbian Historical Society, 39 (1938): 71–100Google Scholar.
57 “Davis to Fish,” Washington, July 23, 1873, Hamilton Fish Papers (New York 1883)Google Scholar. For more on this system, see Kennedy, Charles Stuart, The American Consul: A History of the United States Consular Service, 1776–1914 (New York, 1990)Google Scholar.
58 Henderson's last legal efforts date from December 31, 1869, when Butler again posted bail to avoid incarceration. Richard Barry, “Rose Eytinge's Reminiscences of Distinguished Men,” New York Times, February 25, 1912), SM6; “Battle of the Blondes,” New York Times, January 1, 1870; Eytinge, Rose, The Memories of Rose Eytinge: Being Recollections & Observations of Men, Women, and Events, during Half a Century (New York, 1905)Google Scholar; Wingate, Charles E. L., Shakespeare's Heroines on the Stage (New York, 1895), 172–73Google Scholar; Grant Papers, 192; London Gazette, December 14, 1869, No. 2356, 7071.
59 “Mr. Greeley and George H. Butler,” New York Times, July 26, 1872, 5. Attendance later became a liability for Horace Greeley in his 1872 presidential campaign; see “The Butler Dinner,” Nation 15, August 8, 1872: 90; “The Week,” Nation 15, July 18, 1872: 366–68. More details on Butler's appointment can be had from Records of Application and Recommendation during the Administration of Ulysses S. Grant, 1869–1877, M665, Roll 8, Bru-By, National Archives.
60 Rose Eytinge's Memoirs provide several interesting chapters on the trip and her time in Egypt.
61 Summers, Mark Wahlgren, The Press Gang. Newspapers and Politics 1865–1878 (Chapel Hill, 1994), 182Google Scholar.
62 Oren, Michael B, Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East 1776 to the Present (New York, 2007)Google Scholar provides an excellent overview of Americans and the Middle East, especially chapter 9—“Rebs and Yanks on the Nile.” For a recent look at Americans in nineteenth-century Egypt, see Vivian, Cassandras, Americans in Egypt, 1770–1915 (Jefferson, NC, 2012)Google Scholar.
63 There is no modern English language biography of Ismail, which is surprising as he is an appealing character. For an opinionated but interesting read, try Crabitès, Pierre, Ismail the Maligned Khedive (London, 1933)Google Scholar. Details also found in Dunn, John P., Khedive Islamil's Army (London, 2005)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
64 The Winchester had design flaws that could negate its high fire power and required extra care to remain functional. For more on the Egyptian Army and international arms merchants, see Dunn, John P., “Egypt's Nineteenth-Century Armaments Industry,” Journal of Military History 61 (April 1997): 231–54CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Ottoman authorities purchased the Winchester, and employed it with great effect at Plevna during the Russo-Turkish War. For details see Richard Trenk Jr, “The Plevna Delay,” Man at Arms Magazine, August 19, 1977; this article is also online.
65 “Mott to Khedive,” n.d. and “Mott-Winchester Contract,” Carton 179, Dossier 50/7, Periodé Ismail, Dar al-Wathaiq, Egyptian National Archives, Cairo. Butler, a Class C Consular Official, was allowed to engage in private business transactions as his government salary was expenses plus $500 per year. For more on the duties and challenges of diplomatic work in Ismail's Egypt, see Hale, Charles, “Consular Service and Society in Egypt,” Atlantic Monthly, XL (September 1877): 280–90Google Scholar.
66 Morgan, James III, A Little Short of Boats: The Fights at Ball's Bluff and Edward's Ferry; October 21–22, 1861 (Havertown, PA, 2004)Google Scholar provides the best account of the fighting. Farwell, Byron, Ball's Bluff: A Small Battle and its Long Shadow (Howell Press online, 1990)Google Scholar does well with the political repercussions. Also useful, Currie, James T., “Congressional Oversight Run Amok: Ball's Bluff and the Ruination of Charles Stone,” Parameters: U.S. Army War College 23 (August 1993): 96–105Google Scholar. Charles Pomeroy Stone had a fascinating life, one very much deserving a biography—how about it dear reader?
67 Within the Ottoman Empire, weapons contracts, with their massive price tags, could generate baksheesh (“bribe/gratuity”) of up to £15,000! “Boker to Fish, Constantinople, August 15, 1872,” Despatches United States Ministers to Turkey [hence DUSMT].
68 Mott's father had lived in the Ottoman Empire. See Mott, Valentine, Travels in Europe and the East (New York, 1842)Google Scholar.
69 “General Beauregard,” Sunday Tribune (Utica) VI (July 16, 1882): 1.
70 Beauregard had been vocal in his denunciations of “Beast Butler.” See “General Beauregard,”1. Piasters were small Egyptian silver coins. “Beauregard and the Khedive,” New York Times, July 21, 1882, 6; “Interview with Butler,” New Orleans Times-Democrat, July 21, 1882, 1. For a good introduction to Ismail's American mercenaries, see Hesseltine, William B. and Wolf, Hazel C., The Blue and the Grey on the Nile (Chicago, 1961)Google Scholar. For more details, see Dunn, John P., “Americans in the Nineteenth-Century Egyptian Army: A Selected Bibliography,” Journal of Military History 70 (January 2006): 123–36CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
71 Much has been written on the capitulations; for a good start try Maurits van den Boogert, H., The Capitulations and the Ottoman Legal System: Qadis, Consuls, and Beraths in the 18th century (Leiden, 2005)Google Scholar. American capitulation rights did not end until 1937. See “Convention Regarding Abolition of Capitulations in Egypt,” American Journal of International Law 34, Sullement: Official Documents (Oct. 1940: 201–25). Although more focused on Ottoman Palestine, for a good introduction to the challenges facing junior diplomats in the Levant see Kark, Ruth, American Consuls in the Holy Land, 1832-1914 (Jerusalem, 1994)Google Scholar.
72 Grant Papers, 190; Keim, De B. Randolph, Reports of De B. Randolph Keim, Agent of the United States, to the Secretary of the Treasury (Washington, 1871), 92Google Scholar. For an important work on American missionaries in Egypt, see Sharkey, Heather J., American Evangelicals in Egypt: Missionary Encounters in an Age of Empire (Princeton, 2008)Google Scholar.
73 “Ben Butler's Nephew,” Watertown Re-Union, January 7, 1891, 3; “Domestic Intelligence,” Holt County Sentinel, November 8, 1872): 1; Grant Papers, 190; “Grave Charges Against the Consul General in Egypt,” New York Daily Tribune, June 15, 1871), 7; “Story of a Bohemian. George H. Butler's Adventures Among the Mummies,” Evening Times, [Little Falls, NY] June 9, 1886, 1; “The Week,” Nation, XII, June 22, 1871: 425. See also “March of the Scourge,” New York Times, August 5, 1883, attacking an appointee Butler “had taken under the shadows of his wing.”
74 David Strang, “Notes from the People. Consul Butler in Egypt,” New York Times, March 16, 1872, 2; “Grave Charges against the Consul General of Egypt,” New York Daily Tribune, June 15, 1871, 7.
75 Grant Papers, 22, 191. See also Scouller, James B., A Manuel of the United Presbyterian Church of North America, 1751–1881 (Harrisburg, PA, 1881), 543–44Google Scholar. Strang, who suspected Strologo's attack, came to the rail station with a “loaded cane,” i.e., with a metal core for superior bashing. He provided a lively account of this cane fight in “Bully Butler. The Assault on Missionary Strang,” Brooklyn Eagle, August 4, 1871, 2. Sadly, the Levant Herald only survives in British and Turkish libraries.
76 “The Week,” Nation, XV, November 28, 1872: 341–42.
77 Moskin, “Robert. American Statecraft. The Story of the U.S. Foreign Service (New York, 2013), 173Google Scholar.
78 For a lengthy account of the findings, see “Starring on Butler,” World, September 24, 1872, 2. Butler denied the charges; see “Bully Butler in Self Defense,” Brooklyn Eagle, August 17, 1871, 2. See also Grant Papers, 22, 190. Charles Hale, Butler's predecessor as consul general, served as assistant secretary of state from November 1871 to January 1873. See also Keim, Reports of De B. Randolph Keim, 92.
79 Rose Eytinge was an actress who came from a Jewish family, yet one gets the impression it was her husband, more than these factors, which caused mercenary wives to snub her company. Grant Papers, 192; “Starring on Butler,” World, September 24, 1872, 2. For details of the shootout, see Dunn, John P., “An American Fracas in Egypt—The Butler Affair of 1872,” Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, 42 (2005–2006): 153–61Google Scholar.
80 “A Nephew of His Uncle,” Charleston Daily News, August 20, 1871, 1; “Consul Butler's Egyptian Fight,” Sun, August 14, 1872, 1; “Consul Butler in Egypt,” New York Tribune, August 9, 1871, 1.
81 “Rose Michel's Misery,” Indiana State Sentinel, June 28, 1876, 3. The Department of State dismissed Butler on July 16, 1872. “Butler's Nephew a Fugitive,” Macon Weekly Telegraph, October 8, 1872, 1; “The Butler Trouble: Latest Account from Alexandria,” New York Times, July 18, 1872, 1; “Consul Butler; The Truth about the Egyptian Missionaries Prompt Action of the Government,” New York Times, September 24, 1872, 1; “Consul General Butler's ‘Little Difficulty with Egyptian Chivalry,’” New York Times, July 17, 1872, 1; Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America from March 4, 1871, to March 3, 1873, XVIII (Washington, D.C., 1901): 306Google Scholar; Grant Papers, 190–93; “Personal,” Courier and Republic [Buffalo, NY] May 6, 1873, 1. More details on Butler's termination can be found in Orders for Suspension of Foreign Service Officers; Letters of Suspension of Consular Officers, May 1869–July 1885 and Department of State's Application and Recommendation Files, all three in RG59, National Archives.
82 Frank Butler followed in his father's footsteps, working for several newspapers including the Morning Telegraph, marrying an actress, and participating in a duel before being committed to an insane asylum. “Frank Butler Dead,” New York Times, August 3, 1904, 7; “Stage Notes,” Sunday Herald, March 23, 1890, 12; “The Wilkes McVeigh Duel,” Alexandria Gazette, December 2, 1895, 1; “Writer's Mind Shattered,” San Francisco Call, August 1, 1904, 5.
83 Several papers suggest the attempted suicide may have been a publicity stunt to enhance box office receipts. “Rose Eytinge,” Brooklyn Eagle, June 21, 1876, 2.
84 Searle joined the Rose Eytinge Company as manager. Berg, Albert E., The Drama, Painting, Poetry, and Song (New York, 1884), 326Google Scholar; Leavitt, M. B., Fifty Years in Theatrical Management (New York, 1912), 376Google Scholar; Rose Eytinge,” Brooklyn Eagle, June 21, 1876, 2; “Rose Eytinge's Divorce,” New York Times, March 26, 1882, 6;“Rose Eytinge's Poisoning,” Daily Courier [St. Louis] June 24, 1876, 1; “Theatrical and Musical Notes by Pasquin,” Otago Witness, May 6, 1882, 24; “United States,” Toronto Daily Mail, February 27, 1882, 1. For an interesting account of how 1870s actors were paid, or in this case not paid, featuring Eytinge and Searle, see “A Plucky Woman of the Stage,” New York Times, November 17, 1878, 6.
85 “Rose Eytinge,” Deseret Evening News, June 26, 1876, 2.
86 “Brother-in-Law Principle,” Sun, October 25, 1872; “Bohemianism. The American Authors Who Met in a Cellar,” Brooklyn Eagle, May 25, 1884, 9; “Strologo on Ex-Consul Butler, San Francisco Bulletin, November 1, 1872.
87 General Green is either a period typo, or he was as genuine a “general” as Butler was a “colonel.” See “Assault on George Butler,” New York Times, November 16, 1875, 2; “Very Latest,” Omaha Daily Bee, June 22, 1874, 1. Warmouth himself was no slouch as regards violence, once stabbing a newspaper editor to death on the streets of New Orleans. See “San Francisco Mail. Shooting at New Orleans,” Otago Witness, February 13, 1875, 7; Warmouth, Henry Clay, War, Politics, and Reconstruction: Stormy Days in Louisiana (New York, 1930)Google Scholar. See also Summers, The Press Gang, 242–43.
88 “George H. Butler's Removal; Gen. Butler Approves the Action of Postmaster General Key,” New York Times, May 10, 1877, 1.
89 “The Week,” Public, June 14, 1877, 376, argued Hayes had scored twice, once for removing Butler, and twice for avoiding entanglements with his uncle ... for which of those two the country should be most grateful, the statistical bureau is still trying to figure out.” See also “George H. Butler's Removal,” 1; Bradley, Edward, “The House, the Beast, and the Bloody Shirt: The Doorkeeper Controversy of 1878,” Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 3 (Jan. 2001): 32Google Scholar; “Mr. Cox's ‘Honest Fervor,’” New York Daily Tribune, March 14, 1878, 4. Uncle Ben mentions many in his memoirs, but not a line on his wayward nephew. Butler, Benjamin, Autobiography and Personal Reminiscences of Major General Benjamin F. Butler (Boston, 1892)Google Scholar.
90 “George H. Butler Missing,” New York Times, July 6, 1879, 12.
91 “City Intelligence,” Sacramento Daily Union, May 28, 1877, 3; “Col. George H. Butler's Troubles,” New York Times, August 4, 1878, 6.
92 Daily Morning News [Batavia, NY] November 20, 1878, 1.
93 “Obituary,” New York Times, May 12, 1886, 2; “Theatrical Gossip; A Comedian Volunteers to give Dramatic Critic a chance to try his ‘persuasive powers,’” New York Times, February 4, 1874, 8.
94 “Butler's Nephew Wearies General Terry,” New York Times, August 2, 1883, 5; “News,” Daily Morning News, [Batavia, NY] November 20, 1878, 1; “Personal and Political,” Daily Democrat, [Ithaca] July 10, 1884, 1.
95 “A True Story,” San Francisco News Letter October 20, 1883, 4; “An ex-Consul in Jail,” Montreal Daily Witness, November 19, 1878, 1; “Death of George H. Butler” in Daily Argus News, May 17, 1886, 4; “A Washington Romance,” Port Chester Journal, June 8, 1886, 1; Stone, Molville E., Fifty Years a Journalist (Garden City, NJ, 1921), 48Google Scholar.
96 Greenberg, Amy, Manifest Manhood and the Antebellum American Empire (New York, 2005), 9–12Google Scholar.
97 Foote, Lorien, Gentlemen and the Roughs. Violence, Honor and Manhood in the Union Army (New York, 2010), 3CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and chapter 4 on dueling.
98 Murphy, Kevin P., Red Bloods, Mollycoddles and the Politics of Progressive Reform (New York, 2010), 20–21Google Scholar; Michael T. Smith, “The Beast Unleashed,” 257–58. See also Hilkey, Judy, Character Is Capital: Success Manuals and Manhood in Gilded Age America (Chapel Hill, 1997)Google Scholar; Pettigrew, John, Brutes in Suits: Male Sensibility in America, 1890–1920 (Baltimore, 2007)Google Scholar; Reel, Guy, The National Police Gazette and the Making of the Modern American Male, 1879–1906 (New York, 2006)Google Scholar; Smith, Michael Thomas, The Enemy Within: Fears of Corruption in the Civil War North (Charlottesville, VA, 2011)Google Scholar.
99 Richard Stott, Jolly Fellows.
100 Referring to an affair of honor over a lady, “$32,000 worth of Revenge,” National Police Gazette, February 18, 1882, 6.
101 Stone, Molville E., Fifty Years a Journalist (Garden City, NJ, 1921), 48Google Scholar.
102 A New Zealand paper that covered Butler's escapades now and then, described him “as ready with his fists as his epithets.” “Theatrical and Musical Notes by Pasquin,” Otago Witness, July 16, 1886, 24. Richard Stott, Jolly Fellows.
103 “Death of George H. Butler,” Washington Evening Star, May 12, 1886, 1; “Obituary,” New York Times, May 12, 1886, 2.