Some More Comments on Union General Benjamin Butler-- Part 2: Lincoln's Man?

Continued from September 21, 2020.  To see the first post on this, click on the General Benjamin Butler label below.

These were comments made during the McHenry County Civil War Round Table's August discussion group meeting at Panera Bread in Algonquin, Illinois.

**  Benjamin Butler (BB) had seniority among all other major generals except Grant when he became lieutenant general.

**  BB was not a good field general.

**  Saved Lincoln in the early days of the war at Baltimore.

**  Had free access to the White House

**  Lincoln needed to know if Blacks could be good soldiers.  BB gave him an answer when he started two regiments of them while commanding at New Orleans.  (These were the the Louisiana Native Guard regiments.

**  While at Fortress Monroe, BB had almost all prisoner exchanges going through there.

**  BB built a major spy network (on both Union and Confederates) while at Fortress Monroe.  His Confederate spying went all the way to that country's White House.

--Old Secesh