VP Beast Butler?

[Don1946]

(12-02-2014 07:43 AM)Wild Bill Wrote:  Lots of people in Louisiana paint pictures of Butler in the bottom of their chamber pots during the occupation

So, shall we let the rebel population of Louisiana decide what we make of Butler? If some put Lincoln's image on a chamber pot, would that change our view of Lincoln?

The Confederates demonized Butler because of the Woman Order and, even more so I would assume, because of the confiscation order. In December 1862 Jefferson Davis raised the black flag against black Union soldiers and their white officers, and in that same proclamation he singled out Benjamin Butler and his fellow officers for summary execution. Butler's trumped up image as a violator of southern womanhood was used, effectively I would estimate, to arouse Confederate indignation at home, but also to appeal to the British pro-rebel press abroad. Butler became victim of a propaganda war.

That said, Butler may not have made a good choice for vice president.

Let's not forget that Andrew Johnson rose to fame as the governor of Tennessee who meted out harsh treatment of rebel citizens in Nashville. "Treason must be made odious," was his constant refrain. Butler, in truth, might have been more lenient in comparison.

By 1864, the rose water policy that guided Union invading forces earlier in the war had given way to what Sherman called the "hard hand of war." The aim was now to break the South's will to fight, to undermine civilian morale, to destroy the sources of support for the rebel army, and to punish the rebel South. It would take tough-minded generals like Butler and Sherman to do the job.