Colonel Butler

“ Colonel Butler was desirous of awaiting the arrival of a small reinforcement under Captain Spalding, who had been ordered by General Washington to his aid on the first intelligence of the danger which threatened the settlement; but the militia generally, believing themselves sufficiently strong to repel the invading force, urged an immediate battle so earnestly, that Colonel Butler yielded to their remonstrances, and on the 3d of July marched from Forty fort at the head of near four hundred men to attack the enemy. ”

“ There was no alternative but to fight and conquer, or die, for to retreat with their families was impossible.
On July 3 they marched out to meet the enemy. Colonel Butler commanded the right wing, aided by Major Garrett. Colonel Dennison commanded the left, assisted by Lieutenant Colonel George Dorrance. The field of fight was a plain only partly cleared. Opposed to Colonel Zebulon Butler, of Wyoming, was Colonel John Butler, with his Tory rangers, in their green uniforms. ”

“ The gates of Forty Fort were thrown open, the flag was hauled down, and to the music of drums and fifes the enemy marched in behind Colonel John Butler—company after company of Rangers and Tories, Captain Caldwell's Royal Greens, and the sullen, painted-faced Indians headed by two human fiends—Brandt and Queen Esther.
[175] Colonel Butler prevented any immediate bloodshed, but the settlers were ruthlessly plundered as they filed out. Knowing their danger too well they fled in all directions, some toward the Delaware, others down the Susquehanna by water and land. ”

“ Butler; and her husband, when he was alive, was Colonel Butler, militarily known as Wat Tartar. He was a terrible pipeclay; and her son Tony is the factotum at the Abbey; or rather he was, till Mark told him to shave, a poodle, or singe a pony, or paint a wheelbarrow—I forget; but I know it was something he had done once out of good-humor, and the hussar creature fancied he'd make him do it again through an indignity.”
“And he—I mean Butler—stands upon being a gentleman?”
“I should think he does; is not his birth good?”
“Certainly; the Butlers are of an old stock.” ”

“ And now I tell you we are going to deal Walter Butler a blow that will end his murdering career forever! Look sharp!"
A racket of rifle-fire broke out ahead; two men dropped.
We were in the smoke now. Indians rose from every thicket and leaped away in retreat; the column broke into a run, mounted officers trotting forward, pistol and sword in hand.
"Why, there's our cannon, boys!" cried Colonel Lewis excitedly.
A roar greeted the black Colonel's words; the entire line sprang forward; a file of Oneidas sped along our flanks, rifles a-trail. ”

“ Colonel Butler drove in the pickets, charged into the place and routed several hundred cavalry, taking 19 prisoners and 8 loaded wagons, with the loss of 1 man wounded, the first casualty in Hampton's command on his repeated expeditions. Camping for the night at Cole's store, General Hampton returned toward Occoquan on the 28th. At Greenwood church, General Stuart sent Butler, with his detachments, to attack the enemy's force north of that point, at Bacon Race church, and ordered Hampton, with the other detachments, to follow Fitzhugh Lee across the Occoquan at Selectman's ford. ”

“ The late Colonel Pierce Mason Butler was celebrated for heroic and generous qualities. A hero in the best sense of the term was this "American Douglas." He commanded the regiment of his native State in the Florida war; and subsequently received the highest testimony of the people's confidence, in his election to the Chief Magistracy of South Carolina. He fell at the head of the Palmetto regiment in Mexico. Few of our prominent men have left any single condensed expression that has become classic by fixing itself in popular remembrance; some of Colonel Butler's are, however, thus embalmed. ”

“ Occoquan, had extricated his command on the Bacon Race road in the most skillful manner. Meeting a force of the enemy within a mile of the church, Butler's advance, under Lieut. W. H. Perry, charged and drove it back on its supports. Coming up with his main force, Colonel Butler charged the squadron in his front, and drove them in precipitous retreat. Following up their retreat, he came upon General Geary's division of cavalry, with artillery, on the march from Fairfax to Dumfries. Geary was in position to meet him, and at once opened with canister. ”

“ And why do the rebels cry out every time Butler's Rangers take the field? We in Canada know Captain Walter Butler and his father, Colonel John Butler. Why, Mr. Renault, there is no more perfectly accomplished officer and gentleman than Walter Butler. I know him; I have danced with him at Quebec and at Niagara. How can even a rebel so slander him with these monstrous tales of massacre and torture and scalps taken from women and children at Cherry Valley? ”

“ In a recent letter Butler says: "No sketch of my life would be complete which did not mention the good woman, my wife, who has so much to do with shaping my career. If I have had any success in life, it is due more to her and my venerated mother than all else."
Beside General Butler's name should be written that of another South Carolina soldier, Colonel Haskell, whose arm was so terribly shattered that amputation at the shoulder was necessary. ”

“ Colonel Butler is very sweet on some young rebel, which I am afraid is about my age, and looks very much like me. He has gone across the river to catch me before I can reach Wilkesbarre, but I don't see why he need be in a hurry, for I don't think we'll see that place within a couple of weeks, unless Lena-Wingo gets in more of a hurry than he is now. ”

“ You hesitate because you do not wish to appear malevolent toward a rival. Now, don't you?"
The colonel coughed again. Attorney Toole lowered his feet to the floor and slapped his desk with the flat of his hand.
"And I," he shouted, "beg you not to hesitate! I beg you to act! I beg you to think of the lives of the poor, helpless women and children. I beg you for humanity's sake to go to the honorable mayor and city council and appeal to them to pass an ordinance compelling this Grubb to buy nickel-plated fire-extinguishers. To compel him, sir!" ”

“ We can continue up the Susquehanna till we go so far that there's no danger from the Indians, and, when we believe the way is clear, we can come back. Colonel Butler is not going to stay long at Wyoming, for he dare not. He don't know how soon there will be a gathering of the forces that will swoop down on him, and he'll get out while he can. ”

“ When Colonel Butler declared his intention of going to New York and Washington to consult with his friends about the great war, to urge active participation in it by the United States, and to offer to the proper authorities, his services as a military expert and commander, his daughter protested vigorously. ”

“ Stand firm the first shock, and the Indians will give way. Every man to his duty." **
At the conclusion of Colonel Butler's short address, the Americans opened the battle on the enemy's left. It was about four o'clock, the sky cloudless, and the heat quite oppressive. The Americans were ordered to advance a step at each fire. Soon the battle became general, and the British left, where Colonel John Butler, stripped of his feathers and other trap-
* It is uncertain whether either of the Johnsons was in this campaign.. ”

“ Never before had the Colonel climbed his stairs, and Toole smiled like an Irish sphinx when the Colonel entered his office. He smiled most of the time, not because he thought a smile becoming to his freckled face, but because he found things so eternally amusing. In law a man is considered innocent until he has been proved guilty; in Kilo Attorney Toole considered everything amusing until it had been proved serious, and he considered the Colonel and Skinner, and the whole Citizens' Party they had been instrumental in organizing, as parts of the same joke. ”

“ And it was on the third day of April that Colonel Richard Butler, walking up the long aisle of the war hospital near Rouen in the late afternoon, smiled and nodded to right and left and said:
"At last we are with you; we are with you. America has answered the call of her conscience, she will now come into her own." ”

“ The poor old Colonel was so angry he came at me with a whip—I don't know why—but I did not take the advantage my strength gave me. I can forgive a man who is anger blinded. All I want to do now is to prevent that editor fellow making any more trouble for my friends, if I can. I don't want Miss Sally to TAKE back those fire-extinguishers, and I don't want her to be blackmailed into BUYING them back. I want to put her on her guard against T. J. Jones.”
“This is very kind of you,” said Mrs. Smith.
“She is a friend of yours, and of Miss Susan's,” said the attorney. ”

“ To dear old Grandma Bunker it seemed a work of genius, but when Jabez had completed the reading. Mrs. Jebberson wrinkled her brow and shook her head.
"Let me see it," she said, holding out her hand. "I don't pretend to be up in such things,—if the Colonel was here, he could tell you easily enough what is wrong about it,—but there's one thing I do know: this is dangerous."
"Hey?" asked Mr. Bunker. "Dangerous?"
"This line here," said Mrs. Jebberson. "There's one thing the wife of a man who has been selling stocks as long as the Colonel has gets to know in spite of herself. ”

“ Thus, being deprived of all medical assistance, and many of the men running about mad, and others dying in the marquees before the Colonel's eyes; he was so overcome by the sight that he could not refrain from tears. The poor unhappy creatures who were attacked with this temporary derangement, had in general some idea that they were not in their own country. ”

“ They go over to the staff-sergeant's quarters, and there sure enough is the missing sergeant-major, having a cup of tea and a bit of bread inside with a stranger. The nervous colonel becomes irate. The sergeant-major has no right to be in his quarters at such a critical time, when the most hawk-eyed Commander-in-Chief that ever held office is prowling about. ”

“ On the morning of the 4th, the day after the battle, Colonel John Butler, with the combined British and Indian forces, appeared before Fort Wyoming and demanded its surrender. 'The inhabitants, both within and without the fort, did not on that emergency sustain a character for courage becoming men of spirit in adversity. They were so intimidated as to give up without fighting; great numbers ran off; and those who remained all but betrayed Colonel Zebulon Butler, their commander' (Col. Z. Butler's letter) . ”

“ However, when the cool of the evening arrived, a number of the men got considerably better; about mid-day when the men were in such an alarming state, the Colonel had sent off an express to the commandant of Wallajahbad, describing the melancholy situation of the regiment; and we immediately received medical assistance, and more doolies and waggons to carry the sick, with an order to return to our barracks. This was welcome news for us; and we accordingly returned to Wallajahbad the next day, carrying along with us one hundred and fifty sick men who were unable to march. ”

“ On reentering camp he found the Indians again in possession of the artillery and baggage, from which they were again driven; they had already scalped the slain, who lay about the guns. Major Thomas Butler had his thigh broken by a bullet; but continued on horseback in command of his battalion until the end of the fight. The only regular regiment present lost every officer killed or wounded. The commander of the Kentucky militia, Colonel Oldham, was killed early in the action, while trying to rally his men and berating them for cowards. ”

“ As they glided along towards Turin, the Colonel told Tony that if he found the “Weazle” gunboat at Genoa, as he expected, waiting for him, he would set him, Tony, and his despatches, down safely at Naples, as he passed on to Malta. “If it 's the 'Growler,'” said he, “I 'll not promise you, because Hurton the commander is not in good-humor with me. I refused to recommend him the other day to the First Lord for promotion—say nothing about this to the fellows at the Legation; indeed, don't mention anything about me, except to Damer—for the dinner, you know.” ”

“ At the third blow a portion of the lid fell clattering to the floor, and the widow, the colonel and the attorney peered anxiously into the box.
From it the colonel tenderly lifted a nickel-plated cylinder as tall as a man's knee and as large around as a leg of mutton. It had a convex top and on one side a dial. From near the base a long rubber tube extended. The colonel handled it gently. He held it in his hands as an old bachelor holds his new-born nephew. The widow looked into his face, appealing for enlightenment. The colonel carefully studied the object in his hands. ”

“ His few killed were buried; the wounded, of which there were not more than fifteen or twenty were taken care of, and the jaded troops were dismissed to seek refreshment amongst the abundant stores captured from the enemy. Ensign St. Jermyn was still a prisoner; and, for the sake of adding to Butler's security, Williams selected two or three other officers that had fallen into his hands to accompany him in his retreat. These arrangements all being made, the colonel and his officers retired to repose. The next morning at daylight there were no traces of the Whigs to be seen upon the plain. ”

“ After the morning exercises of the camp were finished, and the men were dismissed to prepare their first repast, the principal officers returned to the colonel's head-quarters in the farm-house, where, it will be remembered, Butler had been delivered by the escort that had conducted him from Blackstock's. The prisoner had slept soundly during the whole night; and now, as the breakfast hour drew nigh, he had scarcely awaked and put on his clothes, before he heard an inquiry, made by some one below, of the orderly on duty, whether the Whig officer was yet in a condition to be visited ”