Richard Butler (general)

Richard Butler (April 1, 1743 – November 4, 1791) was an officer in the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War who later died fighting American Indians in Ohio.

Early life

Born in St. Bridget's Parish, Dublin, Ireland, he was the oldest son of Thomas and Eleanor (Parker) Butler. Thomas Butler was an Irish aristocrat who served in the British army and apparently had some issue with it. In 1748, he opened a gunshop in Dublin and then abruptly that same year the family moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where Thomas learned to make Pennsylvania long rifles used in the French and Indian War.

By 1760, the family moved to the frontier, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where Thomas and his sons manufactured long rifles and became friends with Daniel Morgan. The gunshop still stands in Carlisle.

By the 1770s, Richard and his brother William were important traders at Fort Pitt in Pennsylvania and Ohio. There is still a street named for them in Pittsburgh.

American Revolution

At the outset of the American Revolution, the Continental Congress named Richard a commissioner in 1775 to negotiate with the Indians. He visited representatives of the Delaware, Shawnee, and other tribes to secure their support, or at least neutrality, in the war with Britain.

In 1776, he was commissioned a major in the Continental Army, serving first as second in command to his friend Daniel Morgan, seeing action at the Battle of Saratoga and the Battle of Monmouth. His four brothers also served and were noted for their bravery, the famous "fighting Butlers."

At Yorktown, George Washington conferred the honor on Richard of receiving Cornwallis' sword of surrender, an honor which Richard gave to his second in command Ebenezer Denny. At the last moment, Baron von Steuben demanded that he receive the sword. This almost precipitated a duel between Butler and Von Steuben.

At the victory dinner for his officers, George Washington raised his glass and toasted, "The Butlers and their five sons!"

Post American Revolution activity

After the war, the Confederation Congress put him in charge of Indians in the Northwest Territory. He negotiated the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784 in which the Iroquois surrendered their lands. He was also called upon during latter negotiatons, such as the Treaty of Fort McIntosh in 1785.

He returned to Pennsylvania, and was a judge in Allegheny County. He also served in the state legislature. He married Maria and had four children, only one who lived to have children and continue his line.

When American Indians resisted U.S. occupation of Ohio, Butler, now a major general, was sent north from Fort Hamilton, where Hamilton, Ohio now stands. He was second-in-command in an expedition led by General Arthur St. Clair. Two of his brothers Thomas and Edward were in the company with him. On the morning of November 4, 1791, Indians led by Chief Little Turtle ambushed the army and killed 600 men and scores of women and children in the Battle of the Wabash, also known as St. Claire's Defeat. This was the greatest loss the U.S. Army suffered against the Indians - far more than Custer's Last Stand.

Richard, a heavy man, was mortally wounded; his brother, Thomas, was shot in both legs. Richard ordered their younger brother Edward to leave him and save Thomas, which he did. Richard gave his sword to another officer with the admonition never to wipe Butler blood from the blade. That sword years later was given to Edward's son Edward George Washington Butler for his father's bravery in attempting to save his brothers.

Richard Butler was killed with a tomahawk blow to the head. After his body was identified by Simon Girty, a white man living among the Indians, Butler was supposedly scalped and his heart was cut out, divided among the tribes, and eaten because they wanted to partake of his bravery.

Year later, Chief Little Turtle returned to Richard's widow Maria Richard's Society of the Cincinnati medal which he had been wearing when he was killed. The family still treasures that medal to this day. Little Turtle assured the grieving widow that Richard's body had not been mutilated as reported.

It is alleged that his remains were buried separately in a coffin on the battlefield when the remains of the dead were gathered up and that years later this coffin was found in the town of Fort Recovery, Ohio and that it was reburied at the Fort Recovery Memorial.

Butler County, Ohio, where Fort Hamilton stood, is named for him, along with Butler County, Kentucky and Butler County, Pennsylvania. The city of Butler, Pennsylvania, and the General Richard Butler Bridge (located in the city of Butler) were also named for him.

His portrait was painted by "The Painter of The Revolution" Colonel John Trumbull.

References

* Article in the "Dictionary of American Biography" Vol. 2.See Journal of Gen. Richard Butler (1785):
Google Book http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC03714330&id=AHQZAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA484&lpg=PA484&dq=%22gen+butler%22+%22big+bone%22#PPA433,M1