About Me
I was born Greenville, South Carolina on March 8, 1836, to a large and prominent family of politicians and military men. My grandfather was U.S. Congressman William Butler. My father, William Butler, Jr., was also a Congressman beginning in 1841. My uncle, Andrew Butler, was a U.S. Senator from South Carolina. One of my first cousins was Congressman Preston Brooks, who brutally assaulted Senator Charles Sumner on the floor of the United States Senate. I was also the nephew of Commodore Oliver H. Perry and Matthew C. Perry, and son-in-law of South Carolina Governor Francis W. Pickens. Two of my first cousins twice removed were James Butler Bonham (killed at the Battle of the Alamo) and Confederate General Milledge Luke Bonham. I grew up in Edgefield, South Carolina, became a lawyer and practiced law in Edgefield. I was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1860, but resigned in 1861 when the war began.I enlisted in the army of the Confederate States of America as a cavalry captain in Hampton's Legion. Promoted to Colonel of the 2nd South Carolina Cavalry in August 1862, I took part in Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Monocacy Bridge, and the Chambersburg Raid. In June 1863, I lost a foot in an action near Stevensburg, Virginia, that was a part of the Battle of Brandy Station. After recovering from my injury, I was promoted to brigadier general in September 1863, succeeding Wade Hampton III to brigade command. I led cavalry at the Battle of the Wilderness, Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, and the Battle of Trevilian Station. In September 1864, I was promoted to major general. During the Carolinas Campaign in early 1865, I led the rear guard of William J. Hardee's army in South Carolina. I ended the war as a division commander under Hampton, surrendering to the Union Army at Bennett Place on April 26. I was paroled and allowed to go home to Edgefield.After the Confederate defeat, I returned to state politics and was again elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1866. I became a member of the Democratic party and ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1870. In 1877, as Reconstruction ended and the Democratic Party regained control of the state, I was elected by the South Carolina state legislature to a seat in the United States Senate. I played a possibly motivating role in the infamous Hamburg Massacre. I served in the Senate for three terms, from 1877 to 1895, but lost the Democratic primary in 1894 to Benjamin R. Tillman. I then practiced law in Washington, D.C., until 1898, when I was appointed major general of U.S. Volunteers during the Spanish-American War, one of a handful of former Confederate officers to serve in the U.S. Army during that campaign. After the American victory that year, I supervised the evacuation of Spanish troops from Cuba. I then returned to Edgefield, South Carolina, and practiced law.The Matthew C. Butler Camp #12 of the South Carolina Society of the Military Order of the Stars and Bars is named in my honor.
