LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 December Civil War Auction #674  / 

72076

GENERAL BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BUTLER- NEGATIVE

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:375.00 USD Estimated At:500.00 - 800.00 USD
GENERAL BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BUTLER- NEGATIVE
<B>GENERAL BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BUTLER (1818-1893): PHOTOGRAPHIC NEGATIVE.</B></I> General Butler was appointed the first major general of U.S. Volunteers by President Lincoln. Assigned command of Fort Monroe in Virginia, Butler declined to return fugitive slaves who had come within his lines, on the grounds that, as laborers for fortifications, they were contraband of war, thereby justifying granting these slaves relative freedom, in spite of the Fugitive Slave law. In 1861, Butler commanded an expeditionary force that, in conjunction with the U.S. Navy, took Forts Hatteras and Clark in North Carolina. In May 1862, he commanded the force that occupied New Orleans after it was captured by the Navy. In the administration of that city Butler showed great firmness and severity, and many of his acts gave offense - most notorious was his General Order No. 28 of May 15, issued after some provocation, that if any woman should insult or show contempt for any officer or soldier of the United States, she would be regarded as a "woman of the town plying her avocation," i.e. a prostitute. This order provoked protests both in the North and in the South, and also abroad, particularly in England and France; thereafter he was nicknamed “Beast Butler.” General Butler was in command in New York to preserve order during the elections of 1864. Member, U.S. House of Representatives (1867-75; 1877-79). Governor of Massachusetts (1882-84). Candidate of Anti-Monopoly and National (Greenback) parties for president (1884).<BR> <BR>Wet-plate glass negative, size 3.5" x 4.375" - format for a carte de visite photograph. Taken in Brady’s Washington, D.C. Gallery, circa mid 1860s. Negative secured between protective glass covers and held in an archival frame, 10.5" x 12".<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Framed - with Glass, Small (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
Sign In to Bookmark Lot