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SCARCE, ORIGINAL 1863 FIRST EDITION OF: "CHARACTER AND RESULTS OF THE WAR. A THRILLING AND ELOQUENT SPEECH, BY MAJOR-GENERAL B. F. BUTLER." This riveting Civil War treatise was published by the Loyal Publication Society [LPS], New York. Upon his return from New Orleans, General Butler addresses a gathering of New Yorkers where he vigorously defends emancipating and arming the slaves, asking "will the negroes fight?" He characterizes his adversaries as "the southern Confederacy organized to oppose civilization" while articulating several subjects including slavery, Louisiana, reconstruction, restoration the Southern states to the Union, fighting negroes, Alabama, English pirates, etc. This is a first LPS edition, and a First Edition thus. [Sabin 9615n; LPS, Afro-Americana, 1878; Bartlett 746]. Butler's highly charged speech is preceded by the remarks of Senator Morgan, who commends Butler for the strong stand taken in the occupation of New Orleans, especially as it pertains to the women of New Orleans ["..you shocked the sensibilities of Secessia and all its partisans in the outer world by that terrible decree, called Order No. 28. That order, as I understand it, was simply intended as a salutory police arrangement...so as to bring within its jurisdiction and restraint the improper conduct of those aristocratic dames who gloried in heaping insults on the soldiers of the Union...The presence of our wives and daughters here to-night proves that the ladies of New York regard that far-famed order, both in its intentions and effects, as proper and salutory..."]. Benjamin Franklin Butler (1818-1893) was a noted politician and Union general in the Civil War. Born at Deerfield, New Hampshire, he moved to Lowell, Massachusetts, as a youth, later practicing law there and in Boston. He was twice elected to the state legislature and ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1859 and again 1860. Butler was a Democrat but a strong Unionist. At the beginning the war, his contingent of Massachusetts militia was one of the first to reach Washington. He restored order [May, 1861] in secessionist Baltimore and was given command at Fort Monroe. He commanded the troops that accompanied Admiral Farragut in taking New Orleans and was made military governor of the city. There his highhanded rule infuriated the New Orleans citizenry and the South and earned him the name "Beast." Butler was so detested in the South that long after the war, chamber pots with his portrait in the bottom were found in many Southern homes. The Federal government, severely criticized both at home and abroad for his controversial actions, finally removed him. In May, 1864, as commander of the Army of the James, Butler was defeated by Pierre G. T. Beauregard at Drewry's Bluff and was bottled up at Bermuda Hundred until Ulyssis S. Grant crossed the James in June. After he failed to take Fort Fisher in December, 1864, he was removed from active command. From 1867-1875 Butler, by then a rabid radical Republican, was in Congress. He was one of the House managers who conducted the impeachment proceedings against President Andrew Johnson. He ardently advocated the party's Reconstruction policy and was said to have great influence with President Grant. Butler was also [1877–1879] an independent Greenbacker in Congress. After several unsuccessful attempts to secure the governorship of Massachusetts, he was elected by the Greenbackers and Democrats in 1882. In 1884 he received the nominations of the Anti-Monopoly and Greenback parties for President. Regarded by many as an unprincipled demagogue of great ability, Butler aroused intense antagonisms and was nearly always embroiled in controversy. The Loyal Publication Society [LPS] was founded in 1863 in response to defeats the Union Army had suffered at the hands of the Confederates. Its purpose was to bolster public support for the Union effort, by disseminating pro-Union material around the country. The society's founders and members included such luminaries as Charles King, president of Columbia University, Sinclair Tousey, president of the American News Company, publisher George Palmer Putnam, and the future vice-president of the United States Levi P. Morton. Their publications became increasingly influential, and as the war progressed, the society began to write and publish their own broadsides, which included contributions from well-known figures such as Robert Dale Owen. Condition: Rare book remains in good overall condition. Volume bound in original publisher's wraps; moderate cover wear with scattered staining and a bit of edge tearing (see images), generally clean internally. All in all, this desirable treatise remains very presentable. Volume numbers 16-pages and measures approx 9" tall x 5 3/4" wide. Quite a find and a very worthy acquisition indeed. Payment and Shipping: Please review our feedback and bid with confidence. Buyer pays $6 USPS Priority Delivery within USA (or at cost internationally), plus insurance if desired. Insurance not offered on international parcels, Massachusetts residents please add 5% sales tax, or dealers include your tax resale number. Accepted forms of payment are Money Order, Check, and PayPal. Payment must be received within 10 days after close of auction. Never a reserve and very low opening bid as always. Thanks for your interest and good luck. boysells Store
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