Edward G. W. Butler | |
|---|---|
 Col. Edward George Washington Butler | |
| Born | (1800-02-22)February 22, 1800 |
| Died | September 5, 1888(1888-09-05) (aged 88) |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | United States Army Louisiana Militia |
| Years of service | 1820-1831; 1847-1848 (Army) 1846-1847 (Militia) |
| Rank | Colonel (Army) Brigadier General (Militia) |
| Battles / wars | Mexican-American War |
| Alma mater | United States Military Academy |
| Spouse | Frances Parke Lewis |
Edward George Washington Butler (February 22, 1800 – September 5, 1888) was an American soldier andplanter. He became a ward ofAndrew Jackson after his father's death when he was still an infant. A graduate of West Point, he became an Army officer and served in the Mexican-American war.
He was one of the four children of American Revolutionary War soldierEdward Butler. When his father died in 1803, future presidentAndrew Jackson and his wifeRachel Donelson Jackson became Butler's guardians.[1] Jackson believed West Point was the best educational opportunity in the country and secured an appointment for Butler at theU.S. Military Academy at West Point.[2][3] Butler andAndrew Jackson Donelson, another ofAndrew Jackson's wards, graduated ninth and second-ranked in the West Point class of 1820.[4] Upon receiving his commission, he first served as a military land surveyor and then in an artillery unit.[5]
In 1825 he assistedEdmund Pendleton Gaines in negotiations with theMuscogee people.[6] The same year Butler refused to shakeHenry Clay's hand when they were introduced, as Clay was a political opponent of Jackson, his guardian. This rejection caused a slow-burn political scandal and Gaines and Butler would likely both eventually have been discharged from the regular army as a result had Jackson not won the1828 presidential election.[7]
In 1831 Butler resigned from the army and became a sugar planter.[8] He settled in Louisiana and owned Dunboyne Plantation inIberville Parish.[9] Butler's wife, Frances Parke Lewis, was a daughter ofLawrence Lewis andEleanor Parke Custis, her mother being a granddaughter ofMartha Custis Washington.[10] Edward and Frances relocated scores ofMount Vernon slaves to their sugar plantation in the lower Mississippi River valley.[11]
When theMexican–American War began in 1846 Butler was a Major General in the Louisiana Militia. In the next year he temporarily returned to the army as Colonel of the3rd U. S. Regiment of Dragoons, a wartime unit raised for one year or service; the latter ending in July 1848.[8] He was a member of the Granite Democratic Club of Iberville Parish.[12]: 426
His son Edward G. W. Butler Jr. was appointed Secretary of the American Legation in Berlin in 1856.[13]