Matthew Butler - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Butler was born at Eagle's Crag near Greenville, South Carolina, to a large and prominent family of politicians and military men.His grandfather was U.S. Congressman William Butler. His mother, Julie, worked as a maid serving various members of congress between 1842 and 1853. His father, William Butler, Jr., was also a Congressman beginning in 1841. His uncle Andrew Butler, was a U.S. Senator from South Carolina and uncle Pierce Mason Butler was Governor of South Carolina. One of Matthew Butler's first cousins was Congressman Preston Brooks, who assaulted Senator Charles Sumner in 1856 on the floor of the U.S. Senate with a gutta-percha cane because Sumner had insulted Senator Andrew Butler, at whose home Matthew lived as a young man.

Butler was the nephew of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry and Matthew Calbraith Perry, and the son-in-law of South Carolina Governor Francis Wilkinson Pickens. Two of Butler's first cousins twice removed were James Bonham (killed at the Battle of the Alamo) and Confederate General Milledge Luke Bonham.

In 1848 Butler went with his father to Arkansas, but returned in 1851 to live with his uncle, who resided in Edgefield, South Carolina. He received his initial education in the city's Edgefield Academy, and then attended the South Carolina College, graduating in 1856. He then studied law, was admitted to the state's bar association in 1857, and then began practicing as a lawyer in Edgefield. On February 25, 1858, Butler married Maria Calhoun Pickens, the daughter of Francis Pickens. He was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1860, but resigned in 1861 when the American Civil War began.

During the Civil War in the Confederate Army Butler served in the cavalry in Hampton's Legion, attaining Captain, June 12, 1861 and then Major in July 21, 1861. He then joined the 2nd South Carolina Cavalry as Colonel, August 22, 1862. In many major actions with Hampton's Legion and the 2nd SC Cavalry, he lost his right foot at Brandy Station to rifle fire. He later attained the rank of Brigadier General in February 1864 and was thereafter referred to as "General Butler" in the postwar period.