Benjamnin F. Butler, Butler's Book: Autobiography and Personal Reminiscences of Major-General Benjamin Butler

It was read by Beauregard to his army at Corinth, to inflame the Southern heart; but the only effect that it had upon him and them, so far as I have any evidence, was that almost immediately afterwards, on June 10 and 15, his entire army dissolved.¹ It was post hoc if not propter hoc. He was taken sick, resigned his command, and went to Bladon Springs to recover.

Palmerston, however, got up in Parliament and denounced the order as unfit to be written in the English language. The only possible objectionable phrase in it was part of an ordinance of the city of London, from which I adapted it. Palmerston's indignation even went so far, and the women-beaters and wife-whippers of England were so shocked, that they called upon their government to represent their condemnation of the order to our State Department. When their minister here brought it to the attention of our Secretary of State, Mr. Seward answered him in that easy and perfect manner with which he could turn away an application without leaving an opportunity for the interlocutor to gather offence. I quote from Seward's “Life,” p. 139:--

Mr. Stewart, in a very courteous manner, verbally expressed to me the opinion of Her Majesty's Government, that General Butler's order concerning the females of New Orleans who gave offence to the Union soldiers was an improper one, in respect to the expressions employed in it.

I answered him that we must ask his government, in reading that proclamation, to adopt a rule of construction which the British nation had elevated to the dignity of a principle and made the motto of their national arms--Honi soit qui mal y pense. [Evil to him who evil thinks.]

I perhaps might have said the same thing as Mr. Seward, but the difference between him and me would have been that I should probably have added,--“especially when a king was establishing the ‘Order of the Garter’ as an emblem of good conduct.”

Palmerston said my government would revoke the order when it heard it. It did not hear of anything else for many weeks, but the order was never revoked, but, on the contrary, the government gave my administration its highest sanction. The President did not confer on me, however, the “Order of the Garter.”