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

It was just before the election. There were a great many officers at that time in the expectation that if they could be dismissed from the service, and thus be made martyrs of by the Lincoln government, and could go home and participate in the canvass for President, they would be canonized by the McClellan government, which they expected would come in, and they rather sought martyrdom. I issued an order, therefore, the first paragraph of which dismissed this mutinous officer from service for the act of which he had been guilty, and the next paragraph sentenced him to work at hard labor. That man did not go home to electioneer for anybody, that I ever heard of. I do not remember his name; I had no personal knowledge of him; he was, to me, the x, y, or z of an algebraic equation, an unknown quantity to be wrought out for the good of the service.

Again, I withdrew General Curtis' command from the trenches before Petersburg, because it was very much reduced by sickness, and needed rest and “setting up.” He issued an order that his officers should always be present at roll-call, and also that they should wear their coats when they came to headquarters. Thereupon five of his officers sent in their resignations, written upon the same day, and upon similar pieces of paper, and nearly all in the same hand-writing, saying that they resigned because they were incompetent to carry out that order. Some of them had been in service for two years. It was said amongst them that they supposed “Old Butler” would dismiss them. Now that was exactly what they wanted; they wanted to get out of the service. All of the intermediate commanders reported that they ought to be dismissed. I said: “What goodwill that do? That is what they want; they want to go home and go into the election.” I did dismiss them in the first paragraph of an order; and in the next paragraph I directed them to be set to work on the fortifications to take the places of better soldiers. That stopped that epidemic. I had no more trouble in that way.

“How could you do that?” might be asked. In this way: If I found civilians within my lines with nothing to do and no right there, I could put them anywhere. After they were dismissed they were civilians, and had no business there. “Yes, but had ”