Edmund or Edmond Butler (March 19, or September 19, 1827 – August 21, 1895) was a U.S. Army officer who served with the Union Army during the American Civil War and later became a prominent Indian fighter in the Northern Plains, Rocky Mountains and southwest United States in the post-Civil War era. In 1894, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry against the Sioux and Cheyenne at Battle of Wolf Mountain.

Biography

Edmond Butler was born in Ireland and immigrated to the United States as a young man. Shortly after arriving in Brooklyn, New York, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 5th U.S. Infantry in October 1861. He was also assigned to special duty with the inspector of volunteer units in Kansas and Missouri. In 1862, he was sent to the

New Mexico Territory The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of ''Santa Fe de Nuevo México ...

and later assisted in the reconstruction of Fort Bliss after its recapture by the Union. Promoted to captain in 1864, he was eventually reassigned to Fort Wingate, New Mexico and, in 1865, commanded an expedition against the

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

s living in Canyon de Chelly. Intercepting a Navajo raiding party under Manuelito Grande, he recovered a number of sheep and other livestock taken from the neighboring

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...

. After a period of 22 days, in which he had covered 720 miles, 31 Navajos were killed while another 27 were captured. He was also involved in the relocation of 3,000 Navajo to the Fort Sumner Reservation on the

Pecos River The Pecos River ( es, Río Pecos) originates in north-central New Mexico and flows into Texas, emptying into the Rio Grande. Its headwaters are on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County north of Pecos, New Mexico ...

. Transferred to Kansas in 1866, he spent two years there before being assigned to the

Beecher Island Beecher Island is a sandbar located along the lower course of the Arikaree River, a tributary of the North Fork of the Republican River near Wray in Yuma County, Colorado. The site is notable for having been the scene of an 1868 armed conf ...

-site in December 1868 to bring in the bodies of the soldiers killed during the Battle of Beecher Island. Despite a large Sioux presence in the area, Butler successfully removed the bodies from the site despite being "under the fire of the main body of Sioux". However, he was unable to find the remains of Lieutenant

Fredrick H. Beecher The Battle of Beecher Island, also known as the Battle of Arikaree Fork, was an armed conflict between elements of the United States Army and several of the Plains Native American tribes in September 1868. Beecher Island, on the Arikaree Riv ...

and Acting Surgeon J.H. Mooer, suggesting their bodies had been removed by the Sioux "probably in revenge for rifling Sioux graves on the Republican (earlier by camp followers)". During 1869, while assigned to guard the

Fort Wallace Fort Wallace ( 1865–1882) was a US Cavalry fort built in Wallace County, Kansas to help defend settlers against Cheyenne and Sioux raids. All that remains today is the cemetery, but for a period of over a decade Fort Wallace was one of the most ...

– Denver stage route, Butler volunteered to join an expedition under Lieutenant Colonel

Charles R. Woods Charles Robert Woods (February 19, 1827 – February 26, 1885) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general during the American Civil War. He is noted for commanding the relief troops that first attempted to resupply Fort Sumter ...

against the

Pawnees The Pawnee are a Central Plains Indian tribe that historically lived in Nebraska and northern Kansas but today are based in Oklahoma. Today they are the federally recognized Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, who are headquartered in Pawnee, Oklahoma. T ...

. Returning to Kansas in October 1871, he was assigned to operations to control "organized land-leaguers" in the southeast. Three years later, he served with Lieutenant General Nelson A. Miles during the Red River Campaign and in the Black Hills War in which he led six companies in pursuit of

Sitting Bull Sitting Bull ( lkt, Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against United States government policies. He was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing Rock I ...

. Although Sitting Bull and Gall escaped to Canada, he was involved in the capture of eight other Sioux chieftains and around 700 lodges. On January 8, 1877, Butler took part in the engagement against the Sioux at Wolf Mountain. In command of Company C, he was commended for his actions during the battle for ''"conspicuous gallantry in leading his command against greatly superior numbers of hostile Indians, strongly entrenched"'' and receiving a brevet of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

and awarded the Medal of Honor. Later that year, he escorted Chief Joseph and other Nez Perce to Fort Buford between October and November 1877. During the early 1880s, he was stationed at Fort Snelling, Minnesota and

Fort Keogh, Montana Fort Keogh is a former United States Army post located at the western edge of modern Miles City, in the U.S. state of Montana. It is situated on the south bank of the Yellowstone River, at the mouth of the Tongue River. Colonel Nelson A. Miles, ...

and guarded construction parties of the Northern Pacific Railroad. He also held numerous staff positions and eventually awarded the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

on the day of his retirement on March 9, 1891. He died in Trouville, France three years later and, his body being returned to the United States, later buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Omaha, Nebraska.

References

*Greene, Jerome A. ''Battles and Skirmishes of the Great Sioux War, 1876–1877: The Military View''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993. *Thrapp, Dan L. ''Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography: In Three Volumes, Volume I (A–F)''. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1988.
Civil War Officers

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Edmond 1827 births 1895 deaths 19th-century Irish people Irish emigrants to the United States American people of the Indian Wars United States Army Medal of Honor recipients Nez Perce War People of the Great Sioux War of 1876 Union Army officers United States Army colonels Irish-born Medal of Honor recipients Irish soldiers in the United States Army American Indian Wars recipients of the Medal of Honor

Biography

See also

References

Further reading

External links