Much controversy exists concerning Major General Benjamin F. Butler's administration in New Orleans during the second year of the Civil War. Some historians have extolled the general as a great humanitarian, while others have vilified him as a brazen opportunist, agreeing with the wealthy of occupied New Orleans who labeled him Beast Butler. In this thorough examination of Butler's career in the Crescent City, Chester G. Hearn reveals that both assessments are right.

 

In a fast-paced, colorful narrative, Hearn shows Butler to be a fascinating case study of contradictions, a remarkable man with a politician's appetite for wealth and power as well as a sincere empathy for the poor. All Civil War historians and buffs will savor this riveting, insightful portrait of the man behind the Beast.

Chester G. Hearn is the author of many books on the Civil War, including Six Years of Hell: Harpers Ferry During the Civil War; Companions in Conspiracy: John Brown and Gerrit Smith; and The Capture of New Orleans, 1862. He lives in Potts Grove, Pennsylvania.

ISBN: 9780807126233

Paperback

272 pages

Illustrated, Maps, Table of Contents

LSU Press, 2000