Want this question answered?
In 1864, General in Chief US Grant's plans for the capture of Richmond had the advantage of an exterior line assault, which normally was a disadvantage. With that said, exterior line weaknesses were potentially overcome by the 30,000 troops that were under the command of Union General Butler. Butler was defeated by General Beauregard with fewer troops. Butler was never a good general and Grant made an error by entrusting him with a crucial part of his plan.
John Butler
Perhaps General Butler's most famous army was the Army of the James. In 1864, General US Grant had given Butler a key task in support of Grant's Overland Campaign. Butler's task was to assault and take over either Petersburg or Richmond while Grant occupied the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Grant believed that by keeping most of Lee's forces engaged, Butler and his Army of James could be successful in wrecking Southern railways, but more importantly, taking either Richmond or Petersburg, thus bringing the war to a speedy end.
Union General Benjamin Butler did not graduate from West Point. He did have a college education and graduated from Colby College in Maine. He also passed the bar in Massachusetts and practiced law before the US Civil War.
General US Grant had assigned over 30,000 troops to be under the command of Major General Benjamin F. Butler. Grant' s plan closely resembled the strategy of former General George B. McClellan. Butler would ascend to the James River in Virginia and land to the south of Richmond. Grant believed that Butler's army could easily defeat the small Confederate force left to defend Richmond. Butler was expected to cut Richmond's lines of supply and communications that led to the south of the city. If for some reason Butler could not capture Richmond, he would at least cut off its lines of supply and communications and place the city under siege.
William C. Butler died in 1914.
William Butler was born on October 6, 1982.
William Butler was born on October 6, 1982.
William Butler - judge - died in 1909.
William Butler - judge - was born in 1822.
William J. Butler was born in 1860.
William Allen Butler died in 1902.
William Allen Butler was born in 1825.
William Henry Butler was born in 1790.
William C. Butler was born in 1844.
William James Butler died in 1934.
William James Butler was born in 1862.