© 2024 Texas Public Radio
Real. Reliable. Texas Public Radio.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.

This Week in the Civil War - 698

The Union War Department on Wednesday, November 11, 1863 announced that Major General Benjamin F. Butler was being restored to active duty, replacing General John G. Foster as commander of the Union Department of Virginia and North Carolina. 

An early war, political ally of Abraham Lincoln, Butler had been removed eleven months earlier from his command in New Orleans after embarrassing the Lincoln administration with his infamous “woman order,” for illegal confiscation of foreign assets, and for his injudicious, administrative rulings. 

Given his Democratic Party background and strong relations with Radical Republicans in Congress, Butler potentially could oppose Lincoln’s re-election in 1864.  It was, therefore, politically wise to displace Butler from his civilian status and restore him to military duty, where he potentially could be less troublesome to Lincoln.