Benjamin Franklin Butler (1818–1893) played a crucial but controversial role in the early Civil War. He was a lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. Despite having no military experience, he secured a rank as brigadier general of Massachusetts volunteers and was sent south the secure the railroads to Washington, DC. In Baltimore, Maryland, Butler suppressed a…
enhancements
Illustration of Theophilus H. Holmes
Theophilus Hunter Holmes (1804-1880) was born in North Carolina and served as governor of that state from 1821 to 1824. He graduated from West Point in 1829 in the same class as Robert E. Lee, then served as an officer in the Mexican War. He resigned his commission in the U.S. Army during the Siege…
Illustration of Milledge Luke Bonham
Brig. Gen. Milledge Luke Bonham (1813-1890) was a South Carolinian by birth and came from a military family. He fought in the Seminole War and as an officer in the Mexican War, then commanded the South Carolina Militia as a major general. He was a U.S. Congressman from 1857 to 1860 and governor of South…
Illustration of Robert Patterson
On paper, Irish-born Maj. Gen. Robert Patterson (1792-1881) was the perfect person to lead the Department of Pennsylvania in 1861. He served in the Pennsylvania militia during the War of 1812, led troops to suppress two separate riots in Philadelphia, and fought in the Mexican War as a high-ranking officer. He owned several cotton mills,…
Illustration of John B. Magruder
With his upturned mustache, large mutton chops, and plumed hat, “Prince John” Bankhead Magruder (1807-1871) cut a dashing figure. He was a veteran of the Mexican War and amateur actor with unconventional views on warfare for the time period. On April 21, 1861, four days after the Virginia Secession Convention formally adopted articles of secession,…
Illustration of Thomas J. Jackson
Thomas Jonathan Jackson (1824-1863) was born in what is today Clarksburg, West Virginia and graduated from West Point in 1846. He fought in the Mexican War, then taught at the Virginia Military Institute from 1851 to 1861. He was a devout Presbyterian and owned six slaves, mostly acquired through marriage. He established a Sunday school…
Illustration of Henry A. Wise
Henry Alexander Wise (1806–1876) was a Virginia lawyer and politician, serving as a U.S. Representative from 1833 to 1843 and Governor of Virginia from 1856 to 1860. As governor, Wise oversaw the imprisonment, trial, and execution of John Brown for his attack on the Harpers Ferry arsenal. Ironically, Wise organized an armed seizure of Harpers…
Illustration of Robert L. McCook
Robert Latimer McCook (1827-1862) was a lawyer from Ohio, one of nine children of Daniel McCook. Robert, seven of his brothers, and his father all fought for the Union during the Civil War. Their family was known as the "Fighting McCooks". When the Civil War broke out, Robert recruited the 9th Ohio Infantry from among…
Illustration of William S. Rosecrans
William Starke Rosecrans (1819-1898) was born in Ohio and despite having no formal education, graduated from West Point in 1842. He did not fight in the Mexican War and went into business as president of the Preston Coal Oil Company. When the Civil War broke out, he became aide-de-camp to Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan…
Illustration of Jacob D. Cox
Jacob Dolson Cox, Jr. (1828-1900) was something of a renaissance man. Born in Canada to American parents, Cox attended Oberlin College and later became a lawyer. He moved with his wife, Helen Clarissa Finney, to Ohio where he became a state senator. During the Civil War, he was a brigadier general and led the famed…
Spirit of '61 
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