Benjamin "Spoons" Butler, Union general and Massachusetts Republican, was so named because of his habit of purloining silverware from the Southern homes he occupied. He stood at the wellspring of a vast Republican patronage system that radiated out from the District of Columbia down into Alabama like so much rotten fistulae. He was also known in Dixie as "Beast" Butler for the deportment of his indignities while the military governor of occupied New Orleans. We will be seeing more of this colorful gentleman in future installments. I look forward to fleshing out "The Beast."
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