Butler, William
Butler, William
BUTLER, WILLIAM. (?–1789). Continental officer. Ireland-Pennsylvania. William Butler and his brother Richard were born in Dublin before their family emigrated to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where their other three brothers were born. After Henry Bouquet's expedition of 1764, the two elder Butler brothers were partners at Chillicothe and Pittsburgh in the Indian trade. On 5 January 1776 William was made captain in the Second Pennsylvania Battalion, and he advanced to major on 7 September 1776. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the Fourth Pennsylvania Battallion on 30 September 1776, and became aide-de-camp to General William Alexander on 7 May 1778. Five months later he led the raid that wiped out Indian settlements around Unadilla, New York, and he published an account of that operation. When Sullivan's expedition withdrew toward Wyoming, Butler was detached (on 20 September 1779) to destroy Indian villages east of Cayuga Lake. He narrowly escaped death during the mutiny of the Pennsylvania Line in January 1781. In the military reorganization that followed the mutiny, Butler became commander of the new Fourth Pennsylvania Battalion He retired on 1 January 1783 and died six years later.
SEE ALSO Butler Brothers of Pennsylvania; Sullivan's Expedition against the Iroquois.
revised by Michael Bellesiles