Veterans program honors Civil War soldier in Bridgeport
(From left) Pastor Andy Doll, local historian Mary Antoine, the Civil War U.S. Army private’s great-great-granddaughter Dorothy Huotari and emcee/American Legionnaire Gary Gundlach attended a small program held in honor of Pvt. Garrett Butler at the Bridgeport Cemetery. (Submitted photo)
A small program was held Thursday, Aug. 11, for Civil War U.S. Army Pvt. Garrett Butler, who is buried in the Bridgeport Cemetery. The Crawford County Veterans Service Office coordinated the historically honorable event, which was attended by Butler’s great-great-granddaughter Dorothy Huotari, of Sun City, Ariz., among others.
Gary Gundlach emceed the program and Pastor Andy Doll delivered the invocation. Remarks were made by Huotari, Doll gave a closing prayer and military honors accorded by the Prairie du Chien Honor Guard completed the ceremony.
Prairie du Chien historian Mary Antoine shared the story of Butler’s life:
Garrett Butler was born in 1826 (exact date unknown) in Massachusetts. He came to Wisconsin and settled in Oakfield, where he was a farmer. He married widow Hannah Madison and, together, they had three daughters.
In April 1861, the war between the states began. President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers and overwhelming support from Wisconsin men was received. In December 1863, the War Department called for reenlistment of men who enlisted in 1861. Some did, but there was a need for replacement of those wounded or dead.
So at the age of 38, Butler chose to enlist in the Army on Jan. 30, 1864, and joined 300 recruits in the 3rd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment (Company I), organized at Fond du Lac. After a short period of training, he was sent to Chattanooga, Tenn.
The 3rd Wisconsin was made part of the Army of the Cumberland, which joined an Army group including 100,000 men also from the Armies of Tennessee and Ohio. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant ordered Gen. William T. Sherman to march toward Atlanta in May 1864. They left from Chattanooga and fought skirmishes for two months, maneuvering 70 miles, against the Confederate Army of Tennessee, under Gen. Joseph Johnston. Their march became blocked by imposing forces on Kennesaw Mountain, near Marietta, Ga.
On June 21, 1864, Pvt. Butler, on skirmish duty, was shot twice, in the right thigh and left wrist. The wrist wound was severe enough that it opened his joint, causing a compound fracture. This began his journey to Prairie du Chien.
After lying in the regimental, general and field hospitals—where he was the day the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain was fought on June 27, 1864—Butler’s wrist condition deteriorated by July 1. At that time, he was transferred to the No. 15 U.S. Army General Hospital in Nashville, where they operated on his wrist and removed part of the radius. He stayed there six months. Once he was stabilized, he began the trip north, eventually ending up at the Swift U.S. Army General Hospital in Prairie du Chien—one of only three hospitals in Wisconsin. He was admitted on Jan. 21, 1865, just two months after the hospital opened.
On April 9, 1865, when Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Grant, Butler was still in the Swift Hospital. He was discharged from the hospital and the Army on June 30, 1865, on three-quarters disability, based upon his wrist injury and rheumatism.
Upon discharge, Butler went to Minnesota, where his wife died in 1866. He lived with a daughter, Mary Ellen, for awhile and, in 1884, became a resident of the Northwest Branch National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Milwaukee.
In October 1891, Butler found himself in Bridgeport, hoping to travel to Sauk Centre, Minn. He liked to wander and it’s possible he may have suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, as it’s known today. He may have been looking to catch a train and camped by the railroad tracks, where a crew of railroad workers later found him badly burned on both his legs. He was taken to a hotel in Bridgeport, two men paid for his room, a doctor was brought in, and a nurse was hired to care for him. On Oct. 16, 1891, Butler died from his burns.
The Civil War caused many deaths and crippling injuries and illnesses. It was also the beginning of care for disabled veterans. The soldiers home in Milwaukee, as well as two others in the northern states, that began soon after the war, led to the Veterans Administration as it’s known today.
The story of Garrett Butler was similar to that of so many who served in the U.S. military in those days.
