Anthony Butler
Chargé d'Affaires to Mexico
In office
October 12, 1829 - October 21, 1835
PresidentAndrew Jackson
Preceded byJoel Roberts Poinsett
Succeeded byPowhatan Ellis
Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives
In office
1821–1822
Personal details
Born1787
Clarendon County, South Carolina
DiedApril 18, 1849(1849-04-18) (aged 61–62)
Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana
Political partyDemocratic
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1813–1815
RankColonel
Commands2nd Regiment of Riflemen

Anthony Butler (1787 – April 18, 1849) was an American soldier, politician and diplomat who served as Chargé d'Affaires to Mexico.

Birth and family life

Butler was born in South Carolina (probably Clarendon County) in 1787.[2][3] He married the sister of Kentucky politician John J. Crittenden.[4]: 3 

Career

South Carolina

Butler became a Mason at St. Johns Lodge No. 37 at Santee, South Carolina the dates of his degrees are not known.[5]

Kentucky

Butler moved to Logan County, Kentucky in 1807.[6] Butler transferred his Masonic membership to Russellville Lodge No. 17 in Russellville, Kentucky in January 1809; he received additional Masonic degrees in 1813, served as the High Priest of Russellville Chapter No. 8, and served as the Masonic Grand Master of Kentucky in 1812, and 1813.[5][7] In 1813, Butler was one of four men considered by the Kentucky legislature for the United States Senate; he placed third among the four contenders, losing to Jesse Bledsoe.[8]

Army

Butler served in the War of 1812. He was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel of infantry in the U.S. Army on March 11, 1813, entering from Kentucky.[9]: 268  He was first assigned to the 28th Infantry Regiment, then promoted to colonel of the 2nd Regiment of Riflemen on February 21, 1814.[9]: 127, 268  Russell James relates that he served under General Andrew Jackson;[3] James Brenner places him under General Duncan McArthur.[10]: 7–8  Butler was never in combat and spent most of his time in command of his regiment attempting to recruit soldiers in the Eighth Military District (Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee), a problem that was exacerbated by having to compete for recruits with two other regiments of riflemen and four of infantry.[10]: 6–7  Butler displayed a lack of knowledge about the proper employment of riflemen; Butler and his riflemen did function as a form of occupation force during the first six months of 1815.[10]: 11  He was honorably discharged on June 15, 1815.[9]: 268 

Kentucky

Butler owned a large plantation near Russellville.[3] In 1818 and 1819, Butler ran for but did not win the seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives from Logan County.[11] In 1820, Butler campaigned for Governor of Kentucky; in August, it was announced that John Adair had won, Butler placing fourth in a field of four.[7] Butler ran again for the Kentucky House in 1821 and was elected.[11] He resigned from the House on or before May 15, 1822.[12]

Diplomatic career

Butler moved to Mississippi in 1829.[3] While a resident of Mississippi, Butler lobbied Jackson (now president) to make him Chargé d'Affaires in Mexico.[3] He was appointed to this position on October 12, 1829; his credentials were presented on January 29, 1830.[13]

Jackson appointed Butler to the post because he wanted him to negotiate a purchase of Texas.[14] Butler spoke no Spanish and had distinctly un-diplomatic manners.[3] In April 1831, Butler successfully negotiated an extension to the period of ratification of the Treaty of Limits.[15] Butler disregarded instructions from Secretary of State Martin Van Buren not to meddle in the internal affairs of Mexico.[16] Butler bribed Mexican officials and recommended to Jackson that he dispatch troops annex Texas by force.[14] Jackson distanced himself from his ambassador, especially after the latter had tried to bribe Santa Anna.[14] Having failed to acquire Texas for the U.S., Butler suggested in 1833 a claim on part of the territory based on supposed confusion of the Sabine and Neches rivers; Butler himself had speculative interests in the area; at the same time that he was representing the U.S. in Mexico, Butler had agreements to represent two land companies, the Arkansas and Texas Land Company and the Trinity Land Company, that were trying to acquire property in Mexican Texas.[17] Butler was recalled to Washington in January 1836 but remained in Mexico, reporting to Jackson before finally leaving in May.[2] His tenure as chargé d'affaires mostly resulted in Mexican suspicion of United States' foreign policy through the beginning of the Mexican–American War.[16]

Republic of Texas

Some time after Texas independence, Butler moved to Washington County, Texas and, in 1838, was elected to the House of Representatives of the Third Republic of Texas Legislature.[2] Butler was the fourth Grand Master of Texas Masons in 1841.[5] He attempted to consult with General Zachary Taylor when the Mexican War began.[2] In 1847 or 1848, he moved from Texas.[2]

Death

Butler died on the burning steamboat General Pike on the Mississippi River in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, on April 18, 1849.[18][2][3][5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Plater, David D. (18 November 2015). The Butlers of Iberville Parish, Louisiana: Dunboyne Plantation in the 1800s. Louisiana State University Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-8071-6128-9. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Cutrer, Thomas W. (June 12, 2010). "Butler, Anthony". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Russell D. James (2013). "Butler, Anthony Wayne". In Spencer Tucker (ed.). The Encyclopedia of the Mexican–American War. ABC-CLIO. pp. 99–100. ISBN 9781851098538.
  4. ^ Saxon, Gerald D. (1986). "Anthony Butler: A Flawed Diplomat". East Texas Historical Journal. 24 (1:5). Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d "The Grand High Priests of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the Republic of Texas". The Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Texas. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  6. ^ "To James Madison from Paul Hamilton, 3 May 1811". Founders Online. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  7. ^ a b Collins, Lewis; Collins, Richard Henry (1878). Collins' Historical Sketches of Kentucky: History of Kentucky, Volume 1. Covington, Kentucky: Collins & Company. p. 29. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  8. ^ "Kentucky 1813 U.S. Senate". A New Nation Votes. Tufts University. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  9. ^ a b c Heitman, Francis B. (1903). Historical register and dictionary of the United States Army : from its organization, September 29, 1789, to March 2, 1903. Vol. 1 (1 ed.). p. 1. Retrieved 12 September 2014. This is the unofficial work of a private compiler, purchased and published by direction of Congress
  10. ^ a b c Brenner, James T. "The Green Against the British Red: U.S. Rifle Regiments in the Northwestern Army" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  11. ^ a b "Search Results: Anthony Butler; Kentucky". Tufts Digital Library. Tufts University. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  12. ^ Journal of the House of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Volume 31. Frankfort: Kendall and Russell. 1822. p. 3. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  13. ^ "Anthony Butler". Office of the Historian, Department of State. Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, United States Department of State. Retrieved 22 November 2015. Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Mar 12, 1830.
  14. ^ a b c Fowler, Will (2009). Santa Anna of Mexico. University of Nebraska Press. p. 182. ISBN 978-0803226388.
  15. ^ "Document Regarding the Treaty of Limits". The Portal to Texas History. December 1832. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  16. ^ a b Moseley, Edward H.; Clark, Paul C. (2009). "Butler, Anthony". The A to Z of the United States-Mexican War. Scarecrow Press. p. 65. ISBN 9780810870246.
  17. ^ Miller, Edward L. (2004). New Orleans and the Texas Revolution. Texas A&M University Press. pp. 45–46. ISBN 9781603446457.
  18. ^ "Loss of the steamer General Pike". The Daily Delta. April 19, 1849. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
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