General BF Butler
Thy flesh to earth, thy soul to God, We gave,
O gallant brother;
And o'er thy grave the awkward squad Fired into one another!
An inept political general,
Benjamin Butler is best remembered for his tenure as commander of Union troops in occupied New Orleans and for the colorful nicknames bestowed upon him by the citizens of that city.
The best known of these were "Beast" Butler, in honor of his proclamation that any Southern lady who did not treat Federal soldiers with respect could in turn be treated as a "lady of the night," and "Spoons" Butler, since many Southerners believed that the general enriched himself by appropriating the silverware and other precious possessions of the citizenry as spoils of war.
The ladies of New Orleans retaliated (albeit behind closed doors) by having portraits of Butler painted on the bottoms of their chamber pots.
Poems like Ambrose Bierce's indicate that many in the North were no more impressed with Butler than Southerners
Ambrose Bierce
Other author posts
Weather
Once I dipt into the future far as human eye could see, And I saw the Chief Forecaster, dead as any one can be— Dead and damned and shut in Hades as a liar from his birth, With a record of unreason seldome paralleled on earth While I looked h...
In Defense
You may say if you please, Johnny Bull, that our Are crazy to marry your dukes and your earls; But I've heard that the maids of your own little
Freedom
Freedom, as every schoolboy knows, Once shrieked as Kosciusko fell; On every wind, indeed, that blows I hear her yell She screams whenever monarchs meet, And parliaments as well, To bind the chains about her feet And toll her knell And w...
To ES Salomon
What Salomon such words from you, Who call yourself a soldier Well, The Southern brother where he
