Daniel Butterfield

Daniel Adams Butterfield
Daniel Butterfield
Born	(1831-10-31)October 31, 1831 Utica, New York
Died	July 17, 1901(1901-07-17) (aged 69) Cold Spring, New York
Place of burial	West Point Cemetery United States Military Academy West Point, New York
Allegiance	United States of America Union
Service/branch	United States Army Union Army
Years of service	1861–1870
Rank	Major General
Commands held	V Corps
Battles/wars	American Civil War Peninsula Campaign Seven Days Battles Battle of Gaines' Mill Second Battle of Bull Run Battle of Antietam Battle of Fredericksburg Battle of Gettysburg Atlanta Campaign
Awards	Medal of Honor
Other work	Composer of "Taps" Assistant U.S. Treasurer

American Civil War

Daniel Adams Butterfield (October 31, 1831 – July 17, 1901) was a New York businessman, a Union General in the American Civil War, and Assistant U.S. Treasurer.

After working for American Express, co-founded by his father, Butterfield served in the Civil War, where he was soon promoted brigadier general, and wounded at Gaines' Mill. While recuperating, he either wrote or re-wrote a popular bugle-call for burials, called Taps. He commanded a division at Fredericksburg, and then became Hooker's chief of staff, sharing both the credit for improved morale and responsibility for the licentious behaviour that Hooker tolerated in camp. He also became embroiled in Hooker’s political feuds with Burnside and Meade. Wounded at Gettysburg, he served in Sherman’s Atlanta campaign, before retiring from front-line service through illness. He later received the Medal of Honor.

In Grant’s administration, he was Assistant Treasurer of the United States, abusing that position to manipulate the price of gold, and being forced to resign. He then resumed his business career. Butterfield’s extensive war archives are displayed at Cold Spring, New York.

Butterfield was born was born October 31, 1831 in Utica, New York. He attended Union Academy and then graduated in 1849, from Union College in Schenectady, New York, where he became a member of the Sigma Phi Society. That same year, his father, John Warren Butterfield, founded the express company of Butterfield, Wasson, and Co., which later became the American Express Company. After graduating, Daniel studied law but as he was too young to sit the New York bar exam, he toured the country instead. Upon his return to Utica, he joined the Utica Citizen’s Corps as a private. He was employed in various businesses in New York and the South, including the American Express Company, which had been co-founded by his father, an owner of the Overland Mail Company, stage-coaches, steamships and telegraph lines.