Unpublished Rare CDV of Confederate General Matthew Calbraith Butler

Unpublished Rare CDV of Confederate General Matthew Calbraith Butler with Tanner & Vanness Backmark Lynchburg, Virginia.
 
General Butler was born on March 8, 1836, in Greenville, South Carolina, into a prominent military and political family. He attended South Carolina College and studied law before beginning his legal career. By the late 1850s, he had entered politics, serving in the South Carolina House of Representatives. As the Civil War approached, Butler aligned with the Confederacy, following the path of many in his influential family.
When the Civil War broke out, Butler joined the Confederate army as a cavalry officer and quickly rose to the rank of brigadier general. He served under generals Wade Hampton and J.E.B. Stuart and was known for his leadership and bravery, despite losing a foot at the Battle of Brandy Station. Throughout the war, Butler commanded cavalry units in numerous key engagements, particularly in the Eastern Theater, and remained with the Confederate army until its surrender in 1865.
After the war, Butler resumed his legal career and returned to politics, playing a key role in South Carolina’s post-Reconstruction era. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1877, serving until 1895, and became a powerful voice in national Democratic politics. In 1898, he was appointed major general of U.S. volunteers during the Spanish-American War. Butler died on April 14, 1909, in Washington, D.C., and is remembered as both a Confederate general and a long-serving U.S. senator.