Major General Benjamin Franklin Butler is rendered here in a Civil War-era CDV printed by E. & H.T. Anthony of 501 Broadway, New York, from a negative made at Mathew Brady's National Portrait Gallery. Butler sits in a three-quarter pose with his chin lifted and gaze directed upward, projecting the commanding bearing that made him one of the war's most polarizing figures. The mount has rounded corners at the bottom, consistent with Anthony's published series format from the early to mid-1860s.

Butler wears a dark Union major general's frock coat with double rows of large brass buttons running the full length of the chest, embroidered leaf detail at the cuffs, and a brigadier's shoulder strap visible on his left arm. His collar bears additional embroidered insignia, and his thick mustache and long hair swept behind his ears are characteristic of his well-documented appearance.

Butler commanded Union-occupied New Orleans in 1862, where his strict governance of the civilian population earned him the nickname "Beast Butler" throughout the Confederacy. He later served as one of the lead House managers during the 1868 impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, cementing his reputation as one of the most consequential and controversial figures of the Reconstruction era.

The reverse bears a pencil inscription reading "Gen B.F. Butler" and the printed imprint of E. & H.T. Anthony, 501 Broadway, New York, with the notation "from Photographic Negative in Brady's National Portrait Gallery."

From the collection of James Lee Soffer