The Civil War and Theodore Butters

The "Civil War" which is also called "The War Between the States" was fought between the Union in the North and the Confederacy in the South. Over 3 million men clashed in this great war. Over 600,000 soldiers died fighting for the cause in which they believed. One of the men who died was Theodore Butters, a cousin to my great-grandfather.

There are a variety of issues as to the cause of the Civil War. However, the primary reason was the question of slavery. President Abraham Lincoln had said, "Government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free..."

Men fought on both the Union side and the Confederate side for issues they each believed in whole-heartedly. Theodore Butters was one of these men. He was born on May 21, 1841 in Wilmington, Massachusetts where he lived with his parents and sister. Theodore was of average height and build with short brown hair and steady dark brown eyes. He enlisted for three years in the Union Army and was shortly made a Corporal of Company 1 Second Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. Fortunately for our family today, Theodore wrote numerous letters to his family in Wilmington during the war. I was glad to obtain copies of these letters of my distant relative; the original letters are at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

Theodore's last letter was written from Fairfax, Virginia on June 16, 1863 to his sister, Lucilia. In his letter, Theodore wrote they left their previous location marching in torrents of rain; they walked 33 miles in 23 hours! He wrote to Lucilia, "There will be another grand move for us in a day or two at the farthest and there has got to be another big fight somewhere." In fact, a little over a month later, he would be severely wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg and die shortly after on July 31, 1863.

In his speech at the dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg, President Lincoln said, "...we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Today, men and women still fight for our great nation. Let us encourage them with our support, carry them in our hearts and remember them in our prayers.