Benjamnin F. Butler, Butler's Book: Autobiography and Personal Reminiscences of Major-General Benjamin Butler

1 I should feel it my duty to follow the criticisms of Badeau — which I take to be the French for “dirty water” --at length, but he has destroyed himself, and I do not see how any honorable man, knowing his character from his own exposure of it, could believe a word he says, or meet him except to avoid him. Badeau found himself in the army a lieutenant of infantry, unassigned, serving as aid of Brigadier-General Sherman [not William T.]. He seems to have attached himself to Grant as a sort of military secretary. His name does not appear, even “mentioned” in the War Records of the campaign around Richmond. He availed himself of his intimacy to publish a history of Grant to his own great profit. Grant appointed him Secretary of Legation and afterwards Consul-General at London, one of the most profitable offices in the gift of the President. He remained there nine years. Hayes removed him and appointed him Consul-General at Havana, another very lucrative office, where he remained until his conduct was such as to require his resignation. In the meantime for his great services to the Union in suppressing the Rebellion he was retired as an officer of the army of rank with large pay and emolument.

He then claimed that he was employed by Grant to assist him in revising the composition of his “Memoirs,” which Grant, having become entirely wrecked in fortune by the failure of the Marine Bank, in a dying condition, was trying to compose on his sick-bed, assisted by his son as amanuensis, so that the sale of the book might leave something for the support of his amiable wife in her widowhood. Grant's book, written with such heroic effort and for such a purpose, was not the book it would have been if he had had the health and strength to write it himself; but yet, as it was written under such circumstances, it was looked upon by almost every citizen to be a duty to buy a copy, and its sale fortunately was productive of quite large profit.

Badeau had received through Grant benefit and money enough that he should have gratefully written for him his whole life. But as soon as his great benefactor lay silent in the tomb, Badeau came upon his widow and family with an exorbitant claim for his services for a short time in aiding the general in revising his “Memoirs.” The family resisted this demand of ten thousand dollars upon the grounds that he claimed the authorship of the book. Thereupon Badeau brought a suit for a large sum, flew into the newspapers to try his case, and in his correspondence attempted to raise such a scandal upon Grant, his family, and his “Memoirs,” that the Hon. Charles A. Dana offered to pay from his own pocket the sum claimed by Badeau if he would “shut up,” as Dana had grateful remembrances of his friendly relations with Grant as Assistant Secretary of War during the campaign from the Rapidan to the James.

Colonel Grant, to justify the family in their refusal to pay that large sum for Badeau's work, produced a letter composed by General Grant on his death-bed and signed by him, in which he says to Badeau: “I have voluntarily stipulated for a small compensation for the various services rendered to me; I thought and you thought the compensation large at the time.” It seems Badeau had made claim on his dying benefactor, the result of which was, as Badeau says, that for two months before his death, Grant and himself had no friendly communication, and his letter seems to be the last communication between them. I do not know who in fact paid the money, but Badeau took the ten thousand dollars and did “shut up,” as he would have taken anything else, I doubt not, that did not belong to him.

His next exploit was to attempt to make the government pay him a salary as a retired army officer while he drew a very large salary as Consul-General at Havana, a part of which the treasury refused to pay, and as he had in fact drawn double salary during the largest part of all these years, they sued Badeau for the money taken by him without law, so he in turn sued the United States. But the Supreme Court sat down on that performance, saying that the law forbade it but there was no law by which the same could be recovered back. [See Badeau vs. U. S. Sup. Court Reports, Oct. Term, 1888.]

I have no objection to being slandered by such a man, and therefore allow the criticisms of this unassigned lieutenant upon me to remain unanswered except by showing what sort of a creature made them.