New Orleans: April–December 1862

Of all the chapters in the story of Benjamin F. Butler’s long and complicated life journey, the one that comprises the seven and a half months he commanded the Federal occupation of New Orleans has drawn the most historiographical and cultural attention. This is, arguably, appropriate: Butler’s approach to governing in New Orleans and the surrounding area brought him nothing less than “international notoriety and the undying hatred of Southerners.” In New Orleans, observes one historian, “every move Butler made created controversy.” At the same time, Butler’s months in New Orleans undeniably also produced important and highly lauded successes for