country in the world, other than ours, where
an officer guilty of such conduct, whether it came from incapacity
or cowardice, would not have been promptly cashiered and probably
shot. This would have been true, as in the case of Admiral
Keppel, if his fault had been merely a failure to attack.
But Butler's fault was an express disobedience of orders.
The order which he disobeyed was unknown to the subordinate
on whose advice he claimed to have relied. General Grant
expressly ordered him that in case of failure to attack the
fort by assault, he should remain and entrench his troops
on the peninsula, and cooperate with the fleet for the reduction
of the place. When Grant learned the circumstances he declared
that, in leaving after he had landed, Butler had violated
his express orders.

It is a source of just pride that a New England commander,
and one of Massachusetts descent, General Terry, was successful
in the new attempt. Grant's instructions to him said: "I
have served with Admiral Porter, and know that you can rely
on his judgment and his nerve to undertake what he proposes
. . . . The first object to be attained is to get a firm position
on the spit of land on which Fort Fisher is built, from which
you can operate against the fort. You want to look to the
practicability of receiving your supplies, and to defending
yourself against superior forces sent against you by any of
the avenues left open to the enemy. If such a position can
be obtained, the siege of Fort Fisher will not be abandoned
until its reduction can be accomplished, or another plan of
campaign is ordered from these headquarters."

The fort which had enabled 397 vessels to pass the blockade
was taken by a great New England Captain, and largely by New
England troops. Butler made one contribution, and only one,
to that victory. That contribution was his absence. It was
a curious coincidence which would have brought a blush of
shame upon any forehead but his, that when he was testifying
before an investigating committee of Congress, who were inquiring
into the cause of his great and shameful failure to take the
fort, and just after he had testified that Fort Fisher was
impregnable and that it was impossible for any Union force
to take it, a dispatch was received in the Committee Room
announcing its fall.

General Grant says in his "Memoirs":

"I had no idea of General Butler accompanying the expedition
until the evening before it got off