Butler's Book: A Life

He was ugly. Short, fat, cross-eyed; balding with a fringe of unkempt, oily hair; loud and obstreperous. Endowed with a strong sense of his own interest and a defiant sense of honor, he hated aristocracy and loved the underdog. When the Southern secession first broke out, he raised Massa-chusetts regiments for the Union, got himself appointed their commander, and led them to secure the nation's capital before many in the North even realized the danger.

He ruled the captured city of New Orlea...