Charles Butler was born in August of 1841, in Detroit, Michigan[1]. He spent most of his life up to the Civil War living in Detroit, but did live in Cleveland for a short while, the time period he did this in unknown. Butler enlisted on his own free will on September 16th, 1863 in Detroit. He was quickly mustered into service as a private in Company A of the 102nd Regiment of the United States Colored Troops. Butler’s main occupation within the Army was a general laborer, but he also had other tasks while enlisted. Butler spend a lot of time in Beaufort, South Carolina at the Headquarters of the Department of the South. While stationed here Butler’s regiment was in the deep south during a time of conflict. These men were constantly on high alert and were responsible for being on the guard. Being on guard  was a serious duty and there were serious repercussions if found to be doing the job poorly. Butler, during his time in Beaufort, was charged with sleeping on post along with disobedience of orders, conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline, and disrespect to his superior officer. Butler was jailed in July of 1864 and was held in confinement until the date of his Court Martial in November of 1864. Butler was found innocent in the charge of sleeping on post but was found guilty on all other charges. Due to his long confinement prior to his court martial he was only sentenced to two months of hard labor at Fort Stevens.  Butler was mustered out of service and honorably discharged from the 102nd United States Colored Troops on September 30th, 1865 in Detroit.

                Following the war, it appears that Butler returned to Detroit. He was married to a one,  Nellie Hart on January 127, 1880. It seems as if these two split sometime between 1880 and 1889, but there is no record of divorce, because in 1889 Butler remarried to a Miss Elizabeth (Lizzie) Cotillion on the 29th of May. During this time, Butler owned and operated a saloon and boarding house. For the next four years, Charles and Lizzie shared a nice life together. Charles Butler passed away on December 19th, 1893 at the age of 52 (49) from a six-week fight with carbuncle.[2]

 

[1] Date of birth is unclear. On Butler’s Military Service records, it has his age listed at 19 at the time the he is mustered into service. His death certificate lists his date of birth August 1841.

[2] Carbuncle – A severe abscess or boils that are in the skin, typically it is infected with a staph infection.