le of Massissinnawa.

2d. Colonel William Butler, also of the revolutionary army, had two
sons, one died in the navy, the other a subaltern in Wayne's army. He
was in the battle with the Indians in 1794.

3d. Lieut. Col. Thomas Butler, of the old stock, had three sons, the
eldest a judge. The second, Col. Robert Butler, was at the head of
Gen. Jackson's staff throughout the last war. The third, William E.
Butler, also served in the army of Gen. Jackson.

4th. Percival Butler, captain in the revolutionary war, and
adjutant-general of Kentucky during the last war, had four sons:
first, Thomas, who was a captain, and aid to Gen. Jackson at New
Orleans. Next, Gen. William O. Butler, the subject of this notice.
Third, Richard, who was assistant adjutant-general in the campaigns of
the war of 1812. Percival Butler, the youngest son, now a
distinguished lawyer, was not of an age to bear arms in the last war.
Of this second generation of the Butler's, there are nine certainly,
and probably more, engaged in the present war.

This glance at the family shows the character of the race. An
anecdote, derived from a letter of an old Pennsylvania friend to the
parents, who transplanted it from Ireland, shows that its military
instinct was an inheritance. "While the five sons," says the letter,
"were absent from home in the service of the country, the old father
took it in his head to go also. The neighbors collected to remonstrate
against it; but his wife said, 'Let him go! I can get along without
him, and raise something to feed the army in the bargain; and the
country wants every man who can shoulder a musket.'" It was doubtless
this extraordinary zeal of the Butler family which induced Gen.
Washington to give the toast--"The Butlers, and their five sons," at
his own table, whilst surrounded by a large party of officers. This
anecdote rests on the authority of the late Gen. Findlay, of
Cincinnati. A similar tribute of respect was paid to this devoted
house of soldiers by Gen. La Fayette, in a letter now extant, and in
the possession of a lady connected with them by marriage. La Fayette
says, "_When I wanted a thing well done, I ordered a Butler to do
it._"

From this retrospect it will be seen that in all the wars of the
country, in the revolutionary war, in the Indian war, in the last
British war, and the present Mexican war, the blood of almost every
Butler able to bear arms has been freely shed in the public cause.
Maj. Gen