Frank G. Butterfield

First Lieutenant Frank G. Butterfield (May 11, 1842 to January 6, 1916) was an American soldier who fought in the American Civil War. Butterfield received the country's highest award for bravery during combat, the Medal of Honor, for his action at Salem Heights, Virginia on 4 May 1863. He was honored with the award on 4 May 1891.

Biography

Butterfield was born on 11 May 1842 in Vermont and was pursuing law at the Middlebury College before the outbreak of the war. He enlisted into the 6th Vermont Infantry on 4 October 1861 at Middlebury. He earned the Medal of Honor for his actions at Salem Heights on 4 May 1863. He was later promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel on command of his regiment on 21 October 1864.

Following the war he was a merchant operating on the Saxtons River and subsequently returned to school to complete his law qualifications. In 1880 and 1881 he was in charge of the tenth Vermont census, he led investigations into alleged census fraud in South Carolina and also assisted with the tenth Washington census. He then transferred to the Bureau of Pensions in 1882 and became chief of the special examination division in 1890. He resigned from public office in 1888 to pursue private business.

Medal of Honor citation

Took command of the skirmish line and covered the movement of his regiment out of a precarious position.

See also

• Jacob G. Ullery (1894). Men of Vermont: An Illustrated Biographical History of Vermonters and Sons of Vermont. Brattleboro, VT: Transcript Publishing Company.