Participant M-0196
James Butler was born in March 1832 in Marlfield Village, near Clonmel, in Co. Tipperary, Ireland. His parents were John Butler and Bridget Britt according to a baptismal registry.
When James was is his late teens, he was impressed into the British Army and sent to India around the Khyber Pass. When the Crimean War broke out, he was sent to that conflict and was present at the famous Charge of the Light Brigade as an artilleryman on the cliffs. From the Crimea, he returned to India and about 1857, he deserted in Calcutta and sailed for America. He settled in Memphis, Tennessee. When the Civil War broke out, James was recruited into the Confederate Army and supposedly paid $1000 for his service, undoubtedly his war experience was valuable to the Confederates. He was present at several major battles including Shiloh,
After the Civil War, James settled in Memphis and opened a hardware store on Poplar Street. In 1879, he married Margaret Harrington from Castletown Barhaven, Co. Cork, Ireland. His only child Frank Anthony Butler was born on June 13, 1880 when James was 48 years old. James died in 1911 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee. Family stories say that he had a brother named Patrick but no information is known about him or other siblings.
Queen Victoria eventually officially pardoned him for his desertion and he received his service medal, probably for his participation in the Crimean War.