Right in Our Region
‘Ben Butler’ Spotlights Key Moment By Janine Pumilia
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n a sliver of time between the first shot fired at Fort Sumter in April 1861, and the first full-scale Civil War battle at Bull Run in July 1861, Union General Benjamin Butler, an attorney, was faced with a dilemma. Three escaped slaves had arrived at Fort Monroe in Virginia, pleading for sanctuary. By law, their Virginian owners were entitled to get them back … But Butler couldn’t bring himself to return them. To learn the creative solution he came up with, you’ll have to attend “Ben Butler,” presented by Artists Ensemble Theater (AET) March 24-April 3. The witty, often-humorous play is based on real events and people. Butler’s clever legal solution set into motion a chain of ideas that helped President Abraham Lincoln to pronounce the Emancipation Proclamation two years later.
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“This is a piece of history that somehow got lost in the shuffle,” says Richard Raether, AET artistic director. “This took place in a moment before the war really got started, but everyone knew it was about to start. The Virginia legislature voted to secede from the Union on May 22, 1861. The next day, these three slaves made their way to Fort Monroe to ask for sanctuary.” Butler was legally obligated by the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act to regard the slaves as stolen property. “He’s asking himself, ‘How do I solve this problem without ruining my future political career?’” says Raether. Ultimately, Lincoln and his cabinet not only agreed with Butler’s solution but also built upon it for their own course of action. AET will offer four Talk Back ses-
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sions for those who wish to stay after the play and discuss the historic subject matter. They’ll be after the 4 p.m. Sat., March 26 and 2 p.m. Sun. March 27 performances and after the Thurs. March 31 and 4 p.m. Sat. April 2 performances. Before his experience at Fort Monroe, Butler was an ambitious, workingclass trial attorney from Massachusetts whose hopes to attend West Point had been dashed. Early in the Civil War he earned the nickname “Beast Butler” when he oversaw New Orleans with an iron fist and rationed the dwindling food supply equally among black and white, rich and poor citizens. Butler’s colorful, hot-tempered personality gave playwright Richard Strand plenty to work with when writing humorous banter between Butler and three other characters: Shepard Mallory, the slave
