George Butts

George Butts was born in 1838 in Rome, New York. He later entered the United States Navy and became part of the generation of sailors who fought the American Civil War on the rivers and inland waterways of the western theater. His surviving official award record identifies him as a Gunner's Mate, and this is the highest verified rank associated with his military service. During the action that defined his legacy, he was serving aboard USS Signal, a Union Navy gunboat operating with the forces engaged in the Red River Campaign.

USS Signal was a small, shallow-draft stern-wheel gunboat built for operations on western rivers. During the Civil War, vessels of this type performed a wide range of difficult duties, including patrol, escort, dispatch work, reconnaissance, protection of transports, and direct combat against Confederate forces positioned along riverbanks. Signal served with the Union's western naval forces and participated in operations connected with the Mississippi and its tributaries before becoming involved in the Red River Campaign of 1864.

The Red River Campaign was a major combined Union Army and Navy operation in Louisiana. Its objectives included extending Federal control into the region and supporting military operations along the Red River. The campaign became increasingly difficult as Union forces encountered determined Confederate resistance, challenging terrain, and dangerously low river levels that restricted the movement of naval vessels. By the spring of 1864, ships operating along the river faced not only enemy vessels but also artillery batteries and riflemen positioned along the banks.

On May 4, 1864, USS Signal was operating on the Red River as part of a dangerous movement involving Union vessels and transports. Confederate forces attacked the vessels from positions along the river. Signal continued downstream while engaging enemy troops and eventually became involved with USS Covington and the Army transport John Warner. The fighting continued into the following day, May 5, when the Union vessels encountered another concentrated Confederate attack near the Red River.

George Butts entered this engagement under particularly difficult personal circumstances. At the time of the battle he was officially on the sick list. Under normal conditions, illness could have removed him from demanding combat duties. Instead, when USS Signal came under attack, Butts remained at his duties as Gunner's Mate and continued serving throughout the engagement.

The role of a Gunner's Mate aboard a Civil War gunboat carried significant responsibility. Gunner's Mates were involved in the operation, maintenance, preparation, and handling of a ship's weapons and ammunition. In combat, their duties placed them close to the ship's fighting capability at precisely the time when enemy fire was most intense. Butts therefore served in a position directly connected with Signal's ability to return Confederate fire.

On May 5, Confederate field artillery and sharpshooters subjected the Union vessels to sustained attack. USS Signal returned fire and continued fighting while attempting to move through the dangerous river position. The situation gradually became impossible. The vessel suffered severe damage, and the fighting continued until Signal was completely disabled.

Even while sick, Butts did not withdraw from his responsibilities. His official Medal of Honor record specifically emphasizes that he continued performing his duties during the entire engagement. This detail became the central reason his conduct was singled out for national recognition. His heroism was not based on a single dramatic isolated movement; it was based on continuing to perform his combat duties throughout a prolonged and destructive engagement when illness and enemy fire provided ample reason to leave his station.

Eventually USS Signal could no longer continue the fight. The ship was disabled and the white flag was raised. The vessel was lost, and surviving members of the crew fell into Confederate hands. Butts consequently experienced not only the destruction of the ship on which he served but also captivity following the engagement. His wartime record therefore includes both direct naval combat and the experience of becoming a prisoner after the loss of USS Signal.

The destruction of Signal represented one of the severe naval setbacks of the Red River Campaign. River warfare created conditions very different from traditional open-water naval combat. A gunboat could find itself confined to a narrow channel with little freedom to maneuver while enemy artillery and riflemen fired from protected positions ashore. Damage to machinery, steering equipment, or the river channel itself could leave a vessel trapped. Signal's final battle demonstrated these dangers clearly.

Butts's actions aboard USS Signal were formally recognized before the Civil War had ended. General Orders No. 45, dated December 31, 1864, recorded his Medal of Honor recognition. His citation identified him as a Gunner's Mate aboard USS Signal and specifically noted his conduct during the Red River engagement of May 5, 1864. The official recognition emphasized that although he was on the sick list, he courageously continued carrying out his duties during the entire engagement.

The Medal of Honor that George Butts received belonged to the earliest period of the decoration's history. The Navy Medal of Honor had been authorized by Congress in December 1861, before the Army version was created the following year. It was originally established to recognize enlisted sailors and Marines who distinguished themselves through extraordinary conduct in naval service. During the Civil War, when the United States had comparatively few formal military decorations, the Medal of Honor became the nation's principal recognition for exceptional courage and distinguished conduct.

For the historical database, Butts's decoration belongs to the Medal of Honor 1862–1912 Navy category and is recorded with the year 1864. His award represents a single Medal of Honor with no separately verified star, clasp, bar, or additional device. The decoration commemorates his conduct aboard USS Signal and should remain the central award in his verified medal history.

No Navy Civil War Campaign Medal has been included in his final verified rack. Although Butts unquestionably performed Civil War naval service, the campaign medal was created decades after the conflict. George Butts died in 1902, before the period required under the project's Navy Civil War medal treatment, and no recipient-specific evidence establishes that this later medal should be added to his personal award record. His verified rack therefore remains intentionally limited to the Medal of Honor.

After the Civil War, Butts returned to civilian life. Compared with the detailed official record of his Medal of Honor action, surviving authoritative information about his postwar civilian career is limited. Rather than reconstructing undocumented details, his biography is best centered on the military service that can be securely established.

George Butts lived for nearly four decades after the war. He died on February 17, 1902. He was buried at Ridgelawn Cemetery in Elyria, Ohio. By the time of his death, the United States Navy had changed dramatically from the river gunboats and wooden vessels of the Civil War era, but the official record of his courage aboard USS Signal remained preserved through the Medal of Honor.

His military legacy rests on a straightforward but powerful act of duty. George Butts entered the battle already suffering from illness, yet when his ship came under sustained attack from Confederate artillery and sharpshooters, he continued performing his duties as Gunner's Mate. He remained at work as USS Signal fought until the vessel was completely disabled and forced to surrender.

That determination transformed an enlisted sailor serving aboard a small river gunboat into a Medal of Honor recipient. George Butts is remembered as a United States Navy Gunner's Mate, a veteran of the American Civil War and Red River Campaign, a survivor of the destruction of USS Signal, a prisoner following the vessel's loss, and a recipient of the Medal of Honor for courageously carrying out his duties throughout the battle of May 5, 1864. His Medal of Honor 1862–1912 Navy — 1864 remains the single verified decoration at the center of his military record.