Frederic B. Butler

Frederic B. Butler
Frederic B. Butler
	At West Point in 1918
Born	October 5, 1896; San Francisco, California, US
Died	June 20, 1987 (aged 90); San Francisco, California, US
Education	St. Ignatius College Preparatory; United States Military Academy;
Occupation	Military officer
Spouse	Philippi Harriette Harding (m. 1924; died 1984)

Brigadier General Frederic Bates Butler (October 5, 1896 – June 20, 1987) was the US Army officer who led the American Task Force in the encirclement action of Operation Dragoon at the Battle of Montelimar, France in August 1944.

Personal life[edit]

He was born in San Francisco, California. On November 12, 1924, he married Philippi Harriette Harding in Tientain, China.^[1] The couple had two daughters, Phillipa "Popsy" Butler (born 1935) and Patricia M. Butler (born 1927), and one son Bill Butler (born August 28, 1928).^[2]

Education[edit]

Butler was educated at St. Ignatius College Preparatory, a Jesuit school in San Francisco where he graduated from in 1913.^[3]^[4] He was a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, from June 15, 1916, to November 1, 1918.

Army career[edit]

On graduation he was promoted in the Army to Second Lieutenant, Corps of Engineers. He served at Camp A. A. Humphreys in Virginia, as student officer at Engineer School, from December 2, 1918, to June 1919. Butler was sent to France with American Expeditionary Forces, on a tour of observation, to September 1919. He graduated from Camp A. A. Humphreys to the United States Army Engineer School in 1921.

Butler served in China and Outer Mongolia with the Army Corps of Engineers and taught at West Point before returning to San Francisco in 1927. Still in service, he worked on Treasure Island for the 1939–40 Golden Gate International Exposition and supervised roadwork on nearby Yerba Buena Island. After the fair ended, Treasure Island was sold to the U.S. Navy to become the base of operations for the war in the Pacific Theatre.

In World War II, he was involved in both the African campaign as G-3 in the Advance Headquarters, II Corps, in Tunisia 1943, in Italy being promoted Colonel commander 168th Infantry Regiment and the invasion of Southern France, where as Brigadier General in VI Corps he led Task Force Butler into the Battle of Montelimar.^{[note 1]}

After the war he served as manager of the San Francisco International Airport and as a commissioner for the San Francisco Fire Department. He served as commander of Camp McCoy May 24, 1951, through February 6, 1952.^[6] He retired from the Army in 1953.^[7]

He died in San Francisco on June 20, 1987.^[8]

Awards and medals[edit]

Distinguished Service Cross^[9]
Legion of Merit, the Oak Leaf Cluster
Bronze Star
Purple Heart
France honored him with the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honor
Italy awarded him the Cross of Valor
Knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, 1962

Promotions[edit]

Second Lieutenant November 1, 1918
First Lieutenant May 7, 1919
Captain November 1, 1934
Major July 1, 1940
Lieutenant Colonel September 15, 1941, accepted September 22, 1941
Colonel February 1, 1942
Brigadier General January 17, 1944

Notes[edit]

^ His commander, General Lucian Truscott, erroneously referred to "Frederick W Butler" in his memoirs, but later quotes one of Butler's letters to him signed "FBB" which reveals his error.^[5] The mistaken middle initial is repeated in many other histories.

References[edit]

^ US Consular Reports of Marriages 1910-1949
^ US Census Returns
^ "General Fred Butler '13 – SI History". Retrieved May 7, 2024.
^ "War & Valor (1940–1949)", St Ignatius College Preparatory School at the Wayback Machine (archived August 25, 2016)
^ Truscott, Jr., Lucian King Jr. (1954). Command Missions, A Personal Story. New York: E. P. Dutton And Company, Inc. p. 428. Retrieved December 9, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
^ The Real McCoy Online at the Wayback Machine (archived August 8, 2016)
^ U.S. Select Military Registers 1862-1985
^ "Butler, Frederic, Brig. Gen. US Army, Ret". San Francisco Examiner. June 24, 1987. p. 18. Retrieved December 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Frederic Bates Butler". Military Times. Sightline Media Group. Retrieved April 25, 2022.

External links[edit]

Generals of World War II

[6] His commander, General Lucian Truscott, erroneously referred to "Frederick W Butler" in his memoirs, but later quotes one of Butler's letters to him signed "FBB" which reveals his error.^[5] The mistaken middle initial is repeated in many other histories.

[1] US Consular Reports of Marriages 1910-1949

[2] US Census Returns

[3] "General Fred Butler '13 – SI History". Retrieved May 7, 2024.

[4] "War & Valor (1940–1949)", St Ignatius College Preparatory School at the Wayback Machine (archived August 25, 2016)

[5] Truscott, Jr., Lucian King Jr. (1954). Command Missions, A Personal Story. New York: E. P. Dutton And Company, Inc. p. 428. Retrieved December 9, 2022 – via Internet Archive.

[7] The Real McCoy Online at the Wayback Machine (archived August 8, 2016)

[8] U.S. Select Military Registers 1862-1985

[9] "Butler, Frederic, Brig. Gen. US Army, Ret". San Francisco Examiner. June 24, 1987. p. 18. Retrieved December 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.

[10] "Frederic Bates Butler". Military Times. Sightline Media Group. Retrieved April 25, 2022.

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