John Butler

John Butler

Quick Facts

Significance:

John Butler was the founder and commander of Butler's Rangers, an American Loyalist force that fought for the Crown during the American Revolutionary War.

Place of Birth:

New London, Connecticut

Date of Birth:

On or before April 28, 1728

Place of Death:

Newark, Upper Canada

Date of Death:

May 12, 1796

Place of Burial:

Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario

Born in London, CT in 1728. He moved to the Mohawk Valley with his parents. In 1755, he served under Sir William Johnson at Crown Point, under Abercromby at Ticonderoga, and under Bradstreet at Ft. Frontenac.

At the capture of Ft. Niagara, He was William Johnson's second in command. Because of his connections to the Johnson family in 1759, he became Deputy Superintendent of Indians Affairs. In 1760, Butler commanded the British allied Indians in the Montreal Campaign.

As war approached the Mohawk Valley he organized an Indian Department of British loyalists to work in conjunction with the Six Nations. Because of this, in 1775, he was forced to flee to Ft. Niagara, Canada with his son Walter. Because of the Canadian governor's dislike of the Johnson family, he was put into an Indian affairs leadership position.

He was leader of the Indian Dept. Rangers that besieged Fort Stanwix in 1777. He is the man that is credited with the loyalist ruse of turning their coats inside out to fool the weary Tryon County Militia at Oriskany.

He raised Butler's Rangers in 1778, organized and lead raid on the Wyoming Valley. He organized the resistance to the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign in 1779, and fought in the Battle of Newtown. He took part in the Johnson raids on the Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys in 1780.
After the war he settled in Canada and helped to create Niagara-on-the-Lake.

He died in approximately 1794.