BUTLER, SIR William Francis, British general: b. Tipperary County, Ireland, 31 Oct. 1838; d. London, 7 June 1910. He was educated at Dublin, and joined the army in 1858. In 1863 he became lieutenant, and in 1874 was pro moted to the rank of major. He served on the Red River expedition of 1870-71, and about the same time was sent on a special mission to the Saskatchewan territories. He accompanied the Ashantee expedition in 1874, and in 1879 acted as staff officer in Natal. He also served in Egypt in 1882, and held important commands under Lord Wolseley in the Sudan campaign of 1884-85. From 1890 till 1893 he was in com mand at Alexandria, and in 1892 was raised to the rank of major-general. He had com mand of the 2d Infantry Brigade at Aldershot, 1893, and of the southeastern district at Dover, 1896-98. In 1898 he became commander of the forces in South Africa, and for a time, during the absence of Lord Milner, was acting high commissioner. He was strongly opposed to
Milner's policy with regard to the rights of the
in the Transvaal, and refused to transmit their petition to the home govern ment,— an action which, among other causes of friction, led to his recall. He had command of the western district, 1899-1905, and concurrently that of the Aldershot district, 1900-01. He pub lished 'The Great Lone Land: A Narrative of Travel and Adventure in the Northwest of America' (1872); 'The Wild North Land' (1873), the story of a winter journey across northern North America; 'Alciin-Foo' (1875), a story of the Ashantec War; 'Far Out (1880); 'Red Cloud, the Solitary Sioux' (182) ;