as a as a young historian, please me in welcoming elizabeth leonard elizabeth leonard. thank you, jonathan. can hear me all right. that is such a nice memory. i want to thank harold holzer jonathan white and the rest of the lincoln forum for inviting me. it's. i think my second time here and i really enjoyed my last visit, but it's many ago. it's a pleasure to be here. it's a pleasure to be back in gettysburg. i'm grateful for this opportunity. i just want to say this. my idea for how this talk will go. that i will talk to you about why i thought i should write a biography of butler at all. and then i will discuss the question of why reassess him and specifically reassess his caricature his reputation as a beast or spoons or this morning heard a new one butcher. and then with the remaining time, i would be happy to take questions. so i've been acquainted in terms of why a biography at all. i've been acquainted like almost every civil war historian know with butler for a long time. he keeps cropping up. i occasionally refer to him as forest butler or butler gump because

rebec all good ship the sauce the ship was owned by king any 8th of england. belinda, queen elizabeth leonard is to one of the facility, possibly citizens johns akin. and they said that the can africa's as a slave and they call it 3 because it's a business that you are doing. then if you look clearly, you see on known destiny. i was, you know, known destination not did is my, their colleagues or new definition. this literally will know where the ticket in to, they don't know if there's any country called america or you'll. that's why they called it on known destination would be walking on this en route thusly. war for 400. yes. our our sisters centuries. that's when it will be gone. and it's in africa. it says 70. that will give you 400 years is livery. so be walking under routes, them with a heavy cheese on their neg, the slow walk in a single fight to the point of no bits at intervals. they'll be a stop over then i'll be introducing to you. do what they should give them to do for now to lose their memory. velez go to the point of notice on oh my me, cheryl. oh, oh my michelle. whoa, whoa. o

thank elizabeth leonard. please stand for the united states capitol police ceremonial and remain standing for the presentation of the colors and singing of our national anthem by arena strike over. texas. or. after. o say you ken you see by the time one's early ly what's so proud of the way here? and that's why i liked leslie leaming, whose broad stripes seen bright stars through the perry u+ fa or the ramparts we watched were so ga fluently stream beaming at the rocket oracle the bombs in tear gives proof through the night and the raffle was still there oh does that star spangled banner yet? well. or the letter the free. the whole of the bird. give hope. poems or life. please remain standing and welcome u.s. house chaplain reverend margaret gibbon for an open opening prayer. would pray with me greatest. thy faithfulness, o god our creator. in the summer of life and the winter of death. in joy. and in grief. your mercies, sorrow us. we now that in the words of tribute offered for our friends and colleagues an

elizabeth leonard is colby college's gibson professor of history emerita. she earned her ph.d. in u.s. history from the university of