Cyrus Butler

Location: Pennsylvania
Incident Date: Sunday, October 30, 1864
Weapon: Rifle
Offender: Arrested

Special Agent Cyrus Butler was shot and killed in Lawrence Township, Pennsylvania, while he and another deputy provost marshal attempted to arrest a draft dodger.

The subject had been selected for the draft approximately one year earlier but failed to report for enlistment. Only 150 of 600 draftees from Clearfield County had reported for enlistment. Special Agent Butler received information that the subject would be at his home so he and a second deputy provost marshal went there before daybreak.

When the man exited his house to tend to animals in his barn he saw both officers and ran back inside, with the officers in pursuit. He ran up the stairs and grabbed a rifle. Just as Special Agent Butler got to to the landing the man shot him in the abdomen and then struck him so hard the rifle stock broke. The other officer returned fire, wounding the subject, who fled on foot. The man was arrested in May 1865 and charged with Special Agent Butler's murder.

Special Agent Butler was a veteran of the Union Army and had been wounded at Chancellorsville, being discharged in 1863 with the rank lieutenant colonel. He was appointed a deputy provost marshal following his discharge.