William Alexander Butler
William Alexander Butler’s Personal Narrative was derived from information found in public records, military personnel files, and local/state historical association materials. Please note that the Robb Centre never fully closes the book on our servicemembers; as new information becomes available, narratives will be updated to appropriately represent the life story of each veteran.
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Military Honor(s):
Distinguished Service Cross
Citation: The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Sergeant William Butler (ASN: 104464), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company L, 369th Infantry Regiment, 93d Division, A.E.F., near Maison-de-Champagne, France, 18 August 1918. Sergeant Butler broke up a German raiding party which had succeeded in entering our trenches and capturing some of our men. With an automatic rifle he killed four of the raiding party and captured or put to flight the remainder of the invaders.
Croix de Guerre with Bronze Palm
Citation: Awarded French Croix de Guerre with Palm, under Order NO. 12.163 “D”, dated December 8, 1918, General Headquarters, French Armies of the East, with the following citation, “A noncommissioned officer who gave his men a constant example of courage. On August 11, 1918, at the time the regiment was executing a raid, he went into the fight with the attacking detachment in order to guide it on its return. On August 18, he rescued from capture his wounded officer and four men by counter-attacking a group of 25 Germans, killing four of them."
Purple Heart
Life & Service
- Birth: 3 February 1891, White Plains, MD, United States
- Place of Residence:
- Race/Ethnicity: African American
- Death: 27 November 1947 Washington, DC, United States
- Branch: Army
- Military Rank: Sergeant
- Company: [L]
- Infantry Regiment: 369th
- Division: 93rd
William Alexander Butler was born to John L. (1857-?) and Mamie Swan (?-?) on 3 February 1891 in White Plains, Charles County, Maryland, the eldest of two children. Very little is known about William’s early life, other than the fact that he was raised on his father’s farm in Charles County, with his brother Robert, under the watch of their widowed father. It does not appear as though William received a regular education, or even completed his elementary-level education. By the 1910s, both Butler boys had left home, William, moving to Washington, D.C., where he met and married Jennie Robinson (1878-?) on 16 April 1912.
William worked various labor jobs until enlisting in the 15th New York National Guard on 27 September 1916, mustering into federal service on 15 July 1917. Private Butler was made Sergeant on 1 August 1917, just before leaving with Co. L, 369th Infantry Regiment, 93rd Division, for Brest, France in early December 1917. Sgt Butler arrived in the trenches on 12 April 1918, serving at the end of the German Spring Offensive, July 1918, and in the Champagne Sector in September 1918. It was during the Spring Offensive when Sgt Butler was severely gassed, which ended up creating health issues he would continuously suffer from for the remainder of his life. Sgt Butler was wounded again on 28 September, receiving a gunshot wound to the right chest, and, 11 October, a shell fragment causing a wound to the left thigh, both superficial, but the latter receiving him the Purple Heart in 1933. Sgt Butler received the Distinguished Service Cross and Croix de Guerre with Palm for his actions near Maison-de-Champagne, France on 18 August 1918;
“The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Sergeant William Butler (ASN: 104464), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company L, 369th Infantry Regiment, 93d Division, A.E.F., near Maison-de-Champagne, France, 18 August 1918. Sergeant Butler broke up a German raiding party which had succeeded in entering our trenches and capturing some of our men. With an automatic rifle he killed four of the raiding party and captured or put to flight the remainder of the invaders.”
Awarded DSC by CG, AEF, 3 December 1918. Published in G.O. No. 37, WD, 1919.
Awarded French Croix de Guerre with Palm, under Order NO. 12.163 “D”, dated 8 December 1918, General Headquarters, French Armies of the East, with the following citation, “A noncommissioned officer who gave his men a constant example of courage. On August 11, 1918, at the time the regiment was executing a raid, he went into the fight with the attacking detachment in order to guide it on its return. On August 18, he rescued from capture his wounded officer and four men by counter-attacking a group of 25 Germans, killing four of them”.
“For most distinguished personal bravery and self-sacrifice in action above and beyond all call of duty at Maison de Champagne Sector, France, August 18, 1918. During an enemy raid accompanied by a box barrage, Sgt Butler’s platoon commander and four enlisted men were captured by Germans who pushed the prisoners ahead of them down the trench. Sgt Butler on his own initiative advanced down the trench from the opposite direction towards the party and met them at the intersect on of three trenches. Permitting the prisoners to pass the trench intersection, he opened fire on the Germans, killing one and putting the others flight with this automatic rifle. He then searched the surrounding trenches and killed three and wounded or drove out the remainder of the German raiding party including the Lt. in command who was wounded and captured. In defeating this German raiding party Sgt Butler only by his two ammunition carriers”.
Sgt Butler returned to the United States on 19 January, 1919, receiving his Honorable Discharge at Camp Dix, Burlington Co., New Jersey on 28 March, 1919.
William sought treatment for bronchitis and anemia, a result of his gassing, as early as 5 April 1919, continuously doing so as he aged. At some point in the 1930s, William married Amelia Morton (1900-?, maiden name unknown, Morton was her last known married name) in Washington, D.C.
Neither couple (Jennie and William, or Amelia and William) had any children, but William became close to his stepson, John Amos Morton (1920-1969).
William worked as a grocer, truck driver and chauffer until running a coal and ice business in the mid-1940s. At the advice of his doctors, William was forced to retire in 1947 after they were unable to determine a solution to his now-severe respiratory issues. Presumably, the effect of this news resulted in William’s suicide from hanging on 27 November 1947; William is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Excerpt from W. Allison Sweeney's History of the American Negro in the Great World War
“In August, 1918, back in the Champagne, a German raiding party captured a lieutenant and four privates belonging to the 369th Infantry, and was carrying them off when a lone Negro, Sergeant William Butler, a former elevator operator, made his presence known from a shell hole. He communicated with the lieutenant without the knowledge of the Germans and motioned to him to flee. The Lieutenant signaled to the four privates to make a run from the Germans.
As they started Butler yelled, “Look out, you Bush Germans! Here we come,” and he let go with his pistol.
He killed one Boche officer and four privates, and his own men made good their escape. Later the German officer who had been in charge of this raiding party was captured and his written report was obtained. In it he said that he had been obliged to let his prisoners go because he was attacked by an “overwhelming number of blutlustige schwartzemaenner.”
The overwhelming number consisted of Elevator Operator Bill Butler alone.”