Benjamin Butler was a Union general in the U.S Civil war. He is one of the first generals appointed by President Abraham Lincoln, and his first task is to defend the capital Washington DC in case the State of Maryland seceded from the Union. In 1861, he was tasked to secure Fort Monroe, which lies on the mouth of the James River and guards the Hampton Roads. Fort Monroe posed a threat to Richmond, the Confederate Capital. There, Gen. Butler famously decreed that all escaping slaves that crossed the Union lines would not be returned to their owners, in defiance of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.