Biography
Walter Raleigh Butt was a United States naval officer detained in 1861 after returning aboard USS Constellation. The Official Records roster records Walter R. Butt committed by the Secretary of the Navy on October 2, 1861. Historic Ships in Baltimore reports that Butt and Benjamin P. Loyall refused the loyalty oath at Portsmouth. The Naval Historical Center identifies him as dismissed from the U.S. Navy in October 1861 and imprisoned at Fort Warren until parole in late December; he entered Confederate naval service in January 1862. His October 2 commitment date is not assigned as a proven physical arrest date, and no exact parole date is assigned. Sources: Official Records, series II, volume II, printed pages 103 and 230, https://archive.org/details/cu31924079570242; Historic Ships in Baltimore, newsletter Fall 2008, https://historicships.org/uploads/files/Volume10Issue4-Fall2008.pdf; Naval Historical Center, Walter R. Butt biography and photograph NH 56279, https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/pers-us/uspers-b/wr-butt.htm.
The Fort Lafayette return records admission on October 2, 1861; this is a prison admission, not a separately verified physical arrest day. The return records transfer to Fort Warren on October 30, 1861; this is not final release. Source: Official Records, Series II, Volume II, printed page 230, https://archive.org/details/cu31924079570242/page/n245/mode/1up. The institution-specific admission recorded here does not establish the start of all custody in this case; a complete imprisonment total is therefore left unspecified.
The Fort Lafayette confinement return dated October 14, 1861 records receipt at that fort on October 2, 1861, committed by the Secretary of the Navy. This is an institutional admission date rather than a separately established physical arrest day. Source: Official Records, Series II, Volume II, printed page 103, https://archive.org/details/cu31924079570242/page/n118/mode/1up.
