A Confederate shell sank General Benjamin Butler's dredge boat on the James River in Virginia. Union General Ulysses S. Grant appointed Butler as commander of the Army of the James River in the spring of 1864. He led unsuccessful military campaigns in Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia. After failing to capture a Confederate fort in Wilmington, North Carolina in December 1864, General Grant and President Lincoln relieved Butler of his command. General Butler's dredge boat sinking on Virginia's James River.