Richard Butler (April 1, 1743 – November 4, 1791) was an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War who was later killed while he was fighting Native Americans in the United States in a battle that is known as St. Clair's Defeat. Family Born in St. Bridget's Parish, Dublin, Ireland, Richard Butler was the oldest son of Thomas and Eleanor (Parker) Butler. Thomas Butler was an Irish aristocrat who served in the British army. He was the brother of Colonel Thomas Butler and Captain Edward Butler. All three brothers served in the American Revolution and in the Northwest Indian War against the Western Confederacy of Native American tribes in the Northwest Territories. His two other brothers, William and Percival, served in the Revolution but did not see later military service. Early life In 1748 Butler's father opened a gun shop in Dublin, but that same year the family moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he learned to make the Pennsylvania long rifles used in the French and Indian War. By 1760, the family had moved to the frontier at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where Thomas and his sons manufactured long rifles and became friends with Daniel Morgan. The Butler gun shop still stands in Carlisle. By the 1770s, Richard Butler and his brother William were important traders at Fort Pitt in Pennsylvania and in Ohio. A street in Pittsburgh, Butler Street, is named for them. American Revolution At the outset of the American Revolution, the Continental Congress named Richard Butler a commissioner in 1775 to negotiate with the Indians. He visited representatives of the Delaware, Shawnee, and other tribes to secure their support, or at least neutrality, in the war with Britain. On July 20, 1776, Butler was commissioned a major in the 8th Pennsylvania Regiment in the Continental Army, serving first as second in command to his friend Daniel Morgan. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on March 12, 1777 retroactive to September 1776. On June 7, 1777 he was promoted to colonel and placed in command of 9th Pennsylvania Regiment. During the war he saw action at the Battle of Saratoga (1777) and the Battle of Monmouth (1778). His four other brothers also served, and were noted for their bravery as the "fighting Butlers". In January 1781 he was transferred to the 5th Pennsylvania and lead the Continental Army at the Battle of Spencer's Ordinary. At the conclusion