Tuhia he haere tonu mo tenei whitianga - I whakamohio a Grant ki a Butler mo tana whakamaharatanga i te Hanuere 8, 1865, a i whakaingoatia a Major General Edward OC Ord hei whakakapi i a ia hei rangatira mo te ope taua o James. Engari i te ripoata ki a Lowell, i haere a Butler ki Washington, i reira i whakamahia ai e ia ana hononga torangapu nui ki te whakarongo ki mua o te Komiti Joint Congress mo te Whakahaere i te Pakanga i waenganui o Hanuere. I tana whakarongo, i arotahi a Butler ki tana whakapae mo ana mahi i Fort Fisher. I whakaputahia e ia nga mahere me nga kape o nga purongo a nga kaitohutohu hei whakaatu i te tika o tana karanga i tana whakaeke ki Fort Fisher, ahakoa nga whakahau a General Grant. I kī a Butler kāore e taea te whakaeke i te pā. Ki tana whakama, ko te haerenga whai ake i arahina e Maj. Gen. Alfred H. Terry me Brig. Gen. Adelbert Ames (te tane a Butler a muri ake nei) i mau ki te pa
I te 15 o Hanuere, ka tae mai te rongo mo tenei wikitoria i te wa o te whakarongo a te komiti; kua mutu te mahi hoia a Butler. I mau tonu ia tae noa ki te Noema 1865 me te whakaaro ka mahi ia hei kaiwhakawhiwhi hoia mo te Perehitini Confederate a Jefferson Davis.