In May 1865, and later that year, the Butler Medal was presented to nearly two hundred African American Union soldiers. The medal was originally known as the Colored Troops Medal but the name was changed to Butler Medal after the close of the Civil War. In the modern military, the Butler Medal is considered obsolete. Like the Gillmore Medal, the Kearny Cross and a number of other awards of the conflict, it was a unit-specific Civil War medal. As it was a privately issued award, by army standards it is an unofficial decoration, although one of the oldest issued to members of the service.