Kammala jumla mai zuwa: Grant ya sanar da Butler game da tunaninta a ranar 8 ga Janairu, 1865, kuma ya kira Major General Edward OC Ord don maye gurbinsa a matsayin kwamandan sojojin James. Maimakon bayar da rahoto ga Lowell, Butler ya tafi Washington, inda ya yi amfani da haɗin gwiwar siyasa mai yawa don samun sauraro a gaban Kwamitin Majalisar Dattijai a kan Gudanar da War a tsakiyar watan Janairu. A lokacin sauraronsa Butler ya mayar da hankali ga kare shi a kan ayyukansa a Fort Fisher. Ya gabatar da taswirar da kuma takardun rahotanni na ma'aikatansa don tabbatar da cewa ya yi daidai ya janye harin da ya kai a Fort Fisher, duk da umarnin Janar Grant da akasin haka. Butler ya yi iƙirarin cewa sansanin ba za a iya shiga ba. Ga abin kunya, wani bincike na gaba wanda Manjo Janar Alfred H. Terry da Brig. Janar Adelbert Ames (ɗan surukin Butler na gaba) suka jagoranci
An kama sansanin soja a ranar 15 ga Janairu, kuma labarin wannan nasarar ya zo a lokacin sauraron kwamitin; aikin soja na Butler ya ƙare. An riƙe shi a hukumance har zuwa Nuwamba 1865 tare da ra'ayin cewa zai iya aiki a matsayin mai gabatar da kara na soja na shugaban kasa Jefferson Davis.