[1] He entered the Navy on 4 February 1786, as captain's servant on board the cutter Barracouta, under the command of his relative[note 1] Lieutenant Robert Barlow, employed in suppressing smuggling in the English Channel.
He was the first lieutenant of Aquilon when she acted as a repeating ship in Admiral Lord Bridport's battle with the French off the Ile de Groix on 23 June 1795.
On 9 October 1795 Butcher was appointed to the ship Sans Pareil, flagship of Lord Hugh Seymour, serving in the Channel and the West Indies.
On 21 April 1801, Butcher, under cover of the Guachapin's fire, cut out a privateer from the Bay of Aguada, Puerto Rico, even though it was lashed to the shore and defended by two formidable batteries and a range of howitzers and small arms.
Subsequently, by order from Lord Melville, Captain Butcher attended a grand levée at Portsmouth, and was presented to the Prince Regent by Rear-Admiral Sir Henry Blackwood as "the officer who had so highly distinguished himself in the Scheldt."
[3] Butcher saw no further service afloat, but continued to progress up the Navy List until attaining flag-rank; being promoted to rear-admiral on 17 August 1840,[7] then to vice-admiral on 19 February 1847.