, 1862-12-09
HEiEAL GE GEN B.HTz. ..Edss1x
POINTER.
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Gem. Porter.

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Gem. Porter.
:. Inc case Of General Porter was continued
III eohft-martlai on Thursday, and Gen Pope
t,;; n;s eA:'1hlea. a Lie commenced by giving de-
.M'"nelison, On the 9th Of August last, bcin.
1ncn reinforced ly portions Of Bur,1sid:'s and
Hclnt zciman's corps, and on tho morning od
mat day by half Of General Portcr's corps.
1te did not see, only at distance, Portcrs
troops, numbering some 4.5oO Soon after
rcnton Junction, all order, dated Bristow Sta
lion, was issued and semi to General Porter.
requiring lliIn to be at that place by daylight
Tie next day. The reason for this Vas
that Gener,' Hooker, who had had a
severe sesere ,1g hghf with the enemy, had re-
munlilon to each man left, and tIackson';
and Ewcll'e rebel divisions hcing beyond near
Alanass:'s, and iii attack imminent the next
morning from them. Hooker needed rein
f0rcements- 1t WIS for this reason that lie
!fope) WIS SO anxious to have General Por-
t. march nine miles, and it would have taken
lhr.c Eours as the road was in good condition,
having ridden over it himself. Porter was
certainly expected at four o'clock il the
morning.
Qucs1iop-Did General Pnrf or ohrv That or.
der?
Answcr-He did not.
Ques1ion-Wls,t time did Gen. Porter ar
rive at Bristow.
Answer-At ten o'clock in the morning,
Gtn. Porter wrote me note, which received
Oh the morning Of the 2Stfl, a little before
daylight, explaining why he did NOT obey that
order. havc mislaid the note, and laye
searched in vain for it. In answer to another
question General Pope said there were no OBJ
stacles in tie road, and that it was tile duty of
Gen Porter to have made every effort to com
ply with the order Gen. Pope then detailed
his orders, and the condition and movements
o. Ct taS .5ot,, several N corps Of his army on
understood during the night of
the 2sth that the troops under Jackson
had withdrawn to Manassas and had therefore,
feared, lefl open Jackso1l's retreat in the di-
rection Of Thorougl1fare Gap, to which point
the main portion Of the army Of Gen. Lee was
then tending, to reinforce him. did not de-
sire to pursue Jackson beyond the town Of
Gainesville, as we could not have done so on
account Of tue lack Of supplies Of rations for
aen and horses. NY order, therefore, to
Porter and Mcdowell directed them to pursue
the route to Gainesville, until they effected a
junction with the forces which were marching
upon Gainesville from Centrerille, under
Htint zclman, Sige1 and Reno, that when that
Junction WIS formed, as I expected, it would
have been very near to Gainesville, tile whole
NoA-A11t*AA NAAottAA 4A4t3 ~ SIlu IT.
fore, not feasible for my commaud, in tho con
dition it then was to pursue Jaclkson's forces
further. During the whole morning The
forces under Sigcl and He;,lsze1man had kept
up skirmishing with the rear of Jackson 5
forces; they were brought to Il stand at Grove
ton, think about eight miles from Ccatr-
Vile, perhaps five CT six from Gainesville, for
1he reason that was not satisfied Of the enc
mys position. About daylight in the morn
leg sent Gtn. Porter an order to take his
own army corps, which WAS then at Manassas
Junction and which by my order had been re-
forward in the direction Of Gainesville
Gen. Pope then proce2dcd TO say that he
rode On the battle field Of the 9Th and found
Sisel needing rcinforcc1nents. That his tr.,A,,s
were 50 weak thai Gen. Sigel said they r,s,st
be withdrawn from action. Lie {Popc) told
item to maintain their position, rs Porter :,ld
Mcdowell would soon be On their right. But
the order 10 Gen. Porter 10 20 on to The right
WAS not obeyed. Learning from Il notc from
Gen. Porter to Gen. Mcdowell that le {I'or-
teri was retreatirg to Manassas, because he
tPorter) believed VIC were retreating and the
enemy. advancing, Pope then said he sent to
ten. Porter dirtc1ing him Immediately upon
receipt OF the order 10 march his whole com
ns:1d to the iield Of battle, and to report to
NE i'll person for orders, stating to him that
expected him 10 comply strictly with that
order, put it i'll such form w:ls not entirely
courteous, because l had understood Gen.
Porter, u}:on several occasions previous, to.
h:ye disob,yed ,1lc orders that i scnt him.
The first of ihcSe orders was superseded by
the one issued to Gen. Mcdowell subse-
Nnentiy.
The examination continued at length, Gen.
Pope. in conclusion, giving expression 10 the
following: Had Gen. Porter fallen u,;on the
Hank Of Tic c.lenly, rs it vas hop.d al :ny
tInie III to eight Q clock that night: it WIS our
1irn con1i iction tim, We should have DESTROYED
lie army Of Jackson"
question was asked General Pope what
led g the conversation between himself and
General Porter at Fairfax Court-Ho1,s on
Ter brought into his {?opc's) room a dispatch
OF some kind from General NcCIel1n, in
which lie urged Upol Porter to support him
tpolt> in the operations cf the army. This
1isl;tch, which General Pope recognized as
the cnr alluded in. is a.: follows:
WARl'lPAETNESr, Sept. l: $50 p. N.
Si:;or General El:z John Porter:
ask Of yau, for my sake, and that Of tho
country and fhe old Army Of The Pol omac,
la! you and I'LL my friends will lend he full
LIST AMI most cordial cooperation to General
Polc in I'll lie operations now going on. Tile
honor Of our arms now depends upon The
cheerful GO operation Of all in the field This
week is the crisis Of our fate. Say the same
things IL all MY friends in t!r. army. This is
tile last re4ues, ..:sy, to 'n.kc-ti,at fur our
c."Hntry's s:l1t you will give 10 General Purc
i!is ''''ie :ts>i-t::iicc Yen IEsye given to me- I
an: in the dcf:nscs 1T Washington, and will
render I'LL protection in covering your retreat
should it bc necessary.
GEO. B. MCCLELLAN.
The question Was then asked Of Gen. Pope
why lie stated to istn. Porter on September
"a that j. doubled whether lie would take
any action against Gen. Porter, although lie
felt himself bound to report tn Gen. Griffin,
ut the same time admitting That, in co1lsc-
4ucDcc Of the disobed;eace IF orders by Cen
por;er, the national capital WAS threatened,
Jaekst'l1's forces having escaped. Pope said
tie question was Il personal one, and lc wou,d
moi answer; and ti.e court decided tI,r cues
tlon rs Irrelevant, and objections were filed.