, 1863-02-04
Ql)ifa9o Wrlbt1ne.
TIsE MODERN ARNOLD.
Fttx + ohm Porter Branded and Turned
T,nDAN.

trslitor Arnold; the second war with England
produced another-uull; and the third war
for American liberty has produced a third
Porter.
Passing over the period when Porter was
the pct and eccrete emlssary Of the thief and
traitor Floyd, and was sent by tlis1t miscreant
on confidential mission to Fort Sumter:
and passing over his fnsidious advice to the
loyal soldier In command that "Eerc he in
charge, be would not attempt to defend the
work, If attacked from the lind side;'' pass
Ing over his performances when acting Is
CHIEF Of staff under Patterson during the first.
battle Of Bull Run, when by his advice and
influence the force Of Patterson was with
held from, reinforcing or helping Mcdowell,
which caused the carnage and disasters .:
that dreadful day; passing from thence, We
trace Porter as the leading ndyiser Of the long
and inglozious inactivity before Manassas;
the engineer who protractcd the disgracefal
siege Of Yorktown; the 6tratecist who de-
liberately planted his batteries In ravine lin
one Of the ecycn days bnttles), Instead Of on
a hight, while he streamed his regiments be.
gabre,,r who lied precipitately from the s1eers
OF brave Mccall, when the butternut lines
were advancing upon them at Gaines Mill;
the traitor who Eai1cd Pope at Ccntrcyille, and
tic uugratcful comrade who, when Burnside
was sinking under the accumulated weight
Of Hill and Longstreet, at Antietam, refused
rcinforcements out Of the 50 900, which had
stood idle under him during all the fierce temp
tatious Of TINT day. His whole career, therefore,
is one consistent current Of darkly suspicious
acts; and, At the eud, he stands convicted by
the solemn Judgment Of hts peers, Of avllla1ny
which equals the measure Of the worst that
had been thought Of him before. 1t is seldom
that, in the course even Of the longest life,
one man has the opportunity for so much evil
as Fitz Porter found in the space Of twenty
months; and that he improved all the occa-
sions which were thus presented, no one who
has read the testimony In the recent trial, and
been an observer of his previous career, can,
for Il moment, doubt.
The charges against him in that proceeding
were, that having, while at Warrenton juno
tion, Va, on the evening Of the eth August
last, received an urgent order from Gen. Pope
to move forward at one o'clock on the follow
ing morning to Bristow Station, (which was
attack the enemy at daylight; le deliberately
disobeyed that order, went to sleep upon 1t.
and did not begin to move his men till day-
light. The second charge was, that on the
day but one aftcrwarI; to wit, the 29th Au-
gust, lie, while in sight Of The enemy, at the
distance of but mile and a half for seven
hours, did, after receiving an order to attack,
Ehalncfully turn his back upon tho foe+ whose
inferior force lie might easily have crushed,
and march from the sound Of the hostile can
non with his whole division, thus leaving
tlsc exhausted Federal forces to be outnum.
.Iercd und driven disastrously back upon Ar
ington Hights and Alexandria.
The testimony on the second charge makes
some astounding revelations. Happears that
on tie morning of~thc 29th, Porter and Nc
DoweN were ordered to move forward to-
gether OH O given road, and follow 1t till they
met tho enemy, unless Mcdowell, who ranked
Fttz John, should decide that any consider
able advantages were to bc gained by pursuing
a different course. On arriving at certain
point in their march, Mcdowell decided TINT
the commands had better be separated,
and Informing the accused that he, Mellow
. ell, would move on with his division,
and attack the enemy upon the center, di:
rected him to take q road leading to the left
where the rising dust showed that the enemy
might there be taken In tho flank. The ac-
cused, however, instead Of receiving the or.
erwith the spirit Of 4 soldier, merely pointed
with his hand to the dust rising above the
trees aud remnrked-1,Wc cannot 80 in there,
anywhere, without getting into tlght.'' The
answer Of Mcdowell was" That's what we
came for!" whereupon being full Of his bust
ness he huriedly rode of Porter then, in q
mere semblance Of obedience ordered . por,
tion of his forces. under Griffin, to move for.
ward, but when they had advanced about G0s
yards he directed them to halt. In this posi-
fion he remained till after5 5 O'Clock, p. n.
with his Is, GOO well appointed men, perfectly
III ihc Will were cont rihnt;nr - ta herr,s.s ani
nrcrr1c1Yn mr. cnnfrr Am,5ed at porters.
ahscncc % from the fishf. Pone nj 1enrtf sem
him an order dated At hnlf-past J., p. NJ, "tt
push forward into action at once, on ths
.e.ra Ti;s arder ' ,ras s dc1iveTcd + IL u h;n, ~
f ;,,1f,,st 5n,sncE Il" rocc;rea - E1;,e w YIN,
do,yn nn1cr n s1,a5c trcn and ~iI1,ont -
| tempting to obey, be continued reposing il
| fs,c fsme manner. during tho twcnty ninI,tc
the messenger remained: In noticing tn
testimony on this point, Judge Holt employ
the following language.
asepaso 19f 3o nn. NJ nF liz Soa h,t ~
ra,.i,,, INV ;mnristc1T to his ri"ht Ita dnst an
sTnke wcrc he5nre his cves AMI Tia Ieyerbcratin
Known s the ahaDstion t IN and eaTna.e eonssuue a
nnon fhis proianrcd rnnt,Ict nn;i ha hai 1cssan +
| Believe. as shown by his nofc to Gems McDnwe
and King. that our army Was giving Wy before th
nSasS m fs Inc ensf s & MS lac Gon
not fought nt oil on that day Under these circun
stances, should not an order TO charge the cnc1u
have electrified him as soldier: and have b1ous1
Eln noI ondy 70 ns Icy anu 70 De eaaae, nul Aa5
ont his camns I;,t tho Snaln R Ioic Of tia or5
seems TO havc fallen unheet{cd, aud after realz
It. and at the close OF an interview Of from 1ftce
to twsnty minutes. the ancsscnger who bore i
tue ground.
In 4 little while after the departure Of ii
messenger, Porter gavc an order to 1All bacl
aud deliberately retired altogether from II
thcatcr Of the still raging battle. AL this w;
known Two days af1erWari by Mcclellan, =
he retained Fitz John rs his chief corps cor
mande. and pefmlttea n lit so him \. te perform Il
battle Of Antictam.
tint thc.c is one fc,ture of thc ;nact,on of Il
ACCUSED On The s9th,' eavs Judsu Adyocatc uo
(which Il is especially rorrovfa1 to conternplat
and Its snoks and the da9; Of the gathering fore
houf rc.s e to n1ane Iaa IN
the Sombst It II difHcnit to conceiycl BIt n
Alone Is not the saddcst atnect In which hIs co,
dpct presents itself, Colonel Marshall states tla
from the chccrings and peculiar yclt or the encn
icnrd On tho evening Of thc nth, he, md cscl
man o. aie f1 AZ tnns n,5 rope
W.! "s.a .s 49,, 49, -. 80 ~. T ~. II
It's fur1her Ksatca " Juugc dolt taaE q
eusis " ~ s,,t 11ual r;rocons Gs n1t.cI u
the testimony -lnat vigorous attaek ups
. the enemy by me accused, NJ any ume U
tween twclSe O'Clock, Wncn me battle nesa
and dark, wien II closed, would nave sccuf.
: 4 triAmph toT our arms, aud not only u
. overthrow Of tlt rebc! forces. but prooao
the destruction Of Jac.1kon's army. III
:" opinion, IN c1Gct, Is snphatlGa!ly cypress @
e pnd by Lieut., Col. Smith, all Of whom par
cipated In the engagement, and were VI
qualified to Judge. Gen. Roberts, who v
, on the tield throughout the day, says: ~ I
J not doubt at all that It would hare resulted
!. the defeat, If not in the capture Of the ma