St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1875-04-02

pubic Worship. engaging III exercise
of devotion appropriate To the occasion
and observe the day i'll Il manner wor.
thy of the high and holy purpose Il
which it WAS dedicated 10y the custom
and example of Our ForeiilthrrS.
The Case of Fitz John Porter.
There i an effort to get the ease ~
Gen. Porter opened and another hear
ing. 1t is claimed that new evidence
! has come to light since the tmdim" al
the court martial. which may he able
to acquit him of the crime of which he
stands convicted. y correspondent "i
the Cincinnati Commercial writes very
warmly on this subject:
Fitz John Porter has published AN
other appeal tnI Il rchraliug. In it h,
accuses Gen. Pope "t using his influence
To prevent Il rrhcarlug. This charge
i sufficiently answered lay II letter from
Pope - the President. written nearly Il
wear ago.
Porter cannot keep still. He is like
Il man in Il qulrk>amd. he cant hcip
>tIuggiu" though every effort sinks
him deeper. The more his ease j. rN-
amiucd the palmer his crime appears.
| lac transaction l. too recent to lr
mi>rrpJc>cntrd. There are too many
men still Twin" in Ohio and Wisconsin
VII" may rcmrImhcr how Indignantly
they chatcd ut hcing held back from
the field where their comrades were
vaimlN struggling with "vclw hcmiug
numbers.
Gen. Jackson. with his dashimg adj
Vance. got /" Il point where. 10y rapid
concentration. he could hc crushed he
fore Lees army could come up To his
Ic>ruc. The first daN of the second
battle of Bull Run was fought between
Pope and Jack son on the 2Ith Of Au-
. gust. l>ti2. Porter and Mcdowell. un-
dcI orders from Pope t" march 1" his
aid. moved ont ON the morning of that
day. At noon. Porter having marched
three al four miles. halted. Mcdowell
passed 10y. and following mp the sounds
"t Tho c"mtrmding guns. took his place
in the battle that was raging.
Porter lay on the road all the after
noon. He heard the sound of the bat
tie. His corps comprised onc-llIild of
;hc forces under Pnpc> command. Ii
contained nearly all the infantry and
ARTILLERY of the regular army. His men
were fresh. they had marched little
more than six miles III two days. He
lay in careless di>nhcdicncc, amusing
himself with sending back to Alexandria
in~uhorlimatc letters abusing his com
mandcI. li>tlcs>lN hearing the battle
going ON. and finally writing f" Me
Dowcll and King that our army seemed.
from the sounds nt the guns. To- he re-
treating. and he would retreat 10y an
other road. He received another pre-
cmptnrI order from Pope t" advance.
and thrrrup"n retrcatcd 10y Il road
which led him further from his suffer
ing comrades.
That is the whole story, II" statement
OF which is denied 10y Porter He SAYS.
and that is as he SAYS. there was Il force
III his front which Pope WAS not awaIc
ot and he would have been hurt if he
had moved forward and encountered
il.
1t happened several times III the war;
aS II must happen IN every war. that II
part Ot the army was sent To Il post ion
where il must I've crushed. but where
its engagement enabled the army as Il
whole to win victory. That is IL mat
ter for the commander t" Judge Of
success is impossible if ii subordinate
can say the part assigned to him in Il
battle is too hazardous. and he will
keep ont of the way. leaving the lest to
fight it out.
But, by the captured records. we
know now just what WAS the force in
Porter's front. Porter reports he SAW
the dust of Il heavy column. and cX-
changed some shots with their batteries
The heavy column WAS, in fact, simply
Stuart'S cavalry. Gen. Stuart saws in
his official report to Lee, that on seeing
Porter's column i'll the road. he kept
entertainments of cavalry dragging brush
down the road from the direction of
GAINESVILLE, so us to deceive the enemy.
Il ruse which Porter'S report shows was
successful : obtained il reinforcement
Of three brigadeS of infantry and some
guns, with which he fired few shots
when the enemy Porter Withdrew
toward Manassas.
1t was to save his corps from Il peril
Gus encounter with few troops drag
ring brush over Il dusty road, that Fitz
John Porter admits he violated express
orders, and left his commander to strug-
gle unaided till forces coming up in the
night crushed him next day.
Treason is a crime against the law.
\ man may he Il traitor under the law
without consciously soiling his personal
honor. But the treachery of soldier
on the field of battle. is personal base
ness. W hen an officer is guilty of that,
the greatest boon he can ask is to he
forgotten.