Omaha daily bee., 1882-12-30

had place in the senate he shout
feelit bis duty to oppose this measure
The bill proposed that congress shoul
review the action Of the court martis
aud determine whether it's decisio
was correct upon the law and facts
Ii the decision Of the court martial wa
correct, congress certainly ought not t
put Porter back into the army. Ii tn
decision was wrong congress undoubi
eddy had q right to ~reiustate him tn
sgmy, but he still had no right to re
view the action OF a court martial
Senator Logan argued in support o
his views heretofore announced
The S,ho6eld board, which reviewe,
the Porter case, was without authorit,
of law. Gen. Pope had been criticise,
fJt nos having appeared before tina
board II he (Logsp) had been sub
Us Iaed before 1t he would have do
ciined to appear and would have 10
the president know he had no author
ity TO constitute the board. In read
ing their report he found it diffiou
to tell whether they were trying Por
ter or Gen. Pope, but it showed
clearly they had not read the record
They said the order to attack sen
Porter was an order to attack Jack
sons right flank, though the ordsI
says nothing about Jackson buI
directs IN attack ''on the right flank
or the rear of the enemy, which wal
in fact commanded by Longstreet
Con. Grant had fallen into the same
error. The board said also PORTER
subordinate and wise conduc'
that evening saved the unior
army" That meant that wher
the whole confederate force except q
few brigades was attacking pope'l
32, 900 men, Porter lying BY with
IA 900 men with arms stacke 1 saved
tho union army. Saved it from what.
Not from being beaten, for 1t wa.
beaten. Upon this principle, If the
whole union army had stacked arm.
nobody would have been hurt.
Laughter, The board went upon
The theory that the reports upon
which the court martial convicted
Porter were those of the 30th OF
Aug ust instead of the 29th, and that
the confederate Generals Lee, Long.
street, Stuart and Rosser, should read
the 30th and not the Goth, as they did
read. In fact no man familiar with
the case could avoid the conclusion
that the board paid no attention to
the evidence or that they per.
verified and distorted it in every
possible way. Boards, like other
people were afflicted sometimes by
strange influences, and there was q
curiou s fact that ought to BE- stated in
connection with this one. At the time
the board organized Gen. Mcdowell
was of age to retire, and Gen. Pope was
the next ranking officer, but two of the
members of the board wer applicants
for the place. OF course, that did not
affect their jungment in any way, yet,
strange to say, up to the time when
Pope was nominated and confirmed,
there was a constant war waged upon
him with a view of breaking him down
so somebody else should get the place
to which he was entitled. Members
OF the board, being honorable gentle.
rlef could uot,of course, have anything
to do with this; but Is Pop, was now
in the place the attacks would prob.
ably cease. In the attempt to make a
case for Porter, every great name,
and dead was 'rung in" and
it had been stated that
President Lincoln repented of
having approved OF the finding
of the court martial and intended
Porter a new trial. Lincoln
was too good a lawyer not to know he
had no POWER to grant a nav trial and
as to bis alleged repentance tho best
evidence was the testimony of Robert
Lincoln that his father had talked
with him about the case and had said
that in his opinion it was one which
would have justified a sentence of
The statement had been made
also that Gen. Garfield had repented
of his action as a member of the
court martial but it wac untrue, for as
late as February, 1880, long after this
board had made it's report, Garfield
conversed with him (Logap) about the
case and was preparing q speech to be
delivered in the house in opposition
to the relief bill. He had also written
o letter to General Cox, of Ohio,
which Logan had read by the clerk,
stating that he had been so stunned
by the decision of the Schofsld board
that he could hardly trust himself
to speak of it as It appeared to
him.
Returning from his depression Lo.
gan said: He had recently asked a
gentleman very high in the army, and
under whom he had served in the west,
what he thought would have been done
to him (Logan) if he had sent to his
commanding officer to move wagons out
of his way, and the distinguishes gen.
tleman had replied, swell, I think
you would have been pat tn; TO a dry
nurse" [Llughter But one of the
worries great military chiefs, Gen.
Grant,, had said recently thar Porter
could not move becau, 20 the road was
obstruoted. That great commander,
Logan said, held a different opinion
upon the subject of marching
in spite of obstacles when he led
our armies In the field, and in
support Of this statement he read
from Badesu's military history several
instances of forced marches made OF
ordered by General Grant, one being
a case where the troops had had little
or no rest for a week. A friend now
sits before me, said Logan, pointing
to Senator Miller, of California, who
marched one rainy night with 6, 200
men to oppose 60,O00, and held them
there until a general could come 10
his relief. [Murmurs of applause.
Senator Hosr observed that Logan
and General Grant did not agree as t.
facts, and he wished to ascertain
which person was correct. General
Grants statement was that by etart
ing at 3 instead of /, General Por.
ter could have had his men