Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1882-11-30
WITH LoNGsrEET's PRESENCE

WIN LONdSiEEI ;
to have observed that order, he (Porter)
would have been obliged with 10000
men to have defeated rs, 900 men in a
chosen position before he could have
moved upon the flank of the enemy, as
the order directed. But even if the po-
sltlon of Lees army had been thirty-six
10 torty-eight hours distant, as asserted
in the joint orders to Mcdowell and Por-
ter, it would have been impossible for
Porter 10 have obeyed the 4:30 p. M. or
der, because it did not contemplate a
night attack and was not received by
Porter until about dark. To Lave
obeyed it would have required some lit
tie preparation for the movement of
troops and the distribution of orders, so
that it would have been some time after
dark before he could have moved from
the position he was then occupying,
and at LEASE as late as 8 o'clock at night
before he could have reached Jackson's
Hank to engage it, His efforts to exc
ct5e the order, Notwithstanding its ap-
parent appropriateness. demonstrates
this assertion. / consider that these
facts, with many more that were brought
~ M hAiON Ctl2t vi lllt t1Ctkuiitlh UOdItt
fully exonerate Gen. Porter from the
charge of disobedience of what is known
as the 1870 order, and also of lukewarm-
ness in his support of the commanding
general.
A great deal might be said Of the
movements, marching and counter
marching OF the troops between, the
date of the order of the 9th of Au-
gust and the receipt of the order of the
29th which throw light upon this ques-
ton, but | abstain from giving it, be-
aus | believe what is stated here COW
ers all the points wherein Gen. Porter
has been charged with being delinquent.
Gen. Porter has now for twenty years
been laboring under the disabilities and
penalties inflicted upon him by the
court martial of 1862, all that time con-
tending for a restoration to his position
in the army and society," and always,
as stated in the beginning of this article,
on the ground of his innocence. The
investigation of the Schofield board has,
in my judgment, established his inno-
cence of all the otfenses for which he
was tried and convicted. The sufferings
of twenty years under such findings for
himself and family and friends is some
thing it is now impossible to right.
Twenty years of the best part of his life
have been consumed in trying to have
his name and reputation restored before
his countrymen. In his application,
now before congress, he is asking only
that he may be restored to the rolls of
the army, with the rank that he should
have if the court martial had never.
oeen held. This, in my Judgment, is Il
9ery small part of what it is possible to
40 in this case, and of what ought to be
done. Gen. Porter should, in the way
OF partial restitution, be declared by
congress to have been convicted on mis-
taken testimony, therefore to have never
been out of the army. This would make
him y major general of volunteers until
the date might be fixed for his muster
out as Of that rank, after which he
should be continued as a colonel of in
fantry and breyet brigadier general OF
the United States army from the date of
the act, when he could be placed upon
The retired list with that rank. If a sol
cmn and sincere expression Of my thor
ough understanding of belief in the en-
tire innocence of Gen. Porter will tend
to draw the public mind to the same
conviction | shall feel abundantly re-
warded for mysefiorts. It will always
be q pleasure to me as well as a duty TO
be the instrument, even in the smallest
degree, of setting right a mar who has
beeen grossly wronged, especially If he
has risked his life and reputation in the
defense Of his country. | feel, as | said
on a previous occasion, a double inter-
est in this particular case. because di-
rectly after the war, as general of the
army, when Knight have been instru-
mental in having justice done to Gen.
Porter. and later as president of the
United States, when ! certainly could
have done so, | labored under the firm
conviction that he was guilty, that the
facts OF the receipt of the 1870 oIder
were As found by the court, and that
the position of the troops and numbers
We're rs given in the first Of these dia-
grams. Having become betterinfOrmed,
| at once voluntarily gave, as | have
continued to give, my earnest efforts to
impress the minds Of my countrymen
with the justice OF this case, and to Sc
cure from u government, as far as it
could grant il, the restitution due to Gen.
Eitz John Porter. L. S. GRANT.