Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1882-11-30
GRANTS GAMMMOy.
The Causes Which Led this Military ch,.e,.,.
Take RaeL ~

iaAe Back Wafer on the Porter Matter.
IN the December number of the North
american Review, Gen. Grant has an
article OF ten'pages entitled An Undes-
erVed Stigma. in which he reviews the
fiel-John Porter case, reaching the con-
clasion, from military considerations.
that the finding of the court martial
was erroneous, and that a great wrong
was lone to Gen. Porter, which oupl,f
TO be undone as tar as is now possible.
and as speedily as possible. After re-
Citlhg the charges preferred AGAINST
Iorler' ana the finding Of the court. he
taxes up the alleged d~isobedience Of
Uen. rope S order Of Aug. y. 6;3O n.
M, winch directed Porter to march At
l 0 CLOCK III the morning from Warren
ION Junction 10 Bristoc station Pope's
headquarters.) This order was receiv-
ca at 10 p. m Pnrter's troops had
Oeen marching all day HnI we're eery
much iatiguesl. The night yas extre-
meiY dark, the road to Bristoe station
narrow and 50 badly blocked with army
wagons, that many Of them mired. that
the aide who carried Pope's orders was
three hours-in making the distance, ten
miles. Porter called his generals to-
gether, showed them The order, and
they all decided that a DELAY of two
hours while the road was being cleared
would enable them to get through as
quickly as by starting at once, and
would bring the troops to the desired
point in much better condition. Gen.
Grant continues:
1t is shown that a literal obedience
to the order Of the 27th Of August was
a nhUgfpial n1nnaafb5fs4r~ l. = nj
shown that Gen. Porter was DESTROYS of
obeying it literally so far as was prac-
ticable, but was prevailed upon by his
leading generals, against whom a sus-
picion Of disloyalty to their commander
orst to the cause has never beer enter
tanned. to do what his own Judgment
approved rs the best thing TO do, make
a later start with a view of arriving at
his destination rs early as it was posi-
bic for him to arrive there. and to give
to his iaded and worn out troops two
hours more of needed rest. Ifthe night
had been clear and the road an open
n there would not have been as much
justification for the exercise Of his dis
erection in the matter, but there is no
doubt that he wonld have arrived at
Brlstoe Station just as early and with
his troops in much better condition if
he had started at early dawn instead
Of when he did, and the intervening
time had been used in clearing the road
for his troops, when they did march.
Where there WEE open spaces along
the line of the I'D they were either
marshy, filed with stumps of trees. and
impossible to march over, or were
crowded with army wagons so that The
track of the army was limited to the en-
numbered narrow road between the
points designated in the order, which
could be cleared only by the wagons
being moved ahead as requested of
Pope Much Of the testimony before
the our and before the army board
might be quoted to confirm what is here
stated, but as this is all accessible to
the reader, | will not lenglhen this
statement by quoting it. | question
very much whether there was an en-
gagement during the war, or 4 series of
engagements, continuing over rs much
time as was consumed by the battles
about Bun Run in August, 1862, when
not only one but q number Of generals
did not
EXERCISE THEIR DISCRETION
as Porter did G9l this occasion, and
with far less Justification. The COM
handing general who gave the order
desited to have the troops at a certain
point by daylight, and he gave his or
ders so rs TO accomplish that result.
Under the circumstances, his order re-
quired of the troops an lmpOssibilitv.
That was evident to Porter and those
with him before the attempt was made
a. ~ rtrng "a ffnY. /. T-. l.4tiA ,-y,1, .
that any one high in rank connected
with the Army OF Virginia should be
ignorant of the arrival of mt least 4 p0r-
ton of lees army by the very route
designated ~ Pope, many hours before
the $50 order VAS published, Porter
was not iii ignorance of that arrival. ,
Between II and | o'clock, On arriving
ut his advanced position, Porter was
shown by Mcdowell a dispatch from
Gen. Buiurd, sent at 9;30 on the morn
ing Of the 18th, stating that from seven
teen to eighteen regiments Of the enemy
had passed. through Gainesville three
quarters of an hour before, or at 9:15
o'clock, on their way TO reinforce Jack
son; SO that the head of the column
must have beer not only in supporting
distance of jackson, but at n place of
%deploymcnt by 10 o'clock in the morn
ing. And now It'll known by others, as
it was known by Porter at the time, that
Longstreet, with some 3 1000 men, was
in position confronting Porter by II
O'Clock on the 29th Of August, four
hours and q half before the $3.50 order
was written.
While at the head Of their united
forces, between Y and l O'Clock, AMI
while Porter vas preparing to attack
the enemy in his immediate front, Me
Dowell, then in command, showed
Porter the Joint order" and also Buff
ord's dispatch. 1t was evident from
this dispatch, c%orroborated by the en-
my's movements in their immediate
front. that the main forces Of the enemy
which the joint order said were distant,
had not only arrived, but had formed a
junction with jackson and deployed in
their front. Porter knew Of this from
another fact. lie had prisoners from
that source, Longstreet's troops. The
object of moving towards GAINESVILLE
had been thus defeated, and any furth-
er advance, if practicable. would only
more widely separate from them Pope's
forces then checked ut Groyeton, at
least two miles istant, and with which
they were ordered % establish communi-
cation. McDoweli. as he had a right,
Mt once withdrew his troops, leaving
Porter with 10000 men to confront
Long.tr,et's %, 000, while he went by a
circuitous road to n point between Por-
Ter and Pope to establish the commune
cation enioined.
THUS LEFr ALONE, FACING SUPERIOR
NUMBERS.
ad,anta1cously posted, ignorant Of the
needs of Pope, if indeed he had any,
Porter had necessarily to bide Mellow
ellis arrival on the right. In the mean
time. his duty was manifestly TO engage
Lunestreet's attention and prevent him
from moving against Pope, especially
while Mcdowell was out OF the support
OF both Pope aud Porter. Porter all
that day did not hear of Mcdowell or Of
what was taking place in front of Pope
though he kept the former we'll inform
cd Of affairs with him, and presumed
that his dispatches were sent TO the lat
ter. lie, however. engaged Long.
trect's attention by demonstration,
nearly harmless 10 himself and SO sue
cc,-fr,iy as 10 cause LongStreet to take
WiltaN division from in front Of Pope
ip order rs STRENGTHEN the line confront