Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1882-12-07
you. Had you not better send your
trains haek

you. Had you not better send your
trains backp
FL. PORTER, Major-general.
In this note he says: Il withdrew,
and while doing SO artillery opened up
on us, and the fire of the enemy having
advanced and ours retired. | have de-
termined to withdraw to Manassas 7
MANASSAS being the station from which
he started that morning, five miles to
the rear.1
That artillery opened upon himP Two
small pieces that | have mentioned be-
fore. One section of a battery fired a
few shots at about three o'clock, when
his men We're directed to put themselves
under cover to keep the enemy from
discovering them. No attack was made
upon him. He made no attack upon
any one and yet he says. Il have de-
termined to withdraw to Manassas
showing that at the very time that Pope
was in the height of the engagement
the whole corps Of Porter, covering his
left flank, was probably then on Che re-
treat.
He says further that ''they have
gathered artillery, and cavalry, and
infantry, and the advancing masses of
show the enemy coming in force"
Now the evidence shows that no
enemy came in his front accept what |
have mentioned heretofore; that no at
tack was made on him, no movement in
force was made against HIM, and that
but one brigade aver showed itself dur
ing the whole day, and that did not adj
vance upon him.
The evidence does show that THE dust
he mentioned was produced by drag
ging brush up and down the road, and
in NJ otter way; showing that he had
decided not to fight, but was determined
that Pope should lose that battle. By
his conduct one might easily conclude
that he was seeking to produce a panic
in the army; and, while a portion OF his
command were retreating back not
only to Manassas, bat to Centreyille.
Pope's $4,000 men were fighting tile
whole combined army of 1900 with
probably the exception of Il few bri-
gades, and the battle ragged until, some
reports say 8 o'clock, others 10 o'clock
at night.
Yet Gen. Grant insists that those men
could not have possibly gotten into that
fight in any way during that engage
ment without being utterly DESTROYED.
"You will see from the facts | have
stated that Gen. Porter did not only dis
obey the ESQ order of the 27th, but DISC
beyed the 3 o'clock order of the morning
of the 10Th, which directed him tomoyeon
to Centreville. That he ~disobeyed the
order delivered to him about 9 o'clock
on the morning of The 10Th, ordering
him to push forward to Gainesville. IN
not leaving until 10 O'Clock; that he dis
obeyed it in not pushing forward: that
he utterly disobeyed the $50 order di-
recting him to attack the enemy's right
flank; and, in fact, that he obeyed no
order in any proper military sense that
was given to him from the first order on
the the night of the 9th up to and
through the engagement of the Goth.
Gen. Smith, who is now a paymaster in
the army, in Il conversation with Pope
on the morning of the Goth, told Gen.
Pope that Gen. Porter would fail him in
that battle. Gen. Ben. Roberts did the
same thing. Porter did fail him. utterly
disobeying his orders, SO that Gen. Pope
was constrained to issue an order on the
29th in the following words:
Mai.- Gen. P0rter-GENERAL: Imme-
diately upon receipt of this order, the
precise hour of which YOU will acknowl-
edge, you will march your command TO
the field of battle to-day and report 10
me in person for orders. You are to
understand that you are expected to
comply strictly with this order and be
present on the field within three hours
after its reception or after daybreak To-
morrow morning.
And Gen. Grant further says that he
considers facts given before the Scho-
field board fully exonerated Porter of
the charge of disobedience {. the 4:30
order, and also in his lukewarmness in
supporting the commanding General
How he can make the last statement |
cannot understand. Twill here insert a
paragraph from a letter of George b.
Mcclellan, Major-General, written on
Sept. l, 1862, at $50 p. M, 10 Major.
General Porter, at Centerville, com
handing the Fifth Corps:
Il ask you for my sake, that of the
country, and Of all the old army of the
Potomac, that you and all friends will
lend the fullest and most cordial Coop
Grafton 10 Gen. Pope in all operations
now going on"
merely put this in to ask the ques-
ton of Gen. Grant whether or not Me
Clellan himself does not show from the
writing Of this note to Gen. Porter that
he did not believe that he Porter was
cordially cooperating with Gen. Pope.
Tins note was written three days after
the battle, and yet Gen. Grant SAYS he is
fully exonerated from the imputation of
lukewarmness in his support of Gen.
rope. The sworn testimony of a man
named Lord shows that Gen. Porter told
him (Lord) that he was not loyal, and
had not been loyal, to Pope, and all the
facts collated show this statement to be
true. Porter, with his troops-13,O 600
men under arms-lay the whole day
within two and one-half miles of Il bat
tie raging where the artillery and mus
kerry did not cease during the whole
time.
would like to know when a similar
case has occurred? He ought to haze
nloCcd and fought Wittout orders 10 do so.
but he did not move; he did not fight
even with orders 10 do s0-a better ex-
crse for doing so must be found.''
In conclusion Logan takes up Grants
statement that Porter has spent twenty
years OF his life trying to have his repu-
tation restored, and denies that he has
any claim to a restoration to his army
rank and back pay which would amount
to some $4,000, except that he failed to
do his duty IN the 29th of August, 1862.
He further points out that Gen. Porter
is to-day a citizen but not a soldier, and
that replacing him would further furnish
q precedent for every officer who had
been dismissed for misconduct in office,
civil or military.
The very forcible and convincing ar
gument winds up as follows:
Il believe have answp / fully the
propositions laid down by Gen. Grant
in justification of Fitz John Porter. and
merely wished to add that, after twenty
years have passed and the country has
been raked and scraped for some kind
Of illmsy testimony for an excuse to re-
store this man to the army. no such tes-
timony has been found. The effort TO
vindieate Porter at the expense of such
men rs Gen. Garfield, Gen. Hunter. and
their associates, all honorable gentle
men, who found him guilty, and also to
cloud the reputation of Abraham Lin
coin. who approved the findings, cannot
succeed.
This is asking-too much, even though
1t be asked by such a man as Gen Grant.
john A. LOGAN.