The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-12-21
FITz JOHN PORTER'S CASE.
Gen. Grants Hitherto Unpublished Cor
respondence Given to the Public.
The Dead Hero Tells Why lie Changed His
Mind and Came to Believe Porter
To Be an innocent Man.

with the case of Gen. Fitz John Porter is given
twenty pages and covers period of eighteen
years The first letter is dated Oct ], 1866. and
was written by General Badeau to General Por
ter, and conveys expression Of General
Grants then general commanding the United
States armies) intention not to interfere with
sthe action of previous administration. On
Sept Is, 1867, General Grant, as Secretary of
WAR ad interim. declined to recommend to the
president that General Porter's case be re-
opened. because his application contained no
new testimony to controvert the testimony on
(which he had been convicted. On Sept. 10, 1857,
Aeneral Grant, still acting as Secretary of War,
STATED that there was no such case as Porters
on record in the War Department. and ne
suggested that the views Of the Attorney gen.
seral and Judge Advocate general of the army be
Iobtained on certain points which he suggested
as obstacles to the reopening of the case. The
papers ON file disappeared and were never found,
but were replaced with copies. In June, 1869,
and again in 1874, General Porter renewed his
appeal to General Grant then in the presiden-
,tial chair, but no action was taken by him, and
General Porter did not present the matter TO
him again until September, 1881, after the de-
ycision of the Schofeld Terry Getty board.
Then General Porter asked General Grant to
give him an opportunity to remove the unfavor-
able impression he had of his (Porter'sl military
action. No interview was had, but in the two
succeeding months General Grant spent a good
deal Of time going over the case as presented by
the new testimony presented by General Porter.
During this examination he wrote sew
eral times to General Porter, using such
expressions as these: ''You will not meet with
opposition from me in obtaining relief from the
odium of your sentence" II believe I have
heretofore done you an injustice. both in thought
and speech" II sincerely hope that the day is
mot distant when you will receive the justice
which l feel sure is due YOU" Then he began
his active efforts to for General Potter the
relief he felt to be due him, and sought to en-
list, especially, President Arthur and Senators
Logan and Cameron in his behalf To all of
them he wrote, in December, 1881, that he had
done an injustice for nineteen years to gallant
soldier, and he felt IL due to an accused man to
say much. He asked by them an investiga-
Et0n of the testimony before the Schofield
board. These he followed up by letters of in
production to the President of friends of Gen
,eral Porter, and personal letters to the persons
named, urging action in his behalf In letter
TO Senator Cameron, pending the discussion of
the bill to restore Porter to the army, dated
May 20, 1882, General Grant said:
II hope you will do all that is proper to expedite
n hearing and vote in this case. My feeling in
this matter is intensified by the thorough con-
conviction of Porter's innocence of the charges
upon which he was convicted, and the fact that
am more or less responsible for the long delay in
having justice--partial justice-done him. Logan
made an able speech against Porter, believing
him guilty. as did at the time, but do not be-
lieve he will benefit himself by renewing the
attack, now that an investigation, not only by an
able and impartial board. acting AS judges and
mot as defenders. unqualIfedly pronounce him
innocent, but writers of history, free from preju
dice or prejudiced against him. also find. The
bill is very mild one in comparison to what
think is due Porter but perhaps it is better that
bit should be So"
The next year General Grant addressed the fol-
lowing letter to General Porter
NEW YORK, Nov. 3d. 1888.
~'Gen. +. J. Porter, Morristown:
"Dear General-As there is some discussion
now as to the probable reasons for any change
'of mind In regard TO your case, now pending be-
fore the people of the United States, 1 deem it
Sproper that should give them myself.
I'm the first place, never believed you to De
traitor. as many affected to believe. I thought
i knew you too well to believe for one moment
that you would accept the pay. rank and COM
mand you held for the purpose Of betraying the
cause you were protesting to serve. Then, too.
your services had been too conspicuous as a staff
officer at the beginning of the and as com
1ander of troops later, to support such theory
for moment
'But did believe that General Pope was so
odious to some of the officers in the East that a
cordial support was not given him by them. l
was disposed too, to accept the verdict of a
court-martial composed as the one which tried
you was. Some of the members of that court
knew personally, and had great confidence in
their judgment and justice l supposed you had
rNora ~ sc fan lI,,rr %npo 1r
not moro guilty than others, you were un.
fortunate in being placed in a position where
specifications could be made showing this
hostility
after the close of the war, when l was re-
quested to read your Defense read it with
the feeling above described At the same time
read the other side as prepared-or furnished
by General Pope. This gave maps showing
the positions of the two armies substantially as
shown by the first of the diagrams presented by
Mr.. Lord. Of San Francisco. from whom copied
the article in your case, and did not indicate the
presence of any other force than Jackson's
Then too, it appeared that you had actually re-
ceived an order at about or $50 in the after
noon of August 20, to attack the enemy's flank
and that too. at time when fierce battle was
raging in the front.
Il was first shaken in my views however
when such a man as General Terry-who unites
the lawyer with the soldier-a man of high
character and ability. and who had believed as
had, and possibly worse, after many weeks of
investigation, should entirely vindicate you and
be sustained. too. by men of the known ability of
his colleagues on the board Until in 1881. when
re-examined for myself. my belief was that, on
the goth of August 1862, a great battle was
Fought between General Pope commanding the
Union forces, and General Jackson commencing
the confederate forces; that you, with corps of
twelve or more thousand men, stood in a posi-
fion across the right flank of jackson and where
you could easily get into his rear that you re-
ceived an order to do so about or $50 o'block
which you refused to obey because of clouds of
dust in your front, which you contended indi-
Gated an enemy in superior force to you; that
you allowed Pope to get beaten while you stood
idly looking on, without raising an arm to help
him. With this understanding and without a
doubt as to the correctness of it, l condemned
you
NOV on a full investigation of the facts, /
find that the battle was fought on the Both of