National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1886-02-12


tween WarTentou and Bristol station, and
lie remembered It as q very ordinary
country road in very bad condition and
repair. No man could tell him that IL
was broad, spacious turnpike, where
troops could march In unbroken file, for he
knew to the contrary. He had been on the
picket line ON the night OF Aug. "a, and n
Yankee picket I'm front OF Stonewall jack
son had pretty keen eye, and he could
bear testimony to the Egyptian darkness of
the night. Knowing from personal ex-
pericnce the condition Of the night, he
could arrive at hut one conclusion-that
Porter acted with sound military judg-
ment IN delaying his march. The fact that
Porter had avoided blunder by the exer-
else Of q discretion for which he should
have been thanked and applauded had been
made one of the points upon which he had
been tried, convicted, cashiered, and DIS
graCed. lie (Mr. lIaynes) refused to sign
tho verdict lie had no personal preiu-
dice TO bias his Judgment in the
matter. The strongest prejudice which he
had ever entertained had been against Por-
ter, but 1t had disappeared when he pro-
ceeded TO examine the case. He did not
share In the estimate Of Pope entertained
by many Of Porter's friends, but he believed
that II any other OF Pope's generals had
been In Porter's place and had acted as
Porter had acted, there would never have
been q court.martial, and no Union gen.
eral OF That campaign would have suffered
Tor more than twenty years stigma worse
than death. IL had been Porter's dis
respectful and inexcusable illusions to
Pope that had singled him out as an
object Of suspicion and as an object of
revenge. Porter had been one Of the
GROWERS, and his punishment had been out
Of all proportion to his offonse.
Mr.. Steele, of Indiana, took the floor in
opposition to the bill, and promised his
speech with the remark "What in thunder
arc we here forp Why are we discussing
Fltz-John Porterm This question, he said,
had been asked by a number Of members of
the House, and at least one Democrat had
added that the Democrats were going to
vote for IL anyhow. He (Mr. SteeleI be-
lieved that this was true, but he would not
be deferred from giving the reasons why he
would vote against IL. He predlcated his
Judgment on the evidence taken at the time
and on the official reports made at the time.
He proceeded TO follow In detail Porter's
movements from the time he left Acquia
creek on Aug. 90 until he received Pope's
order on the 9th, in order to show that
Porter's men were In good condition for
q march In obedience to that order. He
severely condemned Porter's disregard of
the order, declaring that the order was per
cmptory, and that II not only should, but
1t could, have been easily obeyed. The
eonfederates on the day and night Of the
9th had marched thlrtv-six miles. II
jackson marched, could not Porter have
also marchedP There was not a soldier In
the House but knew II was Porter's duty to
obey the order. Had his gallant friend
from Wisconsin MIR. Bragg received such
an order he would not have disobeyed IL,
unless he had failed to obey It after trying.
=, Mr.. Bragg said that he had marched on
that night on clean, open turnpike, but It
had become SO dark that he had been COM
PEELED to bivouac by the roadside, and had
been unable to form line Of tents.
Mr.. Steele remembered that the gentle
man had had good deal Of unpleasantness
that evening. The gentleman had found It
very inconvenient for his health and that
OF his command. jackson had struck the
gentleman that night.
Mr.. Bragg replied that he had not met
jackson on that night. On the night of
the 2Sth he had participated in a battle,
when he was attempting to obey one OF
Pope's orders to attack jackson, who had
$4,000 men at Centreville. The command
had taken the road to Centreville, and in
less than twenty minutes It had struck
Jackson with six regiments, and the whole
army Of Virginia had heard the firing and
left him to fight that battle with corps
that was sixteen miles away. Laughter
otcOiO bulu tuuJ tutTe Deeu gdl-
liant fighting that night, but IL had not de-
tered jackson from marching his men.
lie then went on to show the evidences of
fPorter's dislike for Pope, and, while he did
not assert. that Porter was disloyal to the
country, there was no doubt that he was
disloyal to Pope.
A map Of the scene of military operations
in question having been hung upon a sup
port In the space In front Of the speakers
desk, Mr.. Steele proceeded to point out
with cane the movements Of the various
commanders, In order to settle the disputed
point as to whether or not a battle had
taken place on the Goth of August. Many
OF the members formed semi-circle about
him, and manifested great interest as he
elueidated the points which led him to the
conclusion that severe engagement had
taken place on that date. Prominent
among his auditors was Mr. Oates, of Ala
bama, who lost an arm in the engagements
under discussion, and who frequently in
terrupted him with questions and sugges-
tons; while Hugh Lewis, door
keeper, who also left an arm upon
this field, was deeply interested as he heard
the battles "fought DER again." AS Mr..
steele pointed outthe positions of the con-
tending forces, he read extracts from the
evidence to substantiate his statements. As
he was quoting from McDowelrs testimony,
he was interrupted by Mr.. Bragg with the
question as to whether It had not been on
the evidence Of that officer, made to cover
his own conduct, that Porter had been con-
victed.
Mr.. Steele replied that Porter had been
convicted fourteen times over without Nc
Dowell's testimony. Mcdowell had been
tried by Q. court Of inquiry and had been
discharged.
Mr.. Bragg suggested that this discharge
of Mcdowell showed what influence In
Washington would do to control courts
martial for favorites.
Mr.. Steele maintained that If any man
had fair show before court-martial Por-
ter had had II. Much had been said about
the order OF heSeoretary of War expediting
the decision of the court. The Secretary
had only made the usual order--the ord er
that was always made when q court was Or
dered TO sit without regard to honrs, and
at the close OF the proceedings the judge
advocate had submitted the case without
argument, while Porter,s counsel had pre-
pared elaborate arguments.
After dwelling with great minnta9 of
detail upon the military operations of the
18th OF August, Mr.. Steele concluded his
speech as follows; "If we have wars here.
after they will be for common country.
Let us not say by our action that we want
any man of Porter's kind to command,
when the country's safety is in danger. Let
us say to our sons and our sons sons,
when you receive an order obey II, though
at the cost of your life,' Let us say to our
sons sons, even without an order, II you
hear the call Of battle, move on to the sue
cor Of your companies whether you like
your commanding officer or not.p Zap
plause.1 The committee then rose, and
the House at 445 adjourned.
NrnNtrNy AurrnN,C