Fitz John Porter Fitz John Porter ( August 31 , 1822 – May 21 , 1901 ) ( sometimes written FitzJohn Porter or Fitz - John Porter ) was a career United States Army officer and a Union General during the American Civil War . He is most known for his performance at the Second Battle of Bull Run and his subsequent court martial . Although Porter served well in the early battles of the Civil War , his military career was ruined by the controversial trial , which was called by his political rivals . After the war , he worked for almost 25 years to restore his tarnished reputation and was finally restored to the army ' s roll . Early life and career . Porter was born in Portsmouth , New Hampshire . He came from a family prominent in American naval service ; his cousins were William D . Porter , David Dixon Porter , and David G . Farragut . But Porter ' s father , Captain John Porter , was an alcoholic who had been reassigned to land duty . Porter ' s childhood was chaotic because of his father ' s illness . The younger Porter pursued an army career . He graduated from the United States Military Academy ( West Point ) in 1845 , standing eighth out of 41 cadets , and was brevetted a second lieutenant in the 4th U . S . Artillery . Porter was promoted to second lieutenant on June 18 , 1846 and First Lieutenant on May 29 , 1847 . He served in the Mexican - American War and was appointed a brevet captain on September 8 , 1847 , for bravery at the Battle of Molino del Rey . He was wounded at Chapultepec on September 13 , for which he also received a brevet promotion to major . After the war with Mexico ended , Porter returned to West Point and became a cavalry and artillery instructor from 1849 to 1853 . He served as adjutant to the academy ' s superintendent until 1855 . He next served at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas , as assistant adjutant general in the Department of the West in 1856 , where he was brevetted to captain that June . Porter served under future Confederate Albert Sidney Johnston in the expedition against the Mormons in 1857 and 1858 . Afterward Porter inspected and reorganized the defenses of Charleston Harbor , South Carolina until late 1860 , when he aided in the evacuation of army personnel from Texas after that state seceded from the Union . Civil War service . After the start of the Civil War , Porter became chief of staff and assistant adjutant general for the Department of Pennsylvania , but he was soon promoted to colonel of the 15th Infantry on May 14 , 1861 . In August , he was promoted to brigadier general , backdated to May 17 so he would be senior enough to receive division command in the Army of the Potomac , newly formed under Maj . Gen . George B . McClellan . Soon Porter became a trusted adviser and loyal friend to McClellan , but his association with the soon - to - be - controversial commanding general would prove to be disastrous for Porter ' s military career . Porter led his division at the beginning of the Peninsula Campaign , seeing action at the Siege of Yorktown . McClellan created two provisional corps and Porter was assigned to command the V Corps . During the Seven Days Battles , and particularly at the Battle of Gaines ' Mill , he displayed a talent for defensive fighting . At the Battle of Malvern Hill , Porter also played a leading role . For his successful performance on the Peninsula , he was promoted to major general of volunteers on July 4 , 1862 . Second Bull Run . Porter ' s corps was sent to reinforce Maj . Gen . John Pope in the Northern Virginia Campaign , a reassignment that he openly challenged and complained about , criticizing Pope personally . During the Second Battle of Bull Run , on August 29 , 1862 , he was ordered to attack the flank and rear of Maj . Gen . Thomas J . " Stonewall " Jackson ' s wing of the Army of Northern Virginia . Porter had stopped at Dawkin ' s Branch where he had encountered Maj . Gen . J . E . B . Stuart ' s cavalry screen . On August 29 he received a message from Pope directing him to attack the Confederate right ( which Pope assumed to be Jackson on Stony Ridge ) , but at the same time to maintain contact with the neighboring division under Maj . Gen . John F . Reynolds , a conflict in orders that could not be resolved . Pope was apparently unaware that Confederate Maj . Gen . James Longstreet ' s wing of the army had arrived on the battlefield ; the proposed envelopment of Jackson ' s position would have collided suicidally with Longstreet ' s large force . Porter chose not to make the attack because of the intelligence he had received that Longstreet was to his immediate front . On August 30 Pope again ordered the flank attack , and Porter reluctantly complied . As the V Corps turned to head towards Jackson ' s right and attacked , it presented its own ( and consequently the entire army ' s ) flank to Longstreet ' s waiting men . About 30 , 000 Confederates assailed Porter ' s 5 , 000 or so men , driving through them and into the rest of Pope ' s forces , doing exactly what Porter most feared would come of these orders . Pope was infuriated by the defeat , accused Porter of insubordination , and relieved him of his command on September 5 . Porter was soon restored to command of the corps by McClellan and led it through the Maryland Campaign , where the corps served in a reserve position during the Battle of Antietam . He is said to have told McClellan , " Remember , General , I command the last reserve of the last Army of the Republic . " McClellan took his implied advice and failed to commit his reserves into a battle that might have been won if he had used his forces aggressively . Court martial . On November 25 , 1862 , Porter was arrested and court - martialed for his actions at Second Bull Run . By this time , McClellan had been relieved by President Abraham Lincoln and could not provide political cover for his protégé . Porter ' s association with the disgraced McClellan and his open criticism of Pope were significant reasons for his conviction at court - martial . Porter was found guilty on January 10 , 1863 , of disobedience and misconduct , and he was dismissed from the Army on January 21 , 1863 . Postbellum career . After the war ended , Porter was offered a command in the Egyptian Army but declined it . He spent most of the remainder of his life fighting against the perceived injustice of his court - martial . In 1878 , a special commission under General John M . Schofield exonerated Porter by finding that his reluctance to attack Longstreet probably saved Pope ' s Army of Virginia from an even greater defeat . Eight years later , President Chester A . Arthur commuted Porter ' s sentence and a special act of the U . S . Congress restored Porter ' s commission as an infantry colonel in the U . S . Army , backdated to May 14 , 1861 , but without any back pay due . Two days later , August 7 , 1886 , Porter , seeing vindication , voluntarily retired from the Army . Porter was involved in mining , construction , and commerce . He was appointed as the New York City Commissioner of Public Works , the New York City Police Commissioner , and the New York City Fire Commissioner . He died in Morristown , New Jersey , and is buried in Green - Wood Cemetery , Brooklyn , New York . His grave can be found in Section 54 , Lot 5685 / 89 . On December 27 , 1894 Porter , along with 18 others , founded the Military and Naval Order of the United States which was soon renamed the Military Order of Foreign Wars . Porter ' s name was at the top of the list of signers of the original institution and received the first insignia issued by the Order .