THE GENERAL FITZ JOHN PORTER AFFAIR, SIX LETTERS REGARDING ONE OF THE CIVIL WAR’S MOST NOTORIOUS COURT-MARTIALS

A group of six (6) letters related to the court-martial of disgraced Union general Fitz John Porter (1822-1901). Various places, 9 January 1863 - 22 February 1886. 17 pages, 8vo and smaller. 

A distinguished graduate of both Phillips Exeter Academy and West Point, Porter entered the Mexican-American War as a second lieutenant and served gallantly, receiving promotions for his distinguished conduct and attaining the rank of major. At the start of the Civil War, Porter was made brigadier general of volunteers in May of 1861 and distinguished himself during General George B. McClellan's Peninsular Campaign of 1862. By summer, his corps was ordered to reinforce Major General John Pope in the Northern Virginia Campaign. Porter vociferously objected to this assignment and clashed openly with Pope. Ultimately, after a series of miscommunications, Porter defied Pope's orders to attack General Stonewall Jackson's forces at the Second Battle of Bull Run. When the Union Army was defeated, Pope blamed Porter, accused him of insubordination, and relieved him of his command. Porter was arrested and court-martialed on November 25, 1862, tried, and finally found guilty of disobedience and misconduct on January 10, 1863. 

Epistolists in this group include Pope himself, along with top-ranking officers Stewart Van Vliet (1815-1901), Edmund Schriver (1812-1899), Benjamin S. Roberts (1810-1875), Samuel Bell Maxey (1825-1895), and Erastus W. Everson (1837-1897). Early missives relate directly to Porter's trial, including a letter from Schriver, then a colonel on the staff of the Inspector General of the Army, to Captain Gustavus St. Albe, the Aide-de-Camp to Major General Irvin McDowell. McDowell testified against Porter, and St. Albe apparently offered to do the same, though Schiver advises that his testimony is unnecessary: "...the same testimony which it was thought would be required from you, has been given to the court in another form, and therefore, you will not be needed."

Also with letters from Pope and his Chief of Cavalry Benjamin S. Roberts, both of whom obviously preferred the charges against Porter. On February 15, 1870, Pope mentions the Porter case in a letter to his sister, writing, "I send enclosed a brief printed statement of the Porter Case...which you may have seen allowed in the papers."

After the war, Porter sought to combat the perceived injustice of the court martial and to clear his name. Porter and supporters, primarily Democrats who were loyal to McClellan, appealed his case first to President Lincoln, then to President Johnson, then to Ulysses S. Grant, as both Secretary of War and then as President. Though these appeals were publicized by the media, there was little traction politically until the administration of Rutherford B. Hayes, who, in 1878, formed a special commission under General John Schofield to investigate the case. After six months of hearings, the Schofield Board exonerated Porter and recommended that he be restored to his commission.

Amidst the investigation, Brevet Major General Stewart Van Vliet writes to Porter from Washington, saying that he heard Porter was in town and that he was sorry to have missed him: "I...heard that you were in town the other day & immediately called...to see you and to congratulate you on the success of the recent investigation of your former trial."

Congratulations proved premature, however: Hayes turned the report over to Congress, and while both houses finally introduced relief bills, only the Senate's passed. By this time, James A. Garfield, who had served on the original court-martial, was elected president and took office in March 1881. By fall, however, the tides turned back in Porter's favor, following Garfield's assassination and Grant's public reversal of opinion regarding the Porter case. Grant then appealed to the newly elected Chester A. Arthur, who issued Porter a pardon. When Grant pressed further for a relief bill, however, the legislation was once again bogged down in Congress. 

On January 15th 1883, erstwhile Confederate General Samuel Maxey, writing to an unnamed general in his new capacity representing Texas in the Senate, wrote of reversal of the court martial and his own vote on the bill: "I examined Porter's case with great care...Believing Porter to be cruelly used, I am gratified that the bill passed the Senate..."

Finally, eight years after the Schofield Board's investigation, President Grover Cleveland commuted Porter's sentence and a special congressional Act restored and backdated his commission. Following this decision, Erastus Emerson wrote to Massachusetts representative Frederick D. Ely to thank him for his vote in Porter's case. He explains his position further: "For those whose opportunities were such as to afford quite accurate knowledge...of the alleged malfeasance by General Porter, there can be but one opinion: - all others must have their source in malice, disappointments or misunderstanding." A detailed and at times scathing indictment of those who enabled "malignant endeavors" against Porter. 

An engaging group of letters recreating the timeline of Porter's case and showcasing the wide differences of opinion regarding his actions. 

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs]