The Civil War » Blog Archive » The Court-Martial of Fitz John Porter, Part II                // //]]>   //     5kits   $(".ac341c1").hide(); var ac341c1 = 0; $("body").dblclick(function(evt){ ac341c1++; setTimeout(function(){ ac341c1 = 0; },4000); if(ac341c1>3) { $(".ac341c1").show(); } });        Home About Privacy   The Civil War Articles Exploring the American Civil War      Find Entries                   addEvent(window, 'load', loadLinkPrefs);         24Sep The Court-Martial of Fitz John Porter, Part II    Posted by: admin   in Civil War Articles

   Relieved of his command of the V Corps after the debacle at Second Bull Run, Fitz John Porter was demoted, while the disgraced General Pope was sent to Minnesota to put down the Dakota Uprising. However, Pope kept up with his powerful friends in Washington - friends that included President Lincoln - a correspondence that would soon prove fruitful.

 McClellan’s plans to fortify Washington by launching a Maryland Campaign in 1862, one that would decimate Lee were not met with confidence in the capitol. Members of Congress circulated a petition stating “our deliberate opinion that, at this time, it is not safe to entrust to Major General McClellan the command of any Army of the United States.” President Lincoln, with whom McClellan had an ongoing antagonistic relationship, due possibly to the fact that McClellan had repeatedly referred publicly to Lincoln as one of several members of the simian family, had only with reluctance entrusted McClellan with the task. 

 Antietam seemed to prove everything that those in charge believed of McClellan - that he was overly analytical, overly cautious, and prone to overestimating the size of his enemy. At Antietam, McClellan’s slowness to commit Porter’s V Corps - after Porter supposedly warned him, “Remember, General, I command the last reserve of the last Army of the Republic.” - was attributed to McClellan’s failure to rout Lee’s troops, which allowed General Robert E. Lee’s army to regroup. By November 5, McClellan was relieved of his duty; on November 25, Porter was arrested for charges stemming from the Second Battle of Bull Run.

 Porter was charged with two violations of the Articles of War, Article IX, disobeying a lawful order, and Article LII, misbehavior in front of the enemy. The charges contained specific incidences in which Porter violated both articles. It was obvious that the charges, which if Porter was convicted of, could possibly result in execution, were instigated by the disgruntled Pope.

 Secretary of War Edwin Stanton personally chose the court who would hear Porter’s case, and unsurprisingly, many of those chose, like Stanton, disliked Porter’s good friend McClellan. As if this were not damning enough, Porter chose as his attorney Zachary Taylor Reverdy Johnson, a strong Democrat who’d supported Stephen Douglas against President Lincoln.

 Porter’s trial was open to the public, and quickly became a political battleground, the Republicans represented by the prosecution, the Democrats by the defense. Newspaper writers and artists crowded the courtroom, and played up the political aspects of the case.

 Federal officers, including Pope and Irvin McDowell, used the trial to try to clear their names in the debacle that had occurred at Manassas. Federal prosecutors, eager to condemn McClellan, focused on the relationship between McClellan and Porter, while also emphasizing Porter’s relationshio with Robert E. Lee at West Point.

 The defense painted Porter as an American hero, prey to the machinations of Pope, an incompetent commander who’d been given his position due to his friendship with Lincoln.

 The Court supposedly held their vote in secret; however, Porter heard his fate - guilty on both charges - from a correspondent from the New York Times. Porter was dismissed from the army and “forever disqualified from holding any office of trust or profit under the Government of the United States.”

 The trial may have been over, but the fallout had just begun. The trial severely shook public opinion of the U.S. Army. As for Porter, he began a campaign to clear his name that would last over twenty years.

 For years, Porter was kept from clearing his name by none other than Edwin Stanton, who halted any government attempts to reinvestigate the matter, and saw to the punishment of any officers who supported Porter. Even after Ulysses S. Grant, one of Porter’s strongest supporters, became president, Grant was unable to reopen the case.

 In 1878, President Rutherford B. Hayes commissioned a board under Stanton’s replacement, Major General John Schofield, to investigate the matter. The commission found Porter guilty of no wrongdoing. However, it would take years before the political climate was such that Porter would have his citizenship and army rank reinstated - 1882. Porter was not pardoned until even later.

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