Fitz John Porter
Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 6:24 pm
I don't see a bio of Porter, but I would like to comment on his rating.
In the beta, I didn't jot his numbers down but they are less than mediocre. I recently read a book on the Peninsular campaign and his performance there was little short of spectacular. McClellan gave him the largest corps and then augmented it with several additional brigades. He held the right of the Union line and was attacked more than once by about 2/3 of the rebel army. He kept his head and held his ground under terrific onslaughts. McClellan was not on the field.
Pope complained about him at Second Manassas but did so unfairly. The final army review found that, had Porter followed Pope's orders any more to the letter than the did, the results would have been disastrous. At Antietam, Porter's corps was in reserve and, while he wrongly advised McClellan not to throw his reserves in at the moment they would have been decisive, it was really McClellan's decision.
It seems to me that he deserves numbers just short of Rosecrans, though he showed less initiative: maybe inititative 2, leadership 5, tactics 5, command 5.
In the beta, I didn't jot his numbers down but they are less than mediocre. I recently read a book on the Peninsular campaign and his performance there was little short of spectacular. McClellan gave him the largest corps and then augmented it with several additional brigades. He held the right of the Union line and was attacked more than once by about 2/3 of the rebel army. He kept his head and held his ground under terrific onslaughts. McClellan was not on the field.
Pope complained about him at Second Manassas but did so unfairly. The final army review found that, had Porter followed Pope's orders any more to the letter than the did, the results would have been disastrous. At Antietam, Porter's corps was in reserve and, while he wrongly advised McClellan not to throw his reserves in at the moment they would have been decisive, it was really McClellan's decision.
It seems to me that he deserves numbers just short of Rosecrans, though he showed less initiative: maybe inititative 2, leadership 5, tactics 5, command 5.