Maj. Gen. F.J. Porter

[jkBluesman]

Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter (b. 1822, d. 1901). The Union hero of the Peninsula Campaign served only in the first half of the war. Porter’s strong ties to George B. McClellan and his dislike for John Pope led to a court martial that ruined his career. He was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. While his father John Porter was a navy captain and his cousins David Dixon and William David Porter would become naval officers, Fitz decided to join the army. After graduating from West Point in 1845 he served briefly at Fort Monroe before fighting in Mexico. Porter won two brevets and received one wound during the war. He spent the years between the wars as instructor at West Point, on frontier duty and supervised the evacuation of Texas by Federal troops shortly before the hostilities started. His first assignment was as colonel of the 15th infantry but it would not take long until he was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers dating from May 17, 1861. Serving in the Shenandoah Valley during the first months of the war, he was summoned to Washington at the request of McClellan, when the latter was made commander of the Army of the Potomac on August 28. For the Peninsula Campaign the following year, Porter was given a division and as first task the direction of the siege of Yorktown. His actions pleased his commander enough to entrust Porter the newly created V corps. When the corps was isolated north of the swollen Chickahominy River it was attacked by the Confederates. Porter skilfully organized the defence during the Seven Days and retreated in good order in close consultation with McClellan. On July 4, 1862 Porter was promoted to major general in recognition of his performance. However he was angry about the appointment of Pope as commander of the Army of Virginia and did not want to serve under him. After the return of the V corps to Maryland, Porter was ordered to support Pope. To Gen. Ambrose Burnside Porter wired: “I wish myself away from it, with all our old Army of the Potomac, and so do our companions…” The telegram was noticed by general-in-chief Henry Halleck but the order was not changed. Thus Porter moved towards Manassas, where Pope was fighting Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. Pope wanted Porter to attack Jackson’s right and link up with Gen. John Reynolds, but when Porter learned of Gen. James Longstreet’s approach, he refused to advance and did not take part in the battle. Pope used Porter as scapegoat of his defeat, but could not press charges until the crisis of the Maryland Campaign was resolved. At Antietam, Porter fought under McClellan for the last time. His corps was held in reserve and both, McClellan and Porter were reluctant to use it because they believed themselves to be outnumbered. When McClellan was relieved of command on November 5, it took only five days until Porter was cashiered because of his inaction at Second Bull Run. The court martial found him guilty on January 10, 1863 and dismissed him from the army. While Porter started a second career as Commissioner of Public Works, Police and Fire Commissioner in New York City, he did not give up on putting his record straight. After the war he collected testimonies from former enemies like Longstreet to strengthen his case. In 1878 a commission under Gen. John Schofield – another member was former Confederate general Joe Johnston – exonerated Porter and asserted him that his actions had saved his corps. However, Porter’s case remained political, because he was a Democrat. A Republican administration would not follow the commission’s verdict, thus it took eight years (and the election of Democrat Grover Cleveland as president) until his commission as colonel was restored, dating from May 14, 1861. Porter was satisfied and resigned almost immediately from the army. He died five years later in Morristown, New Jersey.

Ldr: 4
Tact: 5
Init: 2
Cmd: 4
Cav: 0

Teaches: Diggers, Hardy or Steady

[Gil R.]

Thanks.

[General Quarters]

Interesting bio. I am glad you give Porter credit for his outstanding defense during Seven Days against massive onslaughts by the hardest hitters in Lee's army. I think it is one of the most impressive performances of any Union corps commander during the war, not up to the best performances of the Rock of Chickamauga and the Spendid Hancock, but I can't think of a third example of one superior to Porter's.

The later commission and historians generally agree that Pope's orders were based on an entirely false view of the situation and, had Porter did more than he did, it would have been a disaster. He did not actually do nothing; he skirmished a bit and probably slowed down the rebel moves.

I was surprised to see the emphasis on "close consultation" with McClellan. What is msot striking about those battles is the absence of McClellan. At most, he would show up at the end of the fighting, and ride around in pomp and glory to the cheers. Porter was really on his own. Since his not being put in at Antietam was really Mac's call, and under mistaken information, though at Porter's urging, I would not count that much against him. Bottom line: I would give him somewhat better ratings, a 3 for Initiative and perhaps a bit more in one of the other categories. In Seven Days, he was cool, determined, organized his forces very well, and plugged other forces into his line skillfully as they arrived. l don't know if those are mainly traits of leadership, tactics, or command, but one or two of those categories might be bumped up a point.

[jkBluesman]

With "close consultation" I meant that McClellan really trusted Porter and conferred with him about strategy, like the shifting of base on the Peninsula. You are right though that "Little Mac" was absent for most of the fighting. Any suggestion for rephrasing it?

At Second Bull Run Porter skirmished as far as I know with Stuart's cavalry but not more. The tragedy lies in my opinion with the dislike between Pope and Porter. Pope was wrong, but POrter made no really effort to convince his commander.

Gil gave Porter 5-5-2-5, which I lowered a bit because of Antietam. I think Porter could have influenced his commander to sent in his corps if he had wanted too. Even Franklin who was very cautious urged for the pressing of the attack and wanted to fight the next day. And during the pursuit, Porter was discouraged to follow the enemy very easily when A.P. Hill attacked his advanceguard.

[Gil R.]

If you want to make changes, it's not too late -- I won't have a chance to do much editing this week.

[Gil R.]

Here's Porter. To make space, I removed the names of his naval officer cousins, made various nips and tucks, and also removed this sentence: “Shortly before the hostilities started, he supervised the evacuation of Texas by Federal troops.” I came in at 3899 characters, so this just squeaks by...

Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter (b. 1822, d. 1901). The Union hero of the Peninsula Campaign served only in the first half of the war: Porter’s strong ties to Gen. George B. McClellan and his dislike for Gen. John Pope led to a court-martial that ruined his career. Porter was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on August 31, 1822. While his father John Porter was a navy captain and two cousins would become naval officers, he decided to join the army. After graduating from West Point in 1845, Porter served briefly at Fort Monroe before fighting in Mexico, where he won two brevets and received a wound. He spent the years between the wars as an instructor at West Point and on frontier duty. Made Colonel of the 15th Infantry on May 14, 1861, it would not take long before he was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers (dating from May 17). Porter served in the Shenandoah Valley until he was summoned to Washington at the request of McClellan when the latter was made commander of the Army of the Potomac on August 28. For the Peninsula Campaign the following year, Porter was given a division and as first task the direction of the siege of Yorktown. His actions pleased his commander enough to entrust him with the newly created V Corps. When the corps was isolated from the rest of the army by the swollen Chickahominy River, it was attacked by the Confederates at Mechanicsville on June 26. Porter skillfully organized the defense and retreat of his corps and then the army as a whole during the Seven Days’ Battles of June 25-July 1, earning him promotion to major general on July 4. Angered by Pope’s appointment as commander of the Army of Virginia and his ascendancy at McClellan’s expense, Porter made comments critical of Pope. Despite this, Porter and V Corps were reassigned to Pope’s command, prompting Porter to wire Gen. Ambrose Burnside, “I wish myself away from it, with all our old Army of the Potomac, and so do our companions…” The telegram was noticed by general-in-chief Henry Halleck, but the order was not changed, so Porter headed to Manassas, Virginia, where Pope was fighting Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson in the Second Battle of Bull Run. On August 29, Pope wanted Porter to attack Jackson’s right and link up with Gen. John Reynolds, but when Porter learned of Gen. James Longstreet’s approach, he refused to advance and did not take part in the battle. Pope used Porter as scapegoat for the defeat, but could not press charges until the crisis of the Maryland Campaign was resolved. At Antietam on September 17, Porter served under McClellan for the last time, though his corps was held in reserve and both McClellan and Porter were reluctant to use it because they believed themselves to be outnumbered. When McClellan was relieved of command on November 5, it took only five days until Porter was cashiered over his inaction at Manassas. The court martial found him guilty on January 10, 1863 and dismissed him from the army. While Porter started a second career in New York City as Commissioner of Public Works, Police Commissioner and Fire Commissioner, he did not give up on vindicating his performance at Manassas. After the war he collected testimonies from former enemies like Longstreet to strengthen his case, and finally in 1878 a commission under Gen. John Schofield, which included former Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, exonerated Porter and asserted that his actions had saved his corps. However, Porter’s case remained political because he was a Democrat and the Republican administration of Rutherford B. Hayes would not follow the commission’s verdict: thus it took eight years and the election of Democrat Grover Cleveland until his commission as colonel was restored, dating from May 14, 1861. Porter was satisfied and resigned almost immediately from the army. He died five years later in Morristown, New Jersey. (Bio by Joern Kaesebier)

Ldr: 4
Tact: 5
Init: 2
Cmd: 4
Cav: 0

Start date: 8 [Date of promotion is unknown, but doesn’t matter since it was probably before Turn 1 (July)]
“Death” date: 44

Teaches: Diggers, Hardy, Steady

[jkBluesman]

I can see that we both read Heidler. As often, I am amazed how your rephrasing is making it sound better in some parts.

[Gil R.]

Thanks. I had a lot of training as an editor in college and some early jobs, so I have some experience with this sort of thing. As for Heidler, I only check it when there are particular points about which I'm uncertain, since I know that you and Battleline are both consulting it.