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CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. (THE Frrz-JoHN POETEE CASE.) 



ment of this precedent on lines which have 

 attempted to be drawn heretofore. I protest 

 against the establishment of this precedent be- 

 cause in my judgment it is a reversal of the 

 law as it existed at the time, of the evidence, 

 of the facts as they really were at the time of 

 the finding of the court and as they are to-day. 

 I protest against it further because it is a dis- 

 organizing and disrupting influence that will 

 enter into the army of the United States, 

 which army is for your protection as well as 

 for mine. 



" The armies that are now to be used are 

 not against you or against me, but in favor of 

 our country, in favor of the one common Gov- 

 ernment under which we all live ; and in fact 

 to-day we should all take pride in the army, 

 small as it is, and try to make it efficient ; try 

 to make it a grand army ; try to make it a 

 brave, a generous, a bold, and a fearless army. 

 We can not do that by relieving unworthy men 

 from embarrassment, and putting them back 

 in the army along by the side of men who 

 fought and won their spurs. 



" Mr. President, this can not be done with- 

 out, as I said, carrying with it an influence 

 that will be detrimental in its effects upon the 

 Army of the United States. And, sir, let me 

 say to our Republican friends on this side of 

 the chamber, it is but a recent thing that so 

 many lawyers have flocked around the city of 

 Washington for the purpose of engineering a 

 case of this kind ; it is but a recent thing that so 

 many men have been brought into play for the 

 purpose of forcing this upon Congress. It is 

 unusual in all its bearings and in all its aspects ; 

 it is unusual in the influence that has been 

 worked up and attempted to be brought to 

 bear ; it is unusual in the circumstances which 

 now surround us. 



u With the views I entertain concerning this 

 case, believing as I do that this man disobeyed 

 lawful orders, that he disobeyed those orders 

 with a view of destroying Gen. Pope ; that he 

 disobeyed those orders without reference to the 

 effect it would have upon the people of the Uni- 

 ted States ; that he did it for the purpose of hav- 

 ing Pope relieved and some one else put in his 

 place who would be more congenial to him (Por- 

 ter) believing as I do that this man out of his 

 prejudice against McDowell urged Patterson 

 not to fight Johnston, which lost the first battle 

 of Bull Run ; that he refused to obey the first or- 

 der he received from Pope to move to the field, 

 refused to obey both orders that he received to 

 push forward and attack believing all these 

 facts to be completely proved by the evidence, 

 and knowing the law to be what it is, author- 

 izing the court to inflict the penalty of death, 

 and when they inflicted the milder penalty 

 believing that they let this man off with a 

 much less penalty than would have been ad- 

 judged had he been tried by a court-martial 

 In any foreign country with all these facts 

 before me, with the knowledge I had of the 

 generosity of President Lincoln, with the 



knowledge I had of the big-heartedness of 

 Gen. Garfield, with the knowledge I had of 

 Gen. Hunter, with the knowledge I had of the 

 other officers who sat upon that court-martial, 

 before I would give a vote to restore this man 

 to the army and let him live the balance of his 

 days on the bounty of the tax-payers of this 

 country, I would go across the Potomac river 

 and kneel down by that tomb on which is in- 

 scribed ' Here sleep the unknown dead ' ; I 

 would go among those little white headstones 

 that mark the place where those boys sleep 

 who fell on the battle-field of Groveton on the 

 29th of August, and I would there in the 

 presence of those whitening bones on my 

 knees pray to Almighty God to forgive me for 

 the wrong that I am about to do to the dead 

 who have gone, and the wrong I am about to 

 inflict on this country, on the law, and on the 

 facts, by the restoration of this man to his 

 place as an officer of the army. Sir, I would 

 stand in the rays of the majestic king of day 

 and appeal to the sainted spirit of Abraham 

 Lincoln, who has gone before us, and say, ' In- 

 asmuch as in examining this case you thought 

 this man was guilty and signed the order, and 

 when he appealed to you again on the re-ex- 

 amination of this case you declined to take any 

 action in it, before giving this vote for his res- 

 toration to the army I appeal to you to take 

 my hand and help me through this trouble and 

 forgive me for perpetrating the wrong against 

 your good name.' " 



Mr. McPherson, of New Jersey, in defense of 

 Porter, said : 



" Mr. President, this is not a new question 

 in the Senate. It is old as my term here, and 

 is likely to outlive me. 



" It has been forcibly and ably discussed by 

 Senators from my State and by many other 

 Senators who have made it a special study. I 

 would not now rise to add a single word to 

 what has been so well said by my colleague, 

 except to protest against the seeming desire on 

 the part of some Senators to withhold longer 

 from Gen. .Porter that measure of relief so 

 long denied, and to which he is so justly en- 

 titled. 



" Gen. Porter, a distinguished, capable, and 

 we believe faithful soldier in the Army of the 

 United States, who had fought many battles 

 for his country, not one against her, had been 

 tried and condemned as a traitor. It is pleas- 

 ant to recount the triumphs of a long and 

 brilliant service as it is painful to follow the 

 unhallowed steps which led to his disgrace 

 and utter defeat. 



" To a proud and manly spirit, conscious of 

 no wrong, how bitter must have been the dis- 

 appointment, and how doubly keen the shaft 

 which pierced his heart when the fatal cruel 

 words were spoken which sent him forth in 

 disgrace from the army he had served branded 

 with infamy! 



" I need not speak of the spirit of jealousy 

 and envy, of political and personal hatreds and 



