General Fitz John Porter (Union) Hat in his right hand and sword at his left, Porter looks like the

General Fitz John Porter(Union)

Hat in his right hand and sword at his left, Porter looks like the smart and distinguished general he was during the early stages of the war. But events in the summer of 1862 would lead to a controversial court martial and the effective end of his military career.

A professional soldier and veteran of the Mexican-American War, Porter was appointed to a senior command within George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac. He developed a good reputation, which was shattered when he took the blame for the fiasco at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Porter refused an order from John Pope to mount an attack on Stonewall Jackson’s Confederates, because he feared exposing his men to a rebel force under James Longstreet which had just arrived on the battlefield. A day later, Porter reluctantly agreed to the attack, and his men were duly routed along with the rest of the Union Army. Once his friend McClellan was relieved of command later in the year, Porter no longer had any political cover, and was soon arrested, tried and convicted for his initial refusal to follow orders. He spent much of the rest of his life seeking to clear his name, and his sentence was eventually commuted in 1886.