Today in History:

898 Series I Volume XII-II (Supp.) Serial 17 - Second Manassas Part II (Supplemental)

Page 898 OPERATIONS IN N. VA., W. VA., AND MD. Chapter XXIV.

with that battery; their musketry had then given out. That was the last firing there was, the artillery fire. That battery raked over rather in the rear of the ridge, where the Henry house stands.

Question. What distance, or about what distance, had the enemy to march to make the attack on our flank, of which you have spoken, their right going around on our left, on Saturday?

Answer. I suppose it would certainly be several miles, making a circuit, as they would, to come in. Their movements were veiled by woods beyond the ridges there.

Question. Do you know what distance the accused would have had to have marched in order to carry out the order of 4.30 p. m. of the 29th, if he received it, and if he received it at 5 o'clock?

Answer. It would depend on where his corps was. It was about 5 miles from Manassas Junction. to where the right of the enemy were at 5 1/2 o'clock. I do not know where the accused was, and I cannot tell what distance he would have had to have marched.

Question. Do you know whether the enemy on that day occupied any part of the Manassas Gap Railroad; and, if you do will you state what part?

Answer. No, sir. i know that their movements there were veiled somewhat in that direction of Friday, I believe. As I said before, I can only tell where all the weight of their fire was.

Question. Will you state, of you can, when the accused reported to General Pope on the morning of the 30th of August?

Answer. I do not know that I can state the exact hour; but my recollection is, that he reported quite early in the morning.

Question. Having stated that you had no knowledge of the accused personally until your interview with him on the 28th of August, and such as was obtained during that interview, which you say was some fifteen minutes long, are you to be understood now as thinking that you were justified in giving the opinion, and in now maintaining it-looking to the past history of the accused during the present war-that he was a traitor to the cause of his country?

Answer. I have as clear an opinion as I had at that time in regard to General Porter, although not as vivid. I think that General Porter was determined so far not to co-operate as to force us back to Washington-to compel us to give back. In using the expression that General Porter was a traitor, which I used to General Pope, I am not aware that I considered in my mind the term as meaning treason to the country, or whether I analyzed in my mind what his motives were, any more than I had gained, as I have said, the impression that he was indifferent to the fare of the campaign as regarded General Pope. In regard to the matter, I do not now remember that I then thought out or came to any conclusion as to whether it was general treason. The conviction on my mind was that he would fail General Pope. That failure had to do with his personal relations to General Pope, that is, that General Pope was to be made to fail in the campaign, because these expressions-this sneering, as I have termed it-were connected, as I have said, with these matters in regard to General Pope. I cannot say that I came at that time, or have now come, to any conviction that General Porter was a traitor to his country. That expression, as I used it at that time, must be taken with the context. In that point of view, I considered him a traitor; it was reason to fail to support the commanding general. I do not doubt that the expression "traitor" was a heated expression, used under excitement, and that the impression on my mind would have been expressed sufficiently by having said that he would fail General Pope.

Question. Was there anything in the words actually spoken by the accused in your interview with him, independent of the manner in which they were spoken, to lead you to the conviction that he was a traitor, or would act traitorously to General Pope? If there was, state what the words were, as near as you can recollect.

Answer. The first words were his indifference in regard to the distribution of the ammunition, saying he had no officers to send. Then his expression, showing that he


Page 898 OPERATIONS IN N. VA., W. VA., AND MD. Chapter XXIV.