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Fitz-John Porter

A Register of His Papers in the Library of Congress

Prepared by David Mathisen
Revised and expanded by Melinda K. Friend and Chante Wilson

Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

Washington, D.C.

2004

Contact information: http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html

Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division, 2005

Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms005015

Table of Contents

Collection Summary

Selected Search Terms

Names:

Subjects:

Occupations:

Administrative Information

Provenance:

Processing History:

Copyright Status:

Microfilm:

Preferred Citation:

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

Organization of the Papers

Container List

Collection Summary

Selected Search Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.

Names:

Subjects:

Occupations:

Administrative Information

Provenance:

The papers of Fitz-John Porter, army officer and public official in New York, N.Y., and New Jersey, were deposited in the Library of Congress between 1911 and 1951 by Holbrook Fitz-John Porter and other members of the Porter family. The deposit was converted to a gift in 1952.

Processing History:

The papers of Fitz-John Porter were processed in 1963 and prepared for microfilming in 1988. The finding aid was revised and part of the collection rehoused in 2003 and 2004. A brief description of the Porter Papers appears in Handbook of Manuscripts in the Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.: 1918), p. 339.

Copyright Status:

The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Fitz-John Porter is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).

Microfilm:

A microfilm edition of part of these papers is available on thirty-one reels. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase or interlibrary loan.

Preferred Citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, Fitz-John Porter Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

The papers of Fitz-John Porter (1822-1901) span the years from 1830 to 1949, with the bulk of the material dated between 1861 and 1898. The collection includes correspondence; telegrams; reports; memoranda; articles prepared by Porter and others; autobiographical, biographical, and genealogical material; maps; a few photographs; financial and legal papers; annotated printed matter; and scrapbooks.

Much of the collection relates to Porter's court-martial and cashiering out of military service in 1863 following criticism of his conduct on August 29, 1862, during the battle of 2nd Manassas, or 2nd Bull Run, and his attempt to obtain reinstatement and honorable retirement. In 1879 Porter secured a review of his case by a board of general officers which reported in his favor. There is also considerable material relating to congressional action and a presidential pardon in Porter's case. There are many personal letters from fellow officers supporting Porter's allegations against Generals John Pope and Irvin McDowell, whom Porter charged with incompetence and slander. There is also considerable material concerning the conduct of the 5th Army Corps under Porter's leadership in the Peninsular Campaign and the Battles of Malvern Hill, 2nd Manassas, and Antietam.

Material concerning Porter's early military career, particularly in the war with Mexico and the Utah Expedition (1857-1860), is largely in the form of autobiographical and biographical studies. There is more material concerning Porter's Texas Expedition (1861), the Harrisburg Campaign (1861), and the first Shenandoah Valley Campaign under General Robert Patterson.

Included with the Porter Papers are drafts of two unpublished biographical works and correspondence of their authors. The first, by Theodore Akerly Lord, covers Porter's military career from the Mexican War to the Shenandoah Campaign. The second, "Animus," by Carswell McClellan, is concerned primarily with Porter's court-martial. There are also extracts and transcripts by Sara M. Day in English of the German publication Der Feldzug in Nord-Virginien im August 1862 (1881) by Ferdinand Franz Mangold.

Prominent correspondents include John C. Bullitt, Ulysses S. Grant, George Frisbie Hoar, Reverdy Johnson, George Brinton McClellan (1826-1885), George D. Ruggles, William Joyce Sewell, and Stephen Minot Weld. Span dates of correspondence noted in the original container list for the General Correspondence and Other Papers series have been altered in this revised finding aid to include enclosures and related material added at a later date. The altered dates are indicated in brackets.

Organization of the Papers

The collection is arranged in nine series:

• General Correspondence and Other Papers, 1830-1947, n.d.
• Letterbooks, 1860-1888, n.d.
• Subject File, 1792-1914, n.d.
• Articles, 1861-1862, n.d.
• Autobiographical, Biographical, and Genealogical Material, n.d.
• Miscellany, 1866-1941, n.d.
• Printed matter, 1862-1914, n.d.
• Biographical File, 1861-1949, n.d.
• Oversize, 1857-1891, n.d.

Container List