Injustice on Trial: Second Bull Run, General Fitz John Porter's Court Martial, and the Schofield Board Investigation That Restored His Good Name

Rating:
Summary: JUSTICE FOR PORTER
Review: In one of the most brutal acts of military injustice short of the Dreyfus affair, a prominent Union corps commander, Gen. Fitz John Porter, was cashiered by a court martial for his role in the Battle of Second Bull Run. It wasn't until 1878 that the disgraced West Pointer was able to win full vindication from a court of inquiry. A painstaking review of Porter's treatment by historian and U. S. Military academy grad Curt Anders, "Injustice on Trial," relies heavily on the transcripts of the 1862 court martial that convicted the hapless commasnder of failing to follow Gen. John Pope's orders and the subsequent Schofield board that uncovered the numerous errors that marked the original proceeding. In the course of producing this convincing absolution of Porter, Anders details the involvement of an amazing procession of prominent figures in the long running drama, including Grant, Pope, McClellan, Longstreet and Lincoln, himself. Anders has done full justice to his fascinating subject in this solid, substantial work.

Rating:
Summary: JUSTICE FOR PORTER
Review: In one of the most brutal acts of military injustice short of the Dreyfus affair, a prominent Union corps commander, Gen. Fitz John Porter, was cashiered by a court martial for his role in the Battle of Second Bull Run. It wasn't until 1878 that the disgraced West Pointer was able to win full vindication from a court of inquiry. A painstaking review of Porter's treatment by historian and U. S. Military academy grad Curt Anders, "Injustice on Trial," relies heavily on the transcripts of the 1862 court martial that convicted the hapless commasnder of failing to follow Gen. John Pope's orders and the subsequent Schofield board that uncovered the numerous errors that marked the original proceeding. In the course of producing this convincing absolution of Porter, Anders details the involvement of an amazing procession of prominent figures in the long running drama, including Grant, Pope, McClellan, Longstreet and Lincoln, himself. Anders has done full justice to his fascinating subject in this solid, substantial work.