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Scarce set of 3 maps of the Second Battle of Bull Run, as prepared by G.K. Warren, showing the progress of the 2nd Battle of Bull Run, including the troop movements of General Fitz John Porter's troops and other positions on the battlefield.
These 3 maps wer printed to accompany the Argument of Petioner's Counsel, in connection with General Fitz-John Porter's court martial resulting from defeat at Second Battle of Bull Run. Troop positions overprinted in color, show the progress of the battle which led to General Fitz John Porter's court martial for insubordination.
Porter was sent to reinforce Maj. Gen. John Pope in the Northern Virginia Campaign, a reassignment that he openly challenged and complained about, criticizing Pope personally. During the Second Battle of Bull Run, on August 29, 1862, he was ordered to attack the flank and rear of Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's wing of the Army of Northern Virginia. Porter had stopped at Dawkin's Branch where he had encountered Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry screen.
On August 29, he received a message from Pope directing him to attack the Confederate right (which Pope assumed to be Jackson on Stony Ridge), but at the same time to maintain contact with the neighboring division under Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds, a conflict in orders that could not be resolved. Pope was apparently unaware that Confederate Maj. Gen. James Longstreet's wing of the army had arrived on the battlefield and the proposed envelopment of Jackson's position would have collided suicidally with Longstreet's large force. Porter chose not to make the attack because of the intelligence he had received that Longstreet was to his immediate front.
August 30, Pope again ordered the flank attack, and Porter reluctantly complied. As the V Corps turned to head towards Jackson's right and attacked, it presented its own (and consequently the entire army's) flank to Longstreet's waiting men. About 30,000 Confederates now assailed Porter's 5,000 or so men and drove through them and into the rest of Pope's forces, doing exactly what Porter most feared would come of these orders. Pope was infuriated by the defeat, accused Porter of insubordination, and relieved him of his command on September
Porter was soon restored to command of the corps by McClellan and led it through the Maryland Campaign, where the corps served in a reserve position during the Battle of Antietam. He is famously said to have told McClellan, "Remember, General, I command the last reserve of the last Army of the Republic." McClellan took his implied advice and failed to commit his reserves into a battle that might have been won if he had used his forces aggressively.
On November 25, 1862, Porter was arrested and court-martialed for his actions at Second Bull Run. By this time, McClellan had been relieved by President Abraham Lincoln and could not provide political cover for his protégé. In fact, Porter's association with the disgraced McClellan and his open criticism of Pope were significant reasons for his conviction at court-martial. Porter was found guilty on January 10, 1863, of disobedience and misconduct, and he was dismissed from the Army on January 21, 1863.
![(The First Letter From British Florida) [September 5, 1763, Autograph Letter, Signed, from Robert Campbell to John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun, describing the British taking possession of Florida and the state of the settlement of Pensacola]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/86620.jpg)
