Hand-written, Autographed Note Signed, in ink, on white paper, 3.5 x 5”. Excellent condition. Text:

“Captain Locker/ Hall’s Hill/ Send the wagon Collins office to be here by 10. O’clock to morrow—F. J. Porter/ B[rigadier] G.[eneral]”

Hall’s Hill is today’s “Highland Park”, located in the near vicinity of Arlington, VA. During the fall of 1861 and the winter of 1862 it was the site of the large bivouac and training camps of Gen. George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac.

A member of the West Point class of 1845, Fitz John Porter distinguished himself in the Mexican War, and in the spring of 1861 was commissioned Brigadier General of Volunteers. For his services as Fifth Corps commander at Malvern Hill, VA, during the Seven Days Battles of July 1862, Porter promoted Major General of Volunteers. Unfortunately, within a month or so later he was court-martialed by General John Pope on charges of disloyalty, disobedience, and misconduct at the Battle of 2^nd Manassas. Although the charges were bogus, Porter was convicted and dismissed from the army in 1863. Sixteen years later, in 1879, a military commission exonerated him of all charges, although it was not until 1886 that he was restored to the army roll with his rank of Colonel, dating from August 1861.

Inasmuch as Porter initialed this note as a “BG.” [Brigadier General], it is likely that it was written while he held that rank, at some point between the summer of 1861 and the commencement of McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign in May 1862.

A solid Fitz-John Porter collectible. In protective sleeve w/white card backing.  [JP] [ph:L]

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