Answer. Yes; the only reason.

Question by General McDOWELL. Can witness state when the Sixteenth New York Battery was ordered to report to General Wadsworth, with reference to the embarkation of General McClellan at Alexandria?

Answer. I cannot, exactly. I know that the battery had only arrived a very short time previous to the departure of the Army of the Potomac, and I believe the order directing the battery to report to General Wadsworth was dated only a very few days previous to the departure of the Army of the Potomac.

Major General FITZ JOHN PORTER, U. S. Volunteers, a witness, was duly sworn.

Question by the COURT. State your present rank in the Army.

Answer. Major-general of volunteers and colonel Fifteenth U. S. Infantry.

Question by the COURT. What command did you hold in the Army of Virginia while the latter was under command of General Pope, in August, 1862?

Answer. I was in command of the present Fifth Corps of the Army of the Potomac, at that time composed of a division of volunteers, a division of regulars, and a small brigade of volunteers, which was at times temporarily detached.

Question by the COURT. Did you see General McDowell on the 28th or 29th August, 1862?

Answer. I saw General McDowell twice on the morning of the 29th; once at Manassas Junction, again about 3 miles from Manassas Junction, on the road to Gainesville.

Question by the COURT. State at what time on that day you saw General McDowell.

Answer. The first time at Manassas Junction, about 9 o'clock; the second time, I presume, between 11 and 12.

Question by the COURT. State where was General McDowell's corps at those times.

Answer. General King's division had been assigned to my command when I was at Manassas Junction by General Pope. Ricketts' division, I was informed by General McDowell, was in the vicinity of Manassas Junction, and I think was near Bristoe. Reynolds' division was in the vicinity of Groveton, on the turnpike. (Reynolds' division had belonged to me at one time, but was then claimed by General McDowell.) The second time I met General McDowell King's division was immediately in rear of my corps, and on the road going from Manassas Junction to Gainesville.

Question by the COURT. Had General McDowell any command over you prior to the 29th of August?

Answer. No.

Question by the COURT. What order did General McDowell give or what authority did he exercise over you, and in virtue of whose order? State fully and particularly.

Answer. General McDowell exercised authority over me in obedience to an order of General Pope, addressed jointly to General McDowell and me, and which I presume is in possession of the court. I have no copy of it. Our commands being united, he necessarily came into the command under the Articles of War.

The witness here stated, in substance, to the court that the question leads to many things pertaining to the recent court in his case, the decision of which has not yet been announced. The question requires a statement of what transpired, and he felt at this time some delicacy in answering, both so far as General McDowell and himself are concerned. I would have to state the orders under which I was moving in that direction.

16 R R-VOL XII