Question. Are you certain that you had not?

Answer. I am not certain that I had not, but I am very certain that Colonel Ruggles never stated a thing of that kind to me; I feel quite sure of it, although I am not prepared to swear that he did not; I have no knowledge of it.

Question. State on what day, of you can remember, you had the conversation with the accused at Fairfax Court-House.

Answer. I think it was on Tuesday morning, the 2nd of September.

Question. Say, if you can, what led to the conversation between the accused and yourself on that occasion.

Answer. I think what led to it was that General Porter came into the room and brought me a telegraphic dispatch, or a dispatch of some kind, from General McClellan, in which General McClellan urges General Porter to support me in the operations of the army. The exact character of that dispatch I do not remember, whether it was telegraphic or otherwise. I have repeated the substance of it.

Question. Is the paper now shown you, marked "Accused, Exhibit Numbers 1," that dispatch?

Answer. [Examining it.] I think that is the dispatch. This is the substance of the impression made upon my mind by it. I did not read it very carefully, but it seems to me this is it.

The dispatch was then read, as follows:

WAR DEPARTMENT,

September 1, 1862-5.30 p. m.

Major-General PORTER,

Centreville, Commanding Sixth Corps:

I ask of you, for my sake, that of the country, and of the old Army of the Potomac that you and all friends will lend the fullest and most cordial co-operation to General Pope in all the operations now going on. The distresses of our country, the honor of our arms, are at stake, and all depends upon the cheerful co-operations of all in the field. This week is the crisis of our fate. Say the same thing to all my friends in the Army of the Potomac, and that the last request I have to make of them is that, for their country's sake, they will extend to General Pope the same support they ever have to me.

I am in charge of the defenses of Washington, and am doing all I can to render your retreat safe, should that become necessary.

GEO. B. MCCLELLAN,

Major-General.

Question. Do you remember what the accused said in relation to the fact that he had received such a dispatch; and if he asked you if you knew why such a dispatch should be sent to him?

Answer. I do not think he asked me that question. He asked me why I supposed such a dispatch had been sent to him, seeming to apprehend, or to believe, or to suspect, that I had reported his conduct to Washington, and made complaints of him which made it necessary for this dispatch to be sent. I told General Porter that I had not reported him to the Department in Washington; and that, as matters stood, I thought I should not take any action in reference to his case, though I felt bound to do so in the case of Griffin. I think that is about the substance of what I have said.

Question. If, as you have stated, you were of the opinion that the army under your command had been defeated, and in danger of still greater defeat, and the capital of the country in danger of capture by the enemy, and you thought that these calamities could have been obviated if General Porter had obeyed your orders, why was it that you doubted, on the 2nd of September, whether you would or would not take any action against him?

The witness declined to answer the question, as not being relevant to this investigation.

The room was cleared, and the court proceeded to deliberate with closed doors.

After some time the doors were reopened; whereupon the judge-