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Page 977 | Chapter XXIV. CAMPAIGN IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA. |
Question. Do you mean by that, that you reminded him that he had said to General Porter that he was satisfied with what he had done, with the exception you have stated?
Answer. My recollection is, that I reminded him that he had made that remark.
Question. What answer, if any, did General Pope make to you?
Answer. I do not remember that he made any answer.
Examination by the accused here closed.
Examination by the JUDGE-ADVOCATE:
Question. You have stated that you only heard this conversation in scarps; that you studiously avoided hearing it. Can you repeat any of the portions of it except that which you have given in your testimony?
Answer. I cannot repeat any other portions of it, because it did not impress me particularity, except this one remark.
Question. Do you remember that, in the course of that conversation, a dispatch or letter was spoken of, which severely criticized the military conduct of General Pope, and which was said to have been sent by General Porter to General Burnside?
Answer. No, sir; I do not. I was on one side of the chimney, and General Pope and General Porter were sitting on a sofa on the other side of the chimney. I did not see any dispatch, and do not remember of hearing any.
Question. Did they converse in a low tone of voice?
Answer. They conversed so that I could not hear the whole of the conversation. I overheard some sentences. This last remark, after they had arisen, was in a tone loud enough to have been heard by anybody who might have been in the room.
Question. Not having heard the whole of the conversation, and not being able now to report any portion of it, can you undertake to say to what that expression of satisfaction referred?
Answer. I can state only what was my impression at that time, from what I heard at the time.
Question. Under what circumstances were you subsequently led to refer to your having overheard this conversation?
Answer. General Pope told me that he did not wish to appear as a witness a gains General Porter, but that he should summon me as the principal witness. I told him that I was not acquainted with all the circumstances of the case; that, though chief of staff, I had been employed as an aide-de-camp during much of the time from the 25th of August up to the time of the battle of Chantilly, on the 1st of September; and that orders had been issued by him that I knew nothing of. He then said to me, "You know that such orders were given?" I answered, "Yes, sir," He said, "And you know that they were not carried out?" I answered that that was what I had been told; that that was my impression. He then said that he would have me summoned as the principal witness. Then, according to my recollection, I reminded him of this conversation. I felt that I was not sufficiently conversant with the case, and I immediately reported this conversation to the Adjutant-General of the Army, and to Colonel Kelton, the Assistant Adjutant-General at the headquarters of the army, and requested that General Pope might be summoned as a witness in the case. They both told me that he should be summoned, and both of them also told me to see Colonel Holt about it. I intended to see Colonel Holt about it, but before doing os I understood that the order for the trial had been suspended, and the impression was that there would be no trial. I therefore took no further action in the matter.
Question. You say that, according to your recollection, you reminded General Pope of that conversation at Fairfax Court-House. Is the court to understand you that your recollection is entirely distinct;; that you have full faith in its accuracy; that you have no doubt about your having made that reference?
Answer. I am not positive about it; that is simply my recollection. I would
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