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Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open to research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Lafayette Sabine Foster Letter, Ms1991-044, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Source of Acquisition

The Lafayette Sabine Foster Letter was purchased by Special Collections and University Archives in 1991.

Processing Information

The processing and description of the Lafayette Sabine Foster Letter commenced and was completed in October, 1991.

Biographical Note - Lafayette Sabine Foster

Lafayette Sabine Foster (1806-1880), a Connecticut attorney and newspaper editor, served in the Connecticut House of Representatives, 1839-1840, 1846-1848, and 1854. He was an unsuccessful Whig nominee for Connecticut governor in 1850 and 1851. He served as mayor of Norwich Connecticut, 1851-1852, and was elected to the United States Senate in 1854 and 1860, serving as president pro tempore of the Senate from 1865 to 1867. Following his loss in the 1866 election, Foster took a position as professor of law at Yale College in 1869, and was again elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives the following year. He resigned to assume a seat on the Connecticut Supreme Court; he resigned from the court and from public service in 1876.

Biographical Note - Fitz John Porter

Fitz John Porter (1822-1901), a native of New Hampshire, graduated from the United States Military Academy (West Point) in 1845. While serving in the Mexcian-American War in 1847, he was wounded at Chapultepec, and breveted a major. Following the war, he served on the staff at West Point from 1849 to 1855, then was posted to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, as assistant adjutant general in the Department of the West. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Porter initially served as chief of staff and assistant adjutant general for the Department of Pennsylvania, then was appointed colonel of the 15th U. S. Infantry on May 14, 1861. In August, Porter was promoted to brigadier general and given a divisional command within the Army of the Potomac. Following his performance during the Peninsula Campaign, Porter was promoted to major general on July 4, 1862. Just a few weeks later, General John Pope blamed the Union Army's loss at the Second Battle of Bull Run on Porter, and Porter was relieved of command and court-martialed in November. The following January, he was dismissed from the army. He would be exonerated and restored to the army roll as a colonel in 1886.

Scope and Content

This collection consists of a single, four-page letter written by United States Senator Lafayette Sabine Foster in the Senate Chamber on June 9, 1862, to Union General Fitz John Porter, then commanding the Army of the Potomac's V Corps. Foster congratulates Porter on his success during the Battle of Hanover Court House the previous month, writing "[N]othing more billiant has been done durin gthe war." Foster also shares his concern that recent floods may hinder support to the army and his opinion that Union Army "operations in the Valley of the Shenandoah look rather odd." The letter is accompanied by an envelope addressed to "General F. J. Porter, Comdg Corps." The envelope bears a note over Porter's initials, reading "I shall do so with pleasure as it will be my duty[.] I did so at Hanover."

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Civil War
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865

Rights Statement for Archival Description

The guide to the Lafayette Sabine Foster Letter by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).