But though the records of those proceedings which fix the blame for that campaign upon Major-General Halleck were lost or stolen from the archives of the War Department, Benn Pitman, the phonographic reporter of the court, had possession of a report of those proceedings. And, by Act of Congress, approved by President Grant on June 5, 1872, the Secretary of War was “directed to employ at once Benn Pitman to make a full and complete transcript of the phonographic notes taken by him during the said investigation, and to put the same on file among the records of the War Department, and to furnish a copy of the same to Congress.” The report of those proceedings may now be found in “Official Records,” Series I, Vol. XVI, Part I, pp. 6 to 726, inclusive. The most melancholy part of the story lies in the fact that Porter, who certainly helped to save Washington from falling into Lee’s hands, had his life blasted by Halleck, and died without knowledge that Halleck, not Pope, was really guilty of the disaster which so nearly resulted in the abandonment of the Capital to the Confederates, and while Halleck was directing affairs in the West in such a manner as to imperil Cincinnati. The remarkable co-operation between Pope and Buell for the surrender of those cities, and which was attempted by Halleck, does not look like a concatenation of accidental circumstances. This is accentuated by the charge against Halleck’s loyalty to the Republic which was made by the gallant Wallace after he had presided over that Buell military court. He was a careful man; and, being a good lawyer, he understood the laws and effect of evidence. Porter, who prevented the surrender of Washington, and Buell, who saved Cincinnati, were both punished. It looks as if they had interfered with Halleck’s plan of a general surrender. L’ENVOI In January, 1899, the writer commenced to unravel the mystery surrounding the battle of Harper’s Ferry, which culminated in the surrender of that post September 15, 1862. He was a member of that garrison, and he knew that history had not truthfully recorded the defense, some chronicles reading that “Harper’s Ferry fell without a struggle,” others that “there was no defense”; in the main, historians were a unit.