PORTER
PQRTER
his men. He was ordered home, court-martialed
and suspended for six months on the ground that
he had exceeded his authority. This action so
displeased him that he resigned liis commission and
entered the Mexican service as commander-in-
chief of the naval forces. In 1829 he returned
to the United States, and was appointed by
President Jackson consul-general at Algiers. He
was transferred to Constantinople as charge
d'affaires, and in 1831 was made minister resi-
dent. He is the author of: Journal of a Cruise
made to the Pacific Ocean in the U.S. Frigate
Essex" in 1812-13 (2 vols., 1815), and Constan-
tinople and its Environs (2 vols., 1835). Porter's
name received six votes for a place in the Hall
of Fame for Great Americans, New York uni-
versity, in October, 1900. He died in Pera, a
suburb of Constantinople, Turkey, March 28,
1843. and was buried at the naval asylum, Phila-
delphia, Pa.
PORTER, David Dixon, naval officer, was born in Cliester. Delaware county. Pa., June 8, 1813; son of David and Evelina (Anderson) Porter. He attended Columbian college, Washington, D.C., and in 1825 accompanied his father, then in com- mand of the "West In- dia squadron, on a cruise on the Spanisli Main. He was ap- pointed midshipman in the Mexican navy, and served under his cousin, David H. Por- ter, on the schooner Esmeralda in 1826, and later on the brig Guerrero, which was captured off the coast of Cuba by a Spanish frigate, his cousin being killed. He was appointed a midship- man in the U.S. navy, Feb. 2. 1829. and served in the Mediterranean squadron on the Con- stellation, Congress anrl Delaware. He was pro- moted passed midshipman, July 3, 1835, and lieutenant, Feb. 27, 1841; served in the Medi- terranean and Brazilian squadrons. 1841-45; was appointed to the naval observatory, Washing- ton, in 1845, and in 1846 was sent on a confi- dential niLssion to report on the condition of affairs at Santo Domingo. On his return he was given command of the steamer Spitfire, the flag- ship of the Mosquito fleet under Commodore Tatt- nall, and served in every action on the east coast. He returned to the coast survey at the close of the war, and was captain of the Pacific Mail steamers Panavia and Georgia, 1849-53; com- manded a store ship in the U.S. navy in 1853;
C^c:U,vJ3lJ^^^
was on shore duty at the Portsmouth navy yard
in 1858, and in 1861 was given command of the
steamer Pou-hatan with troops for the relief of
Fort Pickens. He was promoted commander,
April 22, 1861, and remained in charge of the
Poichatan in the Gulf blockading fleet until
November, 1861, when he returned to Washington
and endeavored to demonstrate to the navy de-
partment the advisability of an expedition to New
Orleans. He joined the expedition under Farra-
gut in March, 1862, having command of the
mortar fleet consisting of twenty-one scliooners
and five steamers, and with the fleet bombarded
Forts Jackson and St. Philip, compelling their
surrender, April 28, 1862. He served under Far-
ragut in all the operations between New Orleans
and Vicksburg, supporting his advance when
Farragut passed the Vicksburg batteries, and
on Oct. 1, 1862, was given the rank of rear-ad-
miral and ordered to relieve Admiral Davis in
command of the Mississippi squadron. He or-
ganized and enlarged liis fleet by casing river-
steamboats with heavy iron plating and railroad
iron, and adapting them to the narrow winding
streams in which they were to operate. He co-
operated with General Grant in the Vicksburg
campaign and three times sent expeditions to
force a passage for the fleet into the Yazoo delta.
The tliird expedition, composed of five of liis best
iron-clads. he led in person, and after many diffi-
culties reached the open country, where his
progress was checked by the inhabitants, who
blocked the stream with trees, obliging the fleet
to retreat. He commanded the fleet that ran the
fortifications of Vicksburg in April, 1863, and
opened fire on the forts at Grand Gulf, April 29,
1863. During that night, the fleet having suc-
cessfully ferried Grant's army across the river, he
captured the forts at Haj'nes Bluff, and thus se-
cured access to the Upper Yazoo. On Juh- 4, 1863,
Vicksburg surrendered, but Porter remained at the
head of the Mississippi squadron until August.
1863. He was commissioned rear-admiral, July 4,
1863, and in the spring of 1864 commanded the naval force in the Red River expedition. After waiting to hear from General Banks, whose army was defeated at Mansfield, La., he withdrew his fleet, under a harassing fire from the troops on the river bank. On reaching the rapids above Alexandria, the Eastport was sunk by a hidden torpedo, and in order to pass the shallow rapids a dam was built by Lieut.-Col. Joseph Bailey (q.v.). from timber cut on the river bank. In October,
1864. Porter was transferred to the command of the North Atlantic blockading squadron, to con- duct the movement against Wilmington. His fleet comprised five armored ships, including the New Ironsides, three of the great screw frigates. Colorado, Minnesota and Wahash, and the side-
