Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/743

 PORTER 723 Coffee and Salt creeks; area, about 420 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 13,942. It has a nearly level surface toward the north, which becomes rough and broken in the south ; and the soil, princi- pally occupied by forest and prairie, is gen- erally fertile. It is traversed by several rail- roads. The chief productions in 1870 were 143,575 bushels of wheat, 212,331 of Indian corn, 178,886 of oats, 66,352 of potatoes, 220,- 998 Ibs. of butter, 52,721 of wool, and 21,841 tons of hay. There were 5,087 horses, 4,405 milch cows, 7,644 other cattle, 15,200 sheep, and 10,039 swine; 5 manufactories of agricul- tural implements, 3 of bricks, 4 of carriages, 4 of cooperage, 1 of paper, 1 of woollens, 4 flour mills, 9 saw mills, 1 tannery, and 1 currying establishment. Capital, Valparaiso. PORTER. I. David, an American naval officer, born in Boston, Feb. 1, 1780, died in Pera, Tur- key, March 28, 1843. He entered the navy in April, 1798, and was a midshipman in the frigate Constellation in her action with the French frigate Insurgente, Feb. 9, 1799. In October, 1799, he became a lieutenant, and served on the West India station. In January, 1800, his schooner, the Experiment, while becalmed off the coast of Santo Domingo, with several American merchantmen under her protection, was attacked by ten barges, which after a con- flict of seven hours were beaten off. Lieut. Porter was wounded in this engagement. Subsequently the Experiment had several suc- cessful affairs with privateers, and captured the French schooner La Diane, 14 guns and 60 men. In August, 1801, the schooner Enter- prise, 12 guns, to which Porter was attached, fell in off Malta with a Tripolitan cruiser of 14 guns and 80 men, which surrendered after an engagement of three hours. Subsequently, while attached to the frigate New York, he commanded a boat expedition which destroyed several feluccas in the harbor of Tripoli, and was again wounded. In October, 1803, he was captured in the frigate Philadelphia, and remained a prisoner in Tripoli until peace was proclaimed. In April, 1806, he was made master commandant, and in July, 1812, cap- tain. On the outbreak of the war of 1812 he sailed from New York in command of the frig- ate Essex, 32, and in a short cruise captured several British merchantmen and a trans- port with 150 troops on board. Soon after- ward he fell in with and captured, after an action of eight minutes, H. B. M. S. Alert, of 20 18-lb. carronades, with a full crew. On Dec. 11 he captured near the equator the Brit- ish government packet Norton, with $50,000 in specie on board. Capt. Porter continued to cruise in the south Atlantic and upon the coast of Brazil until the close of January, 1813, when he determined to proceed to the Pacific and destroy the English whale fishery in that ocean, and sailed for Valparaiso. Hav- ing there refitted, he went to sea, and on March 25 captured the Peruvian privateer Nereyda, of 19 guns, which had taken two American whale ships, and had their crews on board as prisoners. They were transferred to the Es- sex, and the arniament and ammunition of the Nereyda were thrown overboard, when she was released. One of her prizes was shortly afterward recaptured and restored to her com- mander. After this, Capt. Porter cruised about ten months in the Pacific, capturing 12 Brit- ish ships employed chiefly in the sperm whale fishery, amounting in the aggregate to 3,369 tons ; 400 prisoners were made ; and for the time that important British interest in the Pacific was destroyed. The Georgiana, whaler, was converted into a vessel of war, named the Essex Junior, and cruised in company with the Essex. On Feb. 3, 1814, the Essex and Essex Junior arrived at Valparaiso. On the 8th H. B. M. frigate Phcebe and sloop Cherub arrived and anchored near the Essex, and after obtain- ing supplies cruised off Valparaiso six weeks. On March 28 the Essex made an attempt to get to sea, but in doubling a headland was struck by a squall, which carried away her maintopmast, and caused the loss of several men. In this crippled state the ship anchored 3 m. from the town, and was attacked by the Phcebe and Cherub. The Essex was a frigate of 860 tons, mounting 32 guns, 6 of which were long 12s, the rest 32-lb. carronades, with a crew of 255. The Phoebe was a frigate of 926 tons, mounting 46 guns, viz., 30 long 18s and 16 32-lb. carronades, with a crew of 320. The Cherub mounted 28 guns, viz., 18 32-lb. car- ronades, 8 24-lb. carronades, and 2 long 9s, with a crew of 180. At 4 P. M. the Phcebe, nearly astern of the Essex, opened her fire, the Cherub opening hers at the same time on the starboard bow, and the action contin- ued 2 h. 30 m. The Essex Junior took no part in it, her armament of 18-lb. carron- ades being too light to be of the least service in such an action. The Essex finally surren- dered, with a loss of 58 killed, 66 wounded, and 31 missing, who were probably drowned in attempting to swim ashore when the ship was on fire during the engagement; and when she surrendered, Capt. Porter and Lieut. McKnight were the only commissioned sea officers who remained unhurt. A large por- tion of her guns were disabled. The British loss was 5 killed and 10 wounded. The Essex Junior brought the survivors of the Essex to the United States, where Capt. Porter was received with great distinction. His narrative of this remarkable cruise was published in New York in 1822 (2 vols. 8vo). From April, 1815, to December, 1823, he was a member of the board of navy commissioners, which post he resigned to take command of an expedition fitted out against pirates in the West Indies. In October, 1824, upon evidence that a quan- tity of valuable goods had been carried by pi- rates to Faxardo on the E. end of Porto Rico, the Beagle, one of the schooners of the squad- ron, was sent there, but the officers on landing were thrown into prison. After their release