Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 08.djvu/392

 PORTER

PORTER

the new navy by President Washington, and liad charge of the signal station on Federal Hill. Hallinu.re. Md. David Porter, Jr., ac- ct)nii»anied his father to sea in the West India trading ship Eliza in 1796, and on his second voyage the crew of the brig were impressed on board a British frigate, where most of them, in- cluding young Porter, refused to perform duty and were i)ut in irons. Porter, when brought to the mast to be wliipped, broke away from his captors, jumped overboard and swam to a Danish brig, bound for Europe. He re-shipped on another foreign vessel bound for the United States, was again impre.sseil on a British man-of-war, where he received brutal treatment, but finally escaped. He was warranted midshipman, April 16, lT8i), and was ordered to the frigate Constellation, Capt. Thomas Truxton, on a cruise in tlie W^est Indies, Aug. -JO, 1798. On Feb. 9, 1799, Truxton met and captured the French frigate Ulnsur- gente, Capt. Barreault. and the prize was brought to jxjrt by Lieut. John Rogers, with ^Midshipman Porter second in command. Porter was pro- moted lieutenant, Oct. 8, 1799. and transferred to the schooner Experiment of the West India squadron, wiiicli on Jan. 1, 1800, while convoying several mercliantmen, was becalmed off Santo Domingo and attacked by ten picaroon barges. Porter, who worked the Experiment during the entire engagement and was severely wounded, effected the escape of the fleet. Subsequently, with a boat and four men, he took possession of the prize Denx Amis. The prisoners on this vessel numbered ten times as many as their captors, and Porter ordered tliem all forward, loaded one of his small guns, and threatened to shoot the first man that crossed a prescribed line. In thi.s manner, for three nights and four days lie managed his prize, finally bringing it into the harbor of St. Kitts. Upon the outbreak of tiie war with Tripoli in 1802, Porter was ap- pointed first lieutenant on board the frigate Neio York, and in April, 1.S02, while otl the coast of TriiKjli, he volunteered to lead an assault in small boats into the harlx>r. He landed in the face of a largely sujierior force, set fire to the boats in the harlKjr and returned to the squadron, but not until he was again wounded. He was trans- ferred to the Pkilddelphid, Capt. Bainbridge, and on Oct. 31. IHO:}, was on lx)ard that vessel in the harbor of Tripoli when she ran on a sunken reef and was captured, tlie officers and crew being taken prisoners an<l confined until peace was restored. He was commissioned master-com- mandant, April 22. 1806. On March 10, 1808, he was married to Evelina, daughter of William Anderson of Chester. Pa. He commanded the naval forces at New Orleans, and captured three French privateers anchored in the Mississippi

river. In 1811 he was given command of the frigate Essex, and upon the outbreak of the war of 1812 was promoted captain, and succeeded in capturing several prizes, including a transport with 150 men, and the sloop-of-war Alert, the first English ship of the line captured in the war. On Dec. 11, 1812, he captured the British packet Nor- ton, with specie amounting to $55,000, and on Dec. 29, 1812, the schooner Elizabeth. He entered the port of Valparaiso, S.A., where he learned that Peru had sent out cruisers against the Americans. After refitting his ship he set sail, and on March 25, 1812, captured the Peruvian privateer Nereyda, ■which had on board the crews of two American whalers, the Barclay and Walker. He cruised in the Pacific for ten months, capturing many British whalers, including the Montezuma, Georgiana and Policy, which were attached to the Essex and refitted. Porter now sailed with his fleet to the Marquesas Islands to refit, anchor- ing in the bay of Nukohwah, which he named Massachusetts Bay, and after subduing the natives of the island, he took possession in the name of the United States. On Feb. 3, 1814, in company with the Essex, Jr. (formerly the Georgiana), the Essex arrived at Valparaiso, and on Feb. 8, the British frigate Phcebe, Capt. James Hillyer, with her consort the Cherub, arrived and anchored near the Essex. The neutrality of the port was not violated, and on March 28, 1814, the Essex attempted to escape from the port. She was immediately attacked by the Phoebe and Cherub, and after an engagement that lasted for two hours and tliirty minutes, the Essex was reduced to a wreck and Porter struck his colors, fifty-eight of his crew being killed and sixty-six wounded. Soon after the capture. Porter made an agreement with Hillyer to disarm the Essex, Jr., if allowed to proceed with his surviving officeri and crew to the United States. He sailed, April 27, 1814, arriving off Sandy Hook, N.Y., July 5, 1814, where he fell in with the British ship Satur7i, Captain Nash, and was detained, Captain Nash doubting the authority of Captain Hillyer to issue papers of safe conduct. Porter escaped, July 6, 1814, and reached Babylon, L.I. The Essex, Jr., was condemned and sold, and he was appointed commissioner of the navy, serving, 1815-23. In 1823, in charge of an expedition to suppress the West Indian pirates, he sailed to the Gulf and established a naval depot at Key West. In October, 1824, being informed of the robbery of an American mercantile house in St. Thomas, he dispatched the Beagle, Lieutenant Piatt, to investigate the matter. Lieutenant Piatt was badly treated by the civil authorities and Porter, considering it an insult to the American flag, made a land attack on Foxordo, secured an apology from the authorities and then removed