Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 08.djvu/393

 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;

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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-