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* FOBTER. •264 PORTER. service until 1829, and then, being dissatisfied with it, resigned. He was soon afterwards ap- pointed consul-general to the Barbary Powers by President Jackson, and was later transferred as c'hargL' d'afi'aircs to Constantinople, where he died in 1843. Porter published a Journal of a Cruise Made to the Pacifick Ocean by the United States Frigate Essex (1815; 1822), a defense of his conduct at Fojardo (1825), and Constantinople and Its Environs (1835). Consult David Dixon Porter, Life of Commodore David Porter (Albany, 1875). PORTER, David Dixox (1813-91). A dis- tinguished American admiral. He was a son of Commodore David Porter, and was born in Ches- ter, Pa., June 8, 1813. In 1824 he accompanied his father on his expedition against the West Indian pirates, and when his father became Ad- miral of the Mexican navy he entered the same service as a midshipman. While serving under his cousin. Captain David H. Porter, who was in command of a Mexican vessel cruising against Spanish commerce, young Porter took ])art in a desperate engagement with a much su'^erior Span- ish frigate. The vessel on which he was serving was captured, and he was for a short time con- fined in the guard-ship at Havana. Soon after his release he was commissioned a midshipman in the United States navy, and served until 1835 on the European station. In 1846 he was sent by the Secretary of War on a secret mission to Haiti, and then served with distinction in the Mexican War as a lieutenant and afterwards as commanding otlicer of the Sjiitlirc. After the close of that struggle he obtained a furlough, and for some years commanded private passenger steamers. The Civil War gave Porter the opportunity to distinguish himself. The beginning of that strug- gle found him a lieutenant on shore duty; in a little more than two years he Mas a rear-admiral in command of a squadron. His first service in the war was to assist as commander of the Poio- hatan in the relief of Fort Pickens. Shortly afterwards he was advanced to the rank of com- mander. A little later, largely through his recom- mendation, Farragut was given command of the Western Gulf Blockading Squadron which w'as to operate against New Orleans, and Porter was put in charge of the fleet of bomb-vessels under iiim. By Farragut's order, Porter in April, 1862, began a bombardment of Forts .lackson and Saint Philip, which guarded the way up the Missis- sippi, and after six days and nights, in the course of which he threw into them more than 16,000 shells, he reduced them to such a condition that Farragut's fleet was able to pass them and cap- ture New Orleans. Four days later the forts themselves surrendered to Porter. During the next few months he served with great credit in the operations between New Orleans and Vicks- burg. In September. 1862. he was put in charge of the Mississippi Squadron as acting rear-ad- miral. He improvised a navy-yard at Mound City, and soon increased his squadron of about a dozen effective vessels to more than 120 by con- verting ordinary river steamers into gunboats. With a part of this fleet he, in January, 1863, assisted the army in the capture of Arkansas Post, and next succeeded in running past the batteries of Vicksburg and reducing the Confeder- ate forts at Grand Gulf, He then cooperated with General Grant in the siege of Vicksburg, and upon the surrender of that place received the thanks of Congress and a commission as rear- admiral. In the spring of 1864 he assisted Gen- eral Banks in the disastrous expedition up the Red River, and it was only by the greatest e.xer- tions that he succeeded in saving his vessels. (See Bailey, Jo.sei'II.) In the same year he was put in command of the North Atlantic Blockad- ing Squadron. While in this command his most important service was in cooperating in the cap- ture of Fort Fisher, which was taken by assault on the 15th of .January. 1865, after a long and destructive bombardment by his fleet. For this service he again received the thanks of Congress. After peace came, he served from 1865 to 1869 as superintendent of the Naval Academy at An- napolis, and did much to increase the efficiency of that institution. In 1866 he was promoted to be vice-admiral, and in 1870, upon the death of Farragut, was advanced to the highest of all naval ranks, that of admiral. He died in Wash- ington in 1891. Admiral Porter wrote a life of his father. Com- modore David Porter (1875) ; Ineidents and An- ecdotes of the Civil ^Yar (1885) ; History of the Navy in the War of the Rebellion (1887) ; two novels, Allan Dale and Robert le Dinblc (1885| and Harry Marline (1886) : a posthumous novel- ette, A Romance of Gettysburg, which appeared in the Criterion for 1903; and articles for various publications. Consult: Soley, Admiral Porter (New York, 1903), in the'"Great Commanders Series;" Ches- ney's Essays iti Military Biography (New York, 1874) ; and .Johnson and Buel (eds.). Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (New York, 1887). PORTER, FiTZ John (1822-1901). A dis- tinguished American soldier. He was born at Portsmouth, N. H., graduated at West Point in 1845, and was assigned to the artillery, in which he became second lieutenant the following year. He served in the war with ilexico from the begin- ning; was wounded in the attack on the City of Mexico, September 13, 18-17: and was lirevctteil captain and major for gallantry in the battle of Molino del Rey and the storming of Chapultepec, respectively. After the war he was sent to West Point, where he served as adjutant of the post, and as instructor of artillery and cavalry. In 1856 he was transferred to the Adjutant-General's department, and was assistant adjutant-general of the Utah expedition inider Albert Sidney Johnston in 1857. On May _1,4. 1861, he received the appointment of colonel of the 15th Infantry; was made brigadier-general of volimteers in the same month, and served as chief of staff with General Banks and General Patterson until .u- gust, when he was put in command of a division in the Army of the Potomac. He had charge of tlie siege operations against Yorktown during the Peninsular campaign, acted as military governoi of the place for a time after its evacuation, and was then given the command of the 5th Army Corps, which fought the battles of Mechaniesville and CJaincs's Mill, and bore the brunt of the fight at Malvern Hill. He was appointed brevet briga- dier-general in the Regular Army for gallantry at the battles of the Chickahominy. and on .July 4, 1862, was commissioned major-general of volun- teers. At the second battle of Bull Run his fail- ure to move forward on the first day of the en-