PORTER 



4768 



PORTER 



he captured nine prizes, taking them to Valpa- 

 raiso, Chile, for saf> 



Later, encountering the English ships Cherub 

 and Phoeb* x was forced into an un- 



equal combat in really neutral waters, and was 

 compelled to surrender; nevertheless Porter 

 was received with preat enthusiasm on his re- 

 turn. He was then made a commodore and 

 put in charge of the expedition against pirates 

 in the West Indies. At Foxardo there was some 

 trouble, and Porter made the Spanish apologize 

 for insulting the American flag. He was then 

 charged with exceeding his authority and was 

 suspended for six months. Incensed at this de- 

 cision. Porter resigned, publishing a defense of 

 his action (1825), and enlisted as rear-admiral 

 in the Mexican navy, remaining there until 

 1829. President Jackson then appointed him 

 consul-general to Barbary, and later as charge 

 d'affaires at Constantinople, where he died in 

 1843. He published a book on Constantinople 

 and Its Environs. 



David Dixon Porter (1813-1891), an American 

 naval officer who, during the War of Secession, 

 was four times voted the thanks of Congress 

 for distinguished service, and was the second 

 man to hold the rank of admiral in the United 

 States navy. He 

 was born in Ches- 

 ter, Pa., the son 

 of Commodore 

 David Porter, and 

 when only eleven 

 years old accom- 

 panied his father 

 on a cruise 

 against pirates in 

 the West Indies. 

 Later he served as DAVID D. PORTER 

 mirlcVtirtmon The second man to become 

 s n i p m a n admiral of the Un ited States 



in the Mexican navy. 



navy, his father having taken service with 

 tint country. Under his cousin, Captain David 

 H. Porter, he fought in a fierce battle with a 

 Spanish vessel and was captured. Joining the 

 United States navy as midshipman after his 

 release in 1846, Porter was sent on a secret 

 diplomatic mission to Haiti, and later held 

 command of the Spitfire in the Mexican War. 



When the War of Secession broke out he was 

 ranked lieutenant, served on the Powhatan at 

 Fort Pickens, and soon rose to the rank of 

 commander. In the Mississippi River cam- 

 paign, Porter was offered the command of the 

 Gulf blockading squadron, but declined in fa- 

 vor of Farragut, 



In the bombardment of Forts Jackson and 

 Saint Philip, in which he was second in com- 

 mand, he threw 16,000 shells, making it possi- 

 ble for Farragut to take his ships past the forts 

 and attack New Orleans. Four days later, Por- 

 ter captured the forts, and then served between 

 New Orleans and Vicksburg. In 1862, as act- 

 ing rear-admiral, he took charge of the Mi- 

 sippi squadron, and in the siege of Vicksburg 

 shared the honors of victory with Grant. The 

 rank of rear-admiral was then conferred on him. 



As commander of the North Atlantic block- 

 ading squadron Porter cooperated so admira- 

 bly in the attack on Fort Fisher (1865) that he 

 was thanked by Congress and the President. 

 The next four years he was superintendent of 

 the Naval Academy at Annapolis, where he in- 

 stituted many improvements. In 1866 he was 

 promoted to be vice-admiral, and at Farragut's 

 death (1870) succeeded him in the highest 

 naval rank in America, thus becoming the sec- 

 ond admiral in the American navy. He pub- 

 lished a number of literary works before his 

 death in 1891. See ADMIRAL. C.H.H. 



Consult Johnson and Buell's Battles and Lead- 

 ers of the Civil War; Roman's Our Three Ad- 

 mirals. 



PORTER, GENE STRATTON (1868- ), a 

 popular American writer, famous for the stories 

 which she calls "nature studies, sugar-coated 

 with fiction." In all of these there is a back- 

 ground of outdoor life, for she has always made 

 her home in the 

 country, where 

 she could study 

 the birds, moths 

 and plants. She 

 has expressed her 

 chief object in 

 writing as her de- 

 sire "to draw the 

 readers into 

 closer touch with 

 Nature and the 

 Almighty." Many 

 of her stories and 

 nature articles are 

 illustrated with her own drawings and photo- 

 graphic studies. 



Mrs. Porter, who is the wife of Charles Dar- 

 win Porter, was born at Hopewell Farm, Wa- 

 bash, Ind. Her first professional work consisted 

 of photographic studies of natural history sub- 

 jects, which she contributed to Recreation. She 

 was given charge of the "Camera Department" 

 of that magazine, later became a member of 



GENE STRATTON PORTER 



