PORCHER PORTER. 



he was' successful in suppressing rebel movements. 

 Early in 1S(>2 lie had command of the Army of the 

 Mis.-issippi am! by his vigorous movements in March 

 he captured New Madrid and Island No. 10 with 

 thousands of prisoners. He was then promoted 

 major-general of volunteers and brigadier-general in 

 the regular army. He took command of the Army of 

 Virginia, which consisted of all the troops in that 

 State except those under McClellan near Richmond. 

 Unfortunately he inaugurated his command with 

 boastful proclamations which set forth the achieve- 

 ments of the armies in the West in contrast with the 

 want of success in the East. He left Washington on 

 July 29 with rash pledges of victory, and a month later 

 was completely defeated bv Gen. " Stonewall " Jack- 

 son at Bull Run (see BULL RUN). He returned 

 to Washington and soon asked to be relieved from the 

 command. He attributed his defeat to the want of 

 proper support by the officers who had been under 

 Gen. McClellan's command. The controversy raged 

 especially around the conduct of Gen. Fitz John Porter, 

 and took a political form. Gen. Pope was sent to 

 Minnesota and engaged in a campaign with the Sioux. 

 After the war he commanded a military district in the 

 South and later had command of the Department of 

 the Missouri. In October, 1882, he was made major- 

 general in the regular army. He published Explora- 

 tions/rain the Red River to the Rio Grande and Cam- 

 paign in }'ir; fin in (181)3). 



PORCH KR, FRANCIS PEYRE, physician and botan- 

 ist, was born at St. John's Berkeley, S. C., Dec. 14, 

 1825. He is of Huguenot descent, graduated at South 

 Carolina College in 1844, then studied medicine, and 

 received his degree from Charleston Medical College 

 in 1847. He lectured on medical subjects at Charleston 

 and e_dited the t'/nf/7/-.</ , .!/,,//</// .Jnurinil. During 

 the civil war he had charge of Confederate hospitals 

 at Norfolk and Petersburg, Va. In 1872 he was elected 

 president of the South Carolina Medical Association. His 

 chief publications are Mnlirnl Hutn/n/ nf Smith Caro- 

 lina (Is4'.); Crui'tni,, ,,;, l'/,,,,t of'the United States 

 (1854); Resource* of Southern Fields and Forests 

 (1863). 



PORGY or MENHADEN. See FISHERIES. 



PORK. See SWINE 



PORTER, ANDREW (1743-1813), general, was born 

 :it Worcester, Montgomery co., Pa., Sept. 24, 1743. 

 He was engaged as a school-teacher in Philadelphia, 

 when Congress in 1776 appointed him a captain of 

 marines. He was soon employed in the artillery 

 MTvire and fought at Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, 

 and (lermantpwn. In 1770 he took part in Gen. Sul- 

 livan's expedition against the Indians of \Vestern New 

 York. After the war he was a commissioner to run 

 the boundary lines of Pennsylvania (1784), was 

 major-general of militia (1800), and surveyor-general 

 At the outbreak of the war of 1812 IV-. 

 Madison offered him a commission as brigadier-gen- 

 eral, hut he declined on account of his age. He died 

 at Harrisburg, Pa., Nov. 16, 1813. 



Hi- oldest son, DAVID R. PORTER (1788-1867), was 

 iroverrior of Pennsylvania 1839-45. Charges of ir- 

 regularity in his election gave occasion for what was 

 called the "Buckshot War" in the organization of 

 the Legislature. He died at Ilarrisburg, Aug. 6, 1867. 



Another son, JAMES MADISON POKTKII (17'.i:;-1862). 

 was a member of the Pennsylvania Constitutional 

 Convention in 1838. and was appointed secretary of 

 war by Pres. Tyler, but rejected by the Senate. He 

 was afterwards a State judge, and one of the founders 

 of Lafayette College, Ka.ston. 



His nephew, ANDREW PORTER (1819-1872), gen- 

 eral, was born at Lancaster, Pa., July 10, 1819. He 

 graduated at West Point in 1837, and served in 

 tli- Mexican war with distinction. At the outbreak 

 of the civil war he was made colonel in the regular 

 army and then brigadier-general of volunteers. He 

 commanded a brigade of regulars at the battle of Bull 



Run, and was afterwards provost-general of the Army 

 of the Potomac. He resigned in April, 1864. and 

 died at Paris, Jan. 4, 1872. 



HORACE PORTER, son of Gov. David R. Porter, 

 was born in Huntingdon co., Pa., April 15, 1837. He 

 graduated at West Point in 1860 and entered the artil- 

 lery. In October, 1861, he went as assistant ordnance- 

 officer to Port Royal, S. C., and he took part in the 

 siege of Fort Pulaski on the Savannah River. He 

 was chief of ordnance in different armies from July, 

 1862, to November, 1863. In April, 1864, he was 

 made aide-de-camp to Gen. Grant with rank of lieu- 

 tenant-colonel, and continued with him till the close 

 of the war. He then made tours of inspection in the 

 South and on the Pacific coast until Gen. Grant be- 

 came President, when he was made his military secre- 

 tary. In 1873 Col. Porter resigned to take part in rail- 

 road management. He has published West Point 

 Life. (1866), and has contributed to various magazines. 



PORTER, DAVID (1780-1843), naval-officer, was 

 bom at Boston, Feb. 1, 1780. His father, of the same 

 name, was captain of a merchant-vessel and the son 

 early went to sea. In April, 1798, he entered the U. 

 S. navy as midshipman and was on board the Con- 

 stitution in her fight with L' Insurgent* in the West 

 Indies. He was made lieutenant in 1799 and was 

 wounded in an engagement with pirates at Santo 

 Domingo. His next service was in the war with Trip- 

 oli, but after some exploits he was captured in the 

 ship Philadelphia aground in Tripoli harbor in October, 

 1803. A captivity of eighteen months followed. In 

 July, 1812, he was appointed to the command of the 

 Essex (32 uns) and sailed on a cruise to the Pacific 

 memorable in American annals. Among his captures 

 was the British ship Alert (20 guns), the first man-of- 

 war so taken. Of twelve other vessels captured some 

 were armed by him to protect American wnale-fishers. 

 On March 28, 1814, his cruise was brought to a close 

 in the harbor of Valparaiso, where after a desperate 

 fight he was overpowered by a British frigate (36 

 guns) and a sloop (28 guns). Porter wrote to nis gov- 

 ernment, "We arc unfortunate, but not disgraced." 

 David G. Farragut, then a lad of twelve, had served as 

 midshipman in the Essex and won Porter's com- 

 mendation (see FARRAOUT, in the ENCYCLOPEDIA 

 BRITANNICA). Capt. Porter was employed as naval- 

 commissioner from 1815 to 1823. He then took com- 

 mand of an expedition against the pirates in the West 

 Indies, but having exceeded his power in exacting an 

 apology from the authorities at Porto Rico for an in- 

 sult to the American flag, was recalled and suspended 

 for six months. He resigned his commission in Au- 

 gust, 1 826, and was appointed commander-in-chief of 

 the Mexican navy in the war against Spain. In 1829 

 he was sent as U. S. consul to Algiers, and in 1830 

 as charg6 d'affaires to Turkey, where he was after- 

 wards minister-resident. He died at Constantinople 

 March 28, 1843, and his 'remains were afterwards in- 

 terred at Philadelphia. He published a Journal of 

 the Cruise of the. Essex (2 vom. , 1815), and from his 

 letters was compiled Constantinople and its Environs 

 (> vok, 1835). 



PORTER, DAVID DIXON, admiral, son of the 

 preceding, was born at Philadelphia, June 8, 1814. 

 When his father took command of the Mexican navy 

 he was made a midshipman and was captured on the 

 Guerrero after a severe fight. In 1829 he became a 

 midshipman in the U. S. navy and served in vari- 

 ous waters until 1845, when he was stationed at the 

 Washington Observatory. In the Mexican war he 

 served at Vera Cruz and other points. He was after- 

 wards engaged in the coast-survey, as he has been be- 

 fore for four years (1836-40), and in 1849 entered on 

 command of the California!) mail-steamers. At the 

 outbreak of the civil war he held a commander's com- 

 mi-sion and was sent to the relief of Fort Pickens, at 

 Pensacola. He prepared a flotilla of mortar-boats for 

 service in the expedition against New Orleans. After 



