724 PORTER Com. Porter sailed for the island, landed a force of 200 men, and demanded an apology, which was given. The government, deeming that he had exceeded his powers, recalled him, and a court martial sentenced him to suspension for six months. He soon afterward resigned, and entered the service of Mexico as comman- der-in-chief of her naval forces, at a salary of $25,000 per annum. He remained in this ser- vice till 1829, when he returned to the United States, and was appointed by President Jack- son consul general to the Barbary powers, from which post he was transferred to Constanti- nople as charge 1 d'affaires, and finally became resident minister there, which office he held when he died. His remains were interred in the grounds of the naval asylum at Philadel- phia. He wrote " Constantinople and its Envi- rons " (2 vols. 12mo, New York, 1835). II. Da- vid Dixon, an American naval officer, son of the preceding, born in Philadelphia in June, 1813. He entered the navy as midshipman in 1829, and became lieutenant in 1841. In the first 18 years of his service he is accredited with ten years' sea service in the Mediterranean, and the remainder of the time with duty in the coast survey and at the naval observatory. He served in the Mexican war, and then re- turned to the coast survey. On the discovery of gold in California he obtained leave from the navy department, and for three years com- manded a mail steamer between New York and the isthmus of Panama. He afterward returned to the navy, and on the breaking out of the civil war in 1861 was ordered to super- sede a post captain in command of the steam frigate Powhatan, which was despatched to aid in the reenforcement of Fort Pickens. For the expedition against New Orleans in 1862 Commander Porter organized and commanded a mortar flotilla ; and in 1863 he was appoint- ed acting rear admiral and assigned to com- mand the Mississippi squadron, comprising in all 125 vessels with more than 1,300 officers. For his services in reducing Vicksburg, he received a commission as rear admiral, dated July 4, 1863. In the spring of 1864 he coop- erated with Gen. Banks in the unsuccessful Red river expedition. In October he was transferred from the Mississippi to the North Atlantic blockading squadron, and directed to attack the defences of Wilmington. He ap- peared before Fort Fisher on Dec. 24, with 35 regular cruisers, 5 ironclads, and a reserve of 19 vessels. The bombardment continued through the next day, and was resumed on Jan. 13, 1865, by an augmented naval force, and kept up until the evening of the 15th, when the firing was stopped and the works were car- ried by a combined body of soldiers, sailors, and marines. Rear Admiral Porter was pro- moted to vice admiral, July 25, 1866, and be- came superintendent of the naval academy at Annapolis ; and on the death of Farragut he succeeded him as admiral, his commission da- ting from Aug. 15, 1870. PORTER, Ebenezer, an American clergyman, born in Cornwall, Conn., Oct. 5, 1772, died in Andover, Mass., April 8, 1834. He graduated at Dartmouth college in 1792, studied divinity at Bethlehem, Conn., and was ordained pastor of the Congregational church at Washington in that state in 1796. In 1812 he was appointed professor of sacred rhetoric at Andover theo- logical seminary, of which institution he sub- sequently became president. He wrote " The Young Preacher's Manual" (1809) ; "Analysis of Vocal Inflection" (1824) ; "Analysis of the Principles of Rhetorical Delivery " (1827) ; and " Lectures on Homiletics and Preaching, and on Public Prayer, with Sermons and Ad- dresses" (1834). A collection of his "Lec- tures on Eloquence and Style" was published by the Rev. L. Matthews (8vo, Andover, 1836). PORTER, Rtz John, an American soldier, born in Portsmouth, N. H., in 1823. He graduated at West Point in 1845, and served in garrison at Fortress Monroe until the opening of the Mexican war. He was engaged in the siege of Vera Cruz, and in the battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Molino del Rey, Chapultepec, and the assault upon the city of Mexico, in which he was wounded at the Belen gate, and was successively brevetted as captain and major. He was afterward on garrison duty in various places till 1849, when he became instructor of artillery and cavalry at West Point. From 1855 to 1860 he served in various capacities, being from 1857 to 1860 assistant adjutant general of the Utah expedition. At the commencement of the civil war he acted as chief of staff in the department of Pennsylvania and in the valley of the Shenandoah. He was made colonel in the regular army and brigadier general of vol- unteers in May, 1861, and placed in command of a division in the defences of Washington. At the opening of the peninsular campaign he commanded his division, and was superinten- dent of the siege of Yorktown. In May, 1862, he was assigned to the command of the 5th corps of the army of the Potomac. He com- manded at the battle of Hanover Court House, May 27, and at Cold Harbor, June 27, and was made major general of volunteers. At the bat- tle of Malvern Hill, July 1, he was in virtual command, posting all the corps as they came upon the field. He commanded his corps du- ring Pope's campaign in northern Virginia. At the second battle of Bull Run his corps, though ordered to advance, failed to appear on the field on Aug. 29, but in the afternoon of the 30th was more actively engaged than any other, nearly a quarter of its members being killed or wounded ; to their obstinate resistance it was mainly due that the defeat was not a total rout. His corps took part in the campaign in Maryland, and was present at the battle of Antietam, Sept. 17; but it was kept in re- serve by McClellan, and was only slightly en- gaged. Pope was greatly displeased with the conduct of Porter at and near Bull Run, Sept. 27-30, and in November preferred charges
