David Porter (naval officer)


 * For the American Civil War naval figure, see David Dixon Porter, for other persons see David Porter (disambiguation).

David Porter (February 1, 1780 – March 3, 1843) was an officer in the United States Navy in a rank of commodore. Porter commanded a number of US naval ships, including the famous USS ''Constitution. He saw service in the War of 1812, the Second Barbary War of 1815 and in the West Indies. He was later court martialed; he resigned and then joined and became commander-in-chief of the Mexican Navy.

Early life
Born at Boston, Massachusetts, Porter served in the Quasi-War with France first as midshipman on board USS Constellation (1797), participating in the capture of L’Insurgente February 9, 1799; secondly, as 1st lieutenant of USS Experiment (1799) and later in command of USS Amphitheatre. During the First Barbary War (1801–07) Porter was 1st lieutenant of USS Enterprise (1799), USS New York (1800) and USS Philadelphia (1799) and was taken prisoner when Philadelphia ran aground in Tripoli harbor October 31, 1803. After his release on June 3, 1805, he remained in the Mediterranean as acting captain of USS Constitution and later captain of Enterprise.

Marriage and family
Porter married Evalina Anderson, and they had 10 children who survived, including six sons.

The older David Porter Sr. met and befriended another naval veteran of the Revolution, George Farragut, from Spanish Minorca. In late spring 1808, David Porter Sr. suffered sunstroke, and Farragut took him into his home, where his wife Elizabeth cared for him. Already weakened by tuberculosis, he died on June 22, 1808. Elizabeth Farragut died of yellow fever the same day. Motherless, the Farragut children were to be placed with friends and relatives.

While visiting Farragut and his family a short time later to express thanks for their care of his father and sympathy for their loss, Commodore Porter offered to take eight-year-old James Glasgow Farragut into his own household. Young James readily agreed. In 1809 he moved with Porter to Washington, where he met Secretary of the Navy Paul Hamilton and expressed his wish for a midshipman's appointment. Hamilton promised that the appointment would be made as soon as he reached the age of ten; as it happened, the commission came through on December 17, 1810, six months before the boy reached his tenth birthday. When James went to sea soon after with his adoptive father, he changed his name from James to David, and it is as David Glasgow Farragut that he is remembered.

The town of Porter and Porter County in Northwest Indiana are named after David Porter. In 1836 the county seat of Porter County, Indiana was originally named Portersville, also named for David Porter. It was changed to Valparaiso in 1837, named for Porter's participation in the naval action near Valparaíso, Chile during the War of 1812.

Naval career
Porter served in the Quasi war as a midshipman on board the USS Constellation under the command of John Rodgers. As lieutenant he served as second in command of the schooner USS Experiment (1799) during the action of 1 January 1800, in which he got shot in his arm. He was in charge of the naval forces at New Orleans 1808–10.

War of 1812
As commander of USS Essex in the War of 1812, Captain Porter achieved fame by capturing the first British warship of the conflict, HMS Alert, August 13, 1812 as well as several merchantmen.

In February 1813 he sailed Essex around Cape Horn and cruised the Pacific warring on British whalers. Porter's first action in the Pacific was the capture of the Peruvian vessel Nereyda, and the releases of the captured American whalers on board. Over the next year, Porter would capture 12 whaleships and 360 prisoners. In June 1813, Porter released his prisoners, on the condition that they not fight against the United States until they were formerly exchanged for American prisoners of war. Porter's usual tactic was to raise British colors to allay the British captain's suspicions, then once invited on board, he would reveal his true allegiance and purpose.

Porter and his fleet spent October–December 1813 resting and regrouping in the Marquesas Islands, which he claimed in the name of the United States and renamed them the Madison Islands, in honor of then-President James Madison.

On March 28, 1814 Porter was forced to surrender to Captain James Hillyar off Valparaíso after an engagement which became known as the Battle of Valparaiso with the frigate MHS Phoebe and the sloop HMS Alert, when his ship became too disabled to offer any resistance.

West Indies
In 1814 he was given command of the USS Firefly, the flagship of a five ship squadron destined for the West Indies to disrupt British shipping; however, a peace treaty with Britain was signed and the mission was canceled. From 1815 to 1822, he was a member of the Board of Navy Commissioners but gave up this post to command the expedition for suppressing piracy in the West Indies (1823–25). While in the West Indies suppressing piracy, Porter invaded the town of Fajardo, Puerto Rico (a Spanish colony) to avenge the jailing of an officer from his fleet. The American government did not sanction Porter's act, and he was court-martialed upon his return to the U.S. Porter resigned and in 1826 entered the Mexican Navy as its commander-in-chief 1826–29.

Later life
He left the Mexican service in 1829 and was appointed United States Minister to the Barbary States. He died on March 3, 1843 while serving as United States Ambassador to Turkey. He was buried in the cemetery of the Philadelphia Naval Asylum, and then in 1845 reburied in the Woodlands Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Porter was played by Jeff Chandler in the film Yankee Buccaneer (1952).