Porter, David Dixon
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
David Dixon (1813-1891), an American naval commander. He was born in Chester, Pennsylvania. He was the son of David Porter of the preceding sketch, and was with his father on most of his voyages. In 1826 he accompanied him to Mexico and enlisted as a midshipman in the navy of that country. During the war for Mexican independence he was captured by the Spaniards and held prisoner for a time at Havana. On his release he entered the American navy and later took part in the war against Mexico. During the long interval of peace which now ensued he held various commercial commands, including California mail steamers. At the outbreak of the Civil War his services were called for. He cooperated with Farragut in the capture of the forts below New Orleans , with Sherman in the taking of Arkansas Post, and with Grant in the reduction of Vicksburg. He was with Banks in the Red River expedition. In 1865 he captured Fort Fisher, the last of the important sea fortresses left to the Confederates. He was made rear admiral in 1863, vice admiral in 1866, and admiral in 1870. After the war he was made superintendent of the United States Naval Academy . Admiral Porter was not only a naval commander worthy of his father's reputation, but a writer of no little merit. He wrote a Life of David Porter, Incidents and Anecdotes of the Civil War, A History of the Navy in the War of the Rebellion, and other works of note.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The outline Aiton's gave in 1910 still holds: Porter's service at New Orleans, Arkansas Post, Vicksburg, the Red River and Fort Fisher is not in dispute, and he remains one of only a handful of officers ever to hold the full rank of admiral, which he took up in 1870 after Farragut's death and kept until he died in 1891. What has shifted is the tone. Aiton's calls him "a writer of no little merit"; modern historians read his Incidents and Anecdotes of the Civil War and his other narratives as vivid but self-serving, and use them with care, since Porter enlarged his own part and settled scores with army colleagues, notably over the failed Red River expedition of 1864 and the credit for Fort Fisher. Biographers also stress a connection the sketch leaves out: David Farragut, with whom Porter "cooperated" below New Orleans, had been taken into the elder David Porter's household as a boy and was in effect his foster brother.
Written for this edition, 2026.