David Dixon Porter, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

David Dixon Porter

United States Navy admiral

Date of Birth: 08-Jun-1813

Place of Birth: Chester, Pennsylvania, United States

Date of Death: 13-Feb-1891

Profession: writer, military officer

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Gemini


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About David Dixon Porter

  • David Dixon Porter (June 8, 1813 – February 13, 1891) was a United States Navy admiral and a member of one of the most distinguished families in the history of the U.S.
  • Navy.
  • Promoted as the second U.S.
  • Navy officer ever to attain the rank of admiral, after his adoptive brother David G.
  • Farragut, Porter helped improve the Navy as the Superintendent of the U.S.
  • Naval Academy after significant service in the American Civil War. Porter began naval service as a midshipman at the age of 10 years under his father, Commodore David Porter, on the frigate USS John Adams.
  • For the remainder of his life, he was associated with the sea.
  • Porter served in the Mexican War in the attack on the fort at the City of Vera Cruz.
  • At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was part of a plan to hold Fort Pickens, near Pensacola, Florida, for the Union; its execution disrupted the effort to relieve the garrison at Fort Sumter, leading to its fall.
  • Porter commanded an independent flotilla of mortar boats at the capture of New Orleans.
  • Later, he was advanced to the rank of (acting) rear admiral in command of the Mississippi River Squadron, which cooperated with the army under Major General Ulysses S.
  • Grant in the Vicksburg Campaign.
  • After the fall of Vicksburg, he led the naval forces in the difficult Red River Campaign in Louisiana.
  • Late in 1864, Porter was transferred from the interior to the Atlantic coast, where he led the U.S.
  • Navy in the joint assaults on Fort Fisher, the final significant naval action of the war. Porter worked to raise the standards of the U.S.
  • Navy in the position of Superintendent of the Naval Academy when it was restored to Annapolis.
  • He initiated reforms in the curriculum to increase professionalism.
  • In the early days of President Grant's administration, Porter was de facto Secretary of the Navy.
  • When his adoptive brother David G.
  • Farragut was advanced from rank of vice-admiral to admiral, Porter took his previous position; likewise, when Farragut died, Porter became the second man to hold the newly created rank of admiral.
  • He gathered a corps of like-minded officers devoted to naval reform. Porter's administration of the Navy Department aroused powerful opposition by some in Congress, who forced the Secretary of the Navy Adolph E.
  • Borie to resign.
  • His replacement, George Robeson, curtailed Porter's power and eased him into semi-retirement.

Read more at Wikipedia

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