David Dixon Porter

Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter came from a naval family and became a midshipman in 1829, serving in a variety of theaters, including the Mediterranean. Service in the peacetime military was slow, boring, and devoid of opportunities to make one’s mark. Porter did well in the Mexican American War, obtaining a bigger command and a promotion, but afterward military service resumed its slow pace. Galvanized by the outbreak of the Civil War, Porter devised a plan to resupply the federal forts in Florida and then spearheaded the naval assault on New Orleans. He was also singularly successful in the combined operation—commanded by Ulysses Grant on land—to take Vicksburg. Thereafter, Porter had few opportunities to shine, and combined Union navy-army operations off North Carolina were not distinguished. Porter saw out the end of the war on his flagship anchored in the James River, as Gardner pictured him here.