Portal:American Civil War/Selected biography/6

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David Dixon Porter (June 8, 1813 – February 13, 1891) was a United States admiral who became one of the most noted naval heroes of the Civil War. Porter was one of the first U.S. Navy officers to bear the rank of admiral; prior to the Civil War, no officer had held a rank higher than commodore, as admiral was considered to have royalist connotations. Born in Chester, Pennsylvania, Porter was the son of Commodore David Porter, USN (1780–1843), a hero of the War of 1812; brother-in-law of Carlile Pollock Patterson; foster brother of David G. Farragut; cousin of Fitz John Porter; and brother-in-law of Confederate general Thomas A. Harris. He started his sea career as a cadet in the Mexican Navy in 1826, then attended Columbia College in New York. He entered the U.S. Navy as Midshipman on February 2, 1829.

After serving in the Mexican-American War, Porter joined the Navy's Gulf Squadron in command of the USS Powhatan. Promoted to commander on April 22, 1861, and to captain on February 7, 1863, Porter took part in the 1862 expedition up the Mississippi River against New Orleans, in command of 21 mortar boats and several steamers. Aboard his flagship, USS Black Hawk, he commanded the Mississippi River Squadron during the Vicksburg Campaigns in 1862–63 and during the Red River Campaign in 1864. Porter was conspicuous in the siege of Vicksburg, was wounded in his head during the amphibious operations at Grand Gulf, Mississippi, on April 20, 1863, and received promotion to rear admiral on July 4, 1863, the day of the Confederate surrender of Vicksburg. He received the Thanks of Congress in April 1864, "for all the eminent skill, endurance, and gallantry exhibited by him and his squadron, in cooperation with the Army, in the opening of the Mississippi River."