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Artist
Alexander Gardner, 17 Oct 1821 - 10 Dec 1882
Sitter
David Dixon Porter, 8 Jun 1813 - 13 Feb 1891
Date
1864
Type
Photograph
Medium
Albumen silver print
Dimensions
Image/Sheet: 22.3 × 17.4 cm (8 3/4 × 6 7/8")
Mount: 26.2 × 18.6 cm (10 5/16 × 7 5/16")
Mat: 45.7 × 35.6 cm (18 × 14")
Topic
Personal Attribute\Facial Hair\Mustache
Exterior\Ship
Weapon\Canon
Vehicle\Ship\Deck rail
Personal Attribute\Facial Hair\Beard
Equipment\Rope
Symbols & Motifs\Star
Costume\Dress Accessory\Button\Brass
Photographic format\Carte-de-visite
David Dixon Porter: Male
David Dixon Porter: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\Civil War
David Dixon Porter: Military and Intelligence\Navy\Officer\Admiral
David Dixon Porter: Military and Intelligence\Navy\Officer\Rear Admiral
David Dixon Porter: Military and Intelligence\Navy\Officer\Vice Admiral
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.78.155
Exhibition Label
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.
