Existing comment:
General of Marine David Porter, Mexican Navy (1826-1829)
by unknown artist
The patriarch of the Porter naval family served as a midshipman aboard USS Constellation in its action with L'Insurgente during the Quasi War with France and was aboard the ill-fated frigate Philadelphia when it was captured off Tripoli in 1803. During the War of 1812, he distinguished himself in command of USS Essex, operating in the Atlantic and South Pacific. In 1823, he resigned from the Board of Navy Commissioners to take command of the West Indies Squadron and got in trouble for seizing a fort in Puerto Rico without authorization. He resigned and went to Mexico where he became Commander-in-Chief of the Mexican Navy. Note the belt buckle [in] the portrait. It is in his Mexican uniform that the artist shows him. He did not remain long in Mexico; and, from 1830 until his death, he served as the first United States ambassador to Turkey. He was hung over the mantel in the "music room" of Buchanan House. |