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PORTER

the prominent battles of the Revolution, for his skill and bravery, and received the and was one of the few old officers select- thanks of Congress and a gold medal. ed for the first peace establishment. In President Madison offered him the position 1791 he was promoted to captain, and served under Wayne in 1794. In March, 1812, he was colonel of light artillery, and was distinguished at the capture of Fort George, in May, 1813. He accompanied Wilkinson's army on the St. Lawrence, and in the autumn of 1814 was brevetted brigadier general, and ordered to the defence of Norfolk, Va. He died in Cambridge, April 14, 1822.

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Porter, NOAH, educator; born in Farmington, Conn., Dec. 14, 1811; graduated at Yale College in 1831; Professor of Mathematics and Moral Philosophy in Yale College in 1846-71; and president of the same in 1871-86. His publications include Historical Discourse at Farmington, Nov. 4, 1840; The Educational System of the Puritans and Jesuits Compared; American Colleges and the American Public, etc. He died in New Haven, Conn., March 4, 1892.

Porter, PETER BUEL, military officer; born in Salisbury, Conn., Aug. 4, 1773; studied law, and began practice at Canandaigua, N. Y., in 1795; was a member of Congress from 1809 to 1813, and again in 1815-16. He settled at Black Rock, near

PETER BUEL PORTER.

of commander-in-chief of the army in 1815, which he declined. He was secretary of state of New York (1815-16), and was Secretary of War, under President John Quincy Adams, in 1828. General Porter

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Buffalo, where he and his brothers made was one of the early projectors of the large purchases of land along the Niagara Erie Canal, and one of the first board of River. A leader of volunteers on the commissioners. He died at Niagara Falls, Niagara frontier, he became distinguished March 20, 1844.

Porter, ROBERT P., journalist; born in brigade of General Logan's division of the Markham Hall, England, June 30, 1852; advance of McPherson's corps, and others received a common school education, and were sent to help McClernand. Late in the came to the United States early in life. afternoon the Confederates were repulsed He became connected with the Chicago and pursued to Port Gibson. Night ended Inter-Ocean in 1872; was a member of the the conflict, and under its cover the Contariff commission in 1882; later estab- federates fled across a bayou, burning the lished the New York Press; was superin- bridges behind them, and retreated towtendent of the eleventh census, in 1889-93; ards Vicksburg. The Nationals lost in and special United States commissioner this battle 840 men, of whom 130 were to Cuba and Porto Rico in 1898-99. He killed. They captured guns and flags and is the author of The West in 1880; Life 580 prisoners. of William McKinley; Municipal Ownership at Home and Abroad; and Industrial Cuba.

Porter, WILLIAM DAVID, naval officer; born in New Orleans, La., March 10, 1809; a son of David Porter; entered the navy in 1823. In the sloop-of-war St. Mary, on the Pacific Station, when the Civil War broke out, he was wrongly suspected of disloyalty. He was ordered to duty on the Mississippi River, in fitting out a gunboat fleet, and was put in command of the Essex, which took part in the attacks on Forts Henry and Donelson, when he was severely scalded. He fought his way past all the batteries between Cairo and New Orleans, taking part in the attack on Vicksburg. He caused the destruction of the Confederate ram Arkansas, near Baton Rouge, and assisted in the attack on Port Hudson. For these services he was made commodore in July, 1862. His feeble health prevented his doing much afterwards. He died in New York City, May 1, 1864.

Port Hudson, CAPTURE OF. Port Hudson, or Hickey's Landing, was on a high bluff on the left bank of the Mississippi, in Louisiana, at a very sharp bend in the stream. At the foot of the bluff was Hickey's Landing. The Confederates had erected a series of batteries, extending along the river from Port Hudson to Thompson's Creek above, a distance of about 3 miles. They were armed with very heavy guns. They were field batteries that might be moved to any part of the line. Immediately after Banks took command of the Department of the Gulf (Dec. 18, 1862), he determined to attempt to remove this obstruction to the navigation of the Mississippi. He sent General Grover with 10,000 men to occupy Baton Rouge, but the advance on Port Hudson was delayed, because it would require a larger force than Banks could then spare. So he operated for a while among the rich sugar and cotton regions of Louisiana, west of the river.

In March, 1863, he concentrated his Port Gibson, BATTLE AT. Grant cross-forces-nearly 25.000 strong-at Baton ed the Mississippi at Bruinsburg on the gunboats and transports which had run by Grand Gulf in 1863. His troops consisted chiefly of General McClernand's 13th Army Corps. These troops pushed forward and were met (May 1). 8 miles from Bruinsburg, by a Confederate force, which was pushed back to a point 4 miles from Port Gibson. There McClernand was confronted by a strong force from Vicksburg, under General Bowen, advantageously posted. The Nationals were divided for the occasion. On McClernand's right were the divisions of Generals Hovey, Carr, and Smith, and on his left that of Osterhaus. The former pressed the Confederates steadily back to Port Gibson. The troops of Osterhaus were reinforced by a

Rouge. At the same time Commodore Farragut had gathered a small fleet at a point below Port Hudson, with a determination to run by the batteries there and recover the control of the river between that place and Vicksburg. To make this movement, Banks sent towards Port Hudson (March 13) 12,000 men, who drove in the pickets, while two gunboats and some mortar-boats bombarded the works. That night Farragut attempted to pass, but failed, and Banks returned to Baton Rouge. After more operations in Louisiana, Banks returned to the Mississippi and began the investment of Port Hudson, May 24, 1863. His troops were commanded by Generals Weitzel, Auger, Grover, Dwight, and T. W. Sherman, and the beleaguered garrison

PORT HUDSON, CAPTURE OF

was under the command of Gen. Frank K. in which the Nationals lost 1,842 men, of Gardner. Farragut, with his flag-ship whom 293 were killed. The Confederate (Hartford) and one or two other vessels, loss did not exceed 300 in killed and was now above Port Hudson, holding the wounded. river, while four other gunboats and some mortar-boats, under Commander C. H. B. Caldwell, held it below.

Banks, undismayed by this disastrous failure, continued the siege. His great guns and those of Farragut hurled destrucOn May 27 Banks opened his cannon on tive missiles upon the works daily, wearthe works in connection with those on the ing out the garrison by excessive watch

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water, preparatory to a general assault. ing and fatigue. Their provisions and The attack was made at 10 A.M. by a por- medical stores were failing, and famine tion of the troops, but others did not threatened the brave defenders of the post. come up in time to make the assault gen- It was closely hemmed in, and so, also, eral. A very severe battle was fought, was the besieging force of about 12,000 the Nationals making desperate charges, men by a hostile population and concenfrom time to time, and gaining ground trating Confederate cavalry in its rear, continually. In this contest was the first while Gen. Richard Taylor was gathering fair trial of the mettle of negro troops. a new army in Louisiana, west of the The Confederates were driven to their river. A speedy reduction of the fort had fortifications, and, at sunset, they were become a necessity for Banks, and on June all behind their works. Close up to them 11 another attempt was made, and failed. the Nationals pressed, and they and their This was followed by an attempt to take antagonists held opposite sides of the the fort by storm on the 14th. At that parapet. This position the Nationals on time the Nationals lay mostly in two the right continued to hold, but those on lines, forming a right angle, with a right the left, exposed to a flank fire, withdrew and left but no centre. When a final disto a belt of woods not far off. So ended position for assault was made, General the first general assault on Port Hudson, Gardner was entreated to surrender and

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