David Dixon Porter Jr. A w:tlrrior Uncomfortable with Peace
by W illiam H . W hite
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emember the film Master and Commander fro m 2003 and the enemy ship (ostensib ly, a privateer) that Jack Aubrey's HMS Surprise chased through the Pacific O cean ? In the m ovie, that ship was French; in actuali ty, it was an American warship and the year was 18 13-not 1805. (It was the opinion of the producer that A meri ca n audi ences mi ght no t embrace root in g fo r th e British in th eir pursuit of a n A m erica n ship, hence the liberty with the real histo ry.) The real history, ruthlessly revised by H ollywood, was the first incursion into the Pacifi c O cean by an Am erican warship-USS Essex, co mmanded by Captain David Po rter. Po rter and his crew devastated the Bri tish whaling fl eet wo rking the rich fishing grounds fro m the coast of South America to the Far East, sinking and burning many, capturing so me, and generally wreaki ng havoc th ro ughout the broad reaches of the Pacific Ocean . Bu t before we tackle that wo nderful story, let's have a look at what bro ugh t Porter to th at poim in his career. Bo rn in Boston on 1 February 178 0, David came natu ra lly to a ca reer at sea; his fat her, David Porter Sr., was a cap ta in comma nd ing a variety of vessels du ring t he A m erican Wa r of Ind epe nd e nce, co n ti nu ing his career as a sea captain on m erchant vessels in the yea rs fo llowin g the wa r. D av id sp ent his youth listenin g to hi s fa ther's tales of the sea and ha ngin g about the docks of Bos ton and C ha rles tow n . A t age sixtee n, he accompanied his fat her on a m ercha nt voyage to the Caribbea n in the brig Eliza , where he had his first scrape with Bri tish interes ts. There a re several ve rsions of th is encounter, each culmin atin g in bl oody combat and success fo r the A merican ship. Two are related here. After the A merican ship arrived in H aiti , Captain John Reynolds of Harriet, a British privateer, visited Porter's merchantm an, accompan ied by a h andfu l ofEnglish sa ilo rs. H e was planning to impress some of the A merican sa ilors. From here on, the ve rsions differ. In one, the American sailo rs, unar med save fo r sto nes, sticks, and so me tools, beat back the British impress party. The Bri tish rried again, this timearmed with muskets, pistols, and cutlasses; once aga in, the A merican crew sent them packin g. But
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thi s time, men of both sides were wo unded and some of the British sa ilors killed . In furiated , Reynolds led his team bac k for a thi rd time, determined to recrui t so me of these pugnacious America n seamen, but fo und the ship deserted , not a soul aboa rd. (The acco unt does not revea l exactl y where the crew fl ed to.) In his fr ustratio n and fu ry at being defeated by an un a rm ed bunch of "colonists," Reynolds o rdered the ship tras hed- the canvas and ropes cut to sh reds, and the furniture below des troyed . But he pressed not one A merican sailor. In another vers io n of th e same story, the senior Po rter o rde rs his heavily armed crew to "repel boarders!" as the British make their first and only atte mpt to board the brig. Th e British captain and his men laugh at the audacity of th e Am erican m erchant seamen, but, after a sho rt and bloody conflict, are beaten back by Porter's crew. Th e ta les
agree in reporting that several men on both sides we re killed and wounded and that the Bri tish press gang was successfully repulsed. Fo r the reco rd , the latter version appea rs in the 1847 biography of the junior Porrer a nd seems to have a bit more credibility. Not qui te as successful in the fo llowi ng yea rs, Po rter was indeed pressed and di d serve-fo r a time-in the Royal Navy, bu t he escaped to return to his native Ameri ca a nd to the business of seafa rin g he h ad grown to love . Clearly, these events would sh ape the yo ung man's animosity toward the British , animosity wh ich would later m anifest itself during the Wa r of 1812. But there we re mo re events leading up to that wa r that fed h is thirst fo r action , his cou rage, a nd his determination. In 1798, Porter won a warran t as midshipman in the fledgling American Navy SEA HI STORY 129, WINTER 2009-LO