On the outbreak of the Civil War he was serving as a colonel of the 16th U.S. Infantry. He was appointed as a brigadier general in May 1861, and commanded the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division at First Battle of Bull Run. He served as Provost Marshal of the District of Columbia, and was then appointed as Provost Marshal General of the Army of the Potomac in the Peninsula Campaign. In April 1864 he mustered out for health reasons.[5]
Porter married Margaretta Falconer (Margarite) Biddle (1825–1913) of the Biddle family. She was the daughter of John Biddle (1792–1859), a military officer and Michigan politician. Her nephew was John Biddle (1859–1936), who became Superintendent of the United States Military Academy.[7] Together, they were the parents of John Biddle Porter (1858–1915).
Porter moved to Paris, France, in an attempt to improve his health. However, he died at his home there in 1872, and his remains were returned to the United States for burial in Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit.[4]
Honors
Reflecting a post-Civil War pattern of naming many Washington, DC streets in newly developed areas in the Capital after Union generals, an east-west street in the Northwest quadrant is named Porter Street, NW.
Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Palo Alto, California: Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN0-8047-3641-3.
Heidler, David S., and Heidler, Jeanne T., eds., Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History, W. W. Norton & Company, 2000, ISBN0-393-04758-X.
Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, 1964, ISBN0-8071-0822-7.
U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901.