Description:

David Dixon Porter
Washington, DC, March 27, 1875
Admiral David Dixon Porter Congratulates New Grandfather & Praises His Own Grandchildren, Including Hand-Drawn Sketches
ALS
DAVID DIXON PORTER, Autograph Letter Initialed, to Stephen Decatur, March 27, 1875, Washington, D.C. 5 pp., 5" x 8". Expected folds; general toning; partial separation on oe fold.

"I will show you a grandson and granddaughter that cant be beat in the US of America."

In this charming letter, Admiral David Dixon Porter gently teases his old friend Commodore Stephen Decatur on the birth of his first grandchild—Stephen Decatur Mayo—in Norfolk, Virginia, on January 14, 1875. The letter also includes Porter's delightful hand-drawn sketches of Decatur with his grandchild "in the morning" and of Decatur "getting up at midnight to go and look at it."

Excerpt
"I generally answer your letters right away, but somehow or other I have turn all up side down this week and have not been able to write tho your letter has been on my desk staring me in the face all the time. I don't believe however that you notice my omission you are too much taken up with that grand child feeling its muscles, combing its hair with a fine tooth comb and trying to make it stand up. there is no use trying that, none of mine ever walked alone under three months and tho I expected it and looked for it I never had one with a double tooth under one month after they were born at least I think that is what my log book says. I may be mistaken but will look again and tell you so that you wont be looking too soon—now Steve dont be getting up slyly at night and be going up and fondling that baby, the child must have undisturbed rest or it wont grow—and dont expect it to talk too soon, referring to my log book I find that none of mine talked under five months.
"When you get tired with the baby and start for home I shall feel very much pleased if you and Mrs Decatur will stop and pay us a visit here, and very much hurt if you dont. I will show you a grandson and granddaughter that cant be beat in the US of America."

David Dixon Porter (1813-1891) was born in Pennsylvania and began naval service at the age of ten as a midshipman on a ship commanded by his father, Commodore David Porter (1780-1843). He served in the Mexican Navy from 1824 to 1828, when his father was its overall commander. The younger Porter obtained a new appointment as midshipman in the US Navy in 1829, was promoted to lieutenant in 1841, and served in the Mexican War. After the war, he took a leave of absence to command civilian ships. When the Civil War began, Porter returned to active duty. He was promoted to commander and given charge of a flotilla of twenty mortar boats to be used against the forts guarding the entrance of the Mississippi River below New Orleans. They would be a part of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron commanded by Porter's adoptive brother Captain David G. Farragut (1801-1870). In mid-1862, Porter was ordered to Hampton Roads to aid General George B. McClellan in his Peninsula Campaign. By October, he was back on the Mississippi River, now as Acting Rear Admiral in charge of the Mississippi River Squadron. He quickly became friends with General William T. Sherman and later with General Ulysses S. Grant and played a key role in the siege of Vicksburg. Late in the summer of 1864, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles transferred Porter to command the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and tasked him with closing the port of Wilmington, North Carolina, the last major port open to blockade runners. Cooperating with General Alfred H. Terry, Porter's fleet successfully captured Fort Fisher, the Confederate fort protecting Wilmington, in January 1865. Porter toured the captured Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, with President Abraham Lincoln in April 1865. After the war, Porter served as superintendent of the US Naval Academy from 1865 to 1869, where he initiated reforms in the curriculum to increase professionalism. In 1866, he was promoted to vice admiral, and in 1870, he became the second full admiral in US history, behind his adoptive brother Farragut. He served as de facto Secretary of the Navy in the early days of the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant, but his administration led some Congressional leaders to force Secretary of the Navy Adolph E. Borie to resign after only a few months on the job. The new Secretary of the Navy George Robeson curtailed Porter's authority and eased him into semi-retirement.

Stephen Decatur (1814-1876) was born in Newark, New Jersey, a nephew and namesake of the famous Commodore Stephen Decatur (1779-1820). The younger Decatur was appointed a midshipman in 1829 and commissioned a lieutenant in 1841. In 1848, he married Anna Rowell Philbrick (1821-1906), and they had six children. After taking a leave of absence in 1842 because of eye problems, he returned to naval duty in 1851 with service in the East Indies and New York. At the beginning of the Civil War, he was promoted to commander, the rank he held throughout the war. He was promoted to captain in 1867 and to commodore on the retired list in 1869.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 5" x 8"
  • Medium: ALS

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