Porter was commissioned a second lieutenant on April 22, 1861, and a first lieutenant on June 7, 1861.[3] During the American Civil War, Porter served in the Union Army, reaching the grade of lieutenant colonel by the end of the war.[3]
Porter had refused to take a $500,000 vested interest bribe from Jay Gould, a Wall Street financier, in the Black Friday gold market scam. He told Grant about Gould's attempted bribery, thus warning Grant about Gould's intention of cornering the gold market. However, during the Whiskey Ring trials in 1876, Treasury SolicitorBluford Wilson claimed that Porter was involved with the scandal.[10][11] Porter testified before the committee investigating the scandal and was never formally charged with wrongdoing.[12] Porter resigned from the U.S. Army on December 31, 1873.[3]
Later lifeedit
After resigning from the Army, Porter became vice president of the Pullman Palace Car Company, and later, president of the West Shore Railroad. He was U.S. Ambassador to France from 1897 to 1905,[3] paying for the recovery of the body of John Paul Jones and sending it to the United States for re-burial. He received the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor from the French government in 1904. In addition to Campaigning with Grant, he also wrote West Point Life (1866).[2]
In 1891 he joined the Empire State Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, where he served as President General from 1892 through 1896. He was assigned national membership number 4069 and state membership number 69.[13]
He died in Manhattan, New York and is interred at the Old First Methodist Church Cemetery in West Long Branch, New Jersey.[14]
Personal lifeedit
In 1863, Porter was married to Sophie King McHarg (1840–1903),[8] the daughter of John McHarg (1813–1884) and Martha Whipple Patch.[15] Together, they were the parents of:[8]
Horace Porter Jr., who died at the age of 23 of typhoid fever.
Clarence Porter, who died after the first World War.
After a period of suffering,[16] Porter died at New York, New York, May 29, 1921.[3][2] He was buried in West Long Branch Cemetery, West Long Branch, New Jersey.[3][17] In his will, he left the Grant Association $10,000 and the flag that flew at General Grant's field headquarters during the Civil War.[18]
Medal of Honor citationedit
Rank and Organization:
Captain, Ordnance Department, U.S. Army. Place and date: At Chickamauga, Ga., September 20, 1863. Entered service at: Harrisburgh, Pa. Born: April 15, 1837, Huntington, Pa. Date of issue: July 8, 1902.
Citation:
While acting as a volunteer aide, at a critical moment when the lines were broken, rallied enough fugitives to hold the ground under heavy fire long enough to effect the escape of wagon trains and batteries.[19]
^Dunkelman, Mark H. (June 12, 2006). "Lieutenant Colonel Horace C. Porter: Eyewitness to the Surrender at Appomattox". historynet.com. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
^ abcdefghijklmnoEicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8047-3641-3. pp. 435–436
^Evans, W. A. (2010). Mrs. Abraham Lincoln: A Study of Her Personality and Her Influence on Lincoln. SIU Press. ISBN 9780809385607. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
^Eicher, 2001, p. 435 identifies this as the Lawrence Scientific School.
^"GEN. PORTER RECALLS SCHOOL DAYS OF '54; Lawrenceville Alumni Honor Him at Waldorf Banquet. BIG CHANGE IN FIFTY YEARS No Broken Heads Then in Football and Baseball Was "Towball" -- Woodrow Wilson on Athletics". The New York Times. 25 March 1906. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
^The uncertainty as to the date is expressed in the source, Eicher, 2001, p. 435
^ abc"McHarg Family Papers: Part 2". findingaids.library.georgetown.edu. Georgetown University Archival Resources | Georgetown University Manuscripts. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
^"MRS, HORACE PORTER DEAD; Wife of American Ambassador to France Expires Suddenly. A Chill Develops Into Congestion of the Lungs--Gen. Porter Prostrated--American Colony in Paris Shocked". The New York Times. 7 April 1903. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
^ ab"GEN. HORACE PORTER NEAR DEATH AT HOME; Ex-Ambassador to France, 84 Years Old, Is Suffering From a General Breakdown". The New York Times. 27 May 1921. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
^"NOTED MEN AT BIER OF GENERAL PORTER; Hear 'Taps' Soundsd Over Veteran at Simple Services in 5thAv. Presbyterian Church.DEEDS PRAISED IN PRAYER Rev. Dr. John Kelman Gives Thanksfor "One of the Great Gentlemen of the Olden Days."". The New York Times. 3 June 1921. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
^"MANY PORTER HEIRS GET LARGE ESTATE; Battle Flag of Grant, Now in Tomb, Left to Upkeep Association With $10,000 Bequest". The New York Times. 10 June 1921. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
^"PORTER, HORACE, Civil War Medal of Honor recipient". American Civil War website. 2007-11-08. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
Referencesedit
Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
"Civil War Medal of Honor recipients (M-Z)". Medal of Honor citations. United States Army Center of Military History. August 3, 2009. Archived from the original on February 23, 2009. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
Further readingedit
Wikisource has original works by or about: Horace Porter
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Horace Porter.
Modern Eloquence: Vol III, After-Dinner Speeches P-Z at Project Gutenberg, contains a number of speeches by Porter.
Mende, Elsie Porter; Henry Greenleaf Pearson (1927). An American Soldier and Diplomat, Horace Porter. Frederick A. Stokes Company.
Owens, Richard Henry (2002). Biography of General and Ambassador Horace Porter, 1837-1921: Vigilance and Virtue. Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN 0-7734-7242-8.
Porter, Horace. Campaigning With Grant. New York: The Century Co., 1897. Time-Life Books reprint 1981. ISBN 0-8094-4202-7. (deluxe)
External linksedit
Works by Horace Porter at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)