sold Admiral Porter Eulogizes the War Dead and Urges Reconciliation

Porter took part in the 1862 expedition up the Mississippi River against New Orleans, in command of 21 mortar boats and several steamers. Aboard his flagship, the USS Black Hawk, he commanded the Mississippi River Squadron during the Vicksburg campaigns in 1862–63 and during the Red River campaign in 1864.

Porter was conspicuous in the siege of Vicksburg and received promotion to rear admiral on July 4, 1863, the day of the Confederate surrender of that city. He received the Thanks of Congress in April 1864, "for all the eminent skill, endurance, and gallantry exhibited by him and his squadron, in cooperation with the Army, in the opening of the Mississippi River." During 1864 he commanded the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and took part in the capture of Fort Fisher in January 1865. Thus, during the Civil War, Porter ranked in importance with Admirals Farragut and Dahlgren. After the war, he was the highest ranking naval officer and was promoted to full Admiral in 1870.

Manuscript Document Signed, circa 1870, containing his feeling about those who died in the war and how their memory could help reunify the war-torn nation. “Nothing is more touching and beautiful than to see a nation testifying its grief over the graves of those who have died that their country might live, and who in giving their lives as a sacrifice on the alter of loyalty have ensured the blessings of freedom on millions yet unborn, who will reverence in future ages the memory of the martyrs in so noble a cause. Tears of sorrow are shed on the hallowed graves bedewing the flowers shrewn over the remains of the loved ones, beautiful though sorrowful tributes to those for whom we grieve even if not enduring like monuments of marble. On such an occasion, while honoring the dead, it would be fitting that the bereaved ones on both sides should clasp hands over the decorated graves. Grief softens the heart and leads the way to forgive and to forget, and if the bloody chasm which has for so many years divided kindred and friends is ever to be closed, it must be when the survivors of the conflict stand face to face over the remains of those who have died for what each side thought a just cause.”