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Horace Porter




Horace Porter, ( 1837 - 1921 ), American soldier and diplomat, was born in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania , the son of David R. Porter , a wealthy ironmater who later served as Governor Of Pennsylvania . He was educated at Harvard University . He graduated from West Point in 1860 and served in the Union army in the American Civil War , reaching the rank of brigadier general. He received the Medal Of Honor at the Battle Of Chickamauga . In the last year of the war, he served on the staff of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant , writing a lively memoir of the experience, ''Campaigning With Grant'' ( 1897 ).

From 1869 to 1873 , Porter served as Grant's personal secretary in the White House . Resigning from the army in December 1873, Porter became vice president of the Pullman Palace Car Company . He was U.S. Ambassador to France from 1897 to 1905 , 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 Legion Of Honor from the French government in 1904 . In addition to ''Campaigning with Grant'', he also wrote '' West Point Life '' ( 1866 ).

Porter was president of the Union League Club Of New York from 1893 to 1897. In that capacity, he was a major force in the construction of Grant's Tomb .


EXTERNAL LINKS

  • , contains a number of speeches by Porter.