Porter's patronage connects the cruise to David Farragut

Porter's ability to promote the Navy also created opportunities for people in his family and professional network. He persuaded Secretary of the Navy Paul Hamilton to appoint the boy then known as James Farragut as a midshipman. The future David Glasgow Farragut went to sea with Porter in 1810, about six months before his tenth birthday. The relationship complicates Porter's legacy because the same patronage and advocacy that advanced his own reputation also helped launch an extraordinarily important American naval career. This closing watch point connects War of 1812 personalities to the generation that would command during the American Civil War.