Kammala jumla mai zuwa: Porter ya fara aikin sojan ruwa a matsayin mai tsaron gida a lokacin da yake da shekaru 10 a karkashin mahaifinsa, Commodore David Porter, a kan jirgin ruwa. Har ƙarshen rayuwarsa, yana da alaƙa da teku. Porter ya yi aiki a cikin Yakin Mexico a cikin harin da aka kai a garin Vera Cruz. A lokacin yakin basasa, ya kasance wani ɓangare na shirin da za a rike Fort Pickens, kusa da Pensacola, Florida, ga Union; aiwatar da shi ya rushe kokarin da za a sauƙaƙe garuruwan a Fort Sumter, wanda ya haifar da faduwar Sumter. Porter ya umurci wani jirgin ruwa mai zaman kansa na jiragen ruwa na jirgin ruwa a kama New Orleans. Daga bisani, an ci gaba da shi zuwa matsayi na (aiki) mai kulawa a cikin umurnin Mississippi River Squadron, wanda ya yi aiki tare da sojojin karkashin Major General Ulysses S. Grant a yakin Vicksburg. Bayan faduwar Vicksburg, ya jagoranci sojojin ruwa a cikin yakin Red River Campaign a Louisiana. A ƙarshen 1864, an canja Porter daga cikin gida zuwa gabar tekun Atlantika, inda ya jagoranci Rundunar Sojan Ruwa na Amurka a cikin hare-haren da aka yi a kan
Fort Fisher, babban aikin jirgin ruwa na karshe na yakin.