Rubuta ci gaba ga wannan sakin layi - An haife shi a Boston, Massachusetts, Porter ya yi aiki a cikin Quasi-War tare da Faransa da farko a matsayin mai kula da jirgin ruwa a kan jirgin, ya shiga cikin kama "L'Insurgente" a ranar 9 ga Fabrairu, 1799; sa'an nan a matsayin 1st Lieutenant na; kuma a karshe a cikin umurnin USS "Amphitheatre". A lokacin Yaƙin Barbary na Farko
(1801 <unk> 07), Porter shi ne na farko na,, da kuma, kuma an kama shi lokacin da na karshe ya gudu a cikin tashar jiragen ruwa na Tripoli a ranar 31 ga Oktoba, 1803. Bayan da aka sake shi a ranar 3 ga Yuni, 1805, ya kasance a cikin Bahar Rum a matsayin kyaftin din "Enterprise".