Nyorai kuenderera mberi kweiyi ndima - Porter akatanga basa rehondo semumwe wevarwi vechikepe pazera remakore gumi pasi pababa vake, Commodore David Porter, pazvikepe zvechikepe. Kwoupenyu hwake hwose, akanga akabatanidzwa negungwa. Porter akashanda muHondo yeMexico pakurwiswa kweguta reVera Cruz. Pakatanga Hondo yeVanhu, aive chikamu chehurongwa hwekubata Fort Pickens, padyo nePensacola, Florida, yeUnion; kuurayiwa kwayo kwakakanganisa kuyedza kubvisa varwi paFort Sumter, zvichitungamira kudonha kwaSumter. Porter akarayira chikwata chakazvimiririra chemabhoti emota pakutora New Orleans. Gare gare, akafambira mberi kusvika pachinzvimbo che (achishanda) rear admiral mukutungamira kweMississippi River Squadron, iyo yakabatana neuto riri pasi paMajor General Ulysses S. Grant muVicksburg Campaign. Pashure pokuwa kweVicksburg, akatungamirira mauto ehondo muRed River Campaign yakaoma muLouisiana. Pakupera kwa 1864, Porter akachinjwa kubva mukati kuenda kumhenderekedzo yeAtlantic, kwaakatungamirira U.S. Navy mukurwisa pamwe chete Fort Fisher
, chiito chikuru chokupedzisira chehondo.