Horace Porter was born April 15, 1837 in Huntington, PA (United States of America), the son of David Rittenhouse Porter (1788-1867), a two time governor of the State of Pennsylvania.   D. Rittendhouse Porter was the grand-uncle in law of President Abraham Lincoln.   Horace Porter's grandfather distinguished himself as a  U. S. Revolutionary War general (1776). (see Porter genealogy)

Horace Porter served as a Captain in the Union Army, and as an aide-de-camp to General Ulysses S. Grant during the U.S. Civil War (1864-65).  Porter accompanied Grant into battle at Cold Harbor, the Wilderness, and the Petersburg campaign.    Throughout the war, Porter kept extensive notes of the campaigns, and he was present at General Lee's surrender at McLean's house on April 9, 1865.   Later, his first-hand accounts and analyses were published as "Campaigning with Grant" by General Horace Porter.

Porter's military career led him to the rank of "General", and he was awarded the "Medal of Honor" in the name of the President of the United States of America on July 8, 1902.   Citation: "While acting as a volunteer aide, at a critical moment when the lines were broken, rallied enough fugitives to hold the ground under heavy fire long enough to effect the escape of wagon trains and batteries."

From 1897 to 1905 he served as the U.S. Ambassador to France.  In 1905 Ambassador Porter rediscovered in Paris (France) the burial site of the American patriot,  Commodore John Paul Jones (1747-1792).  American warships brought Jones' casket  to America and was interred in the crypt of the U.S. Naval Academy Chapel (Annapolis MD - U.S.A.).

On the fourth of March, 1905, Horace Porter's daughter, Elsie Porter, married Edwin Mende the son of Dr. Mende from Switzerland who had attended Mrs. Horace Porter.   In 1927 Elsie Porter  wrote a book about her father "An American Soldier and Diplomat - Horace Porter."    Edwin and Elsie Mende had four children (genealogy): Molly, Erna, Horace and Maosi.   Their daughter,  Erna Mende (1908-2001)  married Swiss Brigadier General)  Pierre Musy (1910-1990), the son of  Dr. Jean-Marie Musy,  ex-President of Switzerland.

General Porter died May 25, 1921 and was buried at the Old First Methodist Churchyard in West Long Branch, NJ - United States of America.

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