English: Looking west at the cenotaph of Admiral David Dixon Porter in front of Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States.

David Dixon Porter was born in 1813 into one of the most distinguished families in the history of the United States Navy. His adoptive brother was David G. Farragut, who also became a noted Naval officer. Porter commanded the USS Powhatan, which attempted to relieve the garrison at Ft. Sumter; this effort failed. Porter later commanded a flotilla of mortar boats which helped capture the city of New Orleans. He was promoted to Rear Admiral and commanded the Mississippi River Squadron, helped Major General Ulysses S. Grant seize Vicksburg and cut the Confederacy in two. He also commanded U.S. naval forces in the difficult Red River Campaign and on the assault on Fort Fisher (the last significant naval action of the war). After the Civil War, he helped improve the curriculum and training at the U.S. Naval Academy. When the U.S. Congress created the position of Admiral in 1866, David Farragut received the title. When Farragut died in 1871, Porter became only the second man to hold the rank of U.S. Navy Admiral.

Porter died of heart failure in 1891, and his family and supporters argued that his accomplishments merited placement of his grave not only in a spot of honor at Arlington National Cemetery but directly in front of Arlington House itself. Their wishes were honored. Porter was the second officer to be buried here; General Phil Sheridan had also been buried on the east lawn of the house as well.

Interestingly, Porter's widow had only enough funds to erect a simple grey granite cenotaph over her husband's grave. The words "temporarily erected" were chiseled onto its front. Porter's family and supporters fully intended to collect additional funds and replace the marker with a much grander monument. But this never happened. So for more than 130 years, the grave has remained "temporarily erected."

Gen. Horatio Wright's burial on the east lawn in 1899 became controversial. Burying officers there was banned by cemetery officials shortly after his interrment. In 1931, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts argued that the graves of Wright and Pierre Charles L'Efant (buried on the east lawn in 1911) should be relocated. This remains the official policy of Arlington National Cemetery, although the decision has never been implemented. So large trees were planted to help screen the Porter and Wright graves from visitors to the house. Looking up from Custis Walk, Sheridan Drive or the John F. Kennedy Grave Site at Arlington House, you can clearly see the Porter monument. But from the carriage drive in front of Arlington House, it is almost invisible.

A grave marker set flush with the grass about eight feet in front of this cenotaph is the site of the Porter's actual grave. Both he and his wife, GeorgeAnn, are buried there.