Later in the day, the Wasp and her prize were taken by the British ship of the line HMS Poictiers and carried to Bermuda.

[citation needed] In March 1815, Harris sailed with Stephen Decatur in the campaign against the Barbary Pirates.

[5] In April 1844, Surgeon Harris was appointed chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery and served in this capacity until 30 September 1853.

During his tenure, he brought about improvements in the organization of the bureau and was much interested in the character and qualifications of the young physicians entering the Medical Corps of the Navy.

[citation needed] Harris married Jane Phillips Hodgdon, daughter of Major Samuel Hodgdon, who had been an army officer from 1776 to 1800, and who later became president of the Pennsylvania Company for Insurance on Lives and Granting Annuities.

His brother John was in the Marine Corps for over fifty years, serving as its sixth commandant.