[2][3] After passing through the usual course of professional instruction at Chatham, Porter embarked for Dominica in the West Indies on 13 December 1847, having married the preceding October.

[2] Porter was employed at the War Office under the inspector-general of fortifications from April 1859 until September 1862 in connection with the defence of the United Kingdom.

[2] In March 1870 Porter was again sent to Malta, where, as executive officer under the commanding Royal Engineer, he supervised the construction of the defences of the new dockyard.

While at Malta he was employed on the eclipse expedition to Sicily in 1872, and he designed and erected observatories at Catania and Syracuse.

[2] In February 1874 Porter was appointed commanding Royal Engineer at Barbados; he remained there for two years, returning to England in April 1876, and was stationed for a time at Chatham.

He was commanding Royal Engineer of the western district, and stationed at Plymouth from 1877 till 1 October 1881, when he retired from the service on a pension, with the honorary rank of major-general.

[2] Porter died on 27 May 1892, and was buried at St. Michael's Church, York Town, now in Camberley, Surrey, of which he had been churchwarden for many years.