In the early 1800s, Key West Florida with it's deep water port, quickly became an economic center and by 1821 it was Florida's largest populated city with many professional residents from doctors and lawyers to military and journalists. In 1823, Key West was known to the Navy as "Thompson's Island" and the harbor was "Port Rogers". In 1823, piracy was a major problem in and around the open waters of West Indies, and on February 1, 1823 Commodore David Porter was given command to establish a depot at Thompson's island to end piracy. Commodore Porter was a well decorated officer in the U.S. Navy who saw service in the First Barbary War, and the War of 1812. In 1805, he became captain of the USS Constitution and later the Enterprise.
When Commodore Porter first arrived at Thompson's Island, there were legal battles over who actually owned the Island, there had been several purchases and land grants over the years since it was under English, then Spanish rule in the 1700s, but Porter ignored all of this and quickly took charge of the situation, stating that island and port were simply owned by the United States. Porter chose to keep the name of Thompson's Island and Port Rogers, and named the naval depot 'Allenton' after Lieutenant William Allen who had been killed by pirates. According to Key West historian Jerry Wilkinson, many residents did not take a liking to Commodore Porter, "For some it was difficult to determine who disliked Commodore Porter more, the pirates or the residents of 'Thompson's Island'".
Yet, the Navy and the President Monroe seemed very pleased with Commodore Porter. According to a report from the Secretary of the Navy, "the nature of the duties, and the exposure of the officers and men, called for a display of perseverance and fortitude seldom required of those engaged in our service; but the call was well answered". Porter and his men accomplished the Navy's objectives. Under Porter's command the squadron stationed in Key West, had suppressed piracy in the "neighborhood of the Island of Cuba", and was no longer have major implications on commerce in that quarter. The Secretary of the Navy reported that everything was going fine, until the middle of August when a "malignant fever" broke out taking the lives of many naval men while sailing off the island of Cuba. News of this was first reported to the Naval department on September 17th, and by time Captain Porter and his men left the island, most of the medical officers were sick and it was feared that the squadron would be be "deprived of its commanding officer and of the medical assistance necessary to its safety". Under these circumstances, the Navy found it necessary to send a high ranking officer and a sufficient number of surgeons to aid those who were in desperate need. The report showed hat Captain Rogers "cheerfully consented to encounter the hazard" and willingly accepted the responsibility to head the expedition. Rogers quickly sailed from New York, but before he arrived in the region of Key West, Captain Porter had regained his strength, and had returned back to the mainland United States with most of his men.
The Philadelphia Journal of the Medical and Physical Sciences contained a detailed report on the Fever at Thompson's Island. According to this report, the first case of yellow fever that occurred in any part of the squadron, was of a young officer who was unaccustomed to the climate, who "exposed himself much to the sun on the Mole while watering". The man had a violent attack and died with black vomit on June 9th, after being sick for only 6 days. Following this incident, a vessel which had returned from Havana, suffered several casualties to yellow fever on her way back to Thompsons Island. Following this, several more officers who had been living on the island for four or five weeks also died from yellow fever, "some having black vomit". They reported that the "filthy state of the vessel" was the most likely cause of the outbreak. Medical science had not yet linked the spread of yellow fever to mosquitoes. Finally by the middle of August, with the weather unusually hot, yellow fever raged with "merciless violence" until the middle of September when the ships were ordered to Norfolk, Virginia. The report also detailed the symptoms of the disease and how it was treated but that is beyond the scope of this post.
In his State of the Union Address, President Monroe share many of the details from the Secretary's report to Congress. President Monroe praised the "patriotic zeal and enterprise of Commodore Porter", expressing his conviction that the Commodore acted in an honorable manner, maintaining the good reputation of our country. But it was "diseases incident to the season and to the climate" that got the best of Porter and his men. The malignant fever that "made it's appearance at Thompsons Island' took the lives of many men, and Monroe praised the prompt response of Commodore Rogers who "cheerfully accepted that trust, and has discharged it in the manner anticipated from his skill and patriotism".
"The patriotic zeal and enterprise of Commodore Porter, to whom the command of the expedition was confided, has been fully seconded by the officers and men under his command. And in reflecting with high satisfaction on the honorable manner in which they have sustained the reputation of their country and its Navy, the sentiment is alloyed only by a concern that in the fulfillment of that arduous service the diseases incident to the season and to the climate in which it was discharged have deprived the nation of many useful lives, and among them of several officers of great promise.Just two years later, Porter was court-martialed for invading Fajardo, Puerto Rico. The following year, in 1826 Porter resigned from the United States Navy and served as the commander-in-chief of the Mexican Navy until 1829. Porter returned to the United States in 1830, when President Andrew Jackson appointed him to consul general in Algiers.
In the month of August a very malignant fever made its appearance at Thompsons Island, which threatened the destruction of our station there. Many perished, and the commanding officer was severely attacked. Uncertain as to his fate and knowing that most of the medical officers had been rendered incapable of discharging their duties, it was thought expedient to send to that post an officer of rank and experience, with several skilled surgeons, to ascertain the origin of the fever and the probability of its recurrence there in future seasons; to furnish every assistance to those who were suffering, and, if practicable, to avoid the necessity of abandoning so important a station. Commodore Rodgers, with a promptitude which did him honor, cheerfully accepted that trust, and has discharged it in the manner anticipated from his skill and patriotism. Before his arrival Commodore Porter, with the greater part of the squadron, had removed from the island and returned to the United States in consequence of the prevailing sickness. Much useful information has, however, been obtained as to the state of the island and great relief afforded to those who had been necessarily left there."
In 1824, President Monroe reported that the health of the squadron at Thompsons Island had greatly improved.
"The health of our squadron while at Thompsons Island has been much better during the present than it was the last season. Some improvements have been made and others are contemplated there which, it is believed, will have a very salutary effect."
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29465
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Porter_(naval_officer)
http://www.keyshistory.org/keywest.html
American State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States, Part 6, Volume 2. United States Congress (1860) pgs 263-365
The Philadelphia Journal of the Medical and Physical Sciences, Volume 8 by John Davidson Godman, Isaac Hays (1824)pgs 53-63
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