David Porter McCorkle was a Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 Lieutenant in the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

He ran the Naval Ordnance Works at New Orleans which also served as a laboratory, principally manufacturing shot and shells, gun carriages for outfitting ships in the Confederate Navy.

In March or April 1862, before the city's capture in the Battle of New Orleans

Battle of New Orleans (Civil War)

The Capture of New Orleans during the American Civil War was an important event for the Union. Having fought past Forts Jackson and St. Philip, the Union was unopposed in its capture of the city itself, which was spared the destruction suffered by many other Southern cities...

, he removed the ordnance and laboratory stores to Atlanta.

There, he established shops on lots leased from five different parties (leases to expire in May, 1864) and supplied a large number of projectiles until June 4, 1864 when General Joseph E. Johnston

Joseph E. Johnston

Joseph Eggleston Johnston was a career U.S. Army officer, serving with distinction in the Mexican-American War and Seminole Wars, and was also one of the most senior general officers in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War...

 ordered him to remove to Augusta, Georgia

Augusta, Georgia

Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...

.

McCorkle wrote to his supervisor, Catesby ap Roger Jones

Catesby ap Roger Jones

Catesby ap Roger Jones was an officer in the U.S. Navy who became a commander in the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War.-Biography:...

, on June 8:

I am moving the boilers and engines to-day. All the lathes, planes, steam hammer

Steam hammer

A steam hammer is a power-driven hammer used to shape forgings. It consists of a hammer-like piston located within a cylinder. The hammer is raised by the pressure of steam injected into the lower part of a cylinder and falls down with a force by removing the steam. Usually, the hammer is made to...

, etc., are already shipped, and, to crown all, they have given an order to move the hospitals, and I can not get cars enough to move.

In November, he was still at work building a foundry and other temporary structures, but was not at that time actually producing ordnance.

After the war, he joined the Peruvian Navy

Peruvian Navy

The Peruvian Navy is the branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces tasked with surveillance, patrol and defense on lakes, rivers and the Pacific Ocean up to 200 nautical miles from the Peruvian littoral...

 with John Tucker

John Randolph Tucker (1812-1883)

John Randolph Tucker , who served as an officer in the navies of three nations, was born in Alexandria, Virginia...

.

Shortly after the end of the Civil War, Peru, which was at war with Spain, invited CSN Admiral J.R. Tucker to join their Navy as a Rear Admiral, bringing with him two staff officers. Tucker accepted and went to Peru with Captain David Porter McCorkle and Commander Walter Raleigh Butt.

Following his resignation in 1871 from the Peruvian Navy, Tucker was appointed President of the Peruvian Hydrographical Commission of the Amazon. This Commission, which included David P. McCorkle, explored and surveyed the Upper Amazon River and its tributaries, discovered two new rivers, the Trinidad and the Herrera-yacu.