{"id":37272,"date":"2019-10-04T21:19:48","date_gmt":"2019-10-04T21:19:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/04\/fearless-farragut\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:21:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:21:41","slug":"fearless-farragut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/10\/04\/fearless-farragut\/","title":{"rendered":"Fearless Farragut!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, and David Glasgow Farragut <\/a>followed a remarkably similar path to Civil War glory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All three were little more than fringe players in the Union military in the early stages of the war: Grant merely the captain of a company of volunteers in his hometown of Galena, Illinois; Sherman the head of a streetcar company in St. Louis; and until December 1861 Farragut had to settle for being only a member of the Naval Retirement Board in New York. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within a year, all three had become household names across the North. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 1865 all three had attained military immortality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the trio, Farragut\u2019s accomplishments were in some ways the most unfathomable and yet singularly spectacular. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly 60, he was in the twilight of his career when the war began, having already spent 50 years in the U.S. Navy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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David Glasgow Farragut, 5 Jul 1801 – 15 Aug 1870 (Albumen silver print photograph by Edward Jacobs, c. 1862, now in the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Though a Southerner by birth and a longtime resident of Norfolk, Virginia, with a Southern wife, he chose the Union over the Confederacy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 18, 1861, the day after Virginia formally seceded, he departed Norfolk with his family and settled in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y. It was by no means an easy decision. Farragut made no secret he believed secession was treason, but he also feared he\u2019d be ordered to defend Norfolk\u2019s Naval Yard against his relatives, friends, and neighbors if he stayed there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some officials in Washington, D.C., remained dubious of his loyalties, hence the unglamorous assignment to the Naval Retirement Board. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Farragut\u2019s fortunes finally changed in December when the Union high command decided to attempt the capture of New Orleans \u2014 the South\u2019s largest city and most important port \u2014 by sea rather than land. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farragut was the best available officer and had the characteristics necessary to command the naval contingent of the expedition. U.S. Navy Secretary Gideon Welles plucked him from his desk job and in January 1862 gave him command of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus V. Fox, in particular, paid tribute to Farragut for deciding to leave Norfolk back in April, declaring it was an act that showed \u201cgreat superiority of character, clear perception of duty, and firm resolution in the performance of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farragut quickly proved that the gamble on him was well worth taking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Midshipman David G. Farragut. Farragut became a midshipman at age 9 and served at sea at 10. (From the book “Midshipman Farragut,” now in the collections of U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During his half-century in the Navy \u2014 appointed a midshipman as a 9-year-old, he first went to sea at the tender age of 10 \u2014 Farragut was regarded for his dependable, if understated, service. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until his command of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, however, there had been little indication he\u2019d have a chance to secure his name in history. Born James Glasgow Farragut on July 5, 1801, at Campbell\u2019s Station (now Farragut), Tennessee, he was the second son and second of five children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His Spanish father, Jordi Farragut Mesquida, took the American name George and was a sea captain before joining the colonists in their revolt against Great Britain. Glasgow\u2019s mother, Elizabeth, was of Scots-Irish descent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1807, the Farraguts<\/a> left the Tennessee wilderness behind and moved to New Orleans, where George became a sailing master at the American Naval Station and close friends with fellow sailing master David Porter Sr., grandfather of David Dixon Porter, a future Civil War admiral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Porter, a Revolutionary War veteran weakened by tuberculosis, suffered sunstroke, Elizabeth Farragut nursed him, though she was sick from yellow fever herself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They both died on June 22, 1808. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his father\u2019s illness, David Porter Jr. assumed command of the naval station. Grateful to the Farraguts, he helped make retirement arrangements for George on a plantation on the Pascagoula River in Spanish West Florida. And on Dec. 17, 1810, he secured for Glasgow \u2014 as James Farragut preferred to be called \u2014 an appointment as a midshipman in the U.S. Navy, the third-youngest individual ever to receive such a commission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In honor of the occasion, Porter gave the 9-year-old a gold watch inscribed \u201cD.P. to D.G.F., U.S.N., 1810\u201d \u2014 the earliest reference to Glasgow\u2019s first name being changed from James to David. (Naval records indicate, however, that Glasgow did not authorize the change until after his father\u2019s death in 1817.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After attending school in Washington as well as the naval shipyard at Chester, Pennsylvania, Farragut departed with Master-Commandant David Porter Jr. for Norfolk in July 1811. The 10-year-old was going to sea \u2014 the youngest officer ever to serve on active duty in the U.S. Navy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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David Porter (1780-1843) served in the Navy continuously from about 1798 to 1826, when he left after a being tried for carrying out a punitive incident against Fajardo, Puerto Rico for jailing one of his officers. He served as commander-in-chief of the Mexican Navy from 1826 to 1829. He later served as U.S. Minister to the Barbary States and died while serving as U.S. Minister to Turkey. (U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On Aug. 9, Farragut received his first command, the wherry that transported Porter to and from the frigate Essex; his crew consisted of one seaman to work the oars. Though probably less than 5 feet tall wearing shoes, \u201cMister Farragut\u201d had spunk. When the \u201cminiature\u201d officer was mocked in Norfolk one day, a brawl ensued. Farragut pulled his dirk and entered the fray. He and his victorious mates landed in jail, but Porter bailed them out. Young Farragut, he observed, consisted of \u201cthree pounds of uniform and seventy pounds of fight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the War of 1812, Farragut accompanied Porter during a lengthy and particularly memorable cruise<\/a>. While sailing along the coast of South America in January 1813, Porter elected to violate his orders and sail for the Pacific Ocean, a bold move for a single vessel during wartime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essex embarked on a 2,500-mile trip to Cape Horn, at the southern tip of Chile, but the ship nearly sank in a storm on March 3. Injured, Porter was confined to bed, and Farragut, for the first and only time in his life, witnessed sailors paralyzed with fear while battling Cape Horn\u2019s raging seas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In rounding the Horn successfully, however, Essex became the first American warship ever to enter the Pacific. Despite the threat of British warships stationed nearby, Porter gambled and anchored at Valparaiso, Chile. After what they had been through, he reasoned, the crew deserved shore leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of June, Porter had captured nine enemy prize vessels, and Farragut was placed in command of one of those \u2014 Alexander Barclay \u2014 five days before his 12th birthday, When the British vessel\u2019s prisoner-captain threatened to regain control, Farragut promised that if the captain set foot on the deck brandishing pistols, he would be thrown overboard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was no further trouble. Farragut rejoined Porter on Sept. 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Oct. 25, 1813, Essex dropped anchor off Nuku Hiva<\/a>, a tropical island paradise. Though he had deemed an 11-year-old Farragut capable of commanding a vessel, Porter at first kept the midshipman, now 12, from interacting with the island people, but he later relaxed the constraint, as the ship was at anchor for a lengthy period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farragutt later described learning to throw a spear, walk on stilts, and improve his swimming technique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February 1814, Porter gave his young apprentice a lesson in risk-taking that, as Civil War events would show, had an impact on Farragut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“The Essex and British Frigates in the Bay of Valparaiso” (Engraving, by Abel Bowen, C. 1815, now in the collections of U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It involved a conflagration between Essex and another of Porter\u2019s ships and two British vessels in the neutral harbor of Valparaiso. Porter\u2019s ships were woefully outgunned, and when he decided to run past the enemy duo \u2014 fearing the arrival of other British ships \u2014 a squall nearly capsized Essex near the mouth of the harbor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several sailors were drowned, and the ship lost its main topmast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now disabled, Essex laid anchor, only to be attacked. Porter and Farragut were both injured but remained at their posts, with the midshipman losing his coattails while trying unsuccessfully to prevent the quartermaster from being struck by a projectile. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unable to run his vessel ashore, Porter finally ordered \u201cabandon ship\u201d and then struck the colors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus ended what would prove to be the bloodiest contest involving a single American ship in Farragut\u2019s career. Of Essex\u2019s complement of 255 men, 58 had been killed or mortally wounded, 39 severely wounded, 27 slightly wounded, and 31 were missing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Years later Farragut severely criticized Porter\u2019s tactics at Valparaiso, but, significantly, he never condemned his mentor\u2019s questionable strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between 1815 and 1820, Farragut sailed primarily in the Mediterranean. Still a midshipman, he availed himself of every educational opportunity, and finally returned home to take the examination required for a lieutenant\u2019s commission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though probably the most professionally knowledgeable midshipman of his era \u2014 maybe of all time \u2014 Farragut failed the exam, likely because he had run afoul of a naval clique dominated by Capt. George W. Rodgers and the illustrious family of Capt. Oliver Hazard Perry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The three-man examining board gave no official reason for failing Farragut, so the Secretary of the Navy allowed him to try again before the next board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In October 1821, Farragut passed. Then in September 1824, after spending time chasing pirates in the West Indies and receiving his first regular command, the Ferret, he married Susan C. Marchant of Norfolk. Shortly after the wedding, Susan contracted a neuralgia that afflicted her until her death in 1840. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Dec. 26, 1843, the widower married another Norfolk resident, Virginia Loyall. She was the mother of his only child \u2014 a son, Loyall, born Oct. 12, 1844.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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David Glasgow Farragut, 5 Jul 1801 – 15 Aug 1870 (Portrait by William Swain, 1838, now in the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; transfer from the National Museum of American History; gift of the Estate of Loyall Farragut to the United States National Museum, 1917)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite his lengthy service and evident ability, promotion came slowly for Farragut, though his desire to care personally for his sickly first wife may well have played a part in that. In addition, Farragut\u2019s level of seniority did not entitle him to one of the limited number of commands available before 1861.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Promoted to first lieutenant in January 1825, Farragut saw limited duty but did at least have a few interesting moments: transporting Revolutionary War hero the Marquis de Lafayette to France in 1825; showing the flag at Charleston, South Carolina, during the Nullification Crisis of 1833; and witnessing the naval reduction by the French of Castle San Juan de Ullua at Vera Cruz, Mexico, in 1838.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Promoted to commander on Sept. 9, 1841, Farragut sought action in the Mexican War but had no opportunity to distinguish himself. He would receive his captaincy on September 14, 1855, and served in California until 1860 before returning to Norfolk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farragut\u2019s area of responsibility with the West Gulf Blockading Squadron stretched from St. Andrew\u2019s Bay, Florida, to Texas and south to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Jan. 20, 1862, he received orders to \u201cproceed up the Mississippi River and reduce the defenses\u201d guarding the approaches to New Orleans. It took 18 days for him to sail from Hampton Roads to the rendezvous point at Ship Island, Mississippi, but nearly two months would pass before all was ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The struggle for New Orleans commenced on April 18, when the Union mortar boat flotilla \u2014 under the aegis of Farragut\u2019s quasi-foster brother, Cmdr. David Dixon Porter \u2014 opened fire on the purportedly impregnable Forts Jackson and St. Philip, located across from each other about 70 miles below New Orleans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mortar vessels failed to significantly diminish the defensive capabilities of the two forts, which Farragut knew would be the case. Farragut quickly determined, demonstrating what Gideon Welles called his \u201cinnate fearless moral courage,\u201d to run his flotilla past the forts even though they had yet to be reduced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a momentous decision that contravened not only his orders, but the wishes of the Navy Department and the advice of many of his officers, principally Porter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs to being prepared for defeat, I certainly am not,\u201d Farragut wrote his wife, adding that anybody who was \u201cwould be half defeated before he commenced.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He would do all he could and trust God for the rest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have to take this place,\u201d he concluded. He would probably lose some of his ships, \u201cbut with some of my fleet afloat I shall eventually be successful. I cannot lose all. I will attack regardless of consequences, and never turn back.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He never hesitated to risk all if the prize warranted it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“The Splendid Naval Triumph on the Mississippi, April 24th, 1862” (Lithograph by Currier & Ives, 1862, U.S. Navy Art Collection)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Before first light on April 24, Farragut advanced with 17 vessels. Fourteen succeeded in passing the forts, destroying eight Confederate vessels in the process and losing only one himself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The forts no longer a threat, Farragut left Porter to negotiate their surrender and steamed upriver to occupy New Orleans on the 29th. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farragut\u2019s audacity on this occasion made him the foremost naval officer in the United States, a prominence he held until his death. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On July 11, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln approved a congressional resolution thanking Farragut and all who participated in the expedition. On July 30, Lincoln commissioned Farragut the U.S. Navy\u2019s first rear admiral, to date from July 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Federal troops under Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler landed in New Orleans on May 1, supposedly freeing Farragut to proceed to his next objective. He had intended to continue up the Mississippi to link up with Union Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote, commander of the Mississippi River Squadron, which had just occupied strategic Island No. 10. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On May 5, however, he notified Welles, \u201cAs soon as I see General Butler safely in possession of [New Orleans], I will sail for Mobile [Alabama] with the fleet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Needing support troops for the Mobile expedition, Farragut lingered in New Orleans while Butler attempted to suppress the hostile inhabitants, particularly the women who expressed their contempt by insulting anyone in a blue uniform (see \u201cButler\u2019s Infamous Order\u201d). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One woman spat in Farragut\u2019s face while he sat on a streetcar, and another emptied the contents of her chamber pot onto him as he walked below her balcony. Not wanting to be the cause of a riot and unable to move against Mobile, Farragut headed up the Mississippi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farragut proceeded to Vicksburg, with orders to run his fleet past the Rebel bastion\u2019s daunting batteries. Before dawn on June 28, the ships set off, guns blazing. Eight of 11 ships succeeded, and none were lost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farragut, who escaped the ordeal with only a blow on the head from falling rigging, reported that the ships carried insufficient troops to hold the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gunboats at Baton Rouge, La., March 1863, Coaling Farragut’s Fleet after New Orleans (Half of stereograph, Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Mississippi River Squadron, now under Flag Officer Charles H. Davis, began arriving July 1. Before it could launch a joint attack against Vicksburg, however, the Confederate iron-clad Arkansas descended from the Yazoo River on the 15th and successfully reached Vicksburg, passing through the combined Union fleets north of the city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furious, Farragut took eight vessels downstream that evening, hoping to sink the ironclad in the process. Supported by four of Davis\u2019 ships, all of Farragut\u2019s made it past the Confederate batteries, but Arkansas remained afloat and therefore still a threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farragut headed for New Orleans on July 24, and then returned to the Gulf to secure every port except Mobile by the end of the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But disasters mounted in 1863. The Confederates recaptured Galveston and Sabine Pass in Texas; the Confederate screw sloop-of-war commerce raider Alabama sank the Union gunboat Hatteras; and the Confederate sloop-of-war commerce raider Florida escaped out of Mobile Bay. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farragut took these reverses personally and quickly assumed responsibility for each of them. Yet there was little he could have done. He had been ordered to return to the Mississippi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December 1862, Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks had arrived in New Orleans to replace Butler, bringing with him thousands of reinforcements and orders to proceed up the Mississippi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Federals reoccupied Baton Rouge, but 25 miles beyond by river was Port Hudson, where the Confederates had recently constructed a bastion just as formidable as Vicksburg on high ground above a sharp bend in the river. When Banks was unsuccessful in assaulting the fort by land, Farragut remained confident he would starve the garrison out of Port Hudson if he could blockade the Red River, thus eliminating one of the bastion\u2019s critical supply lines to the north.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To accomplish that, Farragut would need to run his ships past Port Hudson. Even though it made him an easy target, he chose to make the run by daylight rather than attempting to navigate a 150-degree turn, a treacherous current, and a shifting sandbar in the dark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was March 14. Banks was supposed to help by creating a diversion but failed to do so, and bad fog finally forced Farragut to abort the effort. When Banks promised that his troops would be ready that evening, Farragut revised his plans. Rather than risk a recurrence of morning fog, he would make the attempt at night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Battle of Port Hudson (Chromo-lithograph by L. Prang & Co. c1887, now in the Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another concern for Farragut was that his 18-year-old son Loyall was with him. As his ships moved past the bastion, Confederate guns opened fire. When a shot shrieked by, Loyall happened to duck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grabbing his son by the shoulder, Farragut admonished: \u201cDon\u2019t duck, my son; there is no use in trying to dodge God Almighty.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The admiral would learn to his dismay the next morning that only his flagship, Hartford, and one gunboat had run the gantlet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four vessels had headed back downstream, and the Union steam frigate Mississippi \u2014 Matthew Perry\u2019s flagship during his famed 1853-54 mission to Japan \u2014 had run aground and then been destroyed by its crew (something the Rebels disputed).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two vessels proved insufficient to blockade the Red River, and the garrison at Port Hudson continued to enjoy ample rations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farragut remained on the Mississippi to assist Banks in capturing the bastion, which finally fell after a 48-day siege \u2014 the longest in American history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Port Hudson\u2019s capitulation on July 9, 1863, came five days after the Confederate surrender at Vicksburg. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Abraham Lincoln declared: \u201cThe Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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David Farragut lashed to upper mast, holding spyglass; during Battle of Mobil Bay, Jan. 1864. (Chromo-lithograph by L. Prang & Co., Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After 19 months, Farragut had earned a well-deserved rest back in New York. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In early 1864, however, he returned to the Gulf of Mexico for an assault upon Mobile, where he would make his most lasting mark on history, with his illustrious \u201cDamn the torpedoes!\u201d declaration that brought about closure of the Confederacy\u2019s top Gulf port for blockade runners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farragut\u2019s willingness to lead where his subordinates feared to go made this victory essentially his alone. Congress created the rank of vice admiral, and Lincoln promptly nominated Farragut. Lincoln also directly benefited from Farragut\u2019s success \u2014 Mobile was the first of a series of victories that helped him win reelection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farragut saw no further action in the war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congress created the grade of full admiral especially for Farragut, his appointment effective July 26, 1866. As commander of the European Squadron in 1867, he led a 17-month \u201cgoodwill\u201d cruise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After suffering a heart attack in 1869, he died the following summer in Portsmouth, N.H.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite a cold, pouring rain, more than 10,000 people \u2014 including President Grant \u2014 marched on Sept. 30, 1870, in Farragut\u2019s funeral procession in New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Admiral David Farragut of the U.S. Navy in uniform” (C.D. Fredricks & Co., Liljenquist Family collection, Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Epilogue: A note on timely teamwork<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though often disappointed by Union generals, Farragut fulfilled their requests whenever possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks\u2019 May 27, 1863, assault failed to capture Port Hudson, he asked the admiral for heavy guns to help breach the earthen fortifications surrounding the town. Farragut quickly complied, and ordered Lt. Cmdr. Edward Terry of the Union\u2019s wooden steam sloop Richmond on May 30 to command a naval battery ashore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A site 748 yards opposite the Confederate center was selected and work commenced by June 4. After mounting the final cannon on the morning of the 9th, the sailors opened fire. They discharged their guns so rapidly that the following evening Banks requested additional ammunition from Farragut. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By June 13 they had dismounted two enemy guns and set fire to some buildings. The massive bombardment on the morning of June 14 intended to drive the Confederate cannon into hiding and out of action ended with a broadside from the four Dahlgrens fired over the heads of advancing blue-clad infantrymen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sailors knocked out another cannon by nightfall, but the attack failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Banks now turned his attention to his left flank, where sailors relocated one Dahlgren on the 18th and a second on the 27th. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only 340 yards separated these two guns from Confederate sharpshooters, who quickly taught the seadogs the perils of fighting ashore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reinforcements for the sailors came in the form of Ensign Edwin M. Shepard and a 17-man gun crew from the Union\u2019s ironclad river gunboat Essex. Terry turned over immediate command of the remaining two guns opposite the Confederate center to Shepard on July 2, but continued to supervise both detachments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After 48 days the garrison capitulated. The Union column that entered the fortifications on July 9 to accept their surrender included a detachment from the U.S. Navy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From all accounts of their service ashore, the sailors deserved this honor. <\/p>\n\n\n\t