David Farragut
David Glasgow Farragut (July 5, 1801 – August 14, 1870) was the commander-in-chief of the U.S. Navy during the American Civil War. He was both the first vice admiral and full admiral of the Navy. He is remembered in popular culture for his famous order at the Battle of Mobile Bay, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"
Early life and naval career
Farragut was born to Jordi and Elizabeth Farragut at Campbell's Station, near Knoxville, Tennessee, where his father was serving as a cavalry officer in the Tennessee militia. Jordi Farragut Mesquida (1755–1817), a Spanish–Catalan merchant captain from Minorca, had previously joined the American Revolutionary cause. David's birth name was James, but it was changed in 1812, following his adoption by future naval Captain David Porter in 1808 (which made him the foster brother of future Civil War Admiral David Dixon Porter).
David Farragut entered the Navy as a midshipman on December 17, 1810. In the War of 1812, when only 12 years old, he was given command of a prize ship taken by USS Essex and brought her safely to port. He was wounded and captured during the cruise of the Essex by HMS Phoebe in Valparaiso Bay, Chile, on March 28, 1814, but was exchanged in April 1815. Through the years that followed, in one assignment after another, he showed the high ability and devotion to duty that would allow him to make a great contribution to the Union victory in the Civil War and to write a famous page in the history of the United States Navy.
Civil War
In command of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, with his flag in USS Hartford, in April 1862 he ran past Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip and the Chalmette, Louisiana, batteries to take the city and port of New Orleans, Louisiana, on April 29 that year, a decisive event in the war. Later that year he passed the batteries defending Vicksburg, Mississippi. Port Hudson fell to him July 9, 1863.
On August 5, 1864, Farragut won a great victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay. Mobile, Alabama, at the time was the Confederacy's last major port open on the Gulf of Mexico. The bay was heavily mined (tethered naval mines were known as torpedoes at the time). Farragut ordered his fleet to charge the bay. When the monitor USS Tecumseh struck a mine and sank the others began to pull back. According to legend, Farragut (who was lashed to the rigging of his flagship the USS Hartford) shouted down the order, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" The bulk of the fleet succeeded in entering the bay.
Farragut then triumphed over the opposition of heavy batteries in Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines to defeat the squadron of Admiral Franklin Buchanan.
His country honored its great sailor after New Orleans by creating for him the rank of rear admiral on July 16, 1862, a rank never before used in the U.S. Navy. (Before this time, the American Navy had resisted the rank of admiral, preferring the term "flag officer", to separate it from the traditions of the European navies.) He was promoted to vice admiral on December 21, 1864, and to full admiral on July 25, 1866, after the war.
European Squadron and death
Admiral Farragut's last active service was in command of the European Squadron, with the screw frigate Franklin as his flagship, and he died at the age of 70 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York.
In memoriam
A number of places and things are named in remembrance of Admiral Farragut:
- Farragut, Tennessee, the town that grew up near his hometown of Campbell's Station, and sporting teams of the local high school, Farragut High School, are known as "The Admirals."
- The U.S. Department of Defense High School located on the Naval Station in Rota, Spain. Their sporting teams are also known as "The Admirals.:
- Farragut Career Academy in Chicago, Illinois, and the sporting teams are also known as the Admirals. NBA star Kevin Garnett attended Farragut Career Academy.
- Numerous destroyers named USS Farragut, including two class leaders.
- Two fictional starships in the Star Trek universe.
- Two U.S. postage stamps: thr $1 stamp of 1903 and a $0.32 stamp in 1995.
- A state park in Idaho, which was used as a naval base for basic training during World War II.
- Farragut Parkway in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.
- Admiral Farragut Military Academy in St. Petersburg, Florida.
- A hotel in Minorca at Cala'n Forcat.
- In World War II, the United States liberty ship SS "David G. Farragut" was named in his honor.
Command history
- 1812, assigned to the Essex.
- 1815–17, served in the Mediterranean Sea aboard the Independence and the Macedonian.
- 1818, studied ashore for nine months at Tunis.
- 1819, served as a lieutenant on the Shark.
- 1823, placed in command of the Ferret.
- 1825, served as a lieutenant on the Brandywine.
- 1826–38, served in subordinate capacities on various vessels.
- 1838, placed in command of the sloop Erie.
- 1841, attained the rank of commander.
- Mexican War, commanded the sloop of war, Saratoga.
- 1848–50, duty at Norfolk, Navy Yard in Virginia.
- 1850–54, duty at Washington, D.C..
- 1855, attained the rank of Captain.
- 1854–58, duty establishing Mare Island Navy Yard at San Francisco Bay.
- 1858–59, commander of the sloop of war, Brooklyn.
- 1860–61, stationed at Norfolk Navy Yard.
- December 21, 1861 – August 14, 1870, Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Navy.
- January 1862, commanded USS Hartford and the West Gulf blockading squadron of 17 vessels.
- April 1862, took command of New Orleans.
- July 16, 1862, promoted to rear admiral.
- June 23, 1862, wounded near Vicksburg, Mississippi.
- May 1863, commanded USS Monongahela.
- May 1863, commanded the USS Pensacola.
- July 1863, commanded USS Tennessee.
- September 5, 1864, offered command of the North Atlantic Blocking Squadron, but declined.
- December 21, 1864, promoted to vice admiral.
- April 1865, Pallbearer for the Abraham Lincoln funeral.
- July 25, 1866, promoted to admiral.
- June 1867, commanded USS Franklin.
- 1867–68, commanded European Squadron.
References
- Barnes, biography, (Boston, 1899)
- Eicher, John H., & Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
- Farragut, Loyall (his son), biography, (New York, 1879)
- Spears, David G. Farragut, (Philadelphia, 1905)