David Farragut
|
Admiral David Glasgow Farragut |
|
Admiral David Glasgow 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!"
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.
 |
Admiral David Farragut |
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.
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.
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.
* Farragut Middle School in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.
* A grade school in
Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.
* A grade school (PS 44) in
The Bronx, New York* Admiral Farragut Military Academy in
St. Petersburg,
Florida.
* A hotel in
Minorca at Cala'n Forcat.
* $100-dollar Treasury notes, also called Coin notes, of the Series 1890 and 1891, feature portraits of Farragut on the obverse. The 1890 Series note is called a $100 Watermelon Note by collectors, because the large zeroes on the reverse resemble the pattern on a watermelon.
*
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.
*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)
*
Farragut biography on navy.mil*
Idaho's Farragut State Park
