Adm. David G. Farragut DAVID GLASCOW FARRAGUT In Life Photo DAVID GLASGOW FARRAGUT; was born at Campbell's Station, not far from Knoxville, in Tennessee, July 5, 1801. The earliest years of the future admiral were spent in a frontier settlement, exposed to the attacks of Indians; but the Farragut family subsequently removed to New Orleans, the father, who was a native of the Island of Minorca, having entered the naval service of his adopted country. When David was eight years of age his mother fell a victim to the yellow fever, and he was adopted by Commodore Porter of the United States Navy, who most faithfully performed the duties of a guardian for his young ward. Farragut was taken to Washington and placed at school, at first in that city, and afterward at Chester, Penn. In December, 1810, not being yet ten years of age, he was appointed midshipman, and after receiving some preliminary instruction at Newport, R. I., he was ordered to sea with his guardian who had been assigned to the command of the famous thirty-two gun ship, Essex, which sailed from the Delaware, October 28, 1812, on a cruise which lasted some two years, and which was rendered memorable by the most exciting and romantic incidents. Failing to fall in with Commodore Bainbridge's squadron, the Essex, after capturing one valuable prize, rounded the Horn, February 14, 1813, and entered the Pacific. After meeting with a cordial welcome from the authorities at Valparaiso, Porter again put to sea, and during the ensuing summer effected the capture of twelve British whalers and merchantmen, freighted with cargoes of great value, one of which prizes was placed in command of Midshipman Farragut. With a fleet of captured vessels the Essex made her way to the Marquesas Islands, where during their two months' stay, officers and crews mingled freely with the natives, aided one of the tribes in a war against their neighbors, and left many of the dusky belles heartbroken at their departure in December. On March 28, 1814, the Essex was attacked off Valparaiso by a superior British armament and forced to strike her colors. This was Farragut's first battle, and he was not again to witness bloodshed for forty-eight years. After the young prisoner's return to the United States he spent another year at school at Chester. He received honorable mention in Porter's report, but was too young for promotion. During the next five years Farragut made three voyages to the Mediterranean and pursued his studies for some time at Tunis, where he also learned the Arabic language. In 1823, he was ordered to the West Indies in command of the Ferret to protect the American shipping in those waters against the ravages of Cuban pirates, and upon his return he married his first wife, a lady of Norfolk, Va., which place was for many years, subsequently, his residence, when not engaged in active duty. He was an efficient and highly accomplished officer; but during these uneventful years of peace, no opportunity offered in which to display his extraordinary abilities which in more stirring times would have entitled him to rapid promotion. He was commissioned lieutenant January 23, 1825, and was one of the officers of the frigate Brandywine, which bore Lafayette back to France after his famous visit to the United States. After a winter at Gibraltar, and in other European ports, he returned home in May, 1826. For the next fifteen years his domestic life was saddened by the continued illness of his wife, the object of his constant solicitude as a devoted husband, and his unwearyingly attention as a faithful nurse. Fortunately, his official duties permitted him to remain at home for the greater part of the time; his sea service being confined to two South American cruises, and one in the Gulf of Mexico. In 1829, being on the Brazilian station in the Vandalia, Lieutenant Farragut was presented at Court, and witnessed the celebration in honor of the Emperor's second nuptials. While again on the same station, in 1834, in command of the Boxer, he was present at the coronation of the youthful Pedro II., who, after a long and useful reign, was dethroned in 1889, and died in exile in December, 1891. In November, 1838, while commanding the Erie, he observed the bombardment of San Juan de Ulloa in Mexico, by the French. In the long intervals of inaction, Farragut was employed sometimes in teaching the boys on the receiving ship at Norfolk, sometimes at carpenter-work at which he became quite an adept. He was first lieutenant of the Natchez when she was sent, in January, 1833, to over awe the Charleston Nullifiers. The officers and crew were on good terms with the inhabitants, and rendered valuable assistance in preserving property during a disastrous conflagration. In December, 1840, Mrs. Farragut died. On the 9th of September, 1841, Lieutenant Farragut was promoted to the grade of commander, and, in the following November, again sailed for South American waters. In June, 1842, he was assigned to the Decatur, and this was his first independent command with full rank. The cruise ended early in 1843, and then followed another four years spent in receiving-ships, on court-martials, and in general navy-yard duty. In December, 1843, Farragut remarried. Upon the breaking out of the Mexican War, he applied for a ship, and, in 1847, was sent to Vera Cruz in command of the Saratoga; but owing to some real or fancied slight received from the commodore, Matthew C. Perry, his relations with that famous commander became unpleasant, and he obtained leave to return with his ship, and was made second in command at the Gosport Navy Yard. He was now engaged for some years in the study of gunnery, and assisted in compiling the Code of Ordnance regulations. In 1854, he desired to be detached for the purpose of observing the course of the Crimean War; this request was not granted; but he was ordered to California, to take charge of the new Navy-yard at Mare Island, and on September 14, 1855, he received his captain's commission. After four years spent on the Pacific coast, he again returned to the East, and his last service previous to the Civil War was in the Gulf of Mexico, of whose treacherous coasts he gained an intimate knowledge destined to be of great value to him and to his country. In 1859, he was in New Orleans, where he attended the funeral of a brother, little knowing that within two years he would have the Crescent City at the mercy of the guns of his fleet. When the War of the Rebellion opened, and Virginia was forced to secede by her political masters, David G. Farragut determined without hesitation, to "stick to the flag," under which he had served without reproach for half a century. Thereupon he was given to understand that his presence would no longer be tolerated in Norfolk, and, turning his back on treason, he found a new home near New York City. He had been for some time a member of the Naval Retiring Board, and several months elapsed before he was assigned to more active duty; but in December, 1861, he was summoned to Washington, and received that which for more than fifty years had been the goal of his ambition, the command of a fleet. He became commodore of the Western Gulf Squadron, with orders to cooperate with General Butler in the capture of New Orleans, and the opening of the Mississippi. About the middle of April, 1862, his fleet, the largest which had ever been assembled under the American Flag, entered the river. Twenty-five miles from the mouth, were Forts Jackson and St. Philip, which the rebels confidently relied upon to protect New Orleans from an attack by water. After six days' bombardment, Farragut resolved to pass these formidable works, which daring feat he accomplished on the 24th in the face of a galling fire in his flag-ship, the renowned Hartford, accompanied by thirteen other steamers and gunboats, Commodore Porter, the lately deceased Admiral of the Navy, who was the son of Farragut's adoptive father, being left behind with a flotilla of mortar-boats, to complete the reduction of the forts. The civil authorities of New Orleans sullenly submitted to Commodore Farragut on the 26th, the rebel troops having "skedaddled" after destroying more than eight million dollars' worth of property. On the first of May, the city was turned over to the tender mercies of General Butler. In June, 1862, Farragut ascended the river with his gunboats, and attempted to demolish the batteries at Vicksburg; but they proved too strong, and it was reserved for General Grant to accomplish this undertaking a year later. On the 16th of July, Farragut's name was placed first in rank upon the roll of the Navy, and he was commissioned Rear Admiral. For the next year he was chiefly engaged upon the Mississippi, in obedience to his orders to "clear the river through." March 14, 1863, his fleet attacked Port Hudson, and the Hartford and one other ship succeeded in running the gauntlet of batteries, four miles in extent. Upon this occasion and subsequently, he was accompanied by his son, who acted as a signal-officer. After the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson had re-opened the great river to navigation throughout its whole course, Admiral Farragut made a short visit to the North, where he was received with the acclaims of the people as a conqueror. In January, 1864, he again proceeded to his command in the Gulf. The only ports now open to blockade runners were Wilmington in North Carolina, and Mobile in Alabama. The closing of the latter port had been a favorite scheme with Farragut, ever since his victory at New Orleans; but it had not hitherto met with favor from the authorities at Washington. Having at length received the requisite orders, he proceeded to Mobile Bay, with eighteen vessels, four of them iron-clad, harbingers of a new era in naval warfare. Two forts guarded the entrance. On the 5th of August, Farragut's fleet passed between them, amidst a storm of death-dealing shot, and attacked the rebel gunboats. All the world knows how the old veteran gave his orders during the thickest of the fight, lashed to the shrouds of the Hartford. The artist's pencil and the poet's pen have made the gallant action immortal. The enemy's fleet was quickly defeated, and their admiral wounded and taken prisoner. One of the forts surrendered three days later; but the other, Fort Morgan, did not succumb to the combined attack of the fleet and the land forces until the 23d. Not long after this signal victory, failing health compelled the Admiral's retirement. In December he was welcomed in New York with a public ovation, and was presented by the citizens with a purse of fifty thousand dollars. Congress created the grade of Vice-Admiral, and the President conferred it upon the hero of the Bay Fight. Admiral Farragut was holding a temporary command on the James River, when the rebellion collapsed. Two days after the fall of Richmond he visited that city, and shortly afterward paid his respects to his old neighbors at Norfolk. In July, 1866, having previously received from Congress a special vote of thanks for his victory at Mobile, he was raised to the grade of Admiral, and in the following year assumed command of the European Squadron. Forty years and more had elapsed since his last visit to these waters; then he was an obscure lieutenant, now he was the foremost naval commander of the age, and was everywhere accorded the most distinguished honors. One very pleasant incident in his almost royal progress was his visit to the home of his ancestors in the Island of Minorca, where he was enthusiastically welcomed by the entire population. The rule of the Ottoman government excluding war-ships from the Dardanelles was relaxed in his favor, a courtesy never before shown to a person who was not of royal birth. Admiral Farragut returned to America in November, 1868, and during the ensuing summer visited the Pacific coast. He died on the 14th of August, 1870, at the residence of the Commandant of the Navy Yard at Portsmouth, N. H., having reached the age of sixty-nine years, of which sixty had been spent in the service of his country. [Source: Biographical Sketches of Preeminent Americans, Volume 3; By Frederick G. Harrison; Publ. 1893; Transcribed and submitted by Andrea Stawski Pack.] Another Bio David Farragut was the greatest naval hero on the Civil War. Though a Tennessean, there is little known of him in his native state. There are 2 reasons for this, though he was born in Tennessee. First, the Admiral sent most of his life at sea and living in other states. Secondly, he fought for the Union and Tennessee was a Confederate State. For years after the war, there were sectional bitterness and animosities that persisted. Adm. Farragut was born at Campbell's Station, an early post 16 miles west of Knoxville. His father fought under Andrew Jackson in campaigns against the British and the Indians in the War of 1812. The family moved to New Orleans, and it was there that David, as a young boy, got his first taste of the sea. When just 9 and a half years old he was given a warrant as a midshipman in the U. S. Navy. At 12 years of age, he learned the smell of power and the saw the sight of blood as he fought against British Ships under the command of Adm. David Porter in the harbor of Valparaiso. He continued in the Navy after the war, saw much of the world and continued his education. He served through the transition from sail to steam as he rose through the ranks. When the Civil War began he remained loyal to the Union. His experience had prepared him for a major campaign at sea. In the Spring of 1862, he led the biggest naval expedition that, to that time, had ever sailed under the U. S. flag. His ships were powered by sail & steam, but there was not an ironclad in the fleet. His fleet sailed up the mouth of the Mississippi River, battling  Confederate forts and destroyed a Confederate fleet. The city of New Orleans was then captured. In the Spring of 1864, he repeated this performance against the port of Mobile. The city, protected by shoal water and obstructions in the channel, was not captured. Adm. Farragut's fleet outfought the forts to sail by them, and conquered the Confederate ironclad, Tennessee, in a desperate battle. It was the Battle of Mobile Bay that one of his ships was struck by a torpedo and went down, causing another ship to pause in the advance, holding up the attack. Adm. Farragut commanded, " Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!" Home Page Biography Index