David Glasgow Farragut (; also spelled Glascoe; July 5, 1801 – August 14, 1870) was a flag officer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral in the United States Navy. He is remembered in U.S. Navy tradition for his bold order at the Battle of Mobile Bay, usually abbreviated to "Damn the torpedoes ... full speed ahead."
Farragut was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and raised by naval officer David Porter after the death of his mother. When he was 11 years old, Farragut served in the War of 1812 under the command of his adoptive father. He received his first command in 1823 at age 22, and went on to participate in anti-piracy operations in the Caribbean Sea. He then served in the Mexican–American War under the command of Matthew C. Perry, participating in the blockade of Tuxpan. After the war, he oversaw the construction of the Mare Island Navy Yard (now Mare Island Naval Shipyard), which was the first U.S. Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean.
Farragut resided in Norfolk, Virginia, prior to the Civil War, but he was a Southern Unionist who strongly opposed Southern secession and remained loyal to the Union after the outbreak of the Civil War. He was assigned command of an attack on the important Confederate port city of New Orleans, defeating the Confederates at the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip. He captured New Orleans in April 1862. He was promoted to rear admiral after the battle and helped extend Union control up along the Mississippi River, participating in the siege of Port Hudson. He then led a successful attack on Mobile Bay, home to the last major Confederate port on the Gulf of Mexico. Farragut was promoted to admiral following the end of the Civil War and remained on active duty until his death in 1870.
Contents
Early life
James Glasgow Farragut was born in 1801 to George Farragut (born Jordi Farragut Mesquida, 1755–1817), a Spanish Balearic merchant captain from the Mediterranean island of Menorca, and his wife Elizabeth (née Shine, 1765–1808), of North Carolina Scotch-Irish American descent, at Lowe's Ferry on the Holston River in Tennessee. It was a few miles southeast of Campbell's Station, near Knoxville.
After serving in the Spanish merchant marine, George Farragut immigrated to North America in 1776 and served as a naval officer during the American Revolutionary War. He was first with the South Carolina Navy, then with the Continental Navy. George and Elizabeth moved west to Tennessee after his service in the Revolution, where he operated Lowe's Ferry and served as a cavalry officer in the Tennessee militia.
In 1805, George accepted a position at the U.S. port of New Orleans. He traveled there first and his family followed in a 1,700-mile (2,700 km) flatboat journey guided by hired rivermen. It was four-year-old James's first voyage. The family was still living in New Orleans when Elizabeth died of yellow fever. George Farragut made plans to place the young children with friends and family who could better care for them.
In 1808, after his mother's death, James agreed to live with United States Navy officer David Porter, whose father had served with George Farragut during the Revolution. In 1812, he adopted the name "David" in honor of his foster father, with whom he went to sea late in 1810. David Farragut grew up in a naval family, with foster brothers David Dixon Porter, a future Civil War admiral, and William D. Porter, who became a Commodore.
Career
Farragut's naval career began as a midshipman when he was nine years old, and continued for 60 years until his death at the age of 69. This included service in several wars, most notably during the American Civil War, where he gained fame for winning several decisive naval battles.
War of 1812
Farragut's naval career began when he was added to the U.S. Navy's rolls with the rank of "boy" in the spring of 1810. Through the influence of his foster father, Farragut was warranted a midshipman in the U.S. Navy on December 17, 1810, at the age of nine. A prize master by the age of 11, Farragut fought in the War of 1812, serving under Captain Porter, his foster father. While serving aboard the frigate USS Essex, Farragut participated in the capture of HMS Alert on August 13, 1812, He helped to establish America's first naval base and colony in the Pacific, named Fort Madison, during the ill-fated Nuku Hiva Campaign in the Marquesas Islands. At the same time, the Americans battled the hostile tribes on the islands with the help of their Te I'i allies.
Farragut was 11 years old when, during the War of 1812, he was given the assignment to bring a ship captured by the Essex safely to port. He was wounded and captured while serving on the Essex during the engagement at Valparaíso Bay, Chile, against the British on March 28, 1814.
West Indies
In 1823, Farragut was placed in command of USS Ferret, which was his first command of a U.S. naval vessel. He served in the Mosquito Fleet, a fleet of ships fitted out to fight pirates in the Caribbean Sea. After the Ferret was lost in a storm, Farragut appealed to Porter for new orders and was assigned as an officer on Greyhound, one of the smaller vessels, commanded by John Porter, brother of David Porter. On February 14, 1823, the fleet set sail for the West Indies where, for the next six months, they would drive the pirates off the sea, and rout them from their hiding places in among the islands. He finished the West Indies campaign as executive officer aboard the USS Experiment. Farragut was promoted to lieutenant in 1825.
Mexican–American War
In 1847, Farragut, now a commander, took command of the sloop-of-war USS Saratoga when she was recommissioned at Norfolk Navy Yard in Norfolk, Virginia. Assigned to the Home Squadron for service in the Mexican–American War, Saratoga departed Norfolk on March 29, 1847, bound for the Gulf of Mexico under Farragut's command and upon arriving off Veracruz, Mexico, on April 26, 1847, reported to the squadron's commander, Commodore Matthew C. Perry, for duty. On April 29, Perry ordered Farragut to sail Saratoga 150 nautical miles (170 mi; 280 km) to the north to blockade Tuxpan, where she operated from April 30 to July 12 before Farragut returned to Veracruz. About two weeks later, Farragut began a round-trip voyage to carry dispatches to Tabasco, returning to Veracruz on August 11, 1847. On September 1, 1847, Farragut and Saratoga returned to blockade duty off Tuxpan, remaining there for two months despite a yellow fever outbreak on board. Farragut then brought the ship back to Veracruz and, after a month there, got underway for the Pensacola Navy Yard in Pensacola, Florida, where Saratoga arrived on January 6, 1848, disembarked all of her seriously sick patients at the base hospital, and replenished her stores. On January 31, 1848, Farragut took the ship out of Pensacola bound for New York City, arriving there on February 19. Saratoga was decommissioned there on February 26, 1848.
Mare Island Navy Yard
In 1853, Secretary of the Navy James C. Dobbin selected Commander David G. Farragut to create Mare Island Navy Yard near San Francisco in San Pablo Bay. In August 1854, Farragut was called to Washington from his post as assistant inspector of ordnance at Norfolk, Virginia. President Franklin Pierce congratulated Farragut on his naval career and the task he was to undertake. On September 16, 1854, Commander Farragut arrived to oversee the building of the Mare Island Navy Yard at Vallejo, California, which became the port for ship repairs on the West Coast. Captain Farragut commissioned Mare Island on July 16, 1858. Farragut returned to a hero's welcome at Mare Island on August 11, 1859.
Civil War service
Although he was a Southerner by birth and lived in the South prior to the American Civil War, Farragut made it clear to all who knew him that he regarded secession as treason. Just before the war's outbreak, Farragut moved with his Virginia-born wife to Hastings-on-Hudson, a small town just outside New York City.
He offered his services to the Union, and was initially given a seat on the Naval Retirement Board. Offered a command by his foster brother, David Dixon Porter, for a special assignment, he hesitated upon learning the target might be Norfolk. As he had friends and relatives living there, he was relieved to learn the target was changed to his former childhood home of New Orleans.
Farragut was appointed under secret instructions on February 3, 1862, to command the Gulf Blockading Squadron, sailing from Hampton Roads on the screw steamer USS Hartford, bearing 25 guns, which he made his flagship, accompanied by a fleet of 17 ships. He reached the mouth of the Mississippi River, near Confederate forts St. Philip and Jackson, situated opposite one another along the banks of the river, with a combined armament of more than 100 heavy guns and a complement of 700 men. Now aware of Farragut's approach, the Confederates had amassed a fleet of 16 gunboats just outside New Orleans.
On April 18, Farragut ordered the mortar boats, under the command of Porter, to commence bombardment on the two forts, inflicting considerable damage, but not enough to compel the Confederates to surrender. After two days of heavy bombardment, Farragut ran past forts Jackson and St. Philip and the Chalmette batteries to take the city and port of New Orleans on April 29, a decisive event in the war.
Congress honored him by creating 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 distinguish the rank from the traditions of the European navies. Farragut was promoted to rear admiral along with 13 other officers – three others on the active list and ten on the retired list. Later that year, Farragut passed the batteries defending Vicksburg, Mississippi, but had no success there. A makeshift Confederate ironclad forced his flotilla of 38 ships to withdraw in July 1862.
Post-Civil War service
After the Civil War, Farragut was elected a companion of the first class of the New York Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States on March 18, 1866, and assigned insignia number 231. He served as the commander of the Commandery of New York from May 1866 until his death. Farragut was promoted to full admiral on July 25, 1866, becoming the first U.S. Navy officer to hold that rank. His last active service was in command of the European Squadron, from 1867 to 1868, with the screw frigate USS Franklin as his flagship. Farragut remained on active duty for life, an honor accorded to only seven other U.S. Navy officers after the Civil War.
Death
Farragut died from a heart attack at the age of 69 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, while on vacation in the late summer of 1870. He had served almost sixty years in the navy. He is interred at Woodlawn Cemetery, in The Bronx, New York City. His gravesite is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as is Woodlawn Cemetery itself.
Personal life
Farragut married Susan Caroline Marchant on September 2, 1824, following an initial cruise as acting lieutenant commanding USS Ferret. She died on December 27, 1840, after 11 years of ill health. Farragut was noted for his kindly treatment of his wife during her illness. He married Virginia Dorcas Loyall on December 26, 1843, with whom he had one surviving son named Loyall Farragut, born October 12, 1844.
Farragut was a Freemason and a Scottish Rite freemason.
Timeline of service
Spring 1810, added to U.S. Navy rolls as boy seaman
December 17, 1810, appointed midshipman at age nine.
1812, assigned to the frigate USS Essex.
1815–1817, served in the Mediterranean Sea aboard the ship of the line USS Independence and the frigate USS Macedonian.
1818, studied ashore for nine months at Tunis.
1819, served as a lieutenant on the schooner USS Shark.
1823, placed in command of the schooner USS Ferret.
January 10, 1825, promoted to lieutenant on the frigate USS Brandywine.
1826–1838, served in subordinate capacities on various vessels.
1838, placed in command of the sloop-of-war USS Erie.
September 8, 1841, promoted to the rank of commander.
Mexican–American War, commanded the sloop-of-war USS Saratoga.
1848–1853, duty at Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia, as Assistant Inspector of Ordinance.
September 1852 – August 1853, assigned to superintend the testing of the endurance of naval gun batteries at Old Point Comfort at Fort Monroe in Virginia.
1853–1854, duty at Washington, D.C.
Legacy
Campbell's Station, Tennessee, was only a few miles from Admiral Farragut's birthplace, and it was renamed Farragut, Tennessee, in his honor. Farragut Square in Washington, D.C., is named in his honor. A statue of him named Admiral David G. Farragut is in the center of Farragut Square. Washington Metro stations Farragut West and Farragut North also share his name. There is a statue of Admiral Farragut at the South Boston Marine Park adjacent to Castle Island. There is also an outdoor sculpture of him in Madison Square Park in Manhattan, where the Farragut section of the Borough of Brooklyn is named for him. A street in The Bronx, New York, is also named for him.
The Superintendent's residence at the United States Naval Academy was named Farragut House in May 2023, replacing the former name of Buchanan House which had been in honor of Confederate Admiral Buchanan who was defeated by Farragut at the Battle of Mobile Bay during the Civil War. Farragut Naval Training Station in Northern Idaho on Lake Pend Oreille was a World War II naval training center with over 293,000 sailors receiving basic training there. In 1966, the state of Idaho turned the land into Farragut State Park. Two separate classes of U.S. Navy destroyers have been named for Farragut: the Farragut class of 1934 and the Farragut class of 1958. Other U.S. Navy ships named Farragut include TB-11 of 1898, DD-300 of 1920, and DDG-99 of 2006.
Admiral Farragut Academy was founded in 1933 as an all-boys military boarding high school located in St. Petersburg, Florida. Today, the academy is a college preparatory school which serves students from kindergarten through 12th grade. Farragut Career Academy in Chicago, and Farragut High School in Farragut, Tennessee, are other high schools named in his honor.
Farragut has been honored more than once on US postage stamps. The first postage stamp (at left) was the one-dollar black issue of 1903. The Navy Issue of 1937 includes a three-cent purple stamp which depicts Admirals David Farragut (left) and David Porter, with a warship under sail displayed at center. The most recent postage issue honoring Farragut was released from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on June 29, 1995.
The Tennessee State Capitol Commission and Historical Commission voted on July 22, 2021, to move busts of Admiral Farragut, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and Admiral Albert Gleaves from the Tennessee Capitol to the Tennessee State Museum. The process of moving them officially began on July 23, 2021. Farragut's likeness is featured on the southern side of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Portland, Maine.
In popular culture
A "Commodore Farragut", who is clearly based on David Farragut, appears in Jules Verne's 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas.
In the 1943 film The More the Merrier, Charles Coburn views the famous quote on a statue, and uses the phrase as a motto; it drives the plot forward.
Farragut is played by actor Scott Brady in the feature film Yankee Buccaneer (1952)
Among his last acting roles, Ronald Reagan played Farragut in the 1965 episode "The Battle of San Francisco Bay" of the syndicated western television series, Death Valley Days. The episode focuses on the 1856 San Francisco Vigilance Committee. June Dayton was cast in the episode as Farragut's second wife, Virginia.
Farragut is mentioned in The Wild Wild West episode "The Night of the Kraken", although he does not appear. At the climax, the story's villains try to destroy Farragut's ship with a naval mine, but are foiled by the series' heroes.
In her 2010 spoken-word debut, Olivia Hedrick released a track "How I love thee Mister Farragut"
In the video game The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, there is a Fort Farragut.
There have been a number of spacecraft in Star Trek bearing the name USS Farragut as background or secondary character vessels. This includes a starship and entire starship class as mentioned in the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds series as one of the earliest assignment postings of James T Kirk. Other starships bearing the name Farragut include the Nebula-class starship that rescued the crew of the USS Enterprise-D at the end of Star Trek Generations. This ship was later mentioned as destroyed in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Nor the Battle to the Strong." Another starship named USS Farragut of the Excelsior class was mentioned in the Deep Space Nine episode Chrysalis. A starship named USS Farragut was also mentioned in the 2009 Star Trek film as the initial assignment posting for then cadet Nyota Uhura.