The FReeper Foxhole Profiles Admiral David Farragut - Apr. 12th, 2004

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[SAMWolf]

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Admiral David Glasgow Farragut
(1801 - 1870)

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First Admiral of the Navy

"I soon became fond of this adventurous sort of life."



A significant contributing factor to the Union success at Vicksburg was the skill of the North's naval commanders. One of the most colorful naval commanders of the Civil War was David Glasgow Farragut. Though he was unsuccessful in early naval operations against Vicksburg, Farragut's success at New Orleans and Mobile Bay secured his place in history as one of America's most celebrated heroes. The man who would become the first Admiral of the United States Navy was born James Glasgow Farragut near Knoxville, Tennessee on July 6, 1801. His father, Jorge Farragut, hailed from a seafaring family and emigrated to this country in 1776 from the island of Minorca, off the east coast of Spain. Before his death in 1817, Jorge Farragut would serve his country gallantly in the revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Young James would soon follow in his father's footsteps.

David Porter, one of the Navy's finest officers, befriended the Farragut family through an unusual chain of events in which the Farraguts rescued Porter's unconscious father from the deck of a drifting boat. When the elder Porter passes away, David was grateful to the family for taking care of his father and offered to take young James and train him as a naval officer. Since it was not uncommon then for parents to have a child adopted by someone who could train them in a career, James Glasgow Farragut became the adopted son of David Porter and changed his name to David G. Farragut.



David followed his adopted father to the sea at the tender ago of eight and received his first naval appointment as midshipman at large at the age of nine and a half. At age eleven he saw his first combat and even commanded a vessel at age twelve! The young sailor had seen a lot during his four years at sea, but his greatest achievement was yet to come.

"I am to have a Flag in the Gulf, and the rest depends on me."


The main starting points for blockade runners were Havana, Cuba; Nassau, Bahamas; the West Indies; and Bermuda. Many supplies also came via Matamoros to Brownsville, Texas, but transportation to needy areas (such as Richmond, VA) was limited because many small ports had no rail facilities.

Fifty years later at the outbreak of the Civil War, David Farragut had a difficult decision to make. He was born in Tennessee, raised in Louisiana, and lived in Virginia, yet he felt more devoted to the country he had served for more than five decades. He decided to join the Union and moved his family north. In January 1862, Farragut was named Flag Officer in command of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron with instructions to enter the Mississippi and capture New Orleans. He was placed in command of eighteen wooden vessels including his flagship HARTFORD, a fleet of mortar boats, and 700 men.

To the objection of his stepbrother David Dixon Porter, who was in charge of the mortar boat flotilla, Flag Officer Farragut made the decision to run past Forts Jackson and St. Philip to take the city of New Orleans. To prepare the ships to run past the forts, the crews crisscrossed the hulls with great chains until they were almost as well protected as the ironclads. Further, since he planned to pass the forts at night, Farragut had the hulls covered with mud from the Mississippi to make them less visible from the shore and had the decks painted white so that needed objects would stand out clearly. He even had tall trees lashed to the masts of his vessels so that the enemy would think they were trees on the opposite bank!



Farragut's strategy worked. The commander described the intense passage: "The smoke was so dense that it was only now and then we could see anything but the flash of the cannon ... The passing of Forts Jackson and St. Philip was one of the most awful sights I ever saw." His own vessel, the HARTFORD, was disabled when a raft set afire rammed the flagship and flames damaged the masts and rigging. Nevertheless, the fleet safely reached New Orleans and took possession of the city on April 28, 1862.

"I mean to be whipped or to whip my enemy, and not be scared to death"



In May of 1862, Farragut attempted to subdue the city of Vicksburg, located about 400 river miles above New Orleans but his bombardment was unsuccessful. He did not have enough guns in his fleet to overwhelm the city. Plus, Vicksburg's 200-foot river bluffs were so high that many of his guns could not get sufficient elevation to hit the Confederate defenses. Fearing the receding waters of the Mississippi might strand his oceangoing warships in the summer months, Farragut reluctantly decided to withdraw from the river city. He left six gunboats below Vicksburg and returned to New Orleans.



Upon his return to the Crescent City, Farragut began organizing a second, stronger expedition against the "Gibraltar of the West." His fleet arrived below the Vicksburg bluffs once again on June 25, 1862 and began preparations for a second bombardment. Farragut then received news that Charles H. Davis, commander of the Western Flotilla, had finally captured Fort Pillow and Memphis and was now only 20 miles north of Vicksburg. Consequently, Farragut decided to run his fleet north past Vicksburg, just as he had done at Forts Jackson and St. Philip, and rendezvous with Davis.

At the appointed hour of 0200 on June 28, 1862, Farragut raised two red lanterns on the mast of the HARTFORD as a signal for the fleet to proceed. The ships were spotted at 0400 and Vicksburg's 29 heavy guns were answered by the guns of Farragut's fleet. All of Farragut's ships but three made it through and none were sunk; however, some were badly hit, including the HARTFORD. The captain's cabin was blown apart by a shell just seconds after Farragut had moved to another part of the ship!



Although running the batteries was a gallant act, Farrgut's juncture with Davis did little to bring about the subjugation of Vicksburg. It was clear a combined naval and land attack would be necessary to subdue the "Gibralter of the West."

Before Farragut withdrew his fleet from Vicksburg a second time, he had an encounter with the Confederate ironclad ARKANSAS. Launched at Yazoo City and commanded by Isaac Brown, the ARKANSAS bravely plunged into the midst of the thirty-eight Union warships anchored above Vicksburg in mid-July 1862. Brown's attack was aided by an element of surprise, and the fact there were so many Union ships they had very little room in which to maneuver. As a result, Farragut's warships were only able to bring a few guns to bear at a time against the formidable ironclad. During the fighting, the ARKANSAS caused serious damage to the HARTFORD and Farragut was furious that a makeshift enemy ironclad had steamed right through his fleet. He had enough of the pesky ironclad. Fearing once again his vessels would be stranded due to dropping river levels, Farragut decided to withdraw from Vicksburg and sailed south. The withdrawal of the Union fleet from Vicksburg in July of 1862 closed the first phase of Union naval operations against the city.

"Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!"



Two years later In 1864, Rear Admiral Farragut was summoned from his Now York home to serve his country once more in leading an attack on Mobile Bay, the last Confederate stronghold in the Gulf of Mexico. Mobile Bay was not only protected by Fort Morgan and a fleet of wooden vessels, but also by the formidable Confederate Ram TENNESSEE and a field of explosive mines called torpedoes. Undaunted, Farragut readied his fleet for battle. Using a strategy that had worked before, he ordered his wooden ships lashed together in pairs, one large and one small. In this manner, if the larger frigate was disabled in battle, the smaller vessel could tow it into safety.


Defenders of Fort Morgan

Farragut's fleet of wooden ships, along with four small ironclad monitors, began the attack on Mobile Bay early in the morning of August 5, 1864. When the smoke of battle became so thick that he couldn't see, Farragut climbed the rigging of the HARTFORD and lashed himself near the top of the mainsail to get a better view. It wasn't long before the TECUMSEH, one of the monitors leading the way, struck a torpedo and sank in a matter minutes. In a state of confusion, the fleet came to a halt in front of the powerful guns of Fort Morgan. Realizing the fleet was reluctant to move forward due to the "infernal machines," Rear Admiral Farragut rallied his men to victory, shouting: "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!"



The Union fleet steamed ahead through the minefield, blasted Fort Morgan, and captured the Confederate ironclad TENNESSEE. Thus, Mobile Bay fell into Union hands in one of the most decisive naval victories of the Civil War.

The Battle of Mobile Bay would be Farragut's last. Overcome with fatigue he returned to New York in December 1864 a national hero. In 1866, Farragut became the first person in the history of the United States Navy to be awarded the rank of Admiral. Two years later In 1868, he was even asked run for the office of President of the United States, but replied, "I hasten to assure you that I have never for one moment entertained the idea of political life." Farragut would have only two years to live. The first Admiral of the Navy died on August 14, 1870 it the age of 69. His funeral procession in New York City included 10,000 soldiers and sailors and was headed by President Ulysses S. Grant. A statue of Admiral Farragut was erected in the heart of our nation's capital known as Farragut Square. It remains a lasting tribute to the most distinguished naval officer of the Civil War.

[SAMWolf]

David G. Farragut

David Glasgow Farragut (July 5, 1801 - August 14, 1870) was an admiral of the United States Navy during the American Civil War.

Admiral David G. Farragut - Circa 1863
Mathew Brady Collection (Army)

Farragut was born at Campbell's Station, near Knoxville, Tennessee. He entered the Navy as a midshipman on 17 December 1810. When only 12 years old, he was given command of a prize ship taken by Essex, and brought her safely to port. Through the years that followed, in one assignment after another he showed the high ability and devotion to duty which was to 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.



In command of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, with his flag in Hartford he disproved the theory that forts ashore held superiority over naval forces, when in April 1862 he ran past Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip and the Chalmette, Louisiana batteries to take the great city and port of New Orleans, Louisiana, (a decisive event in the war). Later that year passed the batteries defending Vicksburg, Mississippi. Port Hudson fell to him 9 July 1863.


Painting by Lieutenant Colonel Edmund S. Sayer, USMC (Retired), December 1938, depicting USS Monongahela ramming CSS Tennessee during the battle.
The artist composed this painting from Rear Admiral David Glasgow Farragut's battle plans.

On 5 August 1864 he 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 one ship struck a mine the others began to pull back, but then Farragut shouted out the order, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" The bulk of the fleet succeded in entering the bay, and the heroic quote became famous.

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 by creating for him the rank of rear admiral on July 16, 1862, a rank never before used in the US Navy.

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 69 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Numerous destroyers have since been named USS Farragut in his honor, and he has been depicted on US postage stamps twice; first on the $1 stamp of 1903, and then on a 32c stamp in 1995.

[SAMWolf]

Setting the Stage

Though the most famous battles of the Civil War occurred on land, from the beginning both sides recognized that control of the seas would be crucial. This was due to the agriculturally based Southern economy that relied on shipping to receive goods and supplies. Once the Civil War began, President Lincoln ordered a blockade of Southern ports. The South responded to the North's strategy by "blockade running," which became the only way the Confederate states could supply themselves with direly needed wares. Ships filled with goods--some for the war effort, others for Southern consumers--left Nassau, the Bahamas; Havana, Cuba; the West Indies; and Bermuda attempting to sneak by the Union Navy. However, the Union Navy succeeded in closing many harbors such as Mobile, Alabama, which was deep enough to accommodate large ships.


Map taken from J. H. Colton's plans of U.S. Harbors, shows the position and vicinities of the most important fortifications on the sea-board and in the interior. The map was drawn from U.S. surveys and other authentic sources. Printed by Lang & Lang, New York, 1862.

The U.S. Navy had to grow rapidly to perform its roles. Though in 1861 it consisted of just 42 warships, by 1865 it had grown to 675 vessels. The North converted ships originally designed for other functions, such as whalers and tugs, and built others from scratch, many of which adopted the latest technology. The most famous example of innovation was the ironclad or "monitor" ships, which were named after the first vessel of its kind. The USS Monitor and subsequent, similar warships were armored with iron plate that was supposed to make them hard to sink. Union warships gradually added other features, including steam engines and more powerful guns. To counteract the Union Navy, the Confederates introduced a new weapon, which they called a "torpedo." Torpedoes were cheap, easily produced underwater mines that could seriously damage or sink ironclad ships.


Friction Torpedo

The Union's armored ships and the Confederate's torpedoes clashed in combat during the summer of 1864 at Mobile Bay in Alabama. In July, Admiral Farragut prepared to lead the Union Navy in an attack on Fort Morgan, which guarded the mouth of Mobile Bay. In the previous two years he had seized New Orleans and Galveston, and he was now ready to close the last major port still available to blockade runners on the Gulf of Mexico.

The Battle of Mobile Bay


Engraving depicting Farragut's fleet running past Forts Morgan (at right) and Gaines (left) to enter Mobile Bay, in the morning of 5 August 1864.
Ships specifically identified include USS Hartford (center) and CSS Tennessee (toward the right).

The blockade was a crucial part of what the North called the "Anaconda Plan." As its name suggests, this strategy intended to squeeze the Confederacy until it surrendered. The Union Navy would cut off overseas trade by a tight blockade and divide the Confederacy in two by diving like a snake down the Mississippi River with a combined land and naval force. Together these two pressures would hopefully show the South that secession was futile and that it should surrender.


Battle of Mobile Bay
J. Gillray
1875
Oil on canvas

Blockade running became so important to the South that one historian called it "the lifeline of the Confederacy." Successful blockade-runners helped the South receive much-needed goods, while the ships' crews and owners received rich rewards to compensate for the risks taken. It was so vital to the Confederacy that while most of the vessels were privately owned at first, later in the war the state and Confederate governments became co- or full owners of the ships. However, the risks were great. If the Union captured a ship, it became Union property and its captain would spend the rest of the war in a Union prison.


Percussion Torpedo

The same limited industrial facilities that made the South need these ships meant it could only produce a limited number, which left the Confederates at a disadvantage on the seas. As the North worked hard to tighten its blockade, the South began to look to Europe for procuring not only ironclads to keep Union monitors from closing ports, but fast cruisers to keep trade flowing. British shipyards were building blockade-runners with more powerful engines; they also built what were known as commerce raiders, which attacked Union trading ships and took their goods. Yet pressures from the United States on these foreign countries limited the South's ability to secure the number of vessels needed for a successful blockade-running operation and for organizing a strong Confederate Navy.


Farragut's Flagship Hartford scraped the mines, but didn't set them off

The North continued to gain advantage as the war continued. By 1863, large blockade-runners could only operate in and out of Wilmington, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; Mobile, Alabama; and Galveston, Texas. Southern ocean trade dropped to one-third of its original level, and the Confederacy began running out of clothing, weapons, and other supplies.


106. Fort Morgan, with Damage to the South Side of the Fort - Mobile Point, AL, 1864

In an attempt to counteract the Union Navy, especially the ironclads, the Confederates introduced the torpedo, which became very controversial. Before the Civil War, explosive devices had been floated towards enemy ships, but these could be seen on the surface allowing time for reaction. Torpedoes, on the other hand, remained hidden below the water, which provoked complaints from the North that no civilized country would use an "invisible" weapon. Union Adm. David Farragut explained the dilemma the North found itself facing: "Torpedoes are not so agreeable when used on both sides; therefore, I have reluctantly brought myself to it. I have always deemed it unworthy [of] a chivalrous nation, but it does not do to give your enemy such a decided superiority over you."


Print after an artwork by J.O. Davidson, 1886, depicting the Union and Confederate squadrons at the moment that USS Tecumseh sank after striking a mine ("torpedo").
Confederate ships (left foreground) are Morgan, Gaines and Tennessee. Union monitors visible astern of Tecumseh are Manhattan and Winnebago. USS Brooklyn is leading the outer line of Union warships, immediately followed by USS Hartford.

All of these issues converged at the Battle of Mobile Bay, which began on August 5, 1864 when Admiral Farragut's fleet moved into the torpedo-filled Mobile Bay. The fleet included 14 wooden ships (including the flagship Hartford), four monitors (the Tecumseh, Manhattan, Winnebago, and Chickasaw), as well as several gunboats that stayed nearby if needed. As the fleet neared Fort Morgan, the Tecumseh hit a torpedo and quickly sunk.



This loss did not stop the Union attack. Seeing what was happening, Admiral Farragut ordered his fleet to press forward through the underwater minefield into Mobile Bay. The 13 other ships made it past Fort Morgan, then, after some resistance, forced the Confederate ships in the bay to surrender or flee. Over the next three weeks, fire from Farragut's vessels and the Union Army finally forced the defenders of Fort Morgan to surrender. Though the city of Mobile would remain in Confederate hands into 1865, the port was now closed to blockade runners.



This victory brought a tremendous boost to Northern spirits, but at a high cost. Monitors were widely believed to be unsinkable--yet it took the Tecumseh just two minutes to go down. In the end, only 21 of the 114 men aboard escaped death. In addition, while clearing the many torpedoes, seven more Union ships, including two ironclads, sank. Their loss provided a particularly painful illustration of how changing technology affects the men fighting a war.

Additional Sources:

www.nationmaster.com
www.heritagephotographs.com
www.multied.com
www.allposters.com
lsm.crt.state.la.us
home.triad.rr.com/aom
www.history.navy.mil
www.bigcountry.de
www.reevesmaps.com
www.navysna.org
www.chinfo.navy.mil
www.philaprintshop.com
www.americaslibrary.gov
www.civilwarphotos.net
www.pf-militarygallery.com

[SAMWolf]

'A ship without Marines is like a coat without buttons.'

-- Adm. David G. Farragut

'Damn the torpedoes, Full speed ahead!'

-- Adm. David G. Farragut

Percussion Torpedo

Aboard Hartford, Farragut entered Mobile Bay, Alabama, 5 August 1864, in two columns, with armored monitors leading and a fleet of wooden ships following. When the lead monitor Tecumseh was demolished by a mine, the wooden ship Brooklyn stopped, and the line drifted in confusion toward Fort Morgan. As disaster seemed imminent, Farragut gave the orders embodied by these famous words. He swung his own ship clear and headed across the mines, which failed to explode. The fleet followed and anchored above the forts, which, now isolated, surrendered one by one. The torpedoes to which Farragut and his contemporaries referred would today be described as tethered mines.

[SAMWolf]

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[snippy_about_it]

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Good Monday Morning Everyone.


If you would like added to our ping list let us know.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Snippy. You Alamoed out yet?

[snippy_about_it]

Nope, but now were are back into Band of Brothers! How long is Gods and Generals? When are we gonna have time to work on threads? So many things to do, so little time!

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone!

[SAMWolf]

Gods and Generals is 4+ hours

[SAMWolf]

Good morning Feather. up late aren't ya?

[snippy_about_it]

My goodness your up late! Good morning, which I'll probably say again in a few hours. I'm off to get some sleep. See you later today.

[Soaring Feather]

I know I can't see anymore. See you maybe. LOL

[SAMWolf]

I'm gonna hit the sack too. Night Feather.

[Soaring Feather]

Night Sam, see you tomorrow.

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Snippy.

Kellet YG-1B (1938)

[Iris7]

Farragut's capture of New Orleans was strategically important. A link in the chain, the next being Vicksberg, resulting in the control of the Ohio and Mississippi. The situation for the South then become nearly hopeless. Then Grant and the Western Army went to Chattanooga, and hope was gone. Chickamauga was denouement.

[snopercod]

Another great story!

I noticed that those "torpedoes" looked like they had been made from moonshine stills ;-)

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.

[snopercod]

As luck would have it, I took this photo two days ago (sorry, there are only six):

[GailA]

Good Morning. It's raining in Memphis and looks to do so for much of today. It's a good day for another cup of coffee.

Coffee's on