Admiral David Farragut, in uniform, with one hand on his hip and the other on the hilt of his saber, 19th century.
Gallery of David Farragut
1860
David Glasgow Farragut
Gallery of David Farragut
1861
David Glasgow Farragut
Gallery of David Farragut
1862
David G. Farragut in April 1862, after a painting of J.L.G. Ferris, 1895.
Gallery of David Farragut
1864
View of United States naval commander David Glasgow Farragutperched in the rigging of his ship to get a better view of the battle scene as the ship enters Mobile Bay during the United States Civil War, 1864.
Gallery of David Farragut
1864
Portrait of Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, 1864.
Gallery of David Farragut
1869
David G. Farragut, American Admiral, United States Navy.
Gallery of David Farragut
1869
Portrait of David G. Farragut
Gallery of David Farragut
2864
Illustration depicting Admiral David Farragut, lashed to the rigging of the upper mast and holding a telescope while passing the forts at Mobile, on his flagship the USS Hartford, during the Battle of Mobile Bay, August 1864.
Gallery of David Farragut
General Ulysses S. Grant (standing center left), George Peabody (seated left), and Admiral David G. Farragut (standing far left) pose after the end of the American Civil War.
Gallery of David Farragut
David Glasgow Farragut by William G. Jackman.
Gallery of David Farragut
David Glasgow Farragut
Gallery of David Farragut
Studio portrait of President Abraham Lincoln (seated center) with his most capable military leaders during the American Civil War. From left to right are Admiral David Farragut, and Generals William Sherman, George Thomas, Lincoln (seated), George Meade, Ulysses S. Grant, Joseph Hooker, Philip Sheridan, and Winfield Scott Hancock.
Gallery of David Farragut
David Farragut
Gallery of David Farragut
David Farragut
Gallery of David Farragut
David Farragut
Gallery of David Farragut
David Farragut
Gallery of David Farragut
David Farragut
Gallery of David Farragut
David Farragut
Gallery of David Farragut
David Farragut
Gallery of David Farragut
David Farragut
Gallery of David Farragut
David Farragut
Gallery of David Farragut
David Farragut
Gallery of David Farragut
David Farragut
Achievements
Issue of 1903 First United States Postage stamp to honor Admiral Farragut.
View of United States naval commander David Glasgow Farragutperched in the rigging of his ship to get a better view of the battle scene as the ship enters Mobile Bay during the United States Civil War, 1864.
Illustration depicting Admiral David Farragut, lashed to the rigging of the upper mast and holding a telescope while passing the forts at Mobile, on his flagship the USS Hartford, during the Battle of Mobile Bay, August 1864.
General Ulysses S. Grant (standing center left), George Peabody (seated left), and Admiral David G. Farragut (standing far left) pose after the end of the American Civil War.
Studio portrait of President Abraham Lincoln (seated center) with his most capable military leaders during the American Civil War. From left to right are Admiral David Farragut, and Generals William Sherman, George Thomas, Lincoln (seated), George Meade, Ulysses S. Grant, Joseph Hooker, Philip Sheridan, and Winfield Scott Hancock.
David Farragut was an accomplished United States naval officer, who received great acclaim for his service to the Union during the American Civil War. Farragut commanded the Union blockade of Southern ports, helped capture the Confederate city of New Orleans, and provided support for General Ulysses S. Grant’s siege of Vicksburg.
Background
Ethnicity:
David Farragut was of North Carolina Scotch-Irish American and Spanish descent.
David Glasgow Farragut was born on July 5, 1801, in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. He was a son of George and Elizabeth (Shine), Farragut. When David was a child, in 1818 his mother died of yellow fewer.
Farragut was befriended as a youth in New Orleans by Captain (later Commodore) David Porter (of the United States Navy), who adopted him.
Career
Admiral David Farragut entered the United States Navy at age 9 as a midshipman. Farragut served under Porter aboard the frigate Essex in the War of 1812; this vessel captured so many British whaling vessels that Farragut, then age 12, was put in charge of one of the prize ships. By the age of 20, he was already an accomplished ship’s officer. In 1823 he served under Porter in a squadron that suppressed pirates in the Caribbean. He was given his first independent command in 1824.
In December 1861, after many years of routine service, Farragut was assigned to command the Union blockading squadron in the western Gulf of Mexico with orders to enter the Mississippi River and capture New Orleans, a port through which the South was receiving much of its war supplies from abroad. Although the War Department had recommended that he first reduce the two forts that lay some distance downstream of the city by mortar fire, he successfully carried out his own, bolder plan of running past them with guns blazing in the dark (April 24, 1862). His naval force then destroyed most of the Confederate river squadron that was stationed just upstream of the forts. Troops from Union transports could then land almost under Farragut’s protecting batteries, resulting in the surrender of both forts and city.
The following year, when General Ulysses S. Grant was advancing toward Vicksburg, Mississippi, Farragut greatly aided him by passing the heavy defensive works at Port Hudson below the Red River and stopping Confederate traffic below that tributary. Vicksburg fell in July 1863, and the entire Mississippi River was soon in Federal control.
Farragut next turned his attention to Mobile Bay, Alabama, which was defended by several forts, the largest of which was Fort Morgan. A line of mines ("torpedoes") on one side of the bay’s channel obliged any attacking ships to pass close to Fort Morgan on the other side of the channel, and Confederate ironclad Tennessee was also stationed in the bay. Farragut’s force entered the bay in two columns (August 5, 1864), with armored monitors leading and a fleet of wooden frigates following. When the lead monitor Tecumseh was demolished by a mine, the leading wooden ship Brooklyn stopped in alarm, and the whole line of ships drifted in confusion under the very guns of Fort Morgan. As disaster seemed imminent, Farragut shouted his famous words, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" to the hesitating Brooklyn.
He swung his own ship, the Hartford, clear and headed across the mines, which failed to explode. The rest of the fleet followed and anchored above the forts. Then Tennessee emerged from the shelter of the fort and, after a hard fight during which it was repeatedly rammed, surrendered. The forts were now isolated and surrendered one by one, with Fort Morgan the last to do so. This battle was the capstone of Farragut’s career, but poor health precluded further active service. Having become a rear admiral in 1862 and a vice admiral in 1864, he was made a full admiral in 1866. He went the next year to Europe and paid ceremonial visits to the seaports of the great powers.
Admiral Farragut stayed on active duty for the remainder of his life and died in 1870. He was buried in Brooklyn, New York.
Despite the fact that Farragut was born and raised in the South, he chose to side with the Union. In April 1862, while commander of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, "Flag Officer" Farragut took the city and port of New Orleans. As a reward, the Union created the new rank of Rear Admiral.
Membership
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry
,
United States
Connections
David Farragut married Susan Marchant on September 24, 1823. After the death of his wife, David married the second time to Virginia Loyall on December 26, 1843. The couple had one child Loyall Farragut.