Farragut, David

Farragut, David (1801–1870), admiral, U.S. Navy.David Glasgow Farragut is identified with his famous order, “Damn the torpedoes!” at the Civil War battle of Mobile Bay in 1864. His service since 1810, however, had already assured his fame. Farragut's career paralleled the development of U.S. sea power. Born near Knoxville, Tennessee, he moved to New Orleans in 1807 with his family. He went to sea in 1810 at age nine, the ward of Admiral David Dixon Porter, who appointed him first prize master of a captured ship in 1812. A lieutenant by 1825, he fought pirates in the Caribbean as the U.S. navy enforced the Monroe Doctrine. Rising in the ranks, Farragut was promoted to commander in 1841; developed the Mare Island, California, Navy Yard after the Mexican War; and became a captain in 1855.

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Farragut, though a southerner by birth, moved his wife and son from Norfolk, Virginia, to New York. Commanding the Union's West Gulf Blockade Squadron, he posted ships from West Florida to the Rio Grande and captured the vital southern port of New Orleans in 1862. In 1863 Farragut led the great riverine victories that secured the Mississippi River and its tributaries for the Union: Vicksburg, Port Hudson, and Island Number Ten. In the public mind he became “the American Nelson,” after the British naval hero Lord Nelson, and Congress created the ranks of rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral to reward his service.

After the war Farragut's poor health confined him to administrative duties. After making a triumphal tour as European Squadron commander, he died during a visit to the Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Navy Yard.
See also Military, The; Vicksburg, Siege of.

Bibliography

Loyall Farragut , The Life and Letters of Admiral Farragut, First Admiral of the United States Navy, 1879.
James C. Bradford, ed., Captains of the Old Steam Navy, 1976.

Maxine Turner