David Farragut

David Farragut (1801-1870), American naval officer, whose Union victory at Mobile Bay, Alabama, in 1864 made him a national hero. Born on July 5, 1801, near Knoxville, Tennessee, David Glasgow Farragut entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman at the age of nine, was captured by the British during the War of 1812, and served in the Mediterranean Sea from 1815 to 1820. For the next 20 years, he held successively responsible commands, advancing to the rank of commander. In the Mexican War, he participated in the blockade of Mexican ports on the Gulf of Mexico. He established the Mare Island Navy Yard at San Francisco in 1854. The next year he was promoted to the rank of captain.

Farragut immediately declared his loyalty to the Union on the outbreak of the American Civil War. In January 1862, he received command of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron and orders to capture New Orleans. On April 18, 1862, he massed his fleet below Forts Jackson and Saint Philip, located on opposite sides of the Mississippi River south of the city. His fleet bombarded the Confederate forts for six days without notable effect, whereupon Farragut determined to proceed up the river. Despite the raking gunfire of the forts, he lost only three vessels. After defeating a Confederate flotilla farther up the river, he forced the surrender of New Orleans on April 25; the forts capitulated three days later. Congress rewarded him with a vote of thanks and promotion to the rank of rear admiral. In the Battle of Mobile Bay, his greatest victory, Farragut rallied his men with the famous cry “Damn the torpedoes!” as he led the greater part of his fleet successfully through a dangerous torpedo-mined area opposite the city.

The victory of Mobile Bay was the outstanding naval operation of the Civil War, and Farragut emerged from it a national hero. Congress created for him the ranks of vice admiral (1864) and admiral (1866). In 1867, as commander of a naval squadron touring European waters, he accepted on behalf of the U.S. government the congratulations of foreign nations for the successful conclusion of the war. He died in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on August 14, 1870.