EDITOR'S NOTE: In submitting this article to the Institute, Admiral Goodrich states:
"We cannot do adequate justice to Farragut's fame, but we owe it to ourselves to keep his memory green. Surely every graduate ought to have in his kit the story of our Navy's greatest man."
In this brief biography, there are presented not only the essential facts of Admiral Farragut's life, but also many of the interesting details so necessary to complete the picture. Admiral Farragut's fame rests, not upon a single incident, but upon his whole career. He has given us an example of outstanding courage in the face of danger—of inflexible determination and will power in the face of difficulty—of the brilliant and polished naval officer, both in junior ranks, and in the highest office in the Navy—of the man loved and respected alike by all who knew him.
Other great men in history have had some of the foregoing characteristics; few indeed are there who have had them all. The example which he furnished, both of the officer and of the man, may well serve for emulation by future naval officers, through the years to come.
STUDENTS of Naval History are substantially agreed that the greatest of all naval commanders was the British Admiral, Lord Nelson; but when asked to name the second person in this honorable hierarchy their choice is not unlikely to be dictated by their own nationality. A Frenchman would naturally feel it incumbent on him to claim this distinction for le Bailli de Suffren; a Spaniard for the Marquis of Santa Cruz; a Genoese for Andrea Doria ; an Austrian for Tegethoff, etc., and each would battle loyally for the glory of his own country and his own countryman. It is not to be wondered at that Americans, in their turn, should present a candidate for this high distinction; since the American Colonies, which fought for independence during the eighteenth century and, becoming later the United States were, until the middle of the last century, essentially maritime in their development. Carrying on most of their trade on the water, they were not infrequently embroiled in hostilities with other powers. Hence they produced a long list of gallant sailors, any one of whom might have stood worthily beside the men already named.
Such was the training of him of whom I am privileged to write this brief sketch, a training that proved its value in the stern test of the fratricidal struggle from 1861 to '65, which had nearly rent in twain the United States of America, whose salvation from disruption was materially aided by his far-sighted strategy and capable tactics.
To appreciate what he accomplished it is necessary to touch briefly upon the causes and course of what is known as the Civil War in America. Without going too deeply into the subject, it may be well to point out that the southern states, those south of the parallel of forty degrees north latitude, for reasons sufficient to themselves, determined in 186i to secede from the Union. As this action on their part would probably have been followed by a breaking up of the whole country into small independent and warring republics, the remaining states opposed so disintegrating a movement and declared that they would prevent it if necessary by force to the utmost. Thereupon followed a long and bloody war, in which the North, which stood for the preservation of the Union, finally triumphed. Many southerners today, looking back upon this terrible contest, realize that it is far better for them and for the South in general, that their cause should have been lost.
A glance at the map of the United States, with especial reference to the southern portion, will show that the latter had a coast line about 2,000 geographical miles in length. Now the states which seceded to form the "Confederate States of America" were agricultural, their industries being almost negligible. It is evident then, that to carry on a war, it was necessary that their armies should receive from oversea clothing, arms, munitions, etc., in short practically everything except food, since there was no time, nor indeed was there any disposition to establish such manufactures within the Confederacy's borders. On the other hand, this condition of affairs compelled the North to establish and maintain a close blockade to keep those supplies out of the besieged area and to prevent the export of cotton, the sole means by which the South could pay its bills in Europe. This, the first of three military propositions, proved in the end to be the most extensive and effective blockade in all history.
Again glancing at the map, it will be perceived that the great Mississippi River divides the southern states, or as they chose to call themselves, the "Southern Confederacy," in two. West of this mighty river was a large district furnishing corn, cotton, beef and other indispensable products. Hence it was in the highest degree desirable for the Union forces to seize and hold the course of that stream. This operation was the second of the three military propositions.
The third and last was simply the overwhelming of the Confederate armies in the field; the crown, so to speak, of the edifice of war's purposes. It was with the second of these propositions that Farragut was chiefly identified but he had his full share of responsibility under the first as well.
Admiral Farragut was born in the South and it is to be presumed that his sympathies were with his own people, yet he held his country, viewed as a whole, as better and more important than any particular section, and like a number of other southerners, he remained loyal to the flag. He was selected, and very rightly, to conduct the operations on the southern shore of the Confederate States, and in so doing to have the largest individual share in the fighting carried on by the American Navy during this war. To him went victories which were not only most gallant in themselves, but of far-reaching importance. Before describing these notable naval actions, distinguished no less by the hard fighting and exceptional skill which characterized them than by the great personal courage manifested by Admiral Farragut, let us endeavor to trace in his antecedents the reasons why he responded so splendidly to the demands made upon him at the crisis of his career.
Farragut's case may well be cited to prove the validity of the contention that genius is hereditary—since he came of a fighting race.
He was descended from the renowned Don Pedro Ferragut, who served under James I, King of Aragon, styled in history El Conquistador, in the campaigns which resulted in the expulsion of the Moors from Majorca in 1229, and from Valencia in 1238. In Majorca, Don Pedro was Sergeant before the King—an office of high honor and importance, held only by those of noble blood. James bestowed estates upon the knights who accompanied him in these enterprises, and directed the troubadour Mossen Jaime Febrer to celebrate them in verse. The following is the stanza devoted to Pedro Ferragut:
Sobre camp berntell una ferradura
De finisim or, ab un clau daurat,
Pere Ferragut pinta, é en tal figura
Esplica lo agnom. La historia asegura
Ser aragones, de Jaca baixat.
Apres que en Mallorca semi de sargent,
Venint á Valencia, hon gran renom guanya
De expert capitá per lo dilitgent;
Los anys, é sucesos lo feren prudent.
Té en lo pelear gran cordura é manya,
Pergue á totes armes fácilment se apanya.*
The Ferragut family lived in the Island of Majorca, to the records of which it contributed many names of distinction. Of Councillors of the Kingdom of Majorca it furnished not a few—as it also did of magistrates of the City of Palma and Kingdom of Majorca. Captain Antonio Ferragut fought heroically in the wars of Philip IV; Gonzalo, celebrated for his learning, became Bishop of Urgel and Yoiza. Our Admiral's lineage shows at every stage the same qualities as those by which he was characterized, courage, force, intellectuality, a high sense of honor and duty.
In his grandfather's time the spelling of the name seems to have changed from Ferragut to Farragut.
George Farragut, father of the Admiral, was sent to school at Barcelona, but was seized with the spirit of adventure, and emigrated to America at an early age.
He arrived in 1776, promptly sided with the colonists, and served gallantly in their struggle for independence.
He settled in Tennessee where, at Campbell's Station near Knoxville, the subject of this sketch was born on July 5, 1801.
*The quotations in this sketch are from his son's Life and Letters of Admiral Farragut.
That his mother as well as his father came of fighting stock, can be seen in this abstract from his journal:
In those days, on the border, we were continually annoyed by the Indians, which rendered the organization of the militia a public necessity. My father was appointed a major of cavalry, and served for some time in that capacity; the condition of the country requiring its inhabitants to be constantly on the outlook. I remember that on one occasion, during my father's absence, a party of Indians came to our house, which was somewhat isolated, when my mother, who was a brave and energetic woman, barred the door in the most effectual manner, and sent all of us trembling little ones up into the loft of the barn, while she guarded the entrance with an axe. The savages attempted to parley with her, but she kept them at bay, until finally they departed, for some reason which is unknown, their intentions having been evidently hostile. My father arrived shortly after with his command, and immediately pursued the Indians, whom, I believe, he succeeded in overtaking and punishing; at any rate, they were never seen again in that part of the country.
Shortly after this episode the family moved to Louisiana and settled in New Orleans. Here it was that occurred an event which was destined to shape the whole of Farragut's career. In his own words:
It so happened that the father of Commodore Porter was serving on the New Orleans Naval Station with my father. He was taken sick, and my father, hearing of it, had him brought to our house, where, after a severe illness, during which he was nursed by my mother, he died. This, as well as I can remember, occurred in 1809. I mention this kind act on the part of my parents because it is to this circumstance that I am indebted for my present rank in the Navy of the United States. Not long after his father's death, Commander David Porter took command of the Naval Station at New Orleans, and having heard that his father died at our house, and had received some attention from my parents, he determined to visit us and adopt such one of the children as desired to go with him. He accordingly came to see us, and after a while the question of adoption was put to us all, when I, being inspired by his uniform and that of my brother William, who had received an appointment in the Navy some time before, said promptly that I would go. This was after my mother's death. I returned with Commander Porter to New Orleans, where I met Mrs. Porter for the first time. Thus commenced my acquaintance with the celebrated Commodore David Porter late of the United States Navy, and I am happy to have it in my power to say, with feelings of the warmest gratitude, that he ever was to me all that he had promised, my "friend and guardian."
Porter from this date onward stood toward young David in loco parentis. He took David to Washington and later to Chester, a short distance below Philadelphia on the Delaware River, caring for the boy in his own family as if he were a son and sending him to school. Due to Porter's standing with the then Secretary of the Navy, Farragut was given, when only nine years and five months old, a warrant as Midshipman in the Navy of the United States.
This appointment was at first merely honorary but when Porter was placed in command of the U. S. S. Essex, in August, 1811, Farragut joined him, beginning his actual service afloat at the tender age of ten years and one month, by cruising in squadron along the American coast until Christmas, when his ship went into winter quarters and he to school at Newport, R. I.
In June, 1812, war broke out between England and the United States. For the most part it was a naval war, thus serving as an advanced and practical school in his profession to this mere boy. Then followed nineteen months of absorbing interest which can be touched upon but briefly. Lack of space forbids.
In the early days of her cruise the Essex captured off Newfoundland the English sloop-of-war Alert and a number of other prizes. An attempted uprising of prisoners was frustrated to a notable degree by the coolness and presence of mind of young Farragut, who tells the story in his journal.
It was the habit of Captain Porter to sound the alarm of fire at all hours of the night; sometimes he would have a smoke created in the main hold. This was for the purpose of testing the nerves of the crew, and preparing them for an emergency. Whenever this alarm was given, every man repaired promptly to his quarters with his cutlass and blanket, to await the orders of the commander. At the commencement of this system, a little confusion would sometimes occur, but delinquents were promptly punished, and in a short time the cry of "Fire!" did not affect the steadiness of the men; on the contrary, the greatest alacrity was manifested throughout the ship on hearing the alarm, and application of the system on the occasion I am about to relate was singularly effective.
While the ship was crowded with prisoners they planned a mutiny. The coxswain of the captain's gig of the Alert, who was a leader in the affair, came to my hammock with a pistol in his hand, and stood by it, gazing intently upon me. Seeing a man thus armed, and recognizing him as a prisoner, I knew there must be something wrong, and, probably from fear more than anything else, I remained perfectly motionless until he passed. Then, slipping from my hammock, I crept noiselessly to the cabin and informed Captain Porter of what I had seen. He sprang from his cot, was on the berth deck in an instant, and immediately cried "Fire!" The effect was wonderful. Instead of attempting to strike the fatal blow, the prisoners, or mutineers, became alarmed and confused, nor did they recover from their stupor until they heard the boarders called to the main hatch by the Captain, whom they now saw for the first time in their midst, to secure them.
In the autumn of 1812, Captain Porter, with the Essex, with great boldness headed for the South Pacific. In "weathering Cape Horn," Midshipman Farragut learned for the first time how violent a gale of wind might become and how a sailing vessel should be handled with all her weather ports knocked in and her boats washed away by the terrific seas. A hard school, to be sure, but very effective in its results. From this time on, Farragut was a real sailor.
Captain Porter's object was to destroy the English whaling industry in the Pacific. For a while he had things his own way and captured many English whalers, sending them home with prize crews under officers of the Essex detailed as "prize masters." So reduced was his own complement that he had at last to give the command of one prize, the Barclay, to young Farragut, then only twelve years of age! Of this unprecedented responsibility the boy acquitted himself with complete credit. If naval history records any instance of so young a captain, I have failed to note it.
It is well understood that one learns best in actually doing. Poets may be born but artisans are made. Each must acquire his trade by practice. The art of command is no exception to this rule. Moreover, like other callings, the younger one is when commencing one's instruction, the more rapidly is proficiency reached. Is it then any wonder that Farragut, who had his first command before he was thirteen years old, should have developed into one of the world's greatest leaders? However clever a pupil may be, much depends upon the school he attends and the ability of his preceptor. In these respects, Farragut was exceptionally fortunate. On these points his son later says:
It will be seen that Farragut was an apt scholar in the profession he had chosen, observant and appreciative; nor did he fail through life to give, on all occasions, the highest credit to his "friend and guardian," Commodore Porter, for the rare ability and resplendent heroism which distinguished that great naval commander. It was fortunate for himself, for the service, the good of which he labored so earnestly always to promote, and for his country, that the young sailor was trained in a school so admirably adapted to develop his character and shape his career. Those who knew him best and watched his course with most interest, all testify to that thorough knowledge of his profession, readiness of resource, and untiring devotion to his duties in their minutest details, the foundation of which was the wholesome discipline of his earliest service and the illustrious example of his preceptor in the art of naval warfare.
Although Farragut earlier in this cruise had had experience in actions with the enemy, these affairs were but trivial in comparison with the battle which ended the career of the Essex and made him a prisoner in English hands. On March 28, 1814, a sudden squall of wind carried away the Essex's maintopmast and drove her, disabled, into a small cove just outside of Valparaiso, where she was attacked by two English men-of-war, the frigate Phoebe and the sloop-of-war Cherub. The Essex's main battery was of carronades, short range guns and powerless to reply to the long eighteen-pounders of the frigate, which, warily, kept out of reach of the Essex's carronades and minded but little such light twelve-pound projectiles as came from her six "long twelves." After a gallant and unequal engagement of three hours' duration the Essex, sinking and on fire, was obliged to haul down her colors. The heavy casualty list speaks volumes for the intensity of the battle: Out of a crew of 255, fifty-eight were killed, sixty-six wounded, thirty-one missing (probably drowned). In few naval actions has the loss reached the high figure of sixty per cent.
Of Farragut's part he says:
During the action I was like "Paddy in the cat-harpins," a man on occasions. I performed the duties of Captain's aid, quarter-gunner, powder-boy, and in fact did everything that was required of me. I shall never forget the horrid impression made upon me at the sight of the first man I had ever seen killed. He was a boatswain's mate, and was fearfully mutilated. It staggered and sickened me at first; but they soon began to fall around me so fast that it all appeared like a dream, and produced no effect on ink nerves. I can remember well, while I was standing near the Captain, just abaft the mainmast, a shot came through the waterways and glanced upward, killing four men who were standing by the side of the gun, taking the last one in the head and scattering his brains over both of us. But this awful sight did not effect me half as much as the death of the first poor fellow. I neither thought of nor noticed anything but the working of the guns.
Soon after this, some gun-primers were wanted, and I was sent after them. In going below, while I was on the ward-room ladder, the Captain of the gun directly opposite the hatchway was struck full in the face by an eighteen-pound shot, and fell back on me. We tumbled down the hatch together. I struck on my head, and fortunately, he fell on my hips. I say fortunately for, as he was a man of at least two hundred pounds' weight, I would have been crushed to death if he had fallen directly across my body. I lay for some moments stunned by the blow, but soon recovered consciousness enough to rush up on deck. The Captain, seeing me covered with blood, asked if I was wounded, to which I replied, "I believe not, sir." "Then," said he, "where are the primers?" This first brought me completely to my senses, and I ran below again and carried the primers on deck. When I came up the second time I saw the Captain fall, and in my turn ran up and asked if he was wounded. He answered me almost in the same words, "I believe not, my son; but I felt a blow on the top of my head." He must have been knocked down by the windage of a passing shot, as his hat was somewhat damaged.
When my services were not required for other purposes, I generally assisted in working a gun; would run and bring powder from the boys, and send them back for more, until the Captain wanted me to carry a message; and this continued to employ me during the action.
I have already remarked how soon I became accustomed to scenes of blood and death during the action; but after the battle had ceased, when, on going below, I saw the mangled bodies of my shipmates, dead and dying, groaning and expiring with the most patriotic sentiments on their lips, I became faint and sick; my sympathies were all aroused. As soon as I recovered from the first shock, however, I hastened to assist the surgeon in staunching and dressing the wounds of my comrades.
I went on board the Phoebe about 8 A. M. on the morning of the twenty-ninth, and was ushered into the steerage. I was so mortified at our capture that I could not refrain from tears. While in this uncomfortable state, I was aroused by hearing a young reefer call out:
"A prize! a prize! Ho, boys, a fine grunter, by Jove!" I saw at once that he had under his arm a pet pig belonging to our ship, called "Murphy." I claimed the animal as my own.
"Ah," said he, "but you are a prisoner, and your pig also."
"We always respect private property," I replied, and as I had seized hold of Murphy, I determined not to let go, unless "compelled by superior force." This was fun for the oldsters, who immediately sung out: "Go it, my little Yankee! If you can thrash Shorty, you shall have your pig."
"Agreed!" said I.
A ring was formed in the open space, and at it we went. I soon found that my antagonist's pugilistic education did not come up to mine. In fact, he was no match for me, and was compelled to give up the pig. So I took master Murphy under my arm, feeling that I had, in some degree, wiped out the disgrace of our defeat.
We were all soon put on parole, and went on shore; our wounded from the ship being moved to a comfortable house hired for their accommodation. I volunteered my aid to our surgeon as an assistant, and I never earned Uncle Sam's money so faithfully as I did during that hospital service. I rose at daylight and arranged the bandages and plasters until 8 A. M.; then, after breakfast, I went to work at my patients.
We were all put on parole until regularly exchanged or peace should be concluded. The Essex Junior was sold. Thus ended one of the most eventful cruises of my life.
In company with the other survivors, Farragut was sent to New York in a cartel.
Again we find him in Porter's home at Chester. There he attended school until regularly exchanged when he was sent to sea, cruising chiefly in the Mediterranean. As bearing upon his strength of character, brief allusion may be made to an association on board the John Adams with some dissolute messmates, the evil effects of which, however, he was soon able to eradicate.
Never having had any real love for dissipation, I easily got rid of the bad influences which had assailed me in that ship.
A prolonged voyage in European waters was of marked educational value. Not only did he grow proficient in his chosen profession but he familiarized himself with the ports, people, monuments, arts, and to a certain extent, languages of the Mediterranean. The chaplain of his ship, the Washington, had conceived so high an opinion of young Farragut that in 1817, when appointed American Consul at Tunis, he asked that Farragut might "be permitted to reside with me during the (coming) winter at Tunis, and pursue his education under my care."
Needless to say, such an opportunity under sympathetic and competent guidance was of inestimable importance to this midshipman of whom his preceptor had formed a flattering opinion and for whom he augured a brilliant future.
"I resided," said Farragut, "in Tunis for nine months, pursuing my studies under Mr. Folsom. I studied French, Italian, English literature, and mathematics." Nowhere does he mention the fact, which came quite casually to my own notice, that to his other accomplishments he had added the very rare one of ability to speak Arabic. Later on he added the art of carpentry, learned while caring for his sick wife. It is hardly necessary to state that Farragut repaid Consul Folsom's interest and affection by a lifelong devotion.
In the spring of 1819, he was appointed an acting lieutenant. Speaking of his early advancement he remarks that "I consider it a great advantage to obtain command young, having observed as a general thing, that persons who come into authority late in life shrink from responsibility, and often break down under its weight."
On his way home in a merchant vessel after this cruise, a Columbian brig-of-war which hove in sight was taken for a pirate by the panic stricken captain. It must be remembered that in those days pirates were to be encountered on every sea. Although Farragut had only two invalided bluejackets to rely upon, he relieved the captain, took charge of the ship, and persuaded the crew to fight if necessary. Fortunately the strange vessel proved friendly, rather than hostile. Of this incident Farragut's son says:
When we consider that it was a boy of eighteen, orphaned at an early age, and thrown upon his own resources, who accomplished this feat of assuming command of a vessel in which he was a passenger, infusing a martial spirit into the crew of a merchantman in actual contemplation of an immediate battle, and preparing for a skilful and gallant defense against a supposed pirate, we can then see that the Admiral of after years was not made such in a day, or by the mere exigencies of the Civil War, but was born for it and trained for it through a long experience.
For a number of years succeeding this episode, Farragut's duty lay in the Gulf of Mexico, an unconscious preparation for the crowning incidents of his career through the familiarity he acquired with its waters, its climate, and its shores. In an attack on some pirates at Cape Cruz, Cuba, in 1823, he behaved with gallantry although the affair meets with scant treatment in his journal,—so great was his modesty.
In 1826 he enjoyed and utilized an opportunity to show his interest in youths, an interest by which I myself profited forty years later. Being attached to the "Receiving Ship" at Norfolk, Va., he "established a school for the boys, who with very few exceptions did not know their letters. They were thirty-seven in number, and had made such progress as to elicit one of the few, the very few, compliments I ever received from the Navy Department or its head."
In 1832-33 Farragut was the "First Lieutenant," or second in command of the Natchez, and as such charged with the execution of the captain's orders. The influence of this officer upon the morale of the ship's company is so great that it may almost be said that as the first lieutenant so is the ship. An officer who sailed with Farragut on board the Natchez says:
Never was the crew of a man-of-war better disciplined, or more contented and happy. The moment all hands were called and Farragut took the trumpet, every man under him was alive and eager for duty. I remember well one occasion when he took the Natchez out of the harbor of Rio, which at the entrance is quite narrow, against a head wind, by a maneuver termed at that day, "box hauling." There were several foreign men-of-war in port, English and French, whose officers and crews were watching us closely. Many declared that the maneuver could not be successfully accomplished; but it was done splendidly, without a balk or failure, and I shall remember to my dying day the glow of pride and satisfaction which we all felt.
He was now to enjoy a new experience in war although as spectator rather than participant. Being given command of the sloop-of-war Erie in August, 1838, and sent again into the Gulf of Mexico, he was present, November 27, at the bombardment of the Castle of San Juan de Ulloa, Vera Cruz, by the French squadron under Admiral Baudin. From his minute observations of the conduct, and results of this attack, he drew many inferences which were to prove very useful when, subsequently, he was to direct operations against shore batteries. His observations and opinions of the battle make interesting reading even today. "I had not at the time looked forward to a war with Mexico, but I had made it a rule of my life to note these things with a view to the possible future." This sentence was written after the war between Mexico and the United States.
During his frequent cruises abroad he met many distinguished persons, from Emperors and Kings down through the entire social scale, impressing all with whom he came in contact by his courteous manner, his modesty, and the unusual extent of his general information. These social incidents in his career can only be referred to briefly in this short sketch of his naval activities. When war broke out with Mexico in 1845, "I made immediate application for duty at the seat of war, believing that my experience would be of special value to the Government."
Although appointed to the sloop-of-war Saratoga, in which he sailed to the Gulf of Mexico, he had the misfortune to incur the displeasure of his commander-in-chief, who not only failed to make use of his exceptional knowledge, but saw to it that Farragut had no part in the naval campaign.
While Farragut had as sweet a disposition as is compatible with self respect, he was not a man to be readily imposed upon, or slow to resent injustice or oppression. His appeal to the Secretary of the Navy for orders home with his ship on detachment from his command deserves quotation as offering a corrective to any misconception of his character as that of a weak man.
"I am fully aware, Sir, that great latitude must be given to the commander of a squadron, in order to secure his best exertions, but, if he uses his trust with prejudice or partiality, there is no alternative to the subordinate, but the one I seek; viz., to get from under his command and in so doing I am anxious that those who have shared with me the evils of my command should participate in the pleasure of my relief."
So home he came losing little or nothing, for the Mexican War was, by this time, practically over.
After this disappointing episode, we find him engaged in ordnance work, such as testing guns and preparing the naval drill book, until 1854, when he was sent to California to establish a Navy Yard at Mare Island, near San Francisco. A four years' tour of duty was followed by orders to command the Brooklyn, a new steam sloop-of-war, in which he made another cruise in the Gulf of Mexico, a large part of which was spent in aiding the American Minister to Mexico in his negotiations with the warring factions in that perturbed country. He had abundant force at his disposal in his new and powerful vessel but his chief strength lay in his personal charm, and his social gifts, made particularly available as they were in a foreign land, by his ready command of French, Spanish and Italian. For this cooperation with a diplomatic colleague, no naval officer of his time could possibly be superior to Farragut.
While education continues so long as a man lives, takes interest in what goes on about him and keeps his mind fixed on his trade or profession, there comes a time when schooling, as such, ends to be replaced by the application of the things learned to the great problems of life. For Farragut this hour had now struck. Henceforward he was to demonstrate in his own person and by his own acts a mastery of the art of naval warfare, only surpassed, if surpassed at all, by Nelson and rivalled, we Americans claim, by no other sea fighter than Nelson.
Greater respect for his character and confidence in his ability could not be shown than in his assignment, January 20, 1862, to the command of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron with secret orders to "reduce the defenses which guard the approaches to New Orleans, when you will appear off that city and take possession of it under the guns of your squadron." New Orleans, the largest city in the Confederacy, is situated on the Mississippi River about 100 miles above its mouth. To seize and hold that stream was one of the cardinal operations imposed on the North by correct appreciation of the strategy of the campaign. An adequate force was therefore supplied Farragut. The defenses of New Orleans were placed some thirty miles above the head of the various mouths or passes as they are called. To the minds of a majority of men these forts offered an imposing, awe-inspiring obstacle, for Fort Jackson mounted seventy-five guns and St. Philip about forty. To bear the brunt of their reduction the Navy Department added to Farragut's vessels a squadron of some twenty odd mortar schooners, which he regarded with very little favor if not indeed as a positive nuisance. Above Fort St. Philip was a rebel fleet of fifteen vessels including the ironclad ram Manassas and an immense floating battery covered with railway iron called the Louisiana. Below Fort Jackson were two chains stretched across the river:
"The task that lay before Farragut was, to break through the obstructions, pass between the forts, conquer the rebel fleet, and steam up to New Orleans, lay the city under his guns, and demand its surrender. For its accomplishment he had six sloops-of-war, sixteen gunboats, twenty-one schooners, each carrying a thirteen-inch mortar, and five other vessels. The fleet carried over two hundred guns, and this was by far the most powerful naval expedition that had ever sailed under the American Flag.
General Butler was at hand with a military force of fifteen thousand men, to hold whatever Farragut might capture, and if possible to cooperate with him.
The mortar schooners, with their convoys, went in by Pass a l'Outre; the others by Southwest Pass—all except the Colorado, which drew twenty-two feet of water and could not be taken in at all, as there was but fifteen feet on the bar. Great difficulty was experienced in getting over the Brooklyn, Mississippi, and Pensacola. The Mississippi, after being lightened in every possible manner, was dragged over through a foot of mud, by tug boats.
The mortar schooners were in their firing positions below the forts by April 18 when a heavy six days' bombardment began. The result of sending six thousand shells was practically negligible. Farragut's patience was sorely tried by this delay. He had never had much faith in the mortars, and now it was evident, as he had anticipated, that almost the only practical effect of the bombardment was to give the enemy long warning of the attack by the ships. During this period when Farragut was giving the mortar schooners an opportunity to prove their worthlessness, fire rafts carried down by the swift current were rendered innocuous by boats that, always in readiness, towed them clear of the ships against which the Confederates had dispatched them from above. Yet the time was not wholly lost since it could be devoted to the work of preparing for the battle about to ensue.
It is to be regretted that space forbids the insertion here of his order prescribing the measures to be taken by his captains to lessen the risks of the engagement and to bring to a maximum the efficiency of their vessels. This order appeals especially to the seamen, who can, better than the layman, appreciate its value as embodying the results of fifty years of exceptionally faithful study of the naval profession. Every contingency was foreseen, weighed and guarded against. A bold fighter, quick to act and as quick to think, Farragut never undertook any capital operation until all the conditions of wind, weather, light, tide, etc., were to his liking nor until his wonderfully keen yet broad mental vision had perceived and his trained technical judgment had assigned to every conceivable circumstance its due place and value in his plan.
No leader of men ever possessed in higher degree that happy combination of patient preliminary study with audacity of action.
A few of the many injunctions contained in the order for battle just mentioned may be quoted to advantage.
As Farragut proposed to run past the forts and push on against the swift current it was most prudent so to "trim" his ships, that is regulate the draft at bow and stern, as to prevent a vessel which might happen to run aground from being swept around and pointed down stream. Hence all were "trimmed by the head," that is to say to be deeper forward than aft. By this arrangement even if a ship grounded her nose would still point toward New Orleans.
Extra guns were to be mounted to fire ahead and astern, for his were essentially "broadside ships"; light howitzers to be placed in the tops and, as these were masted vessels, all spars to be landed which could be spared; stern anchors and towlines to be in readiness, etc., Ex pede Herculem.
During the progress of the bombardment Farragut called his captains together in a Council of War at which each gave his opinion. I have no authority except Navy gossip current a few years later for the story I repeat here. Si non é vero è ben trovato. According to this gossip his captains with practical, if not actual, unanimity held that the forts should be reduced before the fleet moved up to the city. After listening to these views with his invariable courtesy he asked:
Gentlemen, did we come here to reduce the forts or to take New Orleans?
The reply was to the effect that while the city was, assuredly, the objective it was necessary first to silence the forts.
Well, gentlemen, if we are here to take the city, let us go there and take it.
A remark delightfully typical of the man.
There now remained only two obstacles, an exceptionally swift current which his slow vessels (his flagship, the Hartford, rated only at eight knots) could overcome with but a very small margin of speed, and the chains across the river, for the forts themselves were not, in his view, obstacles, however much they might retard. While waiting for a change of wind to the southward, which would produce a slacker tide, he placed two gunboats at the disposition of his Flag Captain, H. H. Bell, who promptly ruptured these chains and opened the way to New Orleans.
The attempt to pass was to be made in the night, April 23-24; and, as the moon would rise about half past three o'clock in the morning, the fleet were warned to expect the signal for sailing at about two o'clock.
At five minutes before two o'clock the signal to weigh anchor—two ordinary red lights at the peak of the flagship—was displayed; but it was half past three, the hour of moonrise, before all was ready. In the light of the blazing rafts and bonfires, moon or no moon made little difference now.
The first division under Bailey passed through the gap in the chains, pushed on past Fort St. Philip, which fiercely attacked it, to find itself almost immediately hotly engaged with eleven rebel gunboats.
Then followed Farragut who, on board his flagship the Hartford, led the second division, receiving heavy punishment from the larger Fort Jackson as he went by. In avoiding a fire-raft, "she grounded on a shoal near St. Philip. At the same time the ram Manassas pushed a raft upon her port quarter, and in an instant she was on fire. A part of the crew went to "fire quarters" and soon subdued the flames, while the working of her guns was steadily continued, and she was then backed off into deep water. This movement turned the ship's head downstream, and it was with some difficulty that she was turned around against the current; but this was finally accomplished, and she continued to steam up the river, firing into several of the enemy's vessels as she passed. Among these was a steamer full of men, apparently a boarding-party. She was making straight for the Hartford when Captain Broome's gun, manned by marines, planted a shell in her, which exploded, and she disappeared. Watson* remarks that the Admiral stood during this critical period coolly giving his orders and watching the ship slowly turn, referring occasionally to a little compass which was attached to his watch-chain, though most of the time during the engagement he was forward observing the conflict."
*His flag lieutenant John Crittenden Watson.
The Sciota, carrying Fleet Captain Bell, was the van ship of the third division which brought up the rear.
The casualties, thirty-seven killed and 147 wounded, while not light, were surprisingly less than had been expected and they abundantly justified the risk taken. It is only a master of the art of war like Farragut who can intelligently assume so grave a responsibility. The episode illustrates the soundness of Napoleon's maxim:
De l'audace, encore de l'audace, et touj ours de l'audace
and it proved how correct in their views were his former associates in the Navy who had resigned therefrom to serve under the Confederate flag, one of whom, the second in command of the Confederate iron-clad Louisiana in this battle, stated, "Most of us belonging to that little naval fleet knew that Admiral Farragut would dare to attempt what any man would." Praise from an enemy is double praise.
Thus was accomplished a feat in naval warfare which had no precedent, and which is still without a parallel except the one furnished by Farragut himself, two years later, at Mobile. Starting with seventeen wooden vessels, he had passed with all but three of them, against the swift current of a river but half a mile wide, between two powerful earth-works which had long been prepared for him, his course impeded by blazing rafts, and immediately thereafter had met the enemy's fleet of fifteen vessels, two of them iron-clad, and either captured or destroyed every one of them. And all this with a loss of but one ship from his own squadron. Probably few naval men would have believed that this work could have been done effectually, even with iron-clads.
Having successfully run by the river defenses of New Orleans, Farragut proceeded up stream, demanded and received the surrender of the city, which was shortly after occupied by the Federal troops.
This great victory was only possible to an exceptionally gifted leader, who united in his own person wise grasp of the military situation, knowlege of its possibilities, and a courage à toute épreuve. In face of difficulties which would have appalled an ordinary man, Farragut did not shrink from accepting the tremendous responsibility of ordering an advance. It is well in this connection to recall an expression used by that great British Admiral, Lord St. Vincent, who wrote to Nelson, "Responsibility is the test of courage." Was ever a cardinal principle of action more convincingly illustrated?
Farragut had now possession of the largest city in the Southern states, as well as of the lower stretches of the Mississippi, the physical features of whose banks at this point made their control by him quite easy. The river here ran through the delta of its own creation, whose low, flat, narrow borders were completely commanded from the water. The adjacent territory as far as the city, was so cut up by canals and bayous as to forbid military operations on the part of the enemy. Nevertheless Farragut's work of driving the Confederates away from the river and opening it to a junction between himself and Foote, who was coming down victoriously, had only begun.
This was a very different story from running past Jackson and St. Philip, since heavy batteries had been planted by the enemy at many favorable points. Moreover, back of them lay the Confederacy and, if required, its armed strength. Farragut under repeated orders from the Navy Department to "clear up" the Mississippi "at every hazard" proceeded up stream and with his squadron got past Vicksburg.
This he did with the greater part of his fleet, in spite of the heavy volume of fire delivered by the batteries on shore. Above the city he joined forces with Admiral C. H. Davis who had come down the Mississippi. He relates his personal experience as follows:
I was in my favorite stand, the mizzen rigging, when all at once the captain of the gun on the poopdeck wished to fire at a battery which would require him to point his gun near me, and requested me to get down, which I did, to avoid the concussion. I was only a moment in doing so, when the whole mizzen rigging was cut away just above my head! Although the shot would not have struck me, I would have tumbled on the deck. But, thank God, I escaped with only a touch on the head, which did not break the skin, and has not given me a thought since. This same shot cut the halyards that hoisted my flag, which dropped to half-mast without being perceived by us. This circumstance caused the other vessels to think that I was killed.
In Farragut's opinion, the move was foolish since no permanent good was achieved. This opinion is officially recorded in his report to the Navy Department.
The Department will perceive, from this (my) report, that the forts can be passed, and we have done it, and can do it again as often as may be required of us. It will not, however, be an easy matter for us to do more than silence the batteries for a time, as long as the enemy has a large force behind the hills to prevent our landing and holding the place.
In a private letter he says:
The river can only be kept open by having troops.
Brave and capable as he was, he labored under no delusion as to the proper sphere of ships.
Several minor affairs took place subsequently on the river, of which running the batteries at Port Hudson was the most important. In this instance in going up stream he lashed a gunboat alongside each of his heavier ships (on the port or disengaged side), so that if the latter was disabled in her motive power, she still remained under control. In his order of battle on this occasion he used the words now accepted as a cardinal maxim.
The best protection against the enemy's fire is a well directed fire from our own guns.
It must not be supposed that Farragut's stay in the Mississippi was without trials, and vexations, for opposed to him was an alert enemy who used every possible means of annoyance by building and sending against him rams, fire ships and other vessels and by erecting formidable batteries almost over night. These counter moves kept him exceedingly busy, as may well be imagined, and necessitated his occasionally running these batteries as well as the longer established ones at Vicksburg and Port Hudson.
It may be proper to conclude this brief story of Farragut and the Mississippi by remarking that Vicksburg was subsequently invested and taken by General Grant, thus completing, in accordance with Farragut's views, the opening of the great river and the dividing of the Confederacy into two parts.
The battle of Mobile Bay was the most brilliant action in which Farragut took part and the crowning achievement of his naval career. It resembles to the superficial observer that at New Orleans, but a close examiner will note several fundamental differences. True, the principal aim was to run by the defending forts of which there were two—Gaines, a minor work on a narrow point projecting from the west toward the channel (which runs north and south), but separated from the latter by a wide sand bank, and Morgan, about three miles away, stoutly manned and armed with no less than eighty-six guns, on Mobile Point, which actually reaches the channel. Behind Gaines and Morgan, Mobile Bay opens out wide and long. Unlike the situation at New Orleans, these works were aided by pile obstruction driven into the flats off Gaines, reinforced by torpedoes planted in the channel (mines we should call them today), and behind them a rebel fleet which included the powerful iron-clad Tennessee. Farragut's movements were therefore restricted to the narrow main channel, Partially if not wholly closed by these torpedoes and lying under the very guns of Morgan. After successfully passing through or by this barrier, he still had to account for the rebel fleet awaiting him in the bay beyond.
His order prescribing the preparations to be made on board each of his attacking vessels is a model for all naval commanders. With the technical details we have no concern here. Its chief interest lies in the proof it contains of Farragut's meticulous care to protect as far as possible his men and the motive power of his vessels. As at Port Hudson, on the port side (that away from Morgan) of each heavy ship he lashed a gunboat. Since these larger craft, designed to fight in broadside, were deficient in fire ahead and astern, he caused extra guns to be mounted at the bow and stern. Naturally these were light pieces, still far better than nothing.
It was Farragut's practice to have as many as possible of the conditions in his favor so that the event would depend wholly on the fighting, adventitious circumstances being eliminated. The appearance in the rebel fleet of an iron-clad joined with the formidable character of Fort Morgan to make him wait for the arrival of certain monitors. This was a precaution on his part against any subsequent accusation of undue rashness rather than an admission of the value of these craft. Like most of the seamen of that period, he was not convinced that, taking all things together, wooden vessels had lost any of their usefulness or were not able to render good service, even if they had to meet armored vessels.
The other consideration which affected the execution of his plan was meteorological. He would not move until the wind was from the westward to blow the smoke of his guns into the eyes of the enemy, and when the tide was running flood to carry a disabled vessel into rather than out of the bay.
On August 4, the long expected monitor Tecumseh anchored near him. The wind, weather and tide being all favorable the next morning at 6:47 A. M., Farragut gave the word to get under way and carry out the provisions of his battle order. The fleet was in two columns; the right composed of two heavy and two light monitors, the Tecumseh leading; the left composed of seven heavy ships each with a gunboat on its port side. Very reluctantly and because the Brooklyn was especially strong in her bow fire, and was equipped with torpedo removing apparatus, Farragut allowed her to lead the port column.
The situation was calculated to dismay a stouter heart than Farragut's. On his right would be the tremendous battery of Fort Morgan; on his left the mines close aboard; ahead of him the rebel vessels in column, their broadsides bearing upon his leading ship and its successors in turn as they approached bows on. Some very slight diversion was effected on Morgan by six light draught steamers anchored to the eastward that delivered a flank fire upon that fort.
The Admiral took his own station in the port main rigging whence he could command a good view of the battle. His solicitous flag captain, fearing that he might be knocked overboard by some shock, sent a sailor to pass a safety line about him, a circumstance which gave rise to the picture of Farragut lashed to the shrouds.
At about seven o'clock that hot August morning the action began. Soon, however, disaster threatened to overwhelm his whole fleet for the leading monitor, Tecumseh, although directed to go close to Fort Morgan, leaving on the port hand a red buoy which, presumably, marked the end of the line of torpedoes, in the eagerness of her captain to engage the Tennessee went to westward of "the fatal buoy." This threw the whole line into confusion and, moreover, forced the wooden ships also to the left and over the mine field. One torpedo, struck by the Tecumseh, exploded and sank her almost instantly. The Brooklyn, instead of pushing on, stopped and backed down on the Hartford.
It was the most critical moment in the Admiral's whole career. Then it was that his long study of his profession came to the rescue and showed that to stop was to invite defeat, that the road to victory lay ahead.
A Confederate officer who was stationed in the water battery at Fort Morgan says the maneuvering of the vessels at this critical juncture was a magnificent sight. At first they appeared to be in inextricable confusion, and at the mercy of their guns; but when the Hartford dashed forward, they realized that a grand tactical movement had been accomplished.
The Hartford was nearly a mile ahead before the line could be straightened; but the vessels were soon able to pour in a storm of shell, shrapnel, and grape, that completely silenced the batteries; not, however, before they had all suffered more or less.
After passing the forts the Hartford, soon joined by her consorts, sank one of the rebel gunboats while the others took to flight. The ram Tennessee, however, gave much trouble. On a flush deck was built a sloping casemate heavily armored, covering about half the length. , Her battery consisted of rifled six-inch guns, one at each end and two on each broadside. Opposed to these comparatively long range weapons Farragut had scarcely anything but smooth bore ordnance. The Tennessee drew several feet less water than Farragut's larger vessels. Obviously her best tactics were to run into shoal water where her adversaries could not go, and out of reach of their shot, hammer away on them at leisure. The desire to "have at" the enemy overcame the counsels of sound fighting and she plunged into the midst of Farragut's fleet like a mad bull. Her two structural defects, exceedingly slow speed and exposed steering gear, so operated to her disadvantage as to subject her to repeated ramming and shell fire. This finally caused her surrender, the closing episode of the battle. It is a matter of profound regret that the whole story of this great action cannot be told here. It is certainly an epic of war.
Fort Gaines was taken on August 6, but Morgan held out stubbornly until August 23, although invested by the Army as well as by Farragut. Upon the surrender of the latter his war service came practically to an end. He had brought to a successful and brilliant conclusion all the operations with which he had been charged and had written his name ineffaceably at the head of the list of heroes of that tremendous struggle as well as next to Nelson's on that of the great sea captains of all history.
Yet his work had so taxed his splendid physical powers that rest and recuperation were imperative. Late in the year 1864, he returned home to be received at New York, the port of his arrival, with the plaudits of his countrymen who presented him with a house and the freedom of the city. On April 4, 1865, he accompanied President Abraham Lincoln in the latter's triumphal entry into Richmond, the previous capital of the now non-existent Southern Confederacy to whose fall he had contributed so much. Later the grade of Admiral was established for his express benefit.
He made one more cruise in 1867-68, that time in command of the European Squadron, during which he visited all the important ports from Kronstadt to Constantinople. Everywhere he was received with the distinction due to his character and his fame. The incidents of this memorable progress may be read in Our Admiral's Flag Abroad by his secretary, Major Jas. E. Montgomery. It was during this period that the writer had the honor of serving under him on board his despatch vessel and tender, the U.S.S. Frolic.
Possibly the most interesting episode of this voyage was a visit to the home of his ancestors in the Island of Minorca.
He died August 14, 1890, in the Commandant's house at the Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N. H., but his remains were interred in Woodlawn Cemetery, near New York.
A few anecdotes may profitably be quoted as illustrating his attitude toward life and duty.
Once when it was remarked that a certain officer was too young for promotion, and it would turn his head, Farragut, remembering his own experience, answered, "Well, if he can't stand prosperity, that will be his own fault." On the other hand, when some of the officials of the Navy Department wanted to pass off a lot of favorites as efficient officers, "Gentlemen," said he, "you can no more make a sailor out of a land-lubber by dressing him up in sea-toggery and putting a commission into his pocket, than you could make a shoemaker of him by filling him with sherry cobblers."
The Admiral said he always fixed his eyes on his object, and then pursued it with impetuosity, giving little heed to dangers and obstacles, calculating thus: "I have to take this place. The chances are that I shall lose some of my vessels by torpedoes or the guns of the enemy, but with some of my fleet afloat I shall eventually be successful. I cannot lose all. I will attack, regardless of consequences, and never turn back." It was this, primarily, which insured his success at Mobile. Another element which there came into play was his profoundly religious nature. He used to say that, in the confusion which ensued upon the sinking of the Tecumseh and the stopping of the Brooklyn, he felt that all his plans had been thwarted, and he was at a loss whether to advance or to retreat. In this extremity, his natural impulse was to appeal to Heaven for guidance, and he offered up this prayer: "O God, who created man and gave him reason, direct me what to do. Shall I go on?" And it seemed as if in answer a voice commanded him to "Go on!”
In talking about soldiers, he said he laid it down as a maxim that, "if once you get in a soldier's rear, he is gone." This was the key to his plan at New Orleans, Port Hudson, and Mobile.
Prominent Democrats urged Farragut, in 1868, to allow his name to be placed before their convention as a nominee for the Presidency. They inclined to the belief that "a man of liberal, national, and patriotic views, who is not regarded as a partisan Democrat, whose public career has been at once loyal and heroic, whose name is the signal for unbounded respect and acclaim," would be borne to the White House with enthusiasm. But their appeal was in vain; he had no political aspirations.
Admiral Shubrick, who sailed with Farragut, used to tell a story illustrating his linguistic powers. An old woman came alongside of the ship in a bumboat ; but no one could communicate with her, as she seemed to speak an unfamiliar tongue. Some one suggested, "Send for Farragut; he speaks the language of the devil." Accordingly Farragut came on deck, soon found out that she was an Arab, and conversed with her quite freely, to the amazement of those about him.
His education under the old Swiss schoolmaster gave him an interest in all athletic sports. He won a set of diamond studs in a foot-race with a brother officer; and even after his fiftieth year it was no unusual thing for him to call up some of the crew of his ship and have a bout at single-stick. When in command, and particularly during the war, he invariably wore or carried his sword on shore with him, a habit which he had acquired when serving on the South American coast. In returning to his ship at night he frequently had to pass through the worst part of the seaport towns, where naval officers were sometimes molested, and being a good swordsman he remarked that if he should be attacked he had more confidence in that (his sword) than any other weapon. For many years he kept up a custom of going through certain gymnastic exercises on his birthday, to test his powers, and it was not till his sixtieth year that he abandoned it.
He had few secrets, expressed his sentiments freely, and remarked that "he believed in doing things open and above board, as such a policy in the long run would always give one the advantage over an intriguing adversary."
How well preserved he was physically, I know from the story told me by an officer attached to the old Hartford. During the weary days of waiting off Mobile the officers used to exercise on deck and in the rigging just after sunset. One evening after watching their gambols he crossed the deck and asked, "Can any of you do this?" He then took the toe of his left boot in his right hand and without releasing the hold jumped his right feet through the loop thus formed. Pretty good for a man sixty-three years old.
His stock of general information was amazingly extensive. I myself have heard him confound a number of learned men by his knowledge of the habits of the teredo navalis.
He took a fatherly interest in the young men who served with him. Did space permit I could state several instances of his great kindness.
He was a staunch friend, generous in his sympathies, not only in word, but in deed as well, courteous to all. His fame will live forever in history while those who knew him well still mourn his loss, less as a hero than as a man they loved profoundly. Among this latter number the writer claims the inestimable privilege of being counted.