Admiral Farragut

by A. T. Mahan

In person, Admiral Farragut was not above the medium size—about five feet six and a half inches high, upright in carriage, well-proportioned, alert and graceful in his movements. In early and middle life he was rather slight than heavy in frame; and it was not until the war, with the prolonged physical inactivity entailed by the river and blockade service, that he took on flesh. Up to that time his weight was not over one hundred and fifty pounds. He was very expert in all physical exercises, and retained his activity to the verge of old age. Even after his fiftieth year it was no unusual thing for him to call up some of the crew of the ship under his command and have a bout with the single-sticks. He felt great confidence in his mastery of his sword, which he invariably wore ashore; and when returning to the wharves at night, through low parts of a town where there was danger of molestation, he relied upon it to defend himself. "Any one wearing a sword," he used to say, "ought to be ashamed not to be proficient in its use."

For many years it was his habit on his birthday to go through certain physical exercises, or, as he worded it to a young officer of the fleet shortly before passing the river forts, to take a handspring; until he failed in doing this he should not, he said, feel that he was growing old. This practice he did not discontinue till after he was sixty. A junior officer of the Hartford writes: "When some of us youngsters were going through some gymnastic exercises (which he encouraged), he smilingly took hold of his left foot, by the toe of the shoe, with his right hand, and hopped his right foot through the bight without letting go." The lightness with which he clambered up the rigging of the flag-ship when entering Mobile Bay, and again over the side to see the extent of injury inflicted by the collision with the Lackawanna, sufficiently prove that up to the age of sixty-three he was capable of showing upon occasion the agility of a young man. This bodily vigor powerfully supported the energy of his mind, and carried him from daylight to dark, and from vessel to vessel of his fleet, in seasons of emergency, to see for himself that necessary work was being done without slackness; illustrating the saying attributed to Wellington, that a general was not too old when he could visit the outposts in person and on horseback.

The features of the admiral can best be realized from the admirable frontispiece. As a young man he had the sallow, swarthy complexion usually associated with his Spanish blood. His hair at the same period was dark brown, becoming in middle life almost black. In his later years he was partially bald—a misfortune attributed by him to the sunstroke from which he suffered in Tunis, and which he to some extent concealed by the arrangement of the hair. The contour of the face was oval, the cheek-bones rather prominent, until the cheeks filled out as he became fleshier during the war; the eyes hazel, nose aquiline, lips small and compressed. At no time could he have been called handsome; but his face always possessed the attraction given by animation of expression and by the ready sympathy which vividly reflected his emotions, easily stirred by whatever excited his amusement, anger, or sorrow. To conceal his feelings was to him always difficult, and, when deeply moved, impossible. The old quartermaster who lashed him in the rigging at Mobile Bay told afterward how the admiral came on deck again as the poor fellows who had been killed were being laid out on the port side of the quarter-deck. "It was the only time I ever saw the old gentleman cry," he said, "but the tears came in his eyes like a little child." A casual but close observer, who visited him on board the flag-ship in New Orleans, wrote thus: "His manners are mild and prepossessing, but there is nothing striking in his presence, and the most astute physiognomist would scarcely suspect the heroic qualities that lay concealed beneath so simple and unpretending an exterior; unless, indeed, one might chance to see him, as we did shortly afterward, just on receipt of the news from Galveston, or again on the eve of battle at Port Hudson. On such occasions the flashing eye and passionate energy of his manner revealed the spirit of the ancient vikings."

Throughout his life, from the time that as a lad still in his teens he showed to Mr. Folsom his eagerness to learn, Farragut was ever diligent in the work of self-improvement, both professional and general. His eyes were weak from youth, but he to some extent remedied this disability by employing readers in the different ships on board which he sailed; and to the day of his death he always had some book on hand. Having an excellent memory, he thus accumulated a great deal of information besides that gained from observation and intercourse with the world. Hobart Pasha, a British officer in the Turkish Navy and an accomplished seaman, wrote: "Admiral Farragut, with whom I had many conversations, was one of the most intelligent naval officers of my acquaintance." He loved an argument, and, though always good-tempered in it, was tenacious of his own convictions when he thought the facts bore out his way of interpreting their significance. When told by a phrenologist that he had an unusual amount of self-esteem, he replied: "It is true, I have; I have full confidence in myself and in my judgment"—a trait of supreme importance to a man called to high command. But against the defects of this quality he was guarded by the openness of mind which results from the effort to improve and to keep abreast of the times in which one lives.

Farragut was naturally conservative, as seamen generally tend to be; but while averse to sudden changes, and prone to look with some distrust upon new and untried weapons of war, he did not refuse them, nor did they find in him that prejudice which forbids a fair trial and rejects reasonable proof. Of ironclads and rifled guns, both which in his day were still in their infancy, he at times spoke disparagingly; but his objection appears to have arisen not from a doubt of their efficacy—the one for protection, the other for length of range—but from an opinion as to their effect upon the spirit of the service. In this there is an element of truth as well as of prejudice; for the natural tendency of the extreme effort for protection undoubtedly is to obscure the fundamental truth, which he constantly preached, that the best protection is to injure the enemy. Nor was his instinct more at fault in recognizing that the rage for material advance, though a good thing, carries with it the countervailing disposition to rely upon perfected material rather than upon accomplished warriors to decide the issue of battle. To express a fear such as Farragut's, that a particular development of the material of war would injure the tone of the service, sounds to some as the mere echo of Lever's commissary, who reasoned that the abolition of pig-tails would sap the military spirit of the nation—only that, and nothing more. It was, on the contrary, the accurate intuition of a born master of war, who feels, even without reasoning, that men are always prone to rely upon instruments rather than upon living agents—to think the armor greater than the man.

The self-confidence which Farragut exhibited in his military undertakings was not only a natural trait; it rested also upon a reasonable conviction of his mastery of his profession, resulting from long years of exclusive and sustained devotion. He did not carry the same feeling into other matters with which he had no familiarity; and he was jealously careful not to hazard the good name, which was the honor of his country as well as of himself, by attaching it to enterprises whose character he did not understand, or to duties for which he did not feel fitted. Accordingly, he refused a request made to him to allow his name to be used as director of a company, accompanied by an intimation that stock representing one hundred thousand dollars had been placed in his name on the books. "I have determined," he replied, "to decline entering into any business which I have neither the time nor perhaps the ability to attend to." In like manner he refused to allow his name to be proposed for nomination as a presidential candidate. "My entire life has been spent in the navy; by a steady perseverance and devotion to it I have been favored with success in my profession, and to risk that reputation by entering a new career at my advanced age, and that career one of which I have little or no knowledge, is more than any one has a right to expect of me."

Farragut was essentially and unaffectedly a religious man. The thoughtfulness and care with which he prepared for his greater undertakings, the courage and fixed determination to succeed with which he went into battle, were tempered and graced by a profound submission to the Almighty will. Though not obtruded on the public, his home letters evince how constantly the sense of this dependence was present to his thoughts; and he has left on record that, in the moment of greatest danger to his career, his spirit turned instinctively to God before gathering up its energies into that sublime impulse, whose lustre, as the years go by, will more and more outshine his other deeds as the crowning glory of them all—when the fiery admiral rallied his staggered column, and led it past the hostile guns and the lost Tecumseh into the harbor of Mobile.

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INDEX.

Anecdotes of Admiral Farragut, [11], [12], [22], [26], [35], [45-49], [58], [92], [112], [124], [168-170], [267], [281], [286], [288], [292], [297], [306], [313], [318], [319], [321], [322], [323], [325];
lashed in rigging at Mobile, [272];
visit to Ciudadela, his father's birthplace, [300].
Arkansas, Confederate ironclad, description of, [189];
dash through United States fleet at Vicksburg, [191];
destruction of, [193].
Bailey, Captain Theodorus, U. S. N., leads the fleet at the passage of Mississippi forts, [149], [151-155];
demands surrender of New Orleans, [168] et seq.
Banks, General Nathaniel P., relieves Butler in command in the Southwest, [201];
movement in support of Farragut's passage of Port Hudson, [211];
operations west of the Mississippi, [229], [232];
Port Hudson surrenders to, [235].
Barnard, Major J. G., U. S. Engineers, opinion as to effect of passing Mississippi forts, [121].
Battles:
Essex with Phœbe and Cherub, [38-44];
passage of New Orleans forts, [149] et seq.;
passage of batteries at Vicksburg, [187], [192];
Port Hudson, [211] et seq.;
Mobile Bay, [269] et seq.
Baudin, French admiral, sketch of, [77];
attack on Vera Cruz by, [79-83].
Bell, Commodore Henry H., U. S. N., fleet captain to Farragut in 1862, [132], [140];
breaking barrier below river forts, [132];
extract from journal of, [140];
hoists U. S. flag over New Orleans, [171];
at Galveston, [202];
at Rio Grande, [240].
Blair, Montgomery, account of interview with Farragut concerning New Orleans expedition, [124].
Boggs, Commander Charles S., U. S. N., commands Varuna at passage of Mississippi forts, [163], [164].
Brooklyn, U. S. steamer, Farragut commands, 1858-'60, in Gulf, [103-105].
Buchanan, Franklin, Confederate admiral, at Mobile, [244], [279], [281-288].
Butler, General Benjamin F., commands New Orleans expedition, [164], [179], [291].
Caldwell, Lieut. C. H. B., U. S. N., commands Itasca in Mississippi River, [132], [162];
daring action in breaking chain below forts, [133], [150];
commands ironclad Essex at Port Hudson, [220].
Craven, Commander Tunis A. M., U. S. N., commands monitor Tecumseh at Mobile, [268];
eagerness to engage Tennessee, and consequent error, [273], [274];
goes down with his ship, [275].
Drayton, Captain Percival, U. S. N., Farragut's chief of staff at Mobile, [98], [250], [269], [270], [272], [278], [281], [282], [292], [319], [320].
Essex, U. S. frigate, building of, [14];
armament, [15];
history of, [16];
cruise under Porter, [17-44];
capture of, by Phœbe and Cherub, [44];
fate of, [50].
Essex, U. S. ironclad, [192], [193], [211], [220], [232].
Essex Junior, prize to Essex, and equipped as a tender to her, [25];
mentioned, [26], [27], [30], [32], [33], [34], [36];
conveys to the United States the survivors of the action, [49], [50].
Farragut, Admiral David G.:
family history, [1-6], [300];
birth, [4];
appointed midshipman, [8];
joins frigate Essex, [11];
cruise in Essex, [11-50];
first battle, between Essex and two British ships, [38-44];
returns to United States, [49];
service in Mediterranean, 1815-'20, [53-62];
returns to United States, [62];
serves in Mosquito fleet in West Indies, 1823, [63-67];
first marriage, [67];
promoted to lieutenant, [71];
Brazil station, 1828-'34, [71-74];
witnesses French attack on Vera Cruz, 1838, [75-88];
death of first wife, [88];
promoted to commander, [89];
Brazil station again, 1841, [90-94];
second marriage, [94];
Mexican war, [94-97];
ordnance duties, [97-98];
commandant Mare Island yard, [99-101];
promoted to captain, [101];
commands Brooklyn in Gulf, 1858-'60, [101-105];
question of secession, [107-112];
abandons his home in Norfolk and settles in New York, [112];
chosen to command New Orleans expedition, [122-125];
appointed to command West Gulf squadron, December, 1861, [125];
assumes command at Ship Island, [127];
operations below Mississippi forts, [127-149];
passage of the forts, [149-165];
surrender of New Orleans, [166-176];
operations above New Orleans, 1862, [177-195];
promoted to rear-admiral, [197];
blockade operations, 1862-'63, [196-204];
operations above New Orleans, 1863, [203-235];
passage of batteries at Port Hudson, [211-216];
effect of this passage, [222-229];
relinquishes to Porter command above New Orleans, [235];
return North, Aug., 1863, [235];
resumes command in Gulf, Jan., 1864, [243];
blockade duties, [249-254];
battle of Mobile Bay, [268-289];
final return North, [293];
enthusiastic reception in New York, [294];
promoted to vice-admiral, [295];
temporary service in James River, [296];
promoted to admiral, [298];
commands European station, [298-304];
visit to his father's birthplace in Minorca, [299-304];
return to United States, [304];
declining health, [305];
death and obsequies, [306];
monuments of, [307];
analysis of character, [308-326].
Military characteristics:
Personal courage, [44-46], [61], [62], [161], [277], [317-319];
moral courage in assuming responsibility, [26], [60], [124-126], [135], [137-140], [144], [147], [222], [223], [276-280], [318];
hopefulness, [124], [252], [277];
strategic insight, [137], [138], [141] et seq., [147], [172], [178-185], [200], [207], [208], [231], [238], [311], [315];
tactical skill, [149], [150], [154], [217-220], [239], [260-263], [311];
self-reliance, [323];
comparison with Nelson, [309-312].
Personal characteristics:
Appearance and bodily strength, [51], [60], [320-322];
gratefulness, [5], [52], [60], [67];
self-improvement, [51], [57-59], [69], [71], [87], [97], [313-315], [323];
habits of observation, [57], [69], [75], [83-88], [94], [98], [99], [124], [313], [314];
thoughtfulness and decision, [54], [70], [106] et seq., [113], [123], [124], [139-141], [147], [208], [211], [216], [239], [260], [264], [277];
family relations, [65], [74], [88], [107-109], [227], [265-268];
kindliness, [320], [322];
religious feelings, [252], [266], [277], [292], [325].
See also ["Anecdotes."]
Farragut, George, father of Admiral Farragut:
birth, [1];
history, [2-5];
death, [6].
Florida, Confederate ship of war (first called [Oreto]), runs blockade into Mobile, [197];
escapes, [203];
effect on Farragut, [204].
Folsom, Chaplain Charles, U. S. Navy, influence on Farragut's early life, [57-60].
Fox, Gustavus V., assistant secretary of the navy, 1861-'65, [118];
relations to New Orleans expedition, [118-124], [318];
urges Farragut to ascend the Mississippi, [183].
Gaines, Fort, defense of Mobile Bay, [247], [259], [268];
surrender of, [290].
Garibaldi, services in war between Argentine and Uruguay, [93].
Granger, United States General, commands at siege of Forts Gaines and Morgan, [268], [290], [291].
Grant, General Ulysses S, analogy between his turning the position of Vicksburg and Farragut's turning the Mississippi forts, [135-138] (and note, [137]);
anxieties of, in 1862, [198];
connection between his command and Farragut's, [198], [199];
takes the line of the Mississippi, [205];
takes chief command at Vicksburg, [206];
responsibility assumed in cutting loose from his base before Vicksburg, [223];
opinion as to importance of Farragut's passage of Port Hudson, [224], [226];
begins turning movement against Vicksburg, [229];
views as to Red River expedition and Mobile, 1864, [245], [246];
statesmanlike regard to political conditions in military operations, [137] (note), [251];
present at Farragut's funeral, [306].
Harrison, Lieutenant N. B., commands Cayuga, leading fleet at passage of Mississippi forts, [159].
Hartford, U. S. steamer, Farragut's flag-ship, description of, [126].
Hillyar, James, British naval captain, commands Phœbe in battle with Essex, [38-44];
disregard of neutral rights, [32], [39], [40];
relations with Porter, etc., [33-37].
Incident: Farragut being lashed in rigging at Mobile, [272].
Indianola, U. S. iron-clad, capture of, and effect upon Farragut's movements, [209-211], [224].
Jackson, Fort, defense of New Orleans, mentioned, [65];
description of, [119], [127], [258];
surrender of, [171];
causes of the fall of, [141-147].
Jenkins, Rear-Admiral Thornton A., chief of staff to Farragut, 1863, [203], [208], [211], [234];
commands Richmond at battle of Mobile, [268], [269].
Jouett, Lieutenant-Commander James E. (now Rear-Admiral), commands Metacomet at battle of Mobile Bay, [271], [272], [278];
captures Confederate gunboat Selma, [280].
Kennon, Beverley, Lieutenant, Confederate navy, commands Governor Moore at New Orleans and sinks U. S. steamer Varuna, [158], [159], [163].
Kimberley, Lieutenant-Commander Lewis A. (now Rear-Admiral), executive officer of Farragut's flag-ship, [281].
Lovell, Mansfield, Confederate general, opinion as to cause of fall of Mississippi forts, [145].
Manassas, Confederate ram, description of, [156];
part at battle of New Orleans, [157], [159].
Mare Island, Farragut's command of, 1854-'58, [99-101];
visit to, [304].
Matamoras, Mexican port, importance to blockade-running, [207], [240].
McClellan, General George B., relations to New Orleans expedition, [120], [121].
Minorca, Island of, birthplace of George Farragut, [1];
Farragut's visits to, [56], [57], [300];
enthusiastic reception given to Admiral Farragut, [300-304].
Mississippi River, importance of, in civil war, [115-117], [199], [200], [207], [222], [223], [237], [238].
Mobile, Farragut's wish to attack, in 1862, [185];
blockade of, [196], [197], [203], [204], [249], [250];
importance of, [241], [242];
description of approaches to, from the sea, and defenses of, [246-248], [258], [259], [260], [264], [265];
battle of Mobile Bay, [269-289].
Monitors, description of, [255].
Morgan, Fort, defense of Mobile Bay, [247], [258], [259], [271], [290];
surrender of, [290].
Mosquito fleet, origin and service of, [63-66].
Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, mentioned, [77], [136], [143], [308], [309], [315], [317].
Napoleon, Louis, Emperor of the French: Purpose to recognize Confederacy, [173];
effect upon, of fall of New Orleans, [175], [176];
Farragut dines with, [298].
Navy, United States, [inadequate] strength of, at different periods, [6], [13], [86], [101], [116], [117], [314];
consequent bad results, [6-8], [11], [13], [14], [16], [19], [50], [102], [223], [242], [314];
reasons for partial successes of 1812, and delayed action in 1861, [101], [102];
character and importance of services, in civil war, [135-137], [142], [146], [171-176], [180-182], [199], [206], [207], [222-225], [231] (and note), [233-235], [238], [242], [244], [291].
Nelson, Horatio, British Admiral, mentioned, [70], [160], [240] (and note), [266], [308];
military character contrasted with that of Farragut, [309-312].
New Orleans, expedition against, [115-176]; defenses of, [127-129], [131], [136], [145], [146], [165];
scenes at surrender of, [166-172];
effect of fall of, [172-176];
Confederate demonstrations against, 1863, [233].
Oreto, see [Florida].
Pemberton, Confederate general, opinion as to effect of Farragut's passage by Port Hudson, [224], [225].
Pensacola, evacuated by Confederates, [196];
importance to navy as base of operations, [196], [249], [268].
Perkins, Lieutenant-Commander George H., U. S. N., account of Cayuga at passage of Mississippi forts, [151-155], [159];
accompanies Captain Bailey to demand surrender of New Orleans, [169];
commands Chickasaw at Mobile, [276], [285], [287], [288].
Porter, Captain David, U. S. N., commands naval station at New Orleans, [4];
adopts David Farragut, [5];
commands frigate Essex, [11-44];
professional character, [31], [55];
battle with Phœbe and Cherub, [38-44];
navy commissioner, [63];
commands Mosquito fleet, [63-66];
court-martialed, [66];
leaves navy, [66];
Minister to Constantinople, [67];
death, [67].
Porter, Admiral David D., U. S. N., commanding mortar flotilla, [121-123], [130], [152], [171], [186], [188];
opinion on passing the Mississippi forts, [138], [139];
commanding Mississippi squadron, [206], [209], [210], [226], [229], [230], [231];
opinion on Farragut's dash past Port Hudson, [223], [224];
takes over from Farragut command of Mississippi above New Orleans, [235];
Red River expedition, [254];
harmonious co-operation with Grant, [206], [291].
Port Hudson, position of, [195];
importance of, to Confederates, [199], [201], [207], [209], [222-225], [232], [233];
armament of, [211]; passage of, by Farragut, [211-216];
surrender of, [235].
Queen of the West, U. S. ram, capture of, and effect on Farragut's movements, [209-211].
Red River expedition, purpose of, [253];
militarily erroneous, [245], [246];
disastrous termination, [254];
consequences, [246].
River-defense fleet, Confederate, description of, [156], [158].
Rosas, Argentine Dictator, [72], [74], [91], [92].
St. Philip, Fort, defense of New Orleans, [119], [128], [148], [153], [258];
surrender of, [171], causes of fall of, [141-147].
San Juan de Ulloa, Mexican fort, description of, [79];
French attack on, [80];
Farragut's opinion as to attack on, by U. S. Navy in 1846, [95].
Sherman, General W. T., difference of opinion with Grant, [137] (and note);
attack on Vicksburg, [205];
raid upon Meridian, [253].
Smith, Martin L., Confederate general, opinion as to cause of fall of Mississippi forts, [145].
Szymanski, Confederate colonel, opinion as to effect of Farragut's passage of the Mississippi forts, [146].
Tecumseh, U. S. monitor, sunk at Mobile, [256], [268], [271], [273], [274], [275].
Tennessee, Confederate iron-clad, description of, [248], [256-258];
part taken by, in battle of Mobile Bay, [265], [273], [274], [275], [279-288].
Texas, importance of, to Confederacy, [207], [209], [237].
Varuna, U. S. steamer, sunk at passage of Mississippi forts, [163].
Vera Cruz, French attack on, [75-83];
Farragut's report on, [83-88].
Vicksburg, Farragut's first advance against, [181], [182];
his reluctance to a second advance, [182-184];
second advance, [186];
situation of, [186];
Farragut passes batteries, [187];
return below, [192];
importance of Vicksburg to Confederacy, [180], [187], [194], [195], [233];
Farragut's third advance to, [226];
surrender of, [235].
Warley, A. F., Lieut., Confederate navy, commands Manassas at battle of New Orleans, [157], [158].
Watson, Lieut. John C., (now captain), U. S. N., Farragut's flag-lieutenant, 1862-'65, [161], [260], [272].
Welles, Gideon, Secretary of the Navy, 1861-'69, [117];
connection with New Orleans expedition, [119], [120], [121], [125], [126];
impressions of Farragut, [124];
urges Farragut up the Mississippi, [177], [181];
letter of, [222] (note).
Wolseley, Lord, views as to the cause of reduction of Mississippi forts criticised, [142-147].