To this same dauntless spirit, the Federal government owed the blockade of the lower Mississippi and the closing of the ports of Mobile Bay, that inflicted such injuries upon the Confederacy as to hasten the end of the war. “With ports closed,” says an authority, “the Southern armies were reduced to a pitiful misery, the long endurance of which makes a noble chapter in heroism.”
The lower Mississippi was controlled by the Confederates. Possession of the river and the capture of New Orleans could be accomplished only by running the forts situated below the city some seventy miles. To run the forts with wooden vessels and escape destruction from the armed vessels of the Confederacy in the Mississippi was a hazardous undertaking. Farragut believed he could do this. In December, 1861, he wrote to a friend: “Keep your lips closed and burn my letters. Perfect silence is the first injunction of the Secretary. I am to have a flag in the gulf, and the rest depends upon myself.”
In March he again wrote, “I have now attained what I have been looking for all my life—a flag—and having attained it, all that is necessary to complete the scene is a victory.” The victory he was soon to have.
At two o’clock the morning of April 24, 1862, the signal for the start for the forts was given. In a few moments the thunderous roar of batteries and guns broke upon the air. The river became a mass of writhing flame.
“The passing of Forts Jackson and St. Phillips was one of the most awful sights and events I ever saw or expect to experience,” says Farragut. Rafts of cotton were set on fire by the Confederates and came down the river, scattering disaster as they came. One of these caught the Hartford, Farragut’s flagship, and set it on fire. So high rose the flames that even the courageous commander was for the moment daunted and exclaimed, “My God! is this to end this way!” By the expeditious use of the hose the flames were controlled.
The strong barriers across the river were broken. By repeated and desperate efforts the Confederate boats were sunk or disabled. The levee at New Orleans was gained. The Crescent City was taken.
Thus was accomplished a feat in naval warfare reckoned without a parallel in naval history, except in that of twenty-four months later in Mobile Bay. In compliment to his exploit the rank of rear admiral was conferred upon Farragut. Of the fleet, as subordinate officers, were Dewey and Schley, a future admiral and a rear-admiral.
To his home, the victorious commander addressed the following letter: —
“My dearest Wife and Boy.
“I am so agitated I can scarcely write, and I shall only tell you that it has pleased Almighty God to preserve my life through a fire such as the world has scarcely known.”