FARRAGUT. 81 



"One of the greatest of naval commanders, whose experience with men 

 extended through an unusually long and varied career - - Earl St. Vincent - - has 

 declared that the true test of a man's courage is his power to bear responsibility; 

 and Farragut's fearlessness of responsibility in order to accomplish necessary 

 ends, while yet captain of a single ship, was the subject of admiring comment 

 among his subordinates, who are not usually prone to recognize that quality in 

 their commanders. 'I have as much pleasure in running into port in a gale of 

 wind,' he wrote, 'as ever a boy did in a feat of skill.' The same characteristic 

 was markedty shown under the weight of far greater issues in his determination 

 to pass the river forts, in spite of remonstrances from his most able lieutenant, 

 of cautious suggestions from other commanding officers, and with only the ambig- 

 uous instructions of the navy department to justify his action. It was not that the 

 objections raised were trivial. They were of the most weighty and valid character, 

 and in disregarding them Farragut showed not only the admirable insight which 

 fastened upon the true military solution, but also the courage which dared to accept 

 on his sole responsibility the immense risks of disaster which had to be taken. 



"For the power to take these momentous decisions, Farragut was indebted 

 to nature. He indeed justified them and his general course of action by good 

 and sufficient reasons, but the reasons carried instant conviction to him because 

 they struck a kindred chord in his breast. He once said: 'My motto in action 

 is (quoting Danton), L'audace, et encore de 1'audace, et toujours de 1'audace." 



Farragut had a love of the sea, though he was born far inland. It is said that 

 the vast internal tracts and mountain slopes that he was free to roam over did not 

 satisfy his craving. We have seen that, at a very early age, he had a love of adven- 

 ture, a quality that marked his father. 



Farragut as a lad, "while by no means insensible to the natural temptations 

 of youth, . . . was ever more attracted to and influenced by the good than by the 

 evil around him." He fortunately fell into good hands, and says: "Never having 

 had any real love for dissipation, I easily got rid of the bad influences that had 

 assailed me in the John Adams" (Mahan, 1892, p. 53.) 



Strategic insight was shown in his method of passing forts, without reducing 

 them, and depending for their fall upon their loss of communications, as at New 

 Orleans and Mobile bay. 



The temperament of Farragut was complex. He was subject to depressions, 

 like Nelson, only less so. Bad news from Galveston, in January 1863, while he was 

 in the lower Mississippi, depressed him greatly. But on the whole, especially in 

 battle, he was very active. His temperament was of the kind that reacted strongly 

 to insult. "At the age of 8 years, knowledge that a British naval vessel had 

 fired into an American brig caused him to feel that the news was an insult to be paid 

 in kind, and he was anxious to discharge the debt with interest." 



Father. -- George Farragut was born September 29, 1755, and "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, as also in the 

 War of 1812." In the mountains of eastern Tennessee he engaged in surveying. 

 About 1802 "George Farragut moved to Louisiana, where he soon after entered 

 the naval service and had charge of a gunboat on the Mississippi." "He was 

 engaged in establishing the claim of the United States to the eastern Louisiana 

 seacoast, occupied in part by the Spanish authorities." In 1811 he was "sailing 

 master." Thus an official of the new territory reports: "At the special request 



