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FABEAGUT, DAVID G. 



of January, 1862, and on the 3d of February he 

 sailed from Hampton Koads, having selected 

 the Hartford as his flag-ship. He reached Ship 

 Island on the 20th, and organized the West Gulf 

 blockading squadron ; and he was engaged for 

 almost two months in preparing for his grand 

 attack on the great city of the Southwest. 

 The difficulties that lay in his way were of a 

 nature to have dispirited any other than a 

 man of iron energy. They were all surmounted 

 by this able officer, and active operations be- 

 gan on the 18th of April. After six days' 

 bombardment he found that the forts below 

 New Orleans were not likely to yield, where- 

 upon, instead of retiring, he determined to 

 break the great chain which the rebels had 

 stretched across the river, and engage their 

 powerful fleet that was assembled above it. 

 Accordingly, on the morning of the 24th of 

 April, the fleet advanced, the chain was 

 broken, and battle joined, the forts helping 

 the enemy by a fire of tremendous weight. 

 The action was one of the most singular com- 

 bats ever known, and may be said to have 

 been the inauguration of that new naval war- 

 fare toward which matters had been for some 

 time tending, but which definitely dates from 

 our civil contest. The enemy had iron-clads 

 and rams, but they were utterly defeated, los- 

 ing fourteen of their eighteen vessels. Forts 

 and fleet had both been vanquished. The 

 Federal gunboat Varuna was lost. Three 

 of the assailants were disabled and obliged 

 to fall back. With the rest of his fleet Com- 

 modore Farragut continued his course, and 

 took possession of New Orleans on the 25th 

 of April. His order of battle on this oc- 

 casion was thoroughly characteristic of the 

 man, in its promptness, readiness of resource, 

 and its quiet, undaunted courage. We give 

 but a single sentence, that in which, after de- 

 tailing the needful preparations for the coming 

 combat, he said: "Whatever is to be done will 

 have to be done quickly. When, in the opinion 

 of the flag-officer, the propitious time has ar- 

 rived, the signal will be made to weigh and 

 advance to the conflict. He will make a signal 

 for close action, and abide the result conquer, 

 or be conquered." 



Commodore Farragut ascended the Missis- 

 sippi, in continuance of operations, and passed 

 Vicksburg on the 27th of June, communicating 

 with the commander of the Mississippi squad- 

 ron, with whom an attack on Vicksburg was 

 arranged. That attack proved unsuccessful, 

 because there was no land force to cooperate 

 with the fleet. Returning to the Gulf, he made 

 Pensacola his headquarters, and was for some 

 time employed in perfecting the blockade of 

 the Gulf-ports, and in directing the attacks 

 that were made on Corpus Christi, Sabine 

 Pass, and Galveston, all of which places were 

 taken. He was made senior rear-admiral on 

 the llth of July, for the capture of New Or- 

 leans a well-deserved reward for well-per- 

 formed services, and the bestowal of which 



was warmly approved by the country. In the 

 spring of 1863, Bear- Admiral Farragut coop- 

 erated with General Grant in his movements 

 against Vicksburg. The passing of the ene- 

 my's strong works at Port Hudson was a repe- 

 tition of what had been done the previous 

 year at New Orleans. Only two of his vessels 

 were able to get by them the flag-ship and 

 the Albatross. One vessel was destroyed, and 

 some others injured ; but the two that effected 

 the passage blockaded the mouth of Bed Biver 

 for several weeks, and prevented the sending 

 of supplies thence to Vicksburg, and the fall 

 of that place was finally due to famine. Sub- 

 sequently Bear- Admiral Farragut directed the 

 naval operations against Port Hudson, which 

 fell at the same time with Vicksburg. To at- 

 tack the forts at Mobile, and render that port 

 useless to the enemy, had long been a favorite 

 project with the naval commander in the Gulf; 

 but it was not until late in the summer of 1864 

 that he was supplied with the requisite force. 

 A combined attack was arranged for the 5th 

 of August, and was made with success. The 

 enemy were confident of their ability to re- 

 pulse their assailants, relying much on the 

 power of their famous armored ship, the Ten- 

 nessee, supposed to be the most powerful war- 

 vessel in the world. They handled her well, 

 and she and her associates made a vigorous 

 resistance, and were most gallantly sustained 

 by the forts ; but all resistance proved vain in 

 the end, though more than once, in the course 

 of the action, the event seemed doubtful. The 

 Tennessee was taken, and all the rest of the 

 enemy's naval force was destroyed; and, on 

 the 6th, one of the forts was abandoned, and 

 another surrendered on the 8th. The third 

 held out to the 23d of August, when it suc- 

 cumbed under a tremendous bombardment. 

 These successes destroyed Mobile as a port of 

 the enemy. There was no more blockade- 

 breaking heard of in that quarter. Greatly 

 against his will, Admiral Farragut yielded, at 

 the beginning of the action, to the urgent ap- 

 peals of the officers of the squadron, and suf- 

 fered the Brooklyn to take the lead instead of 

 the flag-ship, the Hartford ; but when the Te- 

 cumseh monitor, commanded by the gallant 

 Craven, was sunk by a torpedo, he could no 

 longer be restrained, but dashed forward with 

 the flag-ship, believing, he said, that the torpe- 

 does had been so long in the water that they 

 were probably innocuous. Though his own 

 vessel was of wood, and the Tennessee an iron- 

 clad of great strength, he did not hesitate to 

 drive Ms flag-ship against her sides at full 

 speed, and, as the event proved, with complete 

 success. During a part of the action he was 

 lashed in the rigging, the better to observe 

 and give orders in the fight. Like all of his 

 exploits, Bear-Admiral Farragut's actions at 

 Mobile combined, to an extraordinary extent, 

 usefulness with brilliancy, practicality with 

 daring. The whole country was full of his 

 praise, and the regard in which he was held 



