David Farragut

David Glasgow Farragut (sometimes spelled Glascoe) was born on July 5, 1801, and died on August 14, 1870. He served as a flag officer in the U.S. Navy during the Civil War and became the first person in the Navy to hold the ranks of rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral. He is best known in naval tradition for his famous command at the Battle of Mobile Bay, often shortened to "Damn the torpedoes ... full speed ahead."

Farragut was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and after his mother died, he was raised by naval officer David Porter. At age 11, he fought in the War of 1812 under his adoptive father’s command. He got his first command in 1823 at age 22 and later fought pirates in the Caribbean. During the Mexican-American War, he served under Matthew C. Perry and helped blockade Tuxpan. After that war, he oversaw the building of the Mare Island Navy Yard, the first U.S. Navy base on the Pacific.

Before the Civil War, Farragut lived in Norfolk, Virginia, but he was a Southern Unionist who opposed secession and stayed loyal to the Union. He was put in charge of attacking the Confederate port of New Orleans, won the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, and captured the city in April 1862. Promoted to rear admiral, he then helped extend Union control along the Mississippi River and took part in the siege of Port Hudson. Later, he led a successful attack on Mobile Bay, the last major Confederate port on the Gulf of Mexico. After the war, he was promoted to admiral and stayed on active duty until his death in 1870.

His early life began as James Glasgow Farragut, born in 1801 to George Farragut (originally Jorge Farragut Mesquida), a Spanish merchant captain from Menorca, and Elizabeth Shine, of Scotch-Irish descent from North Carolina. He was born at Lowe's Ferry on the Holston River in Tennessee, a few miles southeast of Campbell's Station near Knoxville. George Farragut had served in the Spanish merchant marine before immigrating to North America in 1776, where he became a naval officer in the American Revolution, first with the South Carolina Navy and then the Continental Navy. After the war, he and Elizabeth moved west to Tennessee, where he ran Lowe's Ferry and served as a cavalry officer in the Tennessee militia. In 1805, George took a job at the port of New Orleans and traveled there first; his family followed on a 1,700-mile flatboat trip guided by hired rivermen. That was four-year-old James’s first voyage. The family was still in New Orleans when Elizabeth died of yellow fever. George then arranged for his young children to live with friends and family. In 1808, after his mother’s death, James agreed to live with U.S. Navy officer David Porter, whose father had served with George in the Revolution. In 1812, James adopted the name "David" to honor his foster father, with whom he went to sea in late 1810. He grew up in a naval family, alongside foster brothers David Dixon Porter, a future Civil War admiral, and William D. Porter, who became a commodore.

Farragut’s naval career started when he was nine years old, serving as a midshipman, and lasted 60 years until his death at 69. He served in several wars, but gained most of his fame during the Civil War for winning key naval battles.

In the War of 1812, his career began when he was added to the Navy rolls as a "boy" in spring 1810. Through his foster father’s influence, he was warranted a midshipman on December 17, 1810, at age nine. By age 11, he was a prize master and fought under Captain Porter aboard the frigate USS Essex. He helped capture HMS Alert on August 13, 1812, and took part in establishing America’s first Pacific naval base and colony, Fort Madison, during the Nuku Hiva Campaign in the Marquesas Islands. There, the Americans fought hostile tribes with help from their Te I'i allies. At age 11, during the war, he was assigned to bring a captured ship safely to port. He was wounded and captured while serving on the Essex during the battle at Valparaíso Bay, Chile, against the British on March 28, 1814.

In the West Indies, Farragut got his first command in 1823, taking over USS Ferret. He served in the Mosquito Fleet, a group of ships sent to fight Caribbean pirates. After the Ferret was lost in a storm, he asked Porter for new orders and became an officer on the Greyhound, a smaller vessel commanded by David Porter’s brother John. On February 14, 1823, the fleet sailed for the West Indies and spent six months driving pirates from the sea and their island hideouts. He finished that campaign as executive officer on USS Experiment and was promoted to lieutenant in 1825.

During the Mexican-American War, Farragut, now a commander, took command of the sloop USS Saratoga when it was recommissioned at Norfolk Navy Yard in Virginia. Assigned to the Home Squadron, Saratoga left Norfolk on March 29, 1847, under his command, bound for the Gulf of Mexico.