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Great Lives from History: Latinos, 2nd Edition

David G. Farragut

by Kevin B. Reid

American military leader

Farragut was an aggressive naval officer who by turns became America’s first rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral. His career reflected the growth of the U.S. Navy from a small commerce-raiding force during the War of 1812 to a large international fleet that deployed the newest technologies during the American Civil War. Farragut’s seizures of New Orleans and Mobile Bay contributed significantly to the fall of the Confederacy. His leadership style influenced generations of American sailors, while his famous quip, “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead,” established an American naval tradition.

Latino heritage: Spanish

Born: July 5, 1801; Campbell's Station, Tennessee

Died: August 14, 1870; Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Also known as: David Glasgow Farragut; James Glasgow Farragut

Areas of achievement: Military

EARLY LIFE

David Glasgow Farragut (FA-rah-guht) was born James Glasgow Farragut on July 5, 1801. His father was Jorge Anthony Magin Farragut, a petty noble born in Spain's Balearic Islands. By 1773, Jorge was the captain of a merchant ship that traded between the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. During the American Revolution, Jorge embraced the patriots' cause after delivering a cargo of weapons and munitions to Charleston, South Carolina. He anglicized his name to George, joined the revolutionary forces as a privateer, and served in South Carolina's navy until he was wounded. Discharged, he joined the Continental Army and fought in the guerrilla campaign that resulted in Britain's defeat at the battle of Yorktown. By war's end, George was a major in the cavalry, and in the postwar years he received lands in Tennessee in lieu of pension and wages. He married and began a family.

David G. Farragut (Wikimedia Commons)

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Patronage played a role in George's ties to the South. The governor of the new Louisiana Territory invited him to relocate to New Orleans to serve as a sailing master and gunboat captain. The newly purchased Louisiana Territory had previously been a Spanish then French colony, so George's Spanish heritage, language skills, and strong pro-government attitude proved an asset to the governor. In New Orleans, George became friends with a U.S. naval officer, David Porter, Sr. In 1808, the Farragut and Porter families suffered intertwined disasters: Porter suffered sunstroke, and while being nursed in the Farragut home, both he and Mrs. Farragut died (of different causes) on the same day. Porter's son, Captain David Porter, Jr., was a rising star in the fledgling U.S. Navy. In gratitude for the Farragut family's efforts on behalf of his father, Porter offered to serve as a guardian for one of George's children. In 1809, James Farragut joined the U.S. Navy as a midshipman under Porter's tutelage. While Farragut would serve and mature under Porter's care, he was not officially adopted.

LIFE’S WORK

Farragut's naval career spanned the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, and the Civil War. Farragut advanced consistently in rank as a result of his attention to detail, strong nationalism, exemplary courage under fire, technical skills, and Porter's patronage. As a midshipman on the USS Essex, Porter's ship, Farragut participated in some of the most famous actions of the War of 1812, including the capture of the HMS Alert, the first British warship captured during the war. During the Essex‘s cruise in 1812-1813, Farragut was given his first brief independent command—a captured prize ship. In recognition of Porter's leadership and role as his surrogate father, Farragut legally changed his first name from James to David.

After the war, Farragut served in a variety of posts and progressed through the ranks because of his professionalism and dedication. His first command of a warship, for example, was at age twenty-three. After his first wife died of a wasting disease that afflicted herfor sixteen years, he married his second wife, Virginia Dorcas Loyall. She was from Norfolk, Virginia, where Farragut established a home. During these years, Farragut’s assignments varied from ship commands to administrative posts ashore. In the 1850’s, he worked with John A. Dahlgren, whose ordnance designs included some of the powerful naval guns used during the Civil War. Farragut also oversaw the creation of the Navy’s first major base in California, Mare Island Naval Yard. The creation of Mare Island reflected the Navy’s transition into a two-ocean force. In 1857, Farragut was given command of the USS Brooklyn, the nation’s first warship propelled by a steam-powered screw instead of the older-style side paddlewheel.

Although Southern-born, married to a Southerner, and a Virginia resident, Farragut was a devoted nationalist, so when Virginia seceded, he remained loyal to the U.S. Navy and moved to New York. The Union’s naval strategy was to stop Southern commerce through a blockade of Southern ports and the capture of the Mississippi River. Based on his proven administrative skills and loyalty, Farragut was appointed commander of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron in January, 1862, and tasked with capturing New Orleans. Farragut’s plan was to use the cover of night to run past the coastal defense artillery located in two forts outside the city. Once beyond the forts, soldiers on ships would land and capture the city. In theory, bypassing the forts avoided the defenders and cut off supplies to the forts, thus starving the garrisons into surrender. On April 24, 1862, the squadron attacked. Aided by lax Confederate security and darkness, the forts were bypassed, and the city fell at minimal cost—less than two hundred Union casualties. This removed the Confederacy’s most important port and demonstrated to European powers that the Confederacy would not win the war.

After this victory, Farragut moved up the Mississippi to aid Major General Ulysses S. Grant’s campaign against Vicksburg and then attacked Confederate defenses of Port Hudson. In 1864, Farragut attacked the Confederacy’s last major seaport, Mobile Bay, Alabama. It was here that one of his ships was damaged by a naval mine—what was at that time called a “torpedo.” Rather than withdraw, he issued his famous order, “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead.” Farragut was promoted after his victories at New Orleans and Mobile Bay; like Grant, Farragut became a favorite of President Abraham Lincoln based on his battlefield success. After Lincoln was assassinated, Farragut served as a pallbearer at his funeral.

Farragut's Firsts in U.S. Navy History

During the American Revolution and after, the U.S. Navy's highest official rank was captain. The term commodore denoted the overall captain of a squadron or detachment on temporary assignment, but a commodore's official rank still was captain. The founders viewed the rank of admiral as too reminiscent of the customs and titles common in European navies and, hence, undemocratic. During the U.S. Navy's early years, this seemed a reasonable tradition, as most detachments were small and had limited objectives. In 1857, the title of flag officer was formalized as a rank to reflect the expanding responsibilities of squadron command. During the Civil War, the Navy grew so large that individual squadrons in effect became permanent. Consequently, the U.S. Congress authorized first commodore as a rank, then rear admiral and then vice admiral to reflect the officers' increasing responsibilities. David G. Farragut, who was promoted to commodore on July 16, 1862, was among the first officers to achieve this rank. He then became the first commodore promoted to rear admiral on August 12, 1862, and the first vice admiral on Dec. 21, 1864. In the aftermath of the Union victory in the Civil War, Congress voted to create the highest ranks ever given to American military men, general and admiral, on July 25, 1866. On this day, both Admiral Farragut and General Ulysses S. Grant established traditionsand ranks that would not be changed until World War II.

SIGNIFICANCE

Although Hispanic origins had aided his father, they exerted little impact on Farragut’s rise. Well-known captains such as Porter favored Farragut for his determination and bravery. When given command, Farragut showed diligent attention to detail and willingness to use new technologies such as steam powerand improved naval guns. As America's first admiral, Farragut created a tradition of professionalism that helped the Navy grow from a small, scattered fleet into a global force. Along the way, he taught junior officers such as Winfield Scott Schley and George Dewey, who went on to become important commanders in their own right during the Spanish-American War.

Citation Types

Type

Format

MLA 9th

Reid, Kevin B. "David G. Farragut." Great Lives from History: Latinos, 2nd Edition, edited by Trudy Mercadal, et al., Salem Press, 2021. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=GLLatin2e_0205.

APA 7th

Reid, K. B. (2021). David G. Farragut. In T. Mercadal, C. Tafolla & M. P. Cotera (Eds.), Great Lives from History: Latinos, 2nd Edition. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.

CMOS 17th

Reid, Kevin B. "David G. Farragut." Edited by Trudy Mercadal, Carmen Tafolla & Martha P. Cotera. Great Lives from History: Latinos, 2nd Edition. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2021. Accessed October 22, 2025. online.salempress.com.

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