GREATEST naval commander of the Civil War David Farragut’s father was a Spanish sea captain who fought for the colonies in the Revolution. After his mother died, his father allowed the boy to be adopted by U.S. naval officer; Farragut accompanied him during the War of 1812, and Farragut obtained his first command during the Mexican War in 1848.
In 1862, when Farragut’s Union fleet took New Orleans, he was made a rear admiral. Fifteen months later, Farragut sailed to Mobile Bay to take on one of the Confederacy’s most indispensable ports.
At the height of the battle for Mobile Bay, Farragut was lashed to the mast of his ship so he could see further into the distance. Noticing that the bay was booby trapped with mines, Farragut chose to enter the bay anyway, shouting “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” In the naval parlance of the day, a mine laid at sea was called a torpedo. The North took Mobile Bay.
Congress created the rank of vice admiral for Farragut, and he later became full admiral. He died in 1870.
Farragut is memorialized in sculpture by Augustus St. Gaudens on a pedestal by Stanford White in the north end of Madison Square, dedicated in 1881. He is accompanied by two figures representing Loyalty and Courage, as well as by two dolphins. Sculptor Saint-Gaudens, who also created the statues of Peter Cooper at Cooper Square and General Sherman at Grand Army Plaza, made extensive use of lettering that recounts Farragut’s career. The monument is regarded by experts as bringing revolutionary change to public sculpture–combining figure, pedestal, setting into a stylistic unity.
In 1881, the Farragut Monument was unveiled by a retired sailor…the same one who had tied Farragut to the mast during the Battle of Mobile Bay. The Farragut Memorial was first located at 5th Avenue and 26th Street. In 1935 it was moved to its present location.
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4/30/26
3 comments
When my Dad was in the Navy in the late 40s he took the port running light
off Farragut’s ship the USS Hartford for a souvenir.(Officers used to get away with
murder)The ship was in Norfolk and being used as a barge or something.People
had been taking stuff off the Hartford for years.He had the light made into a table
lamp.Very corny.
Recently I found out my genius stepmother polished it down to the bare brass.The thing
was black with age and in one day she erased about 150 years of patina.I have been
pissed off since.
As Adm. Farragut was of Spanish descent on his paternal side, this could also have been included as part of the post on Latino Town.
Remember, Spanish is not Latino, which pertains to residents of Central and South America and the Caribbean. Keith Hernandez is of Spanish descent, and does not refer to himself as Latino.