Download Mr. Lincoln`s Admirals: Farragut and Porter

Mr.
Lincoln’s
Admirals:
Farragut and Porter
Mr.
Lincoln’s
Admirals:
Farragut and Porter
Abraham Lincoln’s Admirals were a varied group who shaped the
United States Navy from a small sailing fleet to a 500-ship
naval force. The fleet effectively blockaded 3,500 miles of
coastline. It penetrated into the interior of Confederate
territory and assisted the Army in the capture of major ports.
The navy regularly carried out amphibious operations. U.S.
Navy ships hunted the oceans of the world for Confederate
commerce raiders.
At the onset of the American Civil War the fleet had a mere 42
active vessels, almost all of which were sailing ships. By the
end of 1861 that number had risen to 160, mostly steam-driven,
screw propelled vessels. Eventually, the navy would increase
to 500 ships, most of which were modern steam vessels. It
would introduce ironclad ships to combat and pioneer new and
innovative methods of naval warfare.
Led by a number of admirals the United
States Navy was an important factor in the
Union victory. Prior to the Civil War the
highest rank that a naval officer could
achieve was that of captain. This created
problems of equivalency with Army ranks. A
naval captain was the equivalent of an
army colonel and in joint operations the
naval officers were almost always
outranked. In the summer of 1862 the Navy
Department decided to adopt a system of
ranks like those in the British Royal Navy: admiral, vice
admiral, rear admiral and commodore would be equal to general,
lieutenant general, major general and brigadier general.
The first naval officer to be promoted to rear admiral was
David Glasgow Farragut on July 16, 1862. He was also the first
officer to receive the rank of vice admiral and admiral.
Farragut was a southerner by birth, having been born in
Tennessee on July 5, 1801. His birth name was James but after
the death of his father in 1808 he was adopted by his father’s
friend, naval officer David Porter. He adopted David to honor
his adoptive father. His adopted brothers were David Dixon
Porter and William Porter, two future Union navy officers.
Farragut went to sea at the age of 9 and served in the United
States Navy for his entire life. At the outbreak of the war he
was given a position on the Naval Retirement Board. His
adopted brother David Dixon Porter offered him a special
assignment. It turned out to be the command of of the West
Gulf Blockading Squadron. In this position Farragut became one
of the most famous naval officers in the history of the United
States Navy.
On April 29, 1862 he led his naval force up the Mississippi
River, past the defending forts and captured the city of New
Orleans. He was promoted to rear admiral in July to honor his
victory. Farragut had several failures, most notably at
Vicksburg in July 1862 and his premature attack on Port
Hudson, Louisiana in March 1863.
David Farragut’s most famous action was the attack on Mobile
Bay, Alabama on August 5, 1864. Leading his attacking force
while lashed to the rigging of
his
flagship,
the
U.S.S.
Hartford, he pressed the assault
on the heavily mined Confederate
stronghold. After a Union
monitor hit a mine (called
torpedoes during the Civil War)
the rest of the ships began to
pull back. It was at this point
that Farragut became famous in naval lore. “What’s the
trouble?”, he shouted through a trumpet from the flagship to
the USS Brooklyn. “Torpedoes!” was shouted back. “Damn the
torpedoes!” said Farragut, “Four bells. Captain Drayton, go
ahead! Jouett, full speed!” The fleet steamed into Mobile Bay
past the heavy land batteries and defeated the naval force of
Confederate Admiral Franklin Buchanan. He was promoted to vice
admiral by President Lincoln on December 21, 1864 and admiral
on July 25, 1866.
Farragut’s adopted brother David Dixon Porter was the second
naval officer to be promoted to the rank of admiral July 4,
1863. Porter was born on June 8, 1813 in Chester,
Pennsylvania. His father was a serving naval officer David
Porter. After his father resigned from the United States Navy
in 1824 he was named the commander of the Mexican Navy. He
took his sons David and Thomas and his nephew David Henry
Porter with him. They were in a number of naval actions while
in the Mexican Navy.
In 1829 Porter was appointed a midshipman in the U.S. Navy. He
served in a number of positions until the beginning of the
Civil War when he took part in the aborted
attempt to relieve Fort Pickens while
commanding the U.S.S. Powhatan.
He was then assigned to the West Blockading Squadron which was
under the command of his adopted brother David Farragut. He
commanded 20 mortar ships that were assigned to bombard Fort
Jackson and Fort St. Philip. The attack began on April 18,
1862 but after five days Farragut grew impatient. In the night
of April 24th he sailed his fleet past the forts and on to New
Orleans. On the 28th Porter received the surrender of Fort St.
Philip after the garrison of Fort Jackson had mutinied and
surrendered.
After New Orleans, Farragut’s force moved upriver to Vicksburg
where they bombarded the city with Porter’s motor squadron to
no avail. Without the assistance of the Army Vicksburg could
not be taken. Porter was reassigned to the Peninsula to assist
in that campaign.
Porter was appointed to command the Mississippi River Squadron
in October 1862 with the rank of Acting Rear Admiral,
bypassing the intermediate ranks of captain and commodore. He
arrived to take up his command in Cairo, Illinois on October
15, 1862. During this phase of the war Porter became closely
associated with William T. Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant, two
Army commanders who would have a great deal of influence on
his career.
The Mississippi River Squadron was used both for the
bombardment of Vicksburg and the transport of the troops that
eventually surrounded and captured the Confederate stronghold.
The Vicksburg campaign lasted from April until July 4,
1863. After the fall of Vicksburg Porter’s squadron was
assigned to the Red River Expedition, an idea the General
Nathaniel Banks. The campaign began on March 10, 1864 and
lasted until May 22nd when Banks withdrew back to his base of
operations. The Red River Expedition was noted for its lack of
cooperation between the Army and the Navy.
In late summer 1864 Porter switched commands with Rear Admiral
Samuel Phillips Lee who was in command of the North Atlantic
Blockading Squadron. Navy Secretary Gideon Welles thought Lee
was too timorous in his position. The goal of the Federal
command was the capture of the last Confederate ocean port of
Wilmington, North Carolina. The
harbor was defended by Fort
Fisher, the mostly soil fort
that defended the channel.
The army forces were initially commanded by General Benjamin
Banks who was in command of the Army of the James. He
suggested an explosive-laden ship to demolish the fort. This
was tried on December 24, 1864 with little effect. Banks
withdrew his forces from the assault. Porter was enraged at
Banks’ timidity and complained to Grant who looking for an
excuse to remove Banks, relieved him from command.
Grant assigned General Alfred H. Terry to command the
operation. On January 13, 1865 the naval bombardment began
with selective attacks on the fort’s gun emplacements. After
two days of steady bombardment Terry’s forces captured Fort
Fisher. This was Porter’s last wartime command. In his later
career he was to command the United States Naval Academy.
Porter was named a vice admiral in 1866 and eventually
admiral, though not without some political infighting.
There will be several other posts on other significant
admirals forthcoming in the following weeks.