Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/443

Rh promptly boarded it and set it on fire, so that it drifted down the river and exploded. The gun-boat &ldquo;Varuna,&rdquo; of Farragut's fleet, was rammed by two Confederate gun-boats and sank in fifteen minutes. At daylight the fleet continued on its way up the river, and Capt. Bailey, leading in the &ldquo;Cayuga,&rdquo; captured a Confederate regiment encamped on the bank. On the morning of the 25th the Chalmette batteries, three miles below the city, were attacked and silenced, and an hour later New Orleans itself was at the mercy of Farragut's guns. This exploit had cost the National fleet 37 men killed and 147 wounded, and one vessel sunk out of the seventeen. The Confederate fleet was completely destroyed. At noon the surrender of the city was demanded of the mayor, and Capt. Bailey was sent ashore to haul down the Louisiana flag and raise the stars and stripes over the public buildings. A troublesome correspondence with the mayor ensued, and Farragut was glad to turn over the city to Gen. Butler as soon as the troops could be brought up, on the evening of 1 May. The forts had surrendered to Com. Porter on the 28th. It appears that this timely capture of New Orleans changed the purpose of the Emperor Napoleon, who was about to recognize the Confederacy and take measures to raise the blockade.

Farragut wanted to take his fleet at once to Mobile, capture that place, and close the port to blockade-runners; but the government was anxious to open the Mississippi through its whole length, and the ships were therefore kept in the river for some months. Before daylight, on 28 June, 1862, he ran by the batteries at Vicksburg with eight vessels, joining Com. Charles H. Davis's fleet of iron-clads above the city. In this passage Farragut's fleet was under fire about two hours, and lost fifteen men killed and thirty wounded. On 15 July, finding that nothing could be effected at Vicksburg by the fleet alone, he ran the batteries again, descending the river to New Orleans. The next day he was commissioned rear-admiral.

On 14 March, 1863, to assist Gen. N. P. Banks in his siege of Port Hudson, Farragut attempted to run by the batteries at that place with seven vessels three sloops-of-war, each with a gun-boat lashed to the port-side, and the side-wheel steamer &ldquo;Mississippi.&rdquo; By this arrangement, if a vessel were disabled, the gun-boat could take her out of the fight. But they met so destructive a fire that only the &ldquo;Hartford&rdquo; and her attendant gun-boat succeeded in getting by. The &ldquo;Mississippi&rdquo; ran aground and was burned, and the others were compelled to drop down stream. With the &ldquo;Hartford&rdquo; and the &ldquo;Albatross&rdquo; Farragut proceeded up stream and blockaded the mouth of Red river, thus preventing Confederate supplies from coming down, or re-enforcements from going up to the army of Gen. Richard Taylor. Coal and provisions were sent down to him by Gen. Grant and Admiral Porter, on barges that drifted past the Vicksburg batteries in the night. Subsequently he assisted Gen. Banks in the investment of Port Hudson, till it was surrendered, 8 July.

The Mississippi was now open to navigation through its entire length. Admiral Porter took Farragut's place at New Orleans, while Farragut sailed far New York in the &ldquo;Hartford,&rdquo; arriving in August. When the flag-ship was examined at the navy-yard, it was found that she had been struck 240 times by shot and shell during her nineteen months of service. Farragut was given public welcome home and receptions by the New York chamber of commerce and committees of citizens, and rested five months while the ship was refitted.

In January, 1864, he returned to the Gulf, visited Ship Island and Pensacola, establishing depots of supplies, and prepared for his long-meditated attack on the defences of Mobile. In May a beautiful sword, with a gold and silver scabbard and the hilt set in brilliants, was sent to him by the Union League club of New York. About this time he wrote: &ldquo;If any one asks what I am doing, answer, Nothing but waiting for the world to turn round till it comes my turn to do something.&rdquo; He reconnoitred the forts, and declared that an attack would be useless till he had some iron-clads. These came at last, as did also the troops under Gen. Gordon Granger for the land attack.

The defences of the bay consisted mainly of two forts &mdash; Morgan at the eastern side of the entrance, and Gaines at the western &mdash; three miles apart. From Fort Gaines eastward to a point near Fort Morgan stretched a line of piles and a double line of torpedoes. The point where they terminated was indicated by a red buoy, and the blockade-runners were accustomed to pass in by the narrow channel between this buoy and Fort Morgan. Inside of these defences lay the Confederate iron-clad ram &ldquo;Tennessee&rdquo; and three wooden gun-boats. As at New Orleans, Farragut issued general orders containing the most minute instructions for every contingency. His seven sloops-of-war the &ldquo;Brooklyn&rdquo; leading and the &ldquo;Hartford&rdquo; coming second were to form one line, each sloop having a gun-boat lashed on the port side, to take her through if her machinery should be disabled. The &ldquo;Brooklyn&rdquo; was given the lead because she had four chase guns and a contrivance for picking up torpedoes. The four iron-clad monitors, &ldquo;Tecumseh,&rdquo; &ldquo;Manhattan,&rdquo; &ldquo;Winnebago,&rdquo; and &ldquo;Chickasaw,&rdquo; formed another line to the right of the line of wooden ships, between them and Fort Morgan. Six steamers were placed south and east of that work, to keep up a flank fire upon it. Before daylight on 5 Aug. everybody in the fleet was astir, and at half-past five the signal was given for the advance. An hour later the combatants were within range, and the firing began immediately, and was heavy and destructive on both sides. The admiral mounted into the port main rigging, in order to see over the smoke, and as this increased he gradually mounted higher. Capt. Drayton, to prevent his falling to the deck in case of being wounded, sent up a quarter-master with a piece of lead-line, which was made fast to one of the shrouds and passed around the admiral, to prevent such an accident. The commanders had all been instructed to keep to the east of the red buoy; but the leading monitor, in her eagerness to engage the Confederate ram, passed west of it, struck a torpedo, and suddenly went down. (See ) A little later the &ldquo;Brooklyn&rdquo; stopped, and this seemed likely to throw the whole line into confusion. &ldquo;What is the trouble?&rdquo; was shouted