Admiral Farragut's Birthplace

Admiral Farragut's Birthplace. Hero of Mobile Bay. In front of you, on the promontory just across the cove, is where David Glasgow Farragut was born on July 5, 1801. Farragut's father, George Farragut, came to the American colonies in 1776 from Spain as a merchant sea captain. During the Revolutionary War, he fought on the side of the colonies and received land grants for his military service. He married Elizabeth Shine of North Carolina and settled in Knox County. In 1796, he bought 640 acres here and operated a ferry. The family moved to New Orleans in 1807, when George Farragut was commissioned to serve as a Navy gunboat captain on the Mississippi River. His wife died of yellow fever within a year, and his son's childhood essentially ended., David Farragut was commissioned a midshipman in the United States Navy on December 17, 1810, at the age of nine and a half and saw his first naval combat during the War of 18 12. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1822, commander in 1844, and captain in 1855. Despite strong ties to the South and Tennessee, he remained with the U.S. Navy when forced to choose between the Union and the Confederacy in 1861. A brave and capable officer, Farragut was 63 years old at the Battle of Mobile Bay. When warned of naval mines (then called torpedoes), he uttered the famous words, "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!". Farragut;s victory closed the last Confederate port on the Gulf of Mexico. He was promoted to full admiral on July 25, 1866. He died on August 14, 1870.