About Mr. Farragut

[Glorybound]

August 14, 2012, 12:00 pm
The Making of Rear Admiral Farragut

By MEREDITH HINDLEY

The Union's newest war hero began his life as a landlocked son of the South. Farragut, christened with the first name James, was born on July 5, 1801, in Campbell's Station, Tenn., a small hamlet outside Knoxville. Six years later, his father, George, moved the family to New Orleans, to take a job as a sailing master for the Navy. George and his wife, Elizabeth, became close friends with David Porter Sr., who had been a captain in the Navy during the Revolutionary War. After Porter collapsed from heatstroke while fishing on Lake Pontchartrain in early 1808, Elizabeth nursed him until his death. She followed him to the grave a few days later, succumbing to yellow fever.



http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/14/the-making-of-rear-admiral-farragut/#more-132724

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

Nice, except for this paragraph:

Over the years, Farragut, who continued to distinguish himself during the war, has been the subject of myth-making. One claim frequently bandied about is that Farragut was the nation's first rear admiral, a moniker that implies a singular achievement. That benchmark is one of the things that originally inspired this essay. But as I dug into the sources and historical accounts, my historian "Spidey senses" began to tingle and I started to doubt that claim. That led me to check the Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Reserve Officers on Active Duty for 1863. It revealed that two other captains received promotion to rear admiral on the same day as Farragut: Samuel Francis Du Pont, commander of South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, and Louis M. Goldsborough, commander of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Given Du Pont and Goldsborough's wartime accomplishments, something tells me that Farragut would have regarded their promotions as equally just.

The author ignores the fact that Farragut was named to the promotion list first, and ranked above the others in the Navy List. He truly was the nation's first rear admiral... and the first promoted to vice admiral... and the first promoted to full admiral. First admiral in every sense of the phrase.

This is an image of the 1863 Navy Register the columnist cites. The order of names is in order of precedence.

 

[jessgettysburg1863]

August 14, 2012, 12:00 pm
The Making of Rear Admiral Farragut

By MEREDITH HINDLEY

The Union's newest war hero began his life as a landlocked son of the South. Farragut, christened with the first name James, was born on July 5, 1801, in Campbell's Station, Tenn., a small hamlet outside Knoxville. Six years later, his father, George, moved the family to New Orleans, to take a job as a sailing master for the Navy. George and his wife, Elizabeth, became close friends with David Porter Sr., who had been a captain in the Navy during the Revolutionary War. After Porter collapsed from heatstroke while fishing on Lake Pontchartrain in early 1808, Elizabeth nursed him until his death. She followed him to the grave a few days later, succumbing to yellow fever.



http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/14/the-making-of-rear-admiral-farragut/#more-132724

Nice post once again Lee !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[5fish]

August 14, 2012, 12:00 pm
The Making of Rear Admiral Farragut

By MEREDITH HINDLEY

The Union's newest war hero began his life as a landlocked son of the South. Farragut, christened with the first name James, was born on July 5, 1801, in Campbell's Station, Tenn., a small hamlet outside Knoxville. Six years later, his father, George, moved the family to New Orleans, to take a job as a sailing master for the Navy. George and his wife, Elizabeth, became close friends with David Porter Sr., who had been a captain in the Navy during the Revolutionary War. After Porter collapsed from heatstroke while fishing on Lake Pontchartrain in early 1808, Elizabeth nursed him until his death. She followed him to the grave a few days later, succumbing to yellow fever.



http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/14/the-making-of-rear-admiral-farragut/#more-132724

The interesting thing in this article is the description of the U S Navy state of command at the beginning of the war...Its highest rank was Captain....In many early joint operation even thou the naval captain may have had 30 years of experience. he had to follow orders form army officers that had mere months of being on the job....

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

In the course of my research of Henry Walke's career, I necessarily have had to delve into the prewar Navy, and most particularly the many attempts at naval reform in the antebellum era. One book on the state of personnel management in the Navy in this period is entitled "Waiting for Dead Men's Shoes," as to a very real extent, promotion depended upon senior officers dying. Promotion was strictly by seniority, and ended at captain... but oddly, many ships were commanded by junior officers, since by the time one reached captain, one might not be fit to go to sea anymore.

(I definitely came to a new appreciation of future-Confederate-Navy-Secretary Stephen R. Mallory in the course of this research; he served on the Senate Naval Affairs Committee, and also chaired that committee for a time in the 1850s; his record is of a progressive and energetic reformer.)

 

[John Hartwell]

But, whatever you do, don't quote him about the torpedoes, or the first word will be edited to "****"! One of the silliest bowdlerizations ever. Who today is going to be offended by "Frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a ****!"? That word is the only profanity I ever use, and I treasure it! Of course, you could leave a space between the 'm' and the 'n', like in Mark's signature.

Hilaritas!

jno