THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, August 7, 1994                 TAG: 9408040534
SECTION: COMMENTARY               PAGE: J3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: GEORGE TUCKER
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   76 lines

CIVIL WAR HERO FOR NORTH HAD LONGTIME TIES TO AREA

DAVID GLASGOW FARRAGUT, created America's first admiral by an act of Congress in 1866, had an almost lifetime tie with the Norfolk area. Born in Tennessee in 1801, Farragut was the son of a Spanish sea captain who had fought for the colonies during the American Revolution. When his mother died when he was 8, Farragut was adopted by Capt. David Porter, a U.S. naval officer who obtained for him a midshipman's warrant. Two years later in 1811, 10-year-old Farragut had a memorable encounter on the Norfolk waterfront.

When the gig of the man-of-war Essex was standing by at a wharf awaiting the return of Farragut's benefactor from some business ashore, a crowd of dock loafers began making fun of the bantam midshipman. Young Farragut faced his tormentors stoically until one of them began sprinkling him with a watering can ``to make him grow.''

Before the fellow knew what was happening, Farragut snagged him with a boat hook and yanked him down into the gig. The sailors were spoiling for a fight, and that was their signal. Led by Farragut, who brandished a dirk, they leaped from the gig and drove the hecklers up what was later known as Commercial Place. Shortly afterward, the law took over, and Farragut and his companions were taken before a justice who bound them over to keep the public peace. When Capt. Porter heard of the affair, however, he was delighted with his protege's prowess and praised him for being ``three pounds of uniform and seventy pounds of fight.''

For the next half-century, the Norfolk area was Farragut's home ashore. In September 1824 he was married to Susan Caroline Marchant by the Rev. John H. Wingfield, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Portsmouth. Less than three years afterward she became an invalid. From then until her death 16 years later, Farragut nursed her with the utmost tenderness. This caused a Norfolk matron to remark, ``When Captain Farragut dies, he should have a monument reaching to the skies, made by every woman in Norfolk contributing a stone.''

In December 1943, Farragut was married to his second wife, Virginia D. Loyall, by the Rev. Upton Beale of Christ Episcopal Church in Norfolk. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Farragut, still a Navy captain, was stationed at Gosport Navy Yard, now Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth. When he openly endorsed President Lincoln's call for troops to put down the rebellion, a fire-eating Southerner informed him that a person with such sentiments ``could not live in Norfolk.''

``Well, then,'' Farragut replied, ``I can live somewhere else.'' That evening he left Norfolk for the last time with his wife and their son, Loyall Farragut, for the North, the championship of which he later bravely performed at New Orleans and Mobile Bay. At the latter place he reputedly thundered, ``Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!''

Even though this famous line has been quoted innumerable times, it is not exactly correct. According to ``1,001 Things Everyone Should Know About American History,'' by John A. Garraty (1989):

``What Admiral David Farragut actually said when he ordered his ship to enter Mobile Bay in 1864, despite the danger that the harbor might have been mined by the Confederates, was more precise. To Percival Drayton, the commander of his flagship, USS Hartford, he said, `Damn the torpedoes! Four bells (i.e., full speed)! Captain Drayton, go ahead!' To James E. Jouett, commander of the gunboat Metacomet, which was lashed to the Hartford, he said, `Jouett, full speed!' ''

Farragut's heroism at Mobile Bay and elsewhere made him a national hero. Congress responded by creating for him the rank of vice admiral and later that of admiral. His last tour of duty after the war carried him to Europe, where he was lavishly entertained at every port of call. On his return to this country aboard the USS Franklin he stopped at Minorca, the home of his paternal ancestors, and gathered what genealogical facts he could about his revered Spanish forefather, the Moor-fighting Pedro Ferragut. Finally, in August 1870, America's Civil War naval hero died in Portsmouth, N.H., surrounded by his family and friends. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

David Glasgow Farragut

by CNB