The Making of a Hero: Admiral Farragut and the Battle of Mobile Bay

In 1864 the Union was at last prepared to implement a unified land strategy designed to achieve victory in the Civil War. The plan called for William Tecumseh Sherman to drive hard to Atlanta, while farther East, Ulysses S. Grant would engage Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Sherman reasoned that an assault on Mobile would force the Confederates to send reinforcements, thus weakening their defense of Atlanta. Patrolling the blockade in the Gulf of Mexico, Admiral Farragut got word that he would finally receive the monitors necessary to capture the last major Southern port. To secure the bay he would send his steam driven, wooden hulled ships pair by pair through the one hundred and fifty yard wide channel between the guns of Fort Morgan and a torpedo field. Accompanying these ships would be the four monitors, which were to absorb raking fire, guard against the Confederate ironclad, "Tennessee," and draw the attention of the shore batteries. At 5:45 on the morning of August 5, 1864, Farragut’s lead ship, the "Brooklyn," entered the channel and found itself nearly alongside the rear most monitor. Captain Alden, afraid to pass the monitors and face the "Tennessee" alone, halted his ship and began backing.Read more