ONE of the naval heroes of the great civil war is better remembered than David G. Farragut. The figure of the brave admiral, in the fight in Mobile Bay, standing in the rigging of the Hartford, with his glass in his hand, directing the movements of the fleet, is one of the most familiar pictures of the war; and no braver man or better sailor than Farragut ever took the deck of a vessel.

The naval career of Farragut began in the War of 1812, when he was a boy only eleven years old. He was in that famous battle in the harbor of Valparaiso between the Essex and the British war-vessels Phebe and Cherub, when the two British vessels attacked the Essex while disabled by a sudden squall, and after she had taken refuge in neutral waters. The Essex,

her sails blown away and crippled by the storm, was unable to change her position, and lay helpless at the mercy of her enemies' guns. After a bloody battle of two hours and a half, under such fearful odds, the flag was lowered. In such desperate battles as this, which gave to the American navy lasting renown, the naval career of Farragut began.

In January, 1862, the government fitted out an expedition for the capture of New Orleans, and put it under Farragut's command. His fleet comprised forty-eight vessels, large and small, and all of wood, as the iron-clad vessels of later date were not yet developed. The river was defended by Forts Jackson

and St. Philip, lying on opposite sides of the Mississippi, about seventy miles below the city; and many gunboats and rams lay near the forts.

Before attempting to pass the forts, Farragut determined to bombard them from his fleet; and careful preparations were made on all the vessels. It was a grand spectacle when, on the 16th of March, this formidable fleet at last opened fire. The low banks of the river on both sides seemed lined with flame. All day long the earth trembled under the heavy explosions, and by night two thousand shells had been hurled against the forts.

The rebels had not been idle during the delays of the previous weeks, but had contrived and constructed every possible instrument of destruction and defense. On the first morning of the bombardment they set adrift a fire-ship made of a huge flatboat piled with lighted pitch-pine cordwood. The blazing mass, however, kept in the middle of the stream, and so passed the fleet without inflicting any damage. At night another was sent adrift. Small boats were sent to meet it, and, in spite of the intense heat, grappling irons were fastened in it, and the mass was towed to the shore and left to burn harmlessly away.

Having at last made all the preparations that he could with the means allowed him, and the mortar-boats having accomplished all that was in their power to do for the present, the 26th day of April was fixed for the passage of the forts. The chain across the channel had been cut a few nights before. It was determined to start at two o'clock in the morning, and the evening before Farragut visited his ships for a last interview with the commanders.

THE PASSAGE OF THE FORTS.

At length, at two o'clock, two lanterns were seen to rise slowly to the mizzen peak of the Hartford. The boatswain's shrill call rung over the water, and the drums beat to quarters. The enemy was on the lookout, and the vessels had scarcely got under way when signal-lights flashed along the batteries. Then a belt of fire gleamed through the darkness, and the next moment the heavy shot came shrieking over the bosom of the stream. All eyes were now turned on the Hartford, as she silently steamed on,-the signal "close action" blazing from her rigging. In the meantime the mortar-boats below opened fire, and the hissing shells, rising in graceful curves over the advancing fleet, dropped with a thunderous sound into the forts above. In a few minutes the advanced vessels opened, firing at the flashes from the forts. The fleet, with full steam on, was soon abreast of the forts, and its rapid broadsides, mingling with the deafening explosions on shore, turned night into fiery day.

While the bombardment was in progress, a fire-raft, pushed by the ram Manassas, loomed through the smoke, and bore straight down on the Hartford. Farragut sheered off to avoid the collision, and in doing so ran aground, when the fire-ship came full against him. In a moment the flames leaped up the rig

THE ATTACK ON THE FORTS.

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ging and along the sides. There was no panic; every man was in his place, and soon the hose was manned and a stream of water turned on the flames. The fire was at length got under, and Farragut again moved forward at the head of his column.

And now came down the rebel fleet of thirteen gunboats and two iron-clad rams to mingle in the combat. Broadside to broadside, hull crashing against hull, it quickly became at once a gladiatorial combat of ships. The Varuna, Captain Boggs, sent five of the Confederate vessels to the bottom one after another, and finally was herself sunk. When the sun rose through the morning

mist, he looked down on a scene never to be forgotten while naval deeds are honored by the nation. There lay the forts, with the Confederate flags still flying. But their doom was sealed. And there, too, driven ashore, wrecked, or captured, were thirteen of the enemy's gunboats, out of the seventeen brought down to assist the forts in resisting the Union fleet.

New Orleans was now at Farragut's mercy. Lovell, commanding the Confederate troops in the city, evacuated the place and left it under the control of the mayor, Monroe. Farragut took possession of the city, and raised the national flag on the City Hall, Mint, and Custom House, which were the

property of the United States. He then turned it over to General Butler and proceeded with his fleet up the river.

THE BATTLE IN MOBILE BAY.

In January, 1864, Farragut sailed for Mobile Bay. Morgan and Gaines were the chief forts barring it. Fort Morgan mounted some thirty guns, and Fort Gaines twenty-one. There were three steamers and four rams inside, waiting to receive any vessels that might succeed in passing the forts. Batteries lined the shore, and torpedoes paved the bed of the channel. On the 1st of March, also, before his preparations for the attack were complete, he saw the

Confederate iron-clad ram Tennessee steam up the channel and anchor near the forts.

This complicated the situation very much. The contest between wooden vessels on one side, and an iron-clad and strong forts on the other, was so unequal that it was almost foolhardy to enter it. After weeks of waiting, however, the Union iron-clad Tecumseh at last arrived, and on August 5, 1864. Farragut proceeded to attack the forts.

The vessels were arranged two by two, and lashed strongly together. The fleet, with the Brook

lyn ahead, steamed slowly on, and at a quarter to seven the Tecumseh fired the first gun. Twenty minutes later the forts opened fire, when the Brooklyn replied with two 100-pounder Parrott rifles, and the battle fairly commenced.

Farragut had lashed himself near the maintop of the Hartford, so as to be able to overlook the whole scene. While watching with absorbing anxiety the progress of the fleet through the tremendous fire now concentrated upon it, suddenly, to his utter amazement, he saw the Brooklyn stop and begin to back. The order to reverse engines passed down through the whole fleet, bringing it to a sudden halt just as it was entering the fiery vortex. "What does this mean?" had hardly passed the lips of Farragut, when he heard the cry, "Torpedoes! The Tecumseh is going down!" Glancing toward the spot where she lay, he saw only the top of her turrets, which were rapidly sinking beneath the water. Right ahead were the buoys which had turned the Brooklyn back, indi