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Editorial Reviews
The Atlantic Monthly, Phoebe-Lou Adams
David Farragut, the U.S. Navy's first admiral, did not roar, "Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead," as his ships entered Mobile Bay. He said the equivalent, however, and Mobile was taken, like New Orleans and the Mississippi River before it. Mr. Duffy's book on Farragut's Civil War campaigns reveals that he was a serious, determined, vastly capable commander, and too unflappable to provide picturesque anecdotes. His background was unusual. His father, a sea captain from Minorca, served in the American Revolution, and that connection eventually led to the placement of the motherless son in the family of a naval officer who offered to train him for the sea. The boy was less than ten years old when he was commissioned a midshipman. He sailed off, under the eye of his surrogate father, into the War of 1812. Most of the action he encountered was off the Pacific coast of South America, where at one point he was appointed prize master of a captured vessel. At twelve years old he was commander of a ship and handled it well--after getting the disgruntled civilian captain out of his way. That high point was followed by years of peace and stagnation, until the Civil War required efficient action against Confederate ports and the Mississippi River, and Lincoln's Secretary of the Navy put Farragut on the job. The campaign up the river was full of risk and excitement and tricky maneuvers, and the author makes the most of it. Mr. Duffy is primarily interested in fighting ships. He makes their equipment and performance and the reasons for Farragut's decisions thoroughly absorbing and understandable. He does not altogether overlook the people who worked those ships. After one battle Farragut looked at the casualties laid out on the deck and quietly wept.
From Booklist
Duffy merely summarizes the distinguished earlier career of great Union naval leader David Farragut and then focuses on his Civil War activities. Farragut was indefatigable, enterprising, technically ingenious, and even innovative; indeed, he was one of the most aggressive naval leaders in American history. Many will be surprised to learn from Duffy how much time Farragut spent up the Mississippi after New Orleans was captured, how thoroughly he blocked Confederate supplies from the Red River, and how he might have made the siege of Vicksburg unnecessary. The handling of the Union naval effort in Civil War historiography is generally not something to be proud of; Duffy helps improve that situation greatly with this book. Roland Green
See all Editorial Reviews
David Farragut, the U.S. Navy's first admiral, did not roar, "Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead," as his ships entered Mobile Bay. He said the equivalent, however, and Mobile was taken, like New Orleans and the Mississippi River before it. Mr. Duffy's book on Farragut's Civil War campaigns reveals that he was a serious, determined, vastly capable commander, and too unflappable to provide picturesque anecdotes. His background was unusual. His father, a sea captain from Minorca, served in the American Revolution, and that connection eventually led to the placement of the motherless son in the family of a naval officer who offered to train him for the sea. The boy was less than ten years old when he was commissioned a midshipman. He sailed off, under the eye of his surrogate father, into the War of 1812. Most of the action he encountered was off the Pacific coast of South America, where at one point he was appointed prize master of a captured vessel. At twelve years old he was commander of a ship and handled it well--after getting the disgruntled civilian captain out of his way. That high point was followed by years of peace and stagnation, until the Civil War required efficient action against Confederate ports and the Mississippi River, and Lincoln's Secretary of the Navy put Farragut on the job. The campaign up the river was full of risk and excitement and tricky maneuvers, and the author makes the most of it. Mr. Duffy is primarily interested in fighting ships. He makes their equipment and performance and the reasons for Farragut's decisions thoroughly absorbing and understandable. He does not altogether overlook the people who worked those ships. After one battle Farragut looked at the casualties laid out on the deck and quietly wept.
From Booklist
Duffy merely summarizes the distinguished earlier career of great Union naval leader David Farragut and then focuses on his Civil War activities. Farragut was indefatigable, enterprising, technically ingenious, and even innovative; indeed, he was one of the most aggressive naval leaders in American history. Many will be surprised to learn from Duffy how much time Farragut spent up the Mississippi after New Orleans was captured, how thoroughly he blocked Confederate supplies from the Red River, and how he might have made the siege of Vicksburg unnecessary. The handling of the Union naval effort in Civil War historiography is generally not something to be proud of; Duffy helps improve that situation greatly with this book. Roland Green
See all Editorial Reviews
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Citations
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4
books
cite this book:
- Testament to Union: Civil War Monuments in Washington, D.C. by Kathryn Allamong Jacob on page 81
- The Civil War and Reconstruction: A Student Companion (Oxford Student Companions to American History) by William L. Barney on page 121
- On Seas of Glory: Heroic Men, Great Ships, and Epic Battles of the American Navy by John Lehman in Back Matter
- On Seas of Glory: Heroic Men, Great Ships, and Epic Battles of the American Navy by John Lehman in Back Matter
