Böcker av Estate of Charles Lee Lewis

The second volume of this authoritative biography of Americas first admiral examines the last ten years of David Glasgow Farraguts life, which included the ever-fascinating period of the Civil War. Farragut was as carefully methodical in preparation for battle as he was fearlessly swift in the execution of his plans. In Our First Admiral, the reader will learn of gross inefficiency and waste in the conduct of war, in the North as well as the South; of jealous ambition and malicious criticism; of lukewarm support of the government, lack of cooperation between the Army and Navy, and the inroads upon morale made by war weariness and disease, all of which tried Farraguts courage as much as the enemy in battle. Farragut was a practical resourceful leader with vision and intuition (a rare combination), a courageous hard-hitting fighter who hated war, and a deeply religious man with an exuberant spirit and love of fellowship who was also exceedingly loyal to the Navy and his country. Though he was small in physical stature, Farragut was tall indeed in the fundamental characteristics of true manhood.

This biography covers David Glasgow Farraguts long career in the navy before the Civil War. He was about sixty years old when that war began, and had accordingly lived through that long transitional period from sail to steam. As a lad he had served with Porter in the Essex on her glorious cruise which ended in bloody defeat at Valparaiso; he had repeatedly cruised in the Mediterranean; he hunted pirates in the Caribbean and had almost died of yellow fever; he had become familiar with the coast of Mexico and was present when the French bombarded the Castle of San Juan de Ulloa at Vera Cruz; he had often cruised into Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and Rio de Janeiro when revolution and anarchy threatened those cities; he had been on a man-of-war at Charleston when nullification threatened the union; he had participated in the Mexican War; he had established the Mare Island Navy Yard; and he commanded the steam sloop of war Brooklyn. Meanwhile he had slowly risen up the ladder of promotion from midshipman to captain, then the highest rank in the United States Navy.