Farragut Association Port of New York Bronze Medal
Farragut Association Port of New York Bronze Medal - This is a very interesting Civil War Navy veteran's membership badge for the Farragut Veteran Association Port of New York. Originally organized in 1883, in 1899 it became the nucleus of a new society, “The United States Veteran Navy”, which also included Spanish American War naval veterans. The badge of the original organization is described as “a badge of bronze; a ribbon bearing the inscription ‘Farragut Veteran Association, Port Of New York’ encircles an irregular-shaped field, in the center of which is an eagle on a capstan, crossed cannon to the right, crossed swords to the left and rays above the eagle, the whole resting on an anchor and suspended by a ring from a clasp pin. The top bar is blank and examples have been found engraved with the Civil War Ships name. Beautiful design and in XF+ condition with nice even brown color. This is a rare scarce badge, for blue jackets and marines, most of these badges did not survive.
One of the most famous Civil War Naval Hero's David Glasgow Farragut (July 5, 1801 - August 14, 1870) was the senior officer of the U.S. Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and full admiral of the Navy. He is remembered in popular culture for his famous order at the Battle of Mobile Bay, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" though some have claimed he did not say the famous quotation.
Farragut was born to Jorge and Elizabeth Farragut at Campbell's Station, near Knoxville, Tennessee, his father was serving as a cavalry officer in the Tennessee militia. Jorge Farragut Mesquida (1755 - 1817), a Spanish-Catalan merchant captain from Minorca, had previously joined the American Revolutionary cause. David's birth name was James, but it was changed in 1812, following his adoption by future naval Captain David Porter in 1808 (which made him the foster brother of future Civil War Admiral David Dixon Porter).
David Farragut entered the Navy as a midshipman on December 17, 1810. In the War of 1812, when only 12 years old, he was given command of a prize ship taken by USS Essex and brought her safely to port. He was wounded and captured during the cruise of the Essex by HMS Phoebe in Valparaiso Bay, Chile, on March 28, 1814, but was exchanged in April 1815. Through the years that followed, in one assignment after another, he showed the high ability and devotion to duty that would allow him to make a great contribution to the Union victory in the Civil War and to write a famous page in the history of the United States Navy.
In command of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, with his flag in USS Hartford, in April 1862 he ran past Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip and the Chalmette, Louisiana, batteries to take the city and port of New Orleans, Louisiana, on April 29 that year, a decisive event in the war. Later that year he passed the batteries defending Vicksburg, Mississippi. Port Hudson fell to him July 9, 1863.
On August 5, 1864, Farragut won a great victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay. Mobile, Alabama, at the time was the Confederacy's last major port open on the Gulf of Mexico. The bay was heavily mined. Farragut ordered his fleet to charge the bay. When the monitor USS Tecumseh struck a mine and sank the others began to pull back. According to legend, Farragut (who was lashed to the rigging of his flagship the USS Hartford) shouted down the order, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" The bulk of the fleet succeeded in entering the bay.
Farragut then triumphed over the opposition of heavy batteries in Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines to defeat the squadron of Admiral Franklin Buchanan.
His country honored its great sailor after New Orleans by creating for him the rank of rear admiral on July 16, 1862, a rank never before used in the U.S. Navy. (Before this time, the American Navy had resisted the rank of admiral, preferring the term "flag officer", to separate it from the traditions of the European navies.) He was promoted to vice admiral on December 21, 1864, and to full admiral on July 25, 1866, after the war.
Inventory Number: VET 093