January, 1814. It was one of the most sanguinary battles of the war,
when the decks ran with blood and the dead and dying were stretched on
every hand. Amid the terrible carnage the boy Farragut conducted himself
with such coolness and bravery that he was specially complimented by
Captain Porter in his report. Although wounded, he stood unflinchingly
to his guns, winning the admiration of the grim heroes around him and
demonstrating the wonderful qualities which later were to raise him to
the position of the foremost naval hero of the age.

Peace came, and, although Farragut was in continual service, promotion
was slow. He became lieutenant in 1825, commander in 1841 and captain in
1851. His first wife, whom he married in Norfolk, became an invalid and
did not live long. His second wife was also a native of Norfolk. Thus he
was not only a Southerner himself, but his wife was a native of that
section. When, therefore, civil war came and it became fashionable for
people to express secession sentiments, it was taken for granted that
Farragut would cast his fortunes with the South; but upon being
approached he indignantly replied: "I would see every man of you damned
before I would raise my hand against that flag!" Being told that it
would be unsafe for him to remain in the South, he added that he wanted
only two hours to find another place of residence. He moved away at once
and with his wife and only son took up his home on the Hudson near
Tarrytown.

[Illustration: COMMODORE DAVID GLASGOW FARRAGUT.]

Being a stranger in that neighborhood, he was regarded with suspicion.
He was fond of taking long walks, and it is said that some of the people
suspected that he belonged to a gang of plotters who intended to cut the
Croton Aqueduct, but the quiet man was simply awaiting the summons of
his country to serve her in any capacity possible.

The call came in the spring of 1861, when he was about threescore years
old. His duty was that of serving on the board appointed by Congress to
retire superannuated officers from the active service. This duty
completed, he was appointed to the command of the expedition organized
for the capture of New Orleans. He sailed from Hampton Roads on the 3d
of February, 1862, in the flagship _Hartford_ and arrived seventeen
days later at Ship Island, the place of rendezvous. There he set to work
to make his arrangements for the great task which was wholly different
from any that had ever engaged h