On Friday, August 5, 1864 Admiral David Farragut led eighteen Union ships into Mobile Bay, engaging the Confederate forts at the mouth of the bay and the defending Confederate warships. The USS Tecumseh, heading for the CSS Tennessee, struck a submerged torpedo and quickly sank. Farragut in the rigging of the USS Hartford, his flag ship, reputedly shouted, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.” After being rammed three separate times by Union ships, the CSS Tennessee surrendered after losing power, and after suffering a broken leg aboard the Tennessee Confederate Admiral Franklin Buchanan was taken prisoner. With the Hartford leading the way, the Union fleet successfully ran past the two Confederate forts. Admiral David Farragut’s successful seizure of Mobile Bay soon would allow Federal land operations against the city of Mobile.
00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.
This Week in the Civil War - #890
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