Beschreibung:

Approx. 6.5 x 7 in. This is Farragut's General Order No. 13 (although the number is not on the manuscript draft). Framed with an albumen from a cdv of Farragut and a typed copy of the orders (probably from the ORs).Addressed from his flag ship, USS Hartford: Mobile Bay Aug. 6 1864 Sunday Morning Aug. 7, 64 The Admiral desires the Fleet to return thanks to Almighty God for the signal victory over the enemy on the morning of the 5th inst. D.G. Farragut Rear Admiral Comdg. W[est].G[ulf].B[lockading]. Squad[ron]. After the fall of New Orleans, Mobile became the primary port of the Confederacy for shipping cotton and munitions, among other items. The Federal troops needed to shut down this access point. David Farragut arrived just outside Mobile Bay in late July 1864. He hesitated to enter the bay without his ironclads, four of which arrived at the end of the month. The entrance to the bay entailed forts on either side, and most of the water was mined, with what at the time were known as "torpedoes," (or, as the Federals called them, "infernal machines"). There was only a narrow channel under the guns of Fort Morgan on the eastern side of the entrance to the bay to allow blockade runners entrance. Farragut planned his attack carefully. He would enter the bay in two columns, the ironclads closest to Fort Morgan, the wooden-hulled vessels farther away. These would also have several larger ships lashed together to: a) shield the smaller ships from the guns and b) if one was damaged, others would pull it into the bay. The ironclad Tecumseh went first, with the assignment of shielding the wooden ships from the Confederate ironclad, CSS Tennessee, on which the only Confederate Admiral, Franklin Buchanan, was directing the action on his side of the bay. Tecumseh spotted Tennessee to the port of the wooden ships and veered over to intercept, crowding the fleet close to the mined area of the entrance. The lead wooden ship (which was to be the Hartford, but his officers talked Farragut into letting the Brooklyn go first) stopped when her commander saw the minefield ahead. After a couple of hesitations by Brooklyn and the sinking of the Tecumseh, Farragut ordered the Hartford to pass the lead ships to port, directly through the minefield, (reportedly) uttering his famous, "Damn the torpedoes." The rest of the fleet followed in Hartford's wake, and miraculously made it through. Federal sailors reported hearing the clicking of primers on the "torpedoes" as the fleet steamed into harbor, but none exploded (Southern materiel was notoriously shoddy). Upon getting his ships into the bay, a naval battle ensued, but the quicker wooden ships had little difficulty evading the clumsy ironclads. After a short battle, Buchanan evaluated his ship and let his men eat breakfast. He then ordered the ironclad into the middle of the Federal fleet, aiming directly at the Hartford. A short time later, when the Federal fleet surrounded the Tennessee, she was badly damaged, Buchanan was wounded (again), and his flag captain, now in command, surrendered. Farragut lost few vessels other than the initial Tecumseh sinking, but he did loose a couple hundred men. The Confederacy lost the battle and access to the bay. Provenance: The Paul DeHaan Collection of Items Related to Admiral D.G. Farragut and the USS Hartford Condition: Not removed from frame for examination, but appears to be in very good condition.