Combat· American Civil War
Battle of Mobile Bay
Farragut's great victory that closed the Confederacy's last major Gulf port.
On 5 August 1864 his fleet steamed past Fort Morgan and through the torpedo field at the mouth of Mobile Bay, the admiral lashed in the rigging giving the famous order to damn the torpedoes and press on. Beyond the forts lay the powerful ironclad ram CSS Tennessee and a cluster of gunboats. As the ships closed, the Marines aboard fired their muskets into the Tennessee's gunports, and aboard the flagship Hartford the after guns were manned by Marines under Captain Charles Heywood, a future Commandant, who kept up a deadly fire through the fight. The Tennessee was battered into surrender and the forts fell soon after. The Confederate Marine guard of the Tennessee, under Lieutenant Raney, fought on the losing side. Mobile Bay was among the heaviest naval actions of the war.
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Record no. 439