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  Farragut remained a midshipman until the beginning of the following year, receiving his promotion to lieutenant on January 13, 1825. At twenty-three, he was unusually old for a midshipman. The age difference between Farragut and most other midshipmen had caused him some embarrassment, and occasionally some discomfort. Although he had been as old as some of the officers on board a ship, and might have had even longer time in the service, he had been forced, because of his rank, to continue to mess in steerage with the other midshipmen, many of whom were young boys. Farragut attributed at least part of the responsibility for the long delay in receiving a lieutenancy to the remarks Captain Porter had included in his report of the battle at Valparaiso. Porter had written that Farragut was too young to receive the promotion his actions during the battle deserved. “I never appeared,” Farragut commented much later in his life, “to get any older in the eyes of the government or my commander, and consequently had to contend inch by inch, as opportunities presented, with men of riper age and apparently more entitled to the places sought.”

  The promotion, late though it might have been, brought with it something the struggling young couple badly needed, an increase in pay. As a lieutenant on active duty, Farragut was entitled to $40 a month and three meals per day. Unfortunately he was in Norfolk awaiting assignment, and because that wasn’t considered active duty, he was actually only on half pay.

  Financial relief finally arrived on August 9, 1825, in the form of orders instructing Lieutenant Farragut to join the company of the newly constructed forty-four-gun frigate Brandywine. Named for a famous Revolutionary War battle, the ship’s first assignment was the transportation of a famous hero of that war, the Marquis de Lafayette. Lafayette was returning to France following a much heralded and successful visit to his adopted nation.

  Upon returning to the United States in May 1826, Farragut found his wife had been suffering from neuralgia during his absence. He requested and received a leave from the navy so he could take her to New Haven, Connecticut, where he sought the help of a Yale College professor, Dr. Eli Ives, who specialized in treating this painful affliction of the nerves. There is no record indicating whether Dr. Ives was able to help Mrs. Farragut. The neuralgia would leave the young wife partially disabled for the remainder of her life.

  During the four months the Farraguts lived in New Haven, David availed himself of the many lectures conducted by Yale professors. He found this especially enjoyable because the effects of the sunstroke prevented lengthy reading. The future admiral recorded that a favorite lecturer was Professor Benjamin Silliman, who occupied the college’s chair of chemistry and mineralogy.

  In October 1826, the Farraguts returned Norfolk, where he was assigned to the receiving ship Alert. During this tour, which kept him stationed in Norfolk, Farragut started a school to further the education of the many young boys who were serving in the navy, and who, “with very few exceptions, did not know their letters.” Having suffered himself from the lack of basic schooling during his own formative years in the navy, he was determined that these boys, many of whom would go on to become naval officers, should learn to read and write. This school, which earned Farragut “one of the few, the very few, compliments I ever received from the Navy Department or its head,” was the precursor of the shipboard schools that led to the establishment of the Naval Academy at Annapolis.

  Farragut’s assignment aboard the Alert at Norfolk afforded him the opportunity to remain close to Susan, and to care for her during her long periods of painful attacks of neuralgia.

  But David Farragut was a lieutenant in the United States Navy, and sooner or later he was bound to return to the sea. Orders arrived on October 15, 1828, when Farragut was assigned to the brand-new eighteen-gun sloop Vandalia, which was being sent off the South American coast. Construction had just been completed, and she was being fitted when Farragut arrived at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The Vandalia sailed for the Brazil Station on December 18. The highlight of this one-year cruise was at Buenos Aires, Argentina, during May 1829, when the city, and with it the country, succumbed to the revolutionary forces of the famed Juan Manuel de Rosas. Leading an army built around his following of gauchos, the extremely popular Rosas brought down the dictatorship of General Juan Lavalle. Rosas would rule Argentina until 1852.

  Suffering from increasingly failing eyesight, Farragut was relieved of duty and ordered to return to the United States at the end of December 1829. The journey, which took fifty days, was made aboard a merchantman since no warships were sailing for Norfolk at the time. When he arrived home in February 1830, Farragut was dismayed to find his wife bedridden by her neuralgia and another undiagnosed ailment, which might have been arthritis. Fortunately, Farragut was again stationed at Norfolk, where he was able to look after Susan’s needs. With his wife’s health steadily deteriorating, and his own eyesight in need of attention, Farragut requested and received a leave of absence in the summer of 1832 in order to seek help from doctors in Philadelphia. But there is no record that either of the Farraguts received much assistance with their medical problems in Philadelphia before they were forced to flee the city a few weeks later, when a cholera epidemic broke out.

  In December 1832, he returned to duty and was assigned as first lieutenant, the equivalent of the modern executive officer, aboard the sloop Natchez, which was identical to the Vandalia. The Natchez spent the first three months of 1833 anchored off Charleston, South Carolina, waiting to enforce federal actions that might be ordered against that state in the wake of an “Ordinance of Nullification” she had passed against federal tariff rates. Many people expected the state to go into open rebellion, but a settlement of the tariff issue was finally worked out, and the Natchez returned to Norfolk.

  On May 8, 1833, the Natchez, with First Lieutenant David Farragut aboard, left Norfolk and sailed for the Brazil Station, returning Farragut to the locales of his earlier cruise. He remained on the Natchez until March 7, 1834, when he was given command of the ten-gun schooner Boxer, which arrived from her station in the East Indies. Her own officers and crew were relieved of duty and returned to the United States as passengers aboard another vessel while their ship remained on the Brazil Station. Although it was Farragut’s second command, the first having been the bay boat Ferret, serving in the Mosquito Fleet, it was his first command of an actual warship.

  Unfortunately, his first true command was not destined to last long, for after refitting and three months’ duty with the fleet, Farragut was ordered to take the Boxer to Norfolk, where she was to be decommissioned. Arriving home in late July, Farragut found his wife’s condition had worsened. He often had to carry her from room to room because she was too weak to make these brief journeys. Now came a four-year wait for orders; although this meant half pay, it afforded him a prolonged period in which to care for Susan. His devotion to his ailing wife made an impression on friends and associates and increased his esteem with those who knew him.

  Four years waiting for orders was not unusual for the period. The navy’s system of construction of new warships and repair of existing ships was riddled with contractor corruption. As a result, during the late 1830s, there were more American warships of the larger variety, ships of the line and frigates, laid up for repairs than on sea duty. That left an unusually large number of qualified and experienced officers without duty. Many of these men were forced to find temporary employment elsewhere, such as serving on merchant ships, because they only received half pay while they were waiting for orders.

  To while away the many long hours of idleness, Farragut began making repairs to his home, some of which were badly needed following his long absences. He soon acquired a proficiency in carpentry rivaled only by professionals. During this time, Susan’s health appeared to stabilize, but did not improve.

  Orders for sea duty aboard the frigate Constellation finally arrived on April 10, 1838. Farragut joined her shortly before she sailed for the Mexican coast as part of an American fleet sent to Tampico to look after U
.S. interests while Mexican and French forces engaged in what turned out to be a brief war. On August 8, he was given command of the eighteen-gun sloop Erie. The war situation grew worse when a revolution broke out among the Mexican forces, and the Erie was required to sail up and down the Mexican coast, removing American citizens and funds to safety.

  During this time, Farragut received a valuable lesson concerning the vulnerability of a powerful fort to naval bombardment when he watched a French fleet attack and nearly reduce to rubble the proud and ostensibly impregnable fortress near Veracruz, the Castle of San Juan de Ulloa. Inspecting the castle shortly after its Mexican defenders capitulated, he estimated that had they not surrendered, the place would have been totally destroyed in a few more hours. Viewing the damage, Farragut could see that virtually any structure could be leveled by ships standing offshore engaged in a steady bombardment that not only did material damage, but forced the fort’s gun crews to abandon their guns and seek safety from the rain of shot and shell.

  In January 1839, Farragut relinquished command of the Erie to Commander Joseph Smoot, and sailed for New Orleans, where he spent two weeks visiting his sister Nancy. Making his way home overland, he arrived in Norfolk to find that his wife’s health had deteriorated further. He spent the remainder of that year and the next in or near Norfolk in order to provide Susan with as much comfort as possible. On December 27, 1840, Susan Farragut died following three days of violent spasms. In his grief over her passing, he wrote that she had led a life “of unequaled suffering, which she bore with a resignation and patience unparalleled for sixteen years, setting an example, to all sufferers, of calmness and fortitude under the severest afflictions.”

  Returning to duty the following February, he was assigned as executive officer on the seventy-four-gun ship of the line Delaware, which was then refitting for sea duty at Norfolk. On September 27, 1841, a few days before the Delaware sailed as lead ship of a squadron bound for the Brazil Station, David Farragut was promoted to commander. He was now forty-one years old and had been a lieutenant for sixteen years. His new pay grade exceeded $200 per month while at sea.

  On June 1 of the following year, Commander Farragut was given command of the sixteen-gun sloop-of-war Decatur, also on the Brazil Station. Her former commanding officer, Commander Henry Ogden, had fallen ill and was forced to return home for convalescence. The Decatur and her new commanding officer spent several months in and around Buenos Aires, during which Farragut was a regular guest of Governor Juan Manuel de Rosas, at both his official residence and his country home outside the city.

  Farragut’s command of the Decatur ended on February 18, 1843, when the ship, which had been at sea for a long time before he took command, returned to Norfolk for refitting. Her officers and men were relieved of active duty pending reassignment. The navy continued to suffer from a shortage of functioning ships because so many were laid up for repairs. The fact that many more senior commanders sought the limited number of available ships meant Farragut was going to remain in Norfolk for an extended period. This gave him the opportunity to resume a social life. He soon met and fell in love with Virginia Dorcas Loyall, eldest daughter of a well-to-do and highly respected Norfolk citizen, William Loyall. Following a short courtship, they were married at Christ Church in Norfolk on December 26, 1843.

  The following April, Farragut was back on active duty, this time as executive officer of the Pennsylvania. At 120 guns and 3,241 tons, she was the largest ship in the United States Navy, and one of the largest in the world. Because she was assigned as the receiving ship at Portsmouth Navy Yard, the newlyweds would not be separated by a long sea voyage.

  On October 12, 1844, Virginia gave birth to a boy, whom the couple named Loyall Farragut. As the Farraguts were living on board the Pennsylvania at the time, Mrs. Farragut had gone to her father’s home on East Main Street in Norfolk to prepare for the birth. It was there that Loyall was born. At forty-three years of age, Commander David Farragut had finally become a father. For the remaining years of his life, he would be completely devoted to Loyall, who was a constant source of pride. As the time of his own death neared, Farragut entrusted his papers and records to Loyall, leaving him the duty of writing the admiral’s first biography, a homage the faithful son executed with great commercial success.

  At the request of the commanding officer of the Norfolk Navy Yard, Commodore Jesse Wilkinson, Farragut was transferred there in October 1845 to serve as his executive officer. To be requested by Wilkinson was an honor, for it showed great faith in Commander Farragut, who would be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the vast yard. During this duty at Norfolk, Farragut dictated to an assistant a book of memoirs of his life. Badly handicapped by his sunstroke-damaged eyes, and able to write only a few pages at a time, he found the only way he could complete the book was through the use of dictation. The work was titled Some Reminiscences of Early Life, by D. G. Farragut, A Captain, The United States Navy.

  In 1846, when war loomed with Mexico over the question of annexation of Texas by the United States, Farragut made several requests for sea duty in the Gulf of Mexico. He cited, as reasons for consideration, his knowledge of Spanish, in which, along with French, Italian, and Arabic, he was thoroughly conversant. He also emphasized his experience in Mexican waters during past cruises, especially his presence when the French took the Castle of San Juan de Ulloa, which had since been rebuilt and served as the primary defense of the important Mexican city of Veracruz. He hoped to participate in taking the castle with United States naval forces, using his knowledge of the area and the fortress and her batteries. For some unknown reason, perhaps because of the great number of similar applications by other officers, his requests either went unanswered or he received only perfunctory acknowledgments, but no action.

  Finally, in February 1847, he was given command of the sloop-of- war Saratoga, then stationed at Norfolk. Through great effort, he was able to put together a crew, although many were cooks and servants from other vessels. Racing as quickly as possible to the scene of action, he was greatly disappointed to arrive off Veracruz on April 26 to find the American flag flying over the castle. It had surrendered to U.S. Army forces under the command of General Winfield Scott, with the navy squadron of Commodore Matthew Perry playing only a subordinate and minor role.

  Farragut’s disappointment was twofold. Not only had he earlier, on his own initiative, submitted a detailed plan for the conquest of the castle by naval forces that Perry had ignored, but he had hoped to play an important part in that action. In addition, Farragut hoped that a spectacular and successful naval engagement, such as the taking of this famous fortress, would aid in correcting a shortcoming he believed hurt the navy, the absence of any admirals. Farragut had become part of a faction of younger officers and civilian friends of the navy who strongly advocated the creation of the rank of admiral. Many in Congress believed that the rank smacked of royalty, perhaps because so many European monarchs also held the rank of admiral in their own navies. As a result, the U.S. Navy was not permitted to commission any officer above the level of captain. Among the disadvantages of having no admiral was that when the navy engaged in a joint action with a foreign fleet, United States vessels had to subordinate themselves to foreign command, because the leadership of a combined force traditionally was given to the highest-ranking officer. Virtually every other country with a substantial navy had the rank of admiral. U.S. Navy officers referred to as commodores were actually captains who had received this purely ceremonial rank in recognition of their having commanded squadrons of ships, thus placing them in command of captains of individual vessels.

  Farragut injudiciously voiced his disappointment over Perry’s failure to take advantage of what he considered a great opportunity to win glory for the navy. When his words were repeated to Commodore Perry, the older man was angered, and bad blood soon existed between the two. As punishment, the Saratoga was placed on blockade duty for an extended period, and not permitted to take part in
any of the engagements of the war. At one point, Perry attempted to rebuke his junior officer for what he termed neglect of duty for failing to stop and search a British steamer that had arrived with a Mexican Army general aboard. When Farragut rightly pointed out that the U.S. Army was in charge of the port and had assumed all duties for halting and inspecting all incoming ships, Perry backed down. Regardless, word of the incident somehow reached the American press, where it was reported that Commander Farragut had been reprimanded by Perry for neglect of duty.

  Frustrated over not being allowed to see action, Farragut requested to be relieved of command of his ship, but nothing came of it. Perry, it seems, was determined to keep him isolated from action. Even after yellow fever broke out aboard the Saratoga and Farragut himself was struck down by the disease, Perry forced the ship to remain on station weeks longer than any other vessel before allowing her to sail to Pensacola, Florida, where yellow fever victims received medical care.

  Farragut’s service on the Saratoga ended on February 19, 1848, when he turned control of the ship over to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The cruise into Mexican waters had been, in his own words, “the most mortifying” service of his career.

  During the next few years, Farragut served in various shore posts. Following a short return as executive officer of the Norfolk Navy Yard, the Farraguts, including Loyall, who was now three years old, were moved to Washington, D.C., where Farragut participated with several other officers in preparing a book of naval ordnance regulations. While in Washington, he spent his free evenings attending lectures at the Smithsonian Institution, just as he had done so many years earlier in New Haven.

  In April 1852, Farragut returned to the Norfolk Yard, where his chief duty was to conduct weekly lectures on gunnery for officers stationed there. Then his own long interest in the improvement of naval guns and his work on the ordnance manual led to a special assignment of a year’s duration. At the request of the navy’s chief of the Bureau of Ordnance and Gunnery, Commodore H. W. Morris, Farragut was placed in charge of a program to conduct endurance tests on various types of guns. Working at nearby Fortress Monroe, he also examined methods for improving the endurance of the guns in use aboard naval ships. Among the officers assigned to assist Farragut were two lieutenants who would play important roles in Farragut’s Civil War campaigns, Percival Drayton and Henry Bell.