Lincoln's Admiral: The Civil War Campaigns of David Farragut

by James P. Duffy

Book Overview

"Damn the torpedoes. . . . Full speed ahead." Admiral David Farragut's bold order at the Battle of Mobile Bay has served as a rallying cry for the United States Navy for a century. Described as... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0785820965
• ISBN13: 9780785820963
• Release Date: May 2008
• Publisher: Castle Books
• Length: 276 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Good read

I enjoyed this book. It is well written and moves at a good pace. I was not very familiar with naval campaigns from the Civil War, and I thought this book was a good introduction to the topic. I came away with a new appreciation for Admiral Farragut's talent and character. I held back a star because I thought the book could have used more maps and diagrams to illustrate the battles and the campaigns. The maps in the book are mostly reprinted from other books, and some of them are difficult to read. I recommend this book to those who enjoy reading about the Civil War, especially if you desire to learn more about the naval efforts during the war.

Short biography on Farragut

James Duffy's biography on Admiral David Farragut proves to be interesting and easy to read. The book basically summarized Farragut's career without going into great details. The book deals more or less with Farragut's military career with few insights to his personal life. The book gives a pretty clear understanding of Farragut's role in the Civil War and the amazing amount of the time he spent on the Mississippi River after capturing New Orleans. His pet project of taking Mobile had to wait two years. The book was also reflective in revealing his relationship he had with his stepbrother, Admiral David Dixon Porter, another famed Union naval leader. The author believes that Porter was quite jealous of Farragut and tried his utmost to undermined him. If there was a singular weakness, the book doesn't covered much about Farragut's life during the peace time but then, the subtitle of the book is "Civil War Campaigns of David Farragut" so that where the main focus remains. Overall, I found this book to be pretty well researched, well written and easy to read. Its easy to introduced this book as a nice introductionary book on the career of Farragut and no doubt, helped put him among the great seamen of our nation's history.

A solid examination of Farragut

I was not sure whether I wanted to read a biography of Farragut after having read Loyall Farragut's biography of his father, but I enjoyed Duffy's book. He does not blindly glorify Farragut's memory, but clearly shows why David Farragut's long career in the Navy and perceptive intellect made him one of the most effective military leaders during the Civil War. Duffy is also one of the few authors/historians to portray Adm. David Dixon Porter in a negative light by shedding light on Porter's attempts to upstage and undermine Farragut's accomplishments via his connections in Washington.

A very interesting biography of a Civil War Naval Officer

I read this book when it was first published in 1997 and although I had never heard of Admiral David Farragut I had heard "Damn the torpedoes..." from some where (I'm an Australian!). I found this book to be a very easy to read biography of a very interesting man. I have very limited knowledge of naval matters (I was a grunt) but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was enjoyable to read and the battle scenes were vivid and easy to follow. I would recommend this book to anybody who has an interest in the American Civil War.