Farragut moved his family to the New York area as sectional crisis became war, making his Union allegiance unmistakable. The decision carried unusual personal weight because birth, family, and much of his early service connected him to the South. David Dixon Porter helped secure him the Gulf assignment, even though Farragut initially feared being ordered against friends and relatives at Norfolk. The resulting command covered blockade duties from the Mississippi toward the Mexican border, but its decisive objective was New Orleans.
Chapter · 1:42:24-1:48:33
Union loyalty and command of the Gulf squadron
A southern-born officer who called secession treason, Farragut accepted the Western Gulf command and prepared to strike his childhood region around New Orleans.