James Glasgow Farragut arrived at Lowe's Ferry on the Holston River in Tennessee on the 5th of July 1801. His mother Elizabeth Shine died of yellow fever when he was only four years old, leaving him without parents to raise him in the frontier wilderness.
The boy adopted the name David in honor of his foster father United States Navy officer David Porter in 1812. He entered the U.S. Navy rolls as a boy seaman in the spring of 1810 at just nine years old before receiving a warrant as midshipman on the 17th of December 1810.
Farragut participated in the capture of HMS Alert while serving aboard the frigate Essex on the 13th of August 1812. He was wounded and captured at Valparaíso Bay in Chile against British forces on the 28th of March 1814 but survived the ordeal and returned to active duty.
On the 29th of April 1862, Farragut ran past forts Jackson and St. Philip to capture New Orleans after heavy bombardment. The Confederate forces had amassed sixteen gunboats with more than one hundred heavy guns defending the river approach while Union sailors faced overwhelming odds.
During the battle at Mobile Bay on the 5th of August 1864, Farragut ordered his fleet forward despite tethered naval mines known as torpedoes blocking the way. He climbed the ship's rigging to direct operations from above and shouted the order when a monitor struck a mine and others began pulling back toward safer waters.
Congress created new ranks specifically for Farragut making him the first rear admiral vice admiral and full admiral in United States Navy history. He received promotion to vice admiral on the 21st of December 1864 and became full admiral on the 25th of July 1866 becoming the first U.S. Navy officer to hold that highest rank ever granted.