Background
The warship U.S.S. Hartford served our country from 1859 until 1926. Over and over again she was repaired, rebuilt, and made ready to sail. She came to a shameful end in 1957. A hundred years before that, in 1857, Congress had authorized construction of five sailing warships with auxiliary seam power. The Hartford was one of them, to be built in the Boston Navy Yard.
Her keel of white oak was laid in January, 1858. Under the direction of naval constructor Edward H. Delano, 350 shipyard workers had her ready for launching by November of that year. She was 265 feet long and 44 feet wide, with a depth below waterline of only 13 feet. With sails set on her three masts she would be a beauty.
Her two steam engines were built in the South Boston shop of Harrison Loring, under the supervision of Jesse Gray, chief engineer in the U.S. Navy. Her tall smokestack was of a unique type which could be partially telescoped when the ship was not using her engines. The Hartford was ready to be commissioned. She had cost the government just over half a million dollars, a lot of money for that time.
After her sea trials in 1859, the Hartford left for her first tour of duty as flagship in the fleet known as the East Indies Squadron. In April 1861, the Confederates attacked Fort Sumter. President Lincoln declared war and proclaimed a blockade of the southern ports from South Carolina to Texas. Later that year the Hartford sailed to the Philadelphia Navy Yard to be dry-docked for minor adjustments and for the addition of more guns.
In Washington a plan was brewing with the goal of capturing New Orleans, ninety miles up the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico. If the North controlled the Mississippi, the Confederacy would be split in two. The plan required a man who was loyal to the Union, acquainted with the Mississippi River, and who had years of experience at sea. That man was Captain Farragut.
James Glasgow Farragut was born on July 5, 1801, at Campbell's Station, Tennessee. When a friend of the family, David Porter, Sr., became ill, he was cared for by Farragut's mother, Elizabeth. She died in 1808 in the Asiatic cholera epidemic in New Orleans, while caring for Porter. Farragut's father, a sea captain, and his older brother, a midshipman, were leaving to go off to sea. The three remaining children, two girls and Glasgow, would be looked after by a nanny. In appreciation of what the Farragut had done for his father, Captain David Porter, Jr. offered to take one of the three children.
David Glasgow Farragut
"Who wants to go live with the Porter's?" their father asked. "I do!" seven-year-old Glasgow shouted. Bursting with confidence, the boy had an inherited love of the sea. He sailed with Captain Porter and at an early age he received his midshipman's commission. Captain David Porter gave him a gold watch inscribed, DP to DGF. James Glasgow Farragut had a new name: David Glasgow Farragut.
After more than fifty years at sea, at the age of 61, Captain Farragut was chosen to command the West Gulf Blockading Squadron. The U.S.S. Hartford would be his flagship. The Hartford left Philadelphia where she had been dry-docked and took on final provisions in New Castle, DE. On January 26, 1862, Flag Officer Farragut boarded. The one-starred blue flag of flag officer, a rank newly created by Congress, was waived on the mizzenmast.
In April 1862, Captain Farragut began his campaign against New Orleans. He assembled eight ships, nine gunboats, and a group of mortar schooners, but no ironclads. Both the North and the South were racing to build these warships, having sides armed with metal plates. The mortar schooners were towed up the Mississippi, where they bombed Fort Jackson and Fort. St. Philip, the two main defenses between the Gulf of Mexico and New Orleans. Passing the forts, the Hartford's rigging was damaged by shells from Fort Jackson. The river's swift current swept her across to Fort St. Philip, where a fire raft forced her inshore. Her bow stuck in the mud. Flames from the fire raft rushed through her gun ports and up the rigging. Crew members rolled three 20-pound shells off of the Hartford's deck onto the raft. The shells exploded and the fire raft sank.
The Hartford backed out of the mud and escaped up the river. She had been hit badly by the guns of Fort St. Philip. Two of her men were killed, six were wounded. But the Confederate ships, except for two of them, had been destroyed or had retreated. Writing to General Butler, who planned to attack Fort St. Philip from the rear, Captain Farragut stated, "We have had a rough time of it. But as soon as we have captured New Orleans, we will return and take care of the forts."
Seventy-five miles up the river, New Orleans was in a state of alarm and turmoil, knowing that Union gunboats had passed the forts. Some of their ships left to escape up the river. Some of their ships they set afire. They took cotton bales from the warehouses and burned them on the wharves. Union ships on their way upriver had to dodge the burning debris. The fleet proceeded, destroying the Confederates' fortifications. They continued on in two columns, now in full view of New Orleans, greatest prize so far, of the Civil War.
Union officers went ashore to carry the demand for surrender to the mayor. They were told that the Common Council would have to meet to discuss the matter! Finally, after meetings of the two councils, after communications between the mayor and Captain Farragut, after a mob had been controlled by martial law, finally the Union flag flew over New Orleans on April 28, 1862. To the relief of Flag Officer Farragut and his men, General Butler took possession of New Orleans on May 1. Hasty repairs were made to the Hartford. The next objective was Vicksburg, up the river.
Captain Farragut was ordered to go 300 miles up the shallow Mississippi River with his oceangoing ships, then get back down before the higher water of spring receded Baton Rouge had surrendered Threatened by the Union fleet, Natchez surrendered. The defenses of Vicksburg were up on bluffs so high that the guns of the fleet could not be elevated enough to do damage. Farragut hoped the Union troops could overcome these defenses while his fleet attacked the city. This was impossible. The Northern troops under General Williams could not land from their transports in the fact of what amounted to 38,000 Confederates. The fleet turned around and headed down river.
By the end of May, 1862, the Hartford was anchored off of New Orleans. Captain Farragut read his many messages and letters. He wrote to his wife saving, "The Government thinks we can do anything ... expects me to navigate the Mississippi 900 miles, face batteries, ironclad rams ... run aground until next year, or more likely, be burned by the enemy." But Captain Farragut followed his orders. In June he started up the river, against the current, bound for Vicksburg. The Hartford ran aground again and again on shifting sandbars, and was damaged by Confederate bombardments.
That August, in 1862, Captain Farragut was notified of his promotion to Rear Admiral. The Hartford's one-starred blue flag was replaced with a flag having two stars.
For an entire year the fighting continued up and down the Mississippi. Union men on ships and in the troops suffered and fought, destroying Confederate boats and supplies. Not until May, 1863, did the North have the upper hand. Rear Admiral Farragut was able to turn over command of his fleet to fellow officers. He went back to New Orleans. The Hartford followed, after the fall of Vicksburg and the surrender of Port Hudson in July. The second great Civil War campaign of the USS Hartford was finished.
Repairing U.S.S. Hartford
She left for New York. When she entered New York harbor she was given a thirteen-gun salute from the ports and salutes from all of the foreign ships in port. Now the Hartford was dry-docked for repairs to her hull, spars and rigging. She got a new bowsprit and masts, and additional guns. And was painted gray to make her less visible at sea.
Under the command of Captain James Palmer, the Hartford sailed from New York on January 5, 1864 to take her place as flagship of the West Coast Blockading Squadron. Rear Admiral Farragut, rested after five months in the North, arrived at the naval base in Pensacola, FL on January 17.
The Army had decided they must capture Mobile. Farragut studied the defenses of Mobile Bay. At the entrance to the bay only a few hundred feet of deep channel remained open, directly under the guns of Fort Morgan on the east side. Fast little Confederate steamers were passing through this narrow channel with exports of cotton and imports of supplies. Farragut intended to control this passage, enter the broad waters of Mobile Bay, and destroy the Confederate squadron. Fort Gains, on the west side of the channel, would be attacked by the Union army. The Confederates had anchored rows of mines across the channel from the west side, in a minefield extending close to Fort Morgan. These so-called torpedoes, kegs filled with powder, were supposed to explode on contact.
By May, 1864, Farragut had assembled a Union fleet of 14 wooden ships. Two ironclads, the Manhattan and the Tecumseh, joined him from New York. Two monitors, ironclad warships with low, flat decks and gun turrets, came down the Mississippi. Then followed confederates with commanders of the troops that would support the fleet's entry into the bay, then reports, more reports, with estimates of Confederate strength.
A first lieutenant, John C. Kinney of the 19th Connecticut Infantry, was assigned to the Hartford as signal officers, with other signal officers assigned to the other ships. Also on board the Hartford was Acting Ensign Henry Howard Brownell of East Hartford, CT. Brownell has been called the Poet Laureate of the Battlefield. "Old John Brown lies a-mouldering in the grave; Glory, glory, hallelujah!" is one of his verse poems. The East Hartford public library, Raymond Library, owns a copy of one of the Brownell's works autographed by Admiral Farragut.
Mr. Brownell had written a verse transcription of one of Farragut's first general orders. Brownell began a correspondence with Farragut which resulted in his appointment as Acting Ensign and private secretary to Admiral Farragut on board the U.S.S. Hartford. What he saw in the Battle of Mobile Bay he described with the words, "Dreadful gobbet and shred that a minute ago were men.
On July 12, 1864, Admiral Farragut distributed General Order No. 10 to his captains. It describes in detail the battle procedures of 19th century warships. There is a copy of General Order No. 10 in the University of Hartford Archives, along with official U.S. Navy photographs of the Hartford and her crew.
At 6 a.m. on August 5 the fleet headed toward Fort Morgan, under cloudy skies with a westerly wind. Conditions were ideal.The breeze would blow the dense smoke of battle directly into the Confederate gunners' eyes. The ironclads led the way, followed by the ship Brooklyn with her heavy guns and a torpedo ram on her bow to pick up any torpedoes in her path.
Fort Morgan fired its cannons at 7:06 a.m. The Brooklyn and the Hartford returned fire. Farragut climbed into the rigging to watch his fleet over the gunsmoke, and to better communicate with the pilot. Three seamen manned the wheel, protected by stacks of sandbags and hammocks. Cannonballs were crashing into sides and onto the decks of the Hartford. She rolled side to side from the recoil of her big guns.
Just above the mine field the largest of all the Confederate ironclads, the formidable Tennessee, steamed toward a the union ships. The leader of Farragut's ironclads, the Tecumseh, suddenly veered left in front of the Brooklyn and headed straight for the Tennessee. The Brooklyn's captain signaled to the U.S.S. Hartford that the ironclads were in his way. Now the Tecumseh and the Brooklyn were both turning into the Hartford's path.
Suddenly the Tecumseh hit a mine. She sank immediately, bow first. The Brooklyn began backing. Her lookouts had spotted the torpedoes ahead. Other ironclads blocked the course. The only way was through the mine field. Ships were piling up, in danger of being swept over to Fort Morgan by the incoming tide.
Already the Hartford was being pounded by the guns of the fort. One seaman was decapitated. Another's legs were shot off. When he fell with his hands in the air, both arms were shot off. Admiral Farragut signaled to the Brooklyn to go ahead. But she hesitated. Her captain answered, "Torpedoes ahead!" Farragut called to his engine room, "Damn the torpedoes! Four bells!"—the command for full speed ahead. Two heels struck the Hartford, sweeping away most of two gun crews. Torpedoes were bumping and thudding against her hull. But they did not explode. They had leaked. Their powder as wet and useless.
Battling the Mighty Tennessee
Admiral Farragut sent a boat to rescue the Tecumseh's 21 survivors. A total of 93 men had gone down with her. A shell ripped a hole in the Hartford just above the waterline as she continued northward. After fierce fighting, a Confederate ship was captured, one beached itself to avoid deadly ram against the Hartford, returned to the fort. Now the Union fleet anchored in the open waters of Mobile Bay.
Within minutes, lookouts on the Hartford spotted the mighty Tennessee steaming toward them. Her commander, Admiral Buchanan, was using what little coat he had left in a last attempt to save Mobile Bay for the South. Two Union ships rammed the Tennessee with no effect on her ironclad sides. She headed for the Hartford. Farragut hoped only that the ironclad's bow would bite into the Hartford so deeply it could not back off and both ships would sink.
At the last moment the Tennessee swerved, hitting one of the Hartford's anchors, bending it out of shape. The ships passed just a few feet apart. The Hartford blasted away with heavy charges, severely damaging the Tennessee. The Tennessee kept firing, resulting in man casualties on the Hartford. Backing off to attack again, the Hartford collided with one of her own ships. Now the Union monitors arrived. At a range of 30 feet these agile, flatdecked ironclad warships hammered at the Tennessee's armor plate, crushing the timbers underneath. They destroyed the huge ship's steering chain, knocked over the smokestack, and jammed the gunport shutters. The Tennessee could not longer steer, could not fire her guns, her power plant was useless, her hull was losing chunks of iron plates, and she was leaking.
A white flag appeared from the grating of a gun battery. All firing ceased. However, one Union ship, the Ossipee, set for another ramming attempt, could not stop in time. She struck one final blow. It was 10 a.m., August 5, 1864. The Battle of Mobile Bay was over.
With failing health, Rear Admiral Farragut turned the squadron over to his next in command. In November he took the U.S.S. Hartford to New York where he was greeted with a reception, celebrations, and a gift from the merchants of the city of over $51,000 in government bonds. On December 20, 1864, the Hartford arrived at the New York Navy Yard for repairs. On that day Rear Admiral Farragut walked off her deck for the last time.
In July, 1866, David Glasgow Farragut was commissioned the first full admiral in the U.S. Navy. On the same day, Ulysses S. Grant was made full general. Admiral Farragut's final navy command was that of the European Squadron with the Franklin as his flagship. From 1867 to 1887, the U.S.S. Hartford continued as a fighting ship in the U.S. Navy. She sailed to the Far East, to the East Indies, and to the West Indies, protecting American interests. For three years she served as flagship of the South Atlantic Station.
In December, 1879, she was in Boston for repairs, with new engines and new guns and cannons. By July, 1882, she was back in commission to become flagship of the U.S. Asiatic Squadron. While here, she carried members of an expedition to the Caroline Islands to view a solar eclipse.
In 1887, the Hartford was dry-docked at the Mare Island Navy Yard in San Francisco to be rebuilt as a training ship at a cost of $600,000, $100,000 more than her original cost. In 1901 she cruised to Scotland, Sweden, Norway, and Belgium. Then for five years she took enlisted personnel on training cruises, covering the seven seas. After that she became a practice ship for the midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy. From 1916 to 1926 she served as station ship at Charleston, SC. In 1926 she was taken out of commission and laid up in the Navy Yard.
Norfolk Naval Shipyard
The USS Hartford's final port, in 1945, was the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Here she was shuttled from pier to pier and finally moved across the Elizabeth River to the Helena Annex. By 1948 her decks were rotten and her hull was leaking.
In 1954 the city of Mobile would have accepted her as a national monument. But the estimated cost of putting her in condition was two million dollars. Although this passed the House of Representatives, Congress adjourned before the Senate acted. After that, Congress procrastinated on spending anything on her restoration. She had lost her masts, spars, and rigging. Her guns had been melted down for scrap metal. The Navy Department requested permission to scrap the ship.
In June 1956, the House Armed Services Committee introduced a bill providing one and a quarter million dollars to restore the USS Hartford. On November 20, 1956, while this bill was waiting consideration, the pumps on the Hartford failed. She sank into twenty-seven feet of water and mud.
The Hartford was towed out to an abandoned wharf and ripped to pieces. By November, 1957, only her lower holds and keel remained. They were soaked with inflammables and burned. On that day, November 6, 1957, the USS Hartford, a proud, beautiful ship, met her shameful death.
In the same year the University was established. On February 21, 1957, Governor Ribicoff signed the charter creating the University of Hartford. Its three founding schools are the Hartford Art School, Hillyer College, and the Hartt College of Music. The Hartford Art School first held classes in 1877. Hillyer College traces its history back to 1879 when the YMCA was holding classes in various locations in Hartford. In 1888 Charles Tudor Hillyer, a Civil War general, purchased land in Hartford and gave it to the YMCA for a building of their own. When General Hillyer died, his children gave the YMCA a $50,000 endowment to establish Hillyer Institute, which became Hillyer Junior College in 1937 and Hillyer College in 1947. The Hartt College of Music dates back to 1920.
Also in 1957, a Civil War buff from West Hartford, Robert L. McGovern, was visiting the Navy Shipyard in Portsmouth, VA. The USS Hartford had been classified as a relic, with various items from the ship distributed to museums. On behalf of Hartford's Historical Landmarks Committee, Mr. McGovern requested the ship's bell and a bow anchor. They were both secured with the help of Senator William A. Purtell and Representative Edwin H. May. The bell went to the city of Hartford. The anchor, to the University of Hartford, approved for the gift because alumni had found in World Wars I and II. Its arrival was assured after communications between Naval personnel and Alan S. Wilson, the University's Vice-president of Academic Affairs.
The three-ton anchor arrived at the University's new campus in March, 1958. At a dedication ceremony Representative Ed May said "Many historians now claim that the USS Hartford was the salvation of the nation during the Civil War." The anchor, thirteen feet tall with ten-foot-wide flukes, has become an artistic outlet for students who delight in painting it, marking special events or just making a statement of their own.
The bell from the USS Hartford is pictured above. The memory of this old warship has been preserved. An attack submarine, built by Connecticut workers and stationed in Groton, was christened the USS Hartford in 1993. U.S. Navy Commander George Kasten's wish is that his sub become a symbol of Hartford, and that the Greater Hartford Chamber of Commerce adopt as the city's slogan, "Full speed ahead!"
Using the Collection
Contact the Archives at 860.768.4143 for more information about the U.S.S. Hartford's anchor.