Tom Fine: ‘Admiral Farragut and the Civil War on the Waters’

Wendy SmithFarragut, Our Town Stories

The Farragut Museum will host a lecture on Admiral David Farragut at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26.

Tom Fine, a retired TVA attorney who has had a life-long interest in military history, will be speaking on Farragut’s early life and his role in the Civil War. The Farragut Museum will open at 1 p.m. for tours. The lecture is open to the public and everyone is encouraged to visit the expanded Admiral Farragut exhibition in the Farragut Museum prior to the lecture.

The Union Navy was one of the North’s major advantages in the Civil War. David Glasgow Farragut was born in west Knox County not far from the Farragut Museum and went to sea with his foster father, David Porter, when he was a young teenager. He served bravely on Porter’s frigate, the Essex, in the War of 1812. He stayed in the U.S. Navy, gaining experience on sea and land duty. He learned to master the technological changes that swept over the world’s navies in the first half of the 19th century, including steam power, rifled cannons firing explosive shells, and ironclads. The Civil War gave Farragut the opportunity to display his planning and leadership skills at New Orleans, the Mississippi River and Mobile Bay.

The Farragut Museum is open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. The museum is located inside Farragut Town Hall at 11408 Municipal Center Drive. For more information or to schedule a group tour, contact Julia Barham at 865-218-3377 or museum@townoffarragut.org.

Town of Farragut marketing and public relations coordinator Wendy Smith is your reliable Farragut insider.

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