Robert L. Caleo

Farragut and Family: the Making of an Elder Hero Robert L. Caleo

David Glasgow Farragut, the Civil War icon and America's first four-star admiral, had a family worthy of fiction. The main character - those who influenced him most - were heroes themselves in their day: In the American Revolution, it was George, this Spanish immigrant father; in the War of 1812, David Porter, both his foster father and commander; and in the Civil War, David Dixon Porter, his adopted brother and naval partner. This book tells how Farragut's hero-relatives impacted him at successive stages in his growth and career. A kind of family album in text and illustration, the book begins with details of Farragut's Spanish and Irish ancestry. It concludes with a profile of his son, Loyall, his chosen biographer, who along with the admiral's wife, Virginia, became guardians of his legacy when he passed.