It is a matter of some, though minor, interest to note that Farragut has
occasion at this time to mention Garibaldi, in connection with the wars
then waging. The Italian patriot, whose name was then far from having
the celebrity it has since attained, had for some time been engaged on
the popular side in revolutionary struggles in the southern provinces of
Brazil. Thence he had passed into Uruguay, and become a teacher of
mathematics in Montevideo. Rosas had the ambition to bring into the
Argentine confederation all the provinces which once formed the
viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres, of which Uruguay was one; and, finding a
pretext in the civil dissensions of the latter, had opened hostilities
as the ally of one party in the State. Garibaldi, who began life as a
seaman, had command of the Uruguayan naval forces, and in that capacity
undertook to carry stores to Corrientes, an important point far up the
river Parana. "As he met with many obstacles in his course," notes
Farragut, "the Argentine admiral, Brown, was enabled to overtake him.
Garibaldi ran his vessel into a creek and made a most desperate
resistance; fought until he had expended everything in the way of
ammunition, then landed his crew and set his vessel on fire." On the
17th of October a grand ball was given in honor of this success, which
Commander Farragut attended; as he did all the other gayeties during his
stay in Buenos Ayres.
The Decatur had already been long on the station when Farragut assumed
command, and the time had now arrived for her to return home. After
leaving Buenos Ayres she made short stops at Montevideo, Rio Janeiro,
Maranham, and Para, the latter being the seaport of the Amazon River. On
the 18th of February, 1843, she arrived in Norfolk, and Farragut was
relieved. His health being delicate at this time, he spent the following
summer at Fauquier Springs, Virginia.
From the mountains he returned in the autumn to Norfolk; and there on
the 26th of December, 1843, he married Miss Virginia Loyall, the eldest
daughter of Mr. William Loyall, a well-known and respected citizen of
Norfolk.
In April, 1844, Commander Farragut was ordered as executive officer to
the receiving ship at Norfolk, the Pennsylvania, of one hundred and
twenty guns; which, in the days of sailing ships, was by far the largest
vessel the United States ever had, and one of the largest in the world.
Some time later he was transferred to the navy yard at the same place,
on which duty he was employed when the war with Mexico arose.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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