FARRAGUT AT NEW ORLEANS IT WAS HARD WORK GETTING THE SQUADRON INTO THE MISSISSIPPI--PREPARING THE SHIPS TO RUN BY THE FORTS GUARDING THE RIVER--MORTAR SCHOONERS HIDDEN BY TREE BRANCHES--THE FORTS WERE WELL PLANNED, BUT POORLY ARMED--A BARRIER CHAIN THAT WAS NO BARRIER AT THE LAST--THE HETEROGENEOUS CONFEDERATE SQUADRON--THE FIRE-RAFTS--WORK OF THE COAST SURVEY--BRAVERY OF CALDWELL--FOREIGNERS WHO INTERFERED--WORK OF THE MORTAR FLEET--WHEN THE SQUADRON DROVE PAST THE FORTS--SCATTERING THE CONFEDERATE SQUADRON--NEVERTHELESS, AT LEAST THREE GOOD CAPTAINS WERE FOUND AMONG THEM--SINKING THE _VARUNA_--FATE OF THE RAM _MANASSAS_--SURRENDER OF THE FORTS--END OF THE IRONCLAD _LOUISIANA_--THE WORK OF THE MISSISSIPPI SQUADRON. In the story of the capture of New Orleans, early in the year 1862, the name of David Glasgow Farragut first appears in the annals of the Civil War. When the war began Farragut was a captain, and was awaiting orders at his home in Norfolk, Virginia. He was a Southern man by birth, and his family were of the South. A most determined effort was made by the Southern leaders to enlist him on their side; but Farragut was a man who could not forget his oath to support the Constitution of the United States. His only recorded reply to them was, “Mind what I tell you: You fellows will catch the devil before you get through with this business.” [Illustration: David Glasgow Farragut. _From a photograph._] Removing his family to a home on the Hudson River, he reported himself “ready for duty,” and felt some relief when he was made a member of the naval retiring board, created by a new law passed to get rid of superannuated officers. This appointment was at least a show of confidence in his loyalty. And there he was trying his official peers on a charge of old age when the expedition against New Orleans was planned. The idea of attacking New Orleans originated with Commander David D. Porter, when in charge of the blockading steamer _Powhatan_, that, during the summer of 1861, was lying off the Southwest Pass of the Mississippi. Porter made it a point to collect all the information possible about the river and the defences, and he found the fishermen from New Orleans very good spies. Returning North, Porter went to the Secretary of the Navy. He had a knack of getting the ears of the leaders in those days, as well as some luck, as one may say, and the expedition was decided on. Of course, Porter’s rank was too low for the command of such a force, but he was permitted to suggest the name of a suitable captain, and Farragut was promptly named. As the reader will remember, Farragut was reared in the old _Essex_ under Commodore David Porter, and David Porter was the father of David D. Porter. It was, perhaps, what may be called log-rolling for one of the family, but David D. Porter never did the nation a better service than when he spoke for Farragut.