5 August in military history: the Battle of Mobile Bay, 1864

Quick answer

On 5 August 1864 Rear Admiral David G. Farragut took a Union fleet of fourteen wooden steamers and four ironclad monitors into Mobile Bay, Alabama, past the guns of Fort Morgan. The leading monitor, USS Tecumseh, struck a mine, then called a torpedo, and sank with most of her crew. When the Brooklyn stopped ahead of him, Farragut took his flagship Hartford through the minefield, and tradition gives him the words "Damn the torpedoes!" Inside the bay the Confederate ram CSS Tennessee fought the fleet until she surrendered at about 10 a.m. Fort Morgan, the last of the forts, surrendered on 23 August. On the same date in 1914 the German attack on Liège began.

The Battle of Mobile Bay, 1864: Damn the torpedoes

5 August 1864 · 162 years ago

The Battle of Mobile Bay was fought on 5 August 1864. Rear Admiral David Farragut led a Union fleet of wooden warships and ironclad monitors into the bay past the guns of Fort Morgan.

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Battle of Petrovaradin, 1716: the grand vizier falls before Prince Eugene

5 August 1716 · 310 years ago

At Petrovaradin on the Danube, the Habsburg army of Prince Eugene of Savoy took on a much larger Ottoman army under Grand Vizier Damad Ali Pasha in the Austro-Turkish War of 1716-1718. The Ottomans broke and fled, losing their camp and guns, and the grand vizier was killed.

Read the full story of Battle of Petrovaradin, 1716: the grand vizier falls before Prince Eugene ›

Also on this day

1914: the Belgian army's report and the British official history both say that on 5 August the Germans bridged the Meuse at Lixhe and demanded passage through Liège, and were refused. The Belgian report speaks of the governor's "peremptory refusal" and has German corps then assaulting five forts that day and being repulsed "with great loss", then attacking again in the night of 5 to 6 August, when a cavalry party of two officers and eight men made an attempt on the governor and all were killed. The British history speaks of a failed attempt to kidnap the commandant and a night attack in five columns. Erich Ludendorff, with General von Emmich, dates the advance through the forts to "the night of the 5th-6th August" and writes that he took over the 14th Infantry Brigade; the British history says its brigadier had been killed.¹

Frequently asked questions

Who won the Battle of Mobile Bay?

The Union. Rear Admiral David G. Farragut's fleet forced its way into the bay, the ironclad CSS Tennessee surrendered at about 10 a.m., and the forts fell by 23 August, closing the port of Mobile to blockade runners.

Did Farragut really say "Damn the torpedoes"?

The words come from later accounts: Parker (1878), Loyall Farragut (1879) and Mahan print "Damn the torpedoes!" followed by separate orders. John C. Kinney, who was aboard the Hartford, called the shouted reply "the current story": he thought the remark itself quite probable but doubted it was shouted to the Brooklyn.

What happened to the USS Tecumseh?

The monitor struck a mine, then called a torpedo, at 7:40 a.m. and went down in some 25 seconds. The Naval History and Heritage Command counts her commander and 92 others lost; Battles and Leaders gives 93 drowned and 4 captured, the Encyclopedia of Alabama 94 men.

When did the forts at Mobile Bay fall?

Fort Powell was evacuated on the night of 5 August, Fort Gaines surrendered on 8 August and Fort Morgan on 23 August 1864.

What happened at Liège on 5 August 1914?

The Germans bridged the Meuse at Lixhe and demanded passage through Liège, which the governor refused. The Belgian report has five forts assaulted that day, and Ludendorff dates the advance through the forts to the night of 5 to 6 August.