August 5 in Military History — On This Day

Battle of Mobile Bay

Admiral Farragut lashed himself to the rigging of his flagship USS Hartford to see above the smoke and led his fleet into Mobile Bay against three Confederate forts and the ironclad CSS Tennessee. When the lead monitor USS Tecumseh struck a mine and plunged to the bottom in two minutes, the fleet hesitated. Farragut reportedly ordered: 'Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!' The fleet charged through the minefield, battered the Tennessee into submission, and sealed the bay. The city of Mobile itself held out until April 1865.

Closed the Confederacy's last major Gulf port east of the Mississippi, tightening the naval blockade. The battle gave the North a significant morale boost during the dark summer of 1864. Farragut's famous order became one of the most celebrated commands in American military history.

Full battle details →

⚔️📍 Mobile Bay, Alabama1864

Battle of Mobile Bay — 'Damn the Torpedoes!'

Union Admiral David Farragut led his fleet past Confederate forts and through a minefield into Mobile Bay, shouting his famous order when a leading ship struck a mine. His fleet destroyed or captured the Confederate squadron including the ironclad CSS Tennessee.

Closing Mobile Bay — the Confederacy's last major Gulf port — further strangled Confederate trade and supply lines.

Outcome

Union victory; last Gulf Confederate port closed

The Relief March: Beicang and Yangcun

The international relief column of some 20,000 — Japanese, Russian, British, American, French, and others — pushed up the Hai River toward Peking in blistering August heat, brushing aside Qing resistance at Beicang and Yangcun. Rivalry and mistrust divided the allied contingents even as they advanced together.

The relief march was a remarkable, if fractious, multinational operation; its victories at Beicang and Yangcun broke the last organised Qing resistance between Tientsin and the capital.

Full battle details →