George Farragut

Jordi Farragut Mesquida, anglicized as George Farragut (born September 29 or September 30, 1755 – June 4, 1817), was a Spanish American naval officer, born in Ciutadella de Menorca, then under British occupation. He fought during the American Revolutionary War and with the Continental Army in battles in the South. After commanding a Spanish trading ship in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, he had joined the South Carolina Navy as a lieutenant when the war broke out. He anglicized his Spanish name when he joined the South Carolina Navy.

Early life

Jordi Farragut Mesquida was born to Antoni Farragut and Joana Mesquida in Ciutadella on the island of Menorca (an overseas territory of the Kingdom of Great Britain between 1708 and 1782, now part of Spain). He first went to sea at the age of 10, and left Menorca as a young man to join the Spanish merchant marine after studies in the Barcelona School of nautical studies. He fought in the Russo-Turkish Wars with the Russian Navy against the Ottoman Navy at the battle of Chesma in 1770. He commanded a small vessel that traded goods between Veracruz (today Mexico) and New Orleans (Spanish Louisiana) which were both under Spanish rule as New Spain at the time, and ports in the Caribbean, namely Havana, Cuba.

American War of Independence

He joined his new country at the beginning of the American Revolution, initially as a lieutenant in the South Carolina Navy, and anglicized his first name to George. Farragut fought the British at Savannah and was captured in the Siege of Charleston in 1780.