“Damn the torpedoes. Four bells, Captain Drayton, go ahead. Jouett, full speed”, commanded David Glasgow Farragut on April 24, 1862. He shouted this now famous tweet during the Civil War Battle of Mobile Bay, and the condensed version of his words have become a fixture in American language to connote courage and decisiveness. (“Drayton” and “Jouett” refer… Continue reading “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” 1862
Month: April 1862
Union Officer Fernandez Cavada 1862
Soaring through the air in a hot air balloon over the dangerous, flaming battlefield on April 19, 1862, Union officer Fernandez Cavada quickly and accurately sketched the deployments of enemy Confederate troops on the Virginia peninsula. Cavada was born in Cienfuegos, Cuba, to a Cuban father and North American mother. After her husband’s death, Cavada’s… Continue reading Union Officer Fernandez Cavada 1862
Néstor Montoya, Editor and Politician 1862
April 14, 1862 is the birthday of editor and politician Néstor Montoya in Old Albuquerque, New Mexico. Montoya worked tirelessly for the inclusion of Latinx in the political and social life of New Mexico. In 1889, he founded the weekly Spanish-language newspaper, “La Voz del Pueblo”, which advocated statehood for New Mexico. In 1910 Montoya… Continue reading Néstor Montoya, Editor and Politician 1862