Jordi Farragut
Portrait of Jordi Farragut attributed to William Swain, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History
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| Native name | Jordi Farragut Mesquida |
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| Born | September 29, 1755 or September 30, 1755 |
| Died | June 4, 1817 (aged 61) |
| Allegiance |
Continental Infantry South Carolina Navy |
Jordi Farragut Mesquida, known in America as George Farragut (born September 29 or September 30, 1755 – June 4, 1817), was a Minorcan-born American naval officer during the American Revolutionary War. He also fought with the Continental Infantry 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 Catalan name (Jordi) to George Farragut when he joined the South Carolina Navy.
Jordi Farragut Mesquida was born to Antoni Farragut and Joana Mesquida in Ciutadella, Minorca (Spain). He first went to sea at the age of 10, and left Minorca as a young man to join the Spanish merchant marines. He commanded a small vessel that traded goods between Veracruz, Mexico, New Orleans (under French and Spanish rule), and ports in the Caribbean, namely Havana, Cuba.
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. Farragut's left arm was broken by a cannonball during the fighting in Charlestown. After being released in a prisoner exchange, he fought as a volunteer at the Battle of Cowpens and at Wilmington. He was described by his contemporary George W. Siever "as a short, chunky man; very brave and a funny genius."
After the war, Farragut married Scotch-Irish American Elizabeth Shine (1765-1808) from North Carolina. They moved west to Tennessee, where their son David Farragut (born James Glasgow Farragut) was born in 1801. They had several children.
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