James Barnes, author of David G. Farragut, Naval Actions of 1812, Yank ee Ships and Yankee Sailors, Commodore Bainbridge , The Blockaders, and other naval and historical works, The Photographic History of The Civil War: in ten volumes, Thousands of Scenes Photographed 1861-65, with Text by many Special Authorities, Volume 6: The Navy.
Francis Trevelyan Miller, Ed.

[120] took command of the North Atlantic, guarding the coast of Virginia and North Carolina, while Flag-Officer Du Pont was assigned to the South Atlantic, guarding the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. The Gulf Squadron also was divided: Flag-Officer McKean took command of the East Gulf from Cape Canaveral to Pensacola, and Flag-Officer Farragut was assigned to the command of the West Gulf from Pensacola to Matamoras. When Port Royal was taken by Du Pont and Farragut had captured New Orleans, the navy had not only established bases but had entered wedges into the very vitals of the Confederacy. After holding the command of the North Atlantic Squadron for little short of a year, Admiral Goldsborough was relieved by Admiral Lee, who was, two years later, relieved in turn by Admiral Porter. The latter's command was brief but full of stirring events and brilliant deeds. The Confederacy, though tottering, was fighting tenaciously. Brave old Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor was still unsurrendered, and the land forces of the South held a few strong positions on the Atlantic coast, but the navy and the army of the United States, acting in cooperation, soon had possession of every port and sea-coast battery, Fort Fisher being the last to fall, on January 15, 1865.

In July of 1863, Admiral Du Pont had been relieved by Admiral Dahlgren, who hauled down his flag two years later at Washington. In the East Gulf, the command fell successively on Admirals Lardner, Bailey, and Stribling. In the West Gulf, Farragut retained command until after the capture of Mobile Bay, in 1864, when Admiral Thatcher succeeded him.

The monotony of this continual and watchful existence was broken by the frequent chasing and occasional capture of blockade-runners. The log-books of this adventurous fleet of marine speculators would make chapters as full of interest as any in naval history. But it would be interest of the kind one finds in fiction. It was one series of deliberated, challenging dangers and hairbreadth escapes to freedom. Profits almost