<P> While an aggressive commander, Farragut was not always cooperative . At the Siege of Port Hudson, the plan was that Farragut's flotilla would pass by the guns of the Confederate stronghold with the help of a diversionary land attack by the Army of the Gulf, commanded by General Nathaniel Banks, to commence at 8: 00 a.m. on March 15, 1863 . Farragut unilaterally decided to move the timetable up to 9: 00 p.m. on March 14, and initiated his run past the guns before Union ground forces were in position . The consequently uncoordinated attack allowed the Confederates to concentrate on Farragut's flotilla and inflict heavy damage to his warships . </P> <P> Farragut's battle group was forced to retreat with only two ships able to pass the heavy cannon of the Confederate bastion . After surviving the gauntlet, Farragut played no further part in the battle for Port Hudson, and General Banks was left to continue the siege without the advantage of naval support . The Union Army made two major attacks on the fort; both were repulsed with heavy losses . Farragut's flotilla was splintered, yet was able to blockade the mouth of the Red River with the two remaining warships; he could not efficiently patrol the section of the Mississippi between Port Hudson and Vicksburg . Farragut's decision proved costly to the Union Navy and the Union Army, which suffered its highest casualty rate of the war at Port Hudson . </P> <P> Vicksburg surrendered on July 4, 1863, leaving Port Hudson as the last remaining Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River . General Banks accepted the surrender of the Confederate garrison at Port Hudson on July 9, ending the longest siege in U.S. military history . Control of the Mississippi River was the centerpiece of the Union strategy to win the war, and, with the surrender of Port Hudson, the Confederacy was now cut in two . </P> <P> On August 5, 1864, Farragut won a great victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay . Mobile, Alabama, was then the Confederacy's last major open port on the Gulf of Mexico . The bay was heavily mined (tethered naval mines were then known as "torpedoes"). Farragut ordered his fleet to charge the bay . When the monitor USS Tecumseh struck a mine and sank, the others began to pull back . </P>

Where did the phrase damn the torpedoes come from