Abner Read, USN-- Part 7: Held in High Regard By Farragut "A Source Of Terror To the Rebels"

Regardless of what ship Abner Read may have been on: the USS New London or USS Monongahela,
he was wounded in both the abdomen and his right knee by a Confederate shell that crashed through his ship's bulwarks on the port quarter.

He was taken to a hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he died on the evening of the following day.

Farragut and the other officers of the fleet were lavish on the praise they heaped on their fallen comrade  Farragut said that Read  had "...perhaps done as much as any man in this war ....  The very mention of his name was a source of terror to the rebels."

On another occasion, Farragut said, "I know nothing of him prejudicial as a man, but I do know  that no Navy can boast a better officer and I deem him a great loss to both the Navy and to his country."

Legacy:  The destroyers USS Abner Read (DD-526) sunk by a kamikaze in World War II and USS Abner Read (DD-769), a planned ship that wasn't built because of the end of World War II, were named after him.

--Old B-Runner