Take Command, Captain Farragut!

"Starting his career in the U.S. Navy at the age of ten, David Farragut performed his tasks so well that he was fighting aboard a ship during the War of 1812 and put in command of his own ship by the age of twelve."@en
"David Glasgow Farragut became a midshipman on the frigate Essex and fought during the War of 1812. The story is told in letters back to his father."
"The story of the ten-year-old boy who becomes captain of a ship After his mother’s death, young David Glasgow Farragut is forced to leave home to live with Captain Porter and his wife. During the War of 1812, Captain Porter is posted to the Essex , and he chooses to bring David with him to fight the British Navy. At ten years old, David is the youngest midshipman ever assigned to a warship in the US Navy. On board, Farragut must not only learn about life at sea, he must establish his authority over seamen twice his age. Farragut proves his worth as the Essex first sails the Atlantic and then travels “around the Horn” to the Pacific, where it engages in battle. After taking control of a captured ship near Valparaíso, Chile, Farragut, only twelve years old, is assigned his first position as full captain and given the captain’s sword he has coveted from the start. Told through fictional letters that Farragut wrote to his father from prison after his capture, Take Command, Captain Farragut! gives young readers an extraordinary view into the life of an adventurer who today would be a classmate."@en