Service in The Union Navy
The Union squadron captured the abandoned Little Rebel and sent her to Cairo, Illinois, June 11 for repairs and for adjudication before the Illinois Prize Court. Her seizure was judged to be legal, so she was purchased by the U.S. Navy from the prize court. On January 9, 1863, she entered Federal service. She was first assigned to a flotilla of gunboats commanded by Lieutenant Commander LeRoy Fitch, who had to suppress guerrilla activity on the Ohio, Cumberland, and Tennessee Rivers. Her deep draft made her unsuitable for this duty, so she spent much time on guard duty in the vicinity of Cairo.
Little Rebel patrolled from Red River to Fort Adams in March 1863, as Union ships captured Fort De Russey and moved to counter Maximilian's threat to Texas. Steaming to the Mississippi River in April, she patrolled this area for the remainder of the conflict.
In May 1865, she and the other Union ships of the Mississippi River Squadron guarded to prevent the escape of Jefferson Davis. On the 28th, she convoyed troops to Red River, remaining at the mouth of the river when the squadron was reduced in June.
Read more about this topic: USS Little Rebel (1859)
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