USS Ivy (1862) was a steamer

Steamboat

A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...

 acquired by the Union Navy

Union Navy

The Union Navy is the label applied to the United States Navy during the American Civil War, to contrast it from its direct opponent, the Confederate States Navy...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

She was assigned by the Navy as a gunboat

Gunboat

A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...

 to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 to prevent the South from trading with other countries. Ivy also was assigned the role of tugboat

Tugboat

A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...

 and dispatch boat

Dispatch boat

Dispatch boats were small boats, and sometimes large ships, tasked to carry military dispatches from ship to ship or from ship to shore or, in some cases from shore to shore...

; towards the end of the war she was assigned the role of coal barge tender.

Built in Missouri in 1862

Ivy, a screw tug, was built as Terror by the Army at St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

, in 1862; transferred to the Navy 30 September 1862 and renamed Ivy.

Assigned to the Mississippi Squadron

Assigned to the Mississippi Squadron, Ivy took part as tugboat

Tugboat

A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...

 and dispatch boat in the winter operations around Vicksburg 1862-63. In the important attack on Fort Hindman 9–11 January 1863, she served as Rear Admiral David D. Porter's flagship

Flagship

A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

.

As the more powerful gunboats pounded the fort in support of General William Tecumseh Sherman

William Tecumseh Sherman

William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...

's attack, Ivy came alongside both Cincinnati

USS Cincinnati (1862)

The City class ironclad USS Cincinnati was a stern-wheel casemate gunboat in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for Cincinnati, Ohio and was the first ship to bear that name in the United States Navy....

 and Louisville

USS Louisville (1862)

USS Louisville was a City class ironclad gunboat constructed for the U.S. Army by James B. Eads during the American Civil War. [While initially owned by the Army, the City Class gunboats were commanded by U.S. Navy officers, and were eventually transferred to the Navy.]Louisville was built at St....

 to help quench fires started by shore fire. In a memorandum in the office of Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles

Gideon Welles

Gideon Welles was the United States Secretary of the Navy from 1861 to 1869. His buildup of the Navy to successfully execute blockades of Southern ports was a key component of Northern victory of the Civil War...

 noted:

"The officers and crew behaved with great coolness, though under a brisk fire of musketry."

The naval attack, directed from Ivy, resulted in Sherman's capture of the fort, a severe blow to the Confederate cause in the West.

Passing under the lethal Vicksburg batteries on the Mississippi

Ivy was also present for the passage of the Vicksburg, Mississippi

Vicksburg, Mississippi

Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the only city in Warren County. It is located northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and due west of Jackson, the state capital. In 1900, 14,834 people lived in Vicksburg; in 1910, 20,814; in 1920,...

, batteries by Admiral David Dixon Porter

David Dixon Porter

David Dixon Porter was a member of one of the most distinguished families in the history of the United States Navy. Promoted as the second man to the rank of admiral, after his adoptive brother David G...

's ships 16–17 April 1863. Lashed to the side of the powerful Benton

USS Benton (1861)

USS Benton was an ironclad river gunboat in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for American senator Thomas Hart Benton. Benton was a former center-wheel catamaran snagboat and was converted by James B. Eads, St...

, Ivy steamed boldly past Vicksburg, opening operations south of the city to Porter and contributing importantly to the fall of Grand Gulf and eventually to the capture of Vicksburg.

In May the tug accompanied the gunboats up the Red River

Red River (Mississippi watershed)

The Red River, or sometimes the Red River of the South, is a major tributary of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers in the southern United States of America. The river gains its name from the red-bed country of its watershed. It is one of several rivers with that name...

. The ships reached abandoned Fort De Russy 5 May and 2 days later took Alexandria, only to be forced back downstream by low water. The fort was partially destroyed and Porter returned to Grand Gulf to continue the assault on Vicksburg.

The tug remained near Vicksburg, often as Porter's flagship

Flagship

A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

, until after its fall 4 July 1863, and subsequently acted as a dispatch boat and tug on the river and as a receiving ship for prisoners of war. Ivy entered the Red River

Red River (Mississippi watershed)

The Red River, or sometimes the Red River of the South, is a major tributary of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers in the southern United States of America. The river gains its name from the red-bed country of its watershed. It is one of several rivers with that name...

 again in 1864 when the major part of Admiral Porter's fleet was caught by low water above the rapids at Alexandria. She assisted gunboat Ozark

USS Ozark (1863)

The first USS Ozark, a single-turreted river monitor, was built by contract with George C. Bester, Peoria, Illinois; launched on 18 February 1863; commissioned on 18 February 1864, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant George W. Brown in command....

 over the rapids 13 May 1864 and returned to the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 with the fleet amid frequent Confederate attacks from shore.

Final operations of the war and decommissioning

For the remainder of the war Ivy was used to tend and pump coal barges at Donaldsonville, Louisiana

Donaldsonville, Louisiana

Donaldsonville is a city in and the parish seat of Ascension Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the west bank of the Mississippi River. The population was 7,605 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:Acadians began to settle in the area in...

. She was sold at Mound City, Illinois

Mound City, Illinois

Mound City is a city located along the Ohio River in Pulaski County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 692. It is the county seat of Pulaski County.-Geography:Mound City is located at ....

, 17 August 1865 to W. G. Priest.