The first USS Lafayette was a side wheel steamer, converted to an ironclad ram, in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 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...

.

Lafayette was built 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 1848 as Aleck Scott (often spelled Alick Scott). She was purchased by the War Department

United States Department of War

The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...

 as Fort Henry on 18 May 1862 for use in the western flotilla

Mississippi River Squadron

The Mississippi River Squadron was the Union naval squadron that operated on the western rivers during the American Civil War. It was initially created as a part of the Union Army, although it was commanded by naval officers, and was then known as the Western Gunboat Flotilla and sometimes as the...

. She was converted to an ironclad ram at St. Louis. Renamed Lafayette on 8 September 1862, she was transferred to the Navy with the entire western flotilla by executive order on 1 October 1862. She was commissioned at Cairo, Illinois

Cairo, Illinois

Cairo is the southernmost city in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the county seat of Alexander County. Cairo is located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The rivers converge at Fort Defiance State Park, an American Civil War fort that was commanded by General Ulysses S. Grant...

, 27 February 1863, with Captain Henry A. Walke

Henry A. Walke

Henry Walke was an officer in the United States Navy during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War.-Early life:...

 in command.

Battle of Vicksburg, April–July 1863

The new ram joined Rear 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 Mississippi Squadron above Vicksburg

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,...

 in time for the famous dash

Battle of Vicksburg

The Siege of Vicksburg was the final major military action in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mississippi River and drove the Confederate army of Lt. Gen. John C...

 on 6 April 1863 past the deadly batteries which protected the vital Confederate

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...

 fortress. The 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:...

s engaged the southern guns as they shepherded Army transports through the gauntlet to New Carthage. Ram General Sterling Price was lashed to the starboard side of Lafayette for the passage. The ships were covered with heavy logs and bales of wet hay, which proved to be an excellent defense. Each ship, except , also towed a coal barge. Lafayette, hampered by the ship lashed to her side, received nine "effective" shots through her casemate and had her coal barge sunk. Although under fire for 2½ hours, all ships of the squadron were ready for service within half an hour after the passage. The successful steaming of the squadron past the heavy batteries contributed to the early seizure of Grand Gulf, the eventual fall of Vicksburg itself, and ultimately the conquest of the entire 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...

.

Five days later Porter, in Lafayette, reconnoitered the Confederate works at Grand Gulf. He found a "strong fort" under construction and shelled the workers out. When Confederate steamer Charm attempted to land supplies for the fort the Union gunboats drove her back up the Big Black River. By the 24th, Porter had stationed his gunboats so that they commanded the upper battery at Grand Gulf and closed off the mouth of the Big Black River.

On the 29th Porter's ships engaged the heavy Confederate works at Grand Gulf, which, the admiral acknowledged, "were very formidable." In the 5½-hour battle, the gunboats silenced the lower batteries but could succeed in stopping the fire from the upper forts only "for a short time." Meanwhile Army transports passed safely below the batteries. Though Benton, , and were "pretty much cut up" in the engagement, the expedition was successful, and the net result was summed up by Porter, "We are now in a position to make a landing where the general [Grant] pleases." The following night Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

 took advantage of this mobility and ferried his troops across the Mississippi and landed them at Bruinsburg for lightning operations to isolate Vicksburg from reinforcements.

On 3 May Porter once again moved his gunboats against the Confederate batteries, but the southerners, finding their position totally untenable after Grant had taken his army into the country back of Grand Gulf, had evacuated. The great land-sea pincer could now close on Vicksburg. As Porter reported to Secretary of the Navy

United States Secretary of the Navy

The Secretary of the Navy of the United States of America is the head of the Department of the Navy, a component organization of the Department of Defense...

 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...

, "...the Navy holds the door to Vicksburg."

Porter departed Grand Gulf with his gunboat squadron and rendezvoused that evening with the Farragut fleet at the mouth of the Red River. He preceded up the river the next day with Benton, Lafayette, Pittsburg, General Sterling Price, rams , and . and joined en route. The evening of 5 May the ships arrived at Fort DeRussy

Fort DeRussy

Fort DeRussy may refer to one of four forts constructed in the United States between 1861 and 1900, named for René Edward De Russy.* Fort DeRussy , an American Civil War-era fort built to defend Washington, D.C....

, "a powerful casemated work" which the Confederates had recently evacuated in the face of the naval threat. Porter pushed past a heavy obstruction in the river and proceeded to Alexandria, Louisiana

Alexandria, Louisiana

Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....

, which he occupied on the morning of the 7th. Subsequently turning the town over to Army troops and unable to continue upriver because of the low water, Porter's force returned to Fort DeRussy and partially destroyed it.

As the Union noose around Vicksburg tightened, Lafayette steamed up and down the river gathering information and dispersing Confederate defensive works. With Pittsburg she shelled Simmesport, Louisiana

Simmesport, Louisiana

Simmesport is a town in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,239 at the 2000 census.During the American Civil War, Union General Nathaniel P. Banks was superseded in command by E.R.S. Canby. General Ulysses S. Grant had sought Banks' removal for months, but U.S....

, 4 June, forcing the defenders to abandon strong riverside positions. The gunboats then returned to the mouth of the Red River to resume blockade duty. Exactly a month later, on Independence Day, Vicksburg surrendered, ending a long and valiant siege.

Summer 1863

During the summer and fall Lafayette, with other Union ships, patrolled the river protecting Federal communications. On 29 September she and arrived at Morganza, Louisiana

Morganza, Louisiana

Morganza is an incorporated village near the Mississippi River in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 659 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village's zip code is 70759...

, on Bayou Fordeche, to support troops under Major General Napoleon J. T. Dana. There more than 400 Union troops recently had been captured in an engagement with Confederates under Brig. Gen. Thomas Green

Thomas Green (general)

Thomas Green was a lawyer, politician, soldier and officer of the Republic of Texas, and rose to the rank of Brigadier General of the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Tom Green County, Texas was named after him....

. The Union ships deterred the Confederates from attacking the smaller force of General Dana, demonstrating the ability of gunboats to vastly strengthen otherwise relatively weak ground forces.

Red River Campaign, 1864

The Mississippi Squadron's next major operation took the gunboats up the Red River to open the two-month campaign

Red River Campaign

The Red River Campaign or Red River Expedition consisted of a series of battles fought along the Red River in Louisiana during the American Civil War from March 10 to May 22, 1864. The campaign was a Union initiative, fought between approximately 30,000 Union troops under the command of Maj. Gen....

 aimed at obtaining a lodgment across the border in Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. Eastport led the way on 12 March 1864, followed by ironclads , , and , and wooden steamers Lafayette, , , and .

When they reached the obstructions which the southerners had taken five months to build below Fort DeRussy, "...our energetic sailors," Porter observed, "with hard work opened a passage in a few hours." Eastport and Neosho passed through and commenced bombarding Fort DeRussy as the Union troops began their assault on the works; by the 14th it was in Union hands. Porter wrote: "The surrender of the forts at Point DeRussy is of much more importance than I at first supposed. The rebels had depended on that point to stop any advance of Army or Navy...."

On the 15th, after ordering Benton and Essex to remain at Fort DeRussy to support the Army detachment destroying the works, Porter convoyed the main body of troops up the Red River toward Alexandria. The Union ships reached Alexandria the next morning and a landing party occupied the town and awaited the arrival of Major General Nathaniel Prentiss Banks' army, delayed by heavy rains. Slowed by low water and obstructions, Porter pushed his vessels up the river. At Grand Encore he left the heavier gunboats behind, including Lafayette, and continued up stream 7 April with three ironclads and three wooden steamers to meet General Banks at Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

. Three days later they were stopped at Springfield Landing by a huge steamer, New Falls City, sunk athwart the channel. Before this formidable obstruction could be removed, word arrived that General Banks had been decisively defeated in the Battle of Sabine Cross Roads near Grand Encore and was in headlong retreat. Porter had no choice but to withdraw. Falling water and increasing Confederate fire from the riverbank strained the seamanship and ingenuity of the Union sailors in their desperate struggle to avoid being trapped above the Alexandria Rapids.

After returning to the Mississippi, ships of the squadron were constantly occupied with safeguarding river transportation from southern attack. On 16 May sidewheeler General Sterling Price engaged a Confederate battery which had fired on transport steamer Mississippi near Ratliff's Landing, Mississippi. Lafayette and General Bragg converged upon the battery, and the three heavy steamers forced the Confederate gunners back from the river, enabling the transport to proceed.

After the war, Lafayette decommissioned on 23 July 1865 and was laid up at New Orleans until sold there on 28 March 1866.