The first USS ''Mahaska'' was a wooden, double-ender, sidewheel steamer of the third rate in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. She was named for

Ioway The Iowa, also known as Ioway, and the Bah-Kho-Je or Báxoje (English: grey snow; Chiwere: Báxoje ich'é) are a Native American Siouan people. Today, they are enrolled in either of two federally recognized tribes, the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma and ...

Chief Mahaska Mahaska (archaic Ioway ''Maxúshga'' pronounced ; contemporary ''Maxúhga''), or White Cloud, (1784–1834) was a chief of the Native American Iowa tribe. His son, also named Mahaska, was better known as Francis White Cloud. Early life and ...

. ''Mahaska'' was built at the

Portsmouth Navy Yard The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard in Kittery on the southern boundary of Maine near the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Founded in 1800, PNS is U.S. Navy's oldest continuou ...

Kittery, Maine Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals. The southernmost town in t ...

, for $130,001.68; launched 10 December 1861 and commissioned 5 May 1862, Lt.

Norman H. Farquhar Rear Admiral Norman von Heldreich Farquhar (April 11, 1840 – July 3, 1907) was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He is best known for commanding a naval squadron which was wrecked with three German warships at ...

in command. ''Mahaska'' sailed from Portsmouth 15 May 1862, reporting shortly thereafter for duty in the rivers flowing into

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

. On 20 June she engaged the

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

batteries along the

Appomattox River The Appomattox River is a tributary of the James River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 in central and eastern Virginia in the United ...

and on 1 November destroyed entrenchments at

West Point, Virginia West Point (formerly Delaware) is an incorporated town in King William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 3,306 at the 2010 census. Geography West Point is located at (37.543733, −76.805366). The York River is formed at West ...

. Continuing her patrols into the next year, she captured the

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

''General Taylor'' in Chesapeake Bay 20 February 1863. Moving south later in the year, she joined in the blockade of Charleston and participated in the attacks on the forts and batteries in that harbor:

Fort Wagner Fort Wagner or Battery Wagner was a beachhead fortification on Morris Island, South Carolina, that covered the southern approach to Charleston Harbor. It was the site of two American Civil War battles in the campaign known as Operations Agai ...

, 8 and 18 August; Morris Island, 13 to 17, and 20 August; and

Fort Sumter Fort Sumter is a sea fort built on an artificial island protecting Charleston, South Carolina from naval invasion. Its origin dates to the War of 1812 when the British invaded Washington by sea. It was still incomplete in 1861 when the Battl ...

, 21 August 1863. The following year she took part in the joint expedition against

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, 5 February to 4 April, remaining on picket and patrol duty in the

St. Johns River The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...

until 16 August when she returned to

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

. She then steamed north to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts for overhaul. Overhaul completed 16 January 1865, ''Mahaska'' returned to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

waters, capturing the schooner ''Delia'', near Bayport, 17 February. After the end of the Civil War, the steamer continued to cruise in southern waters until decommissioned at

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, Louisiana on 12 September 1868. She was sold 20 November 1868 to John Dole of Boston.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mahaska Gunboats of the United States Navy 1861 ships