USS ''Victory'' was a steamer purchased by the Union Navy 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 ...

. ''Victory'' was used primarily by the Union Navy as a gunboat assigned to patrol

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 ...

waterways. She also performed duties as a reconnaissance boat, a convoy escort, and as a dispatch boat.

Service history

''Victory''—a wooden merchant steamer built at

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, in 1863 and originally named ''Banker''—was acquired by the Navy at Cincinnati in May 1863; was commissioned at Cincinnati on 8 July; but was not formally purchased by the navy until 15 July. ''Victory'' was one of the lightly armor-plated gunboats of the

Mississippi Squadron The Mississippi River Squadron was the Union brown-water 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 ...

called "tinclads" which were used during the Civil War for shallow water patrol and reconnaissance duty on the

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, and

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rivers. On the day of ''Victory's'' commissioning, 8 July, Confederate General John Hunt Morgan crossed the Ohio River into

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at the head of a 2,460-man raiding party. From the 10th to the 19th, ''Victory'', , , , , and ''Allegheny Belle'' chased Morgan as he proceeded eastward along the river. Union cavalry ashore prevented him from recrossing the Ohio River to safety in the South. While ''Victory'' and three of the gunboats remained scattered downstream on the 19th to prevent the raiding party from doubling back, the Federals finally trapped Morgan at

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and forced him to attempt a crossing. The try failed miserably, and most of the Confederates surrendered. Morgan, himself, escaped with a few followers only to be caught near

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, one week later. ''Victory'' remained with the Mississippi Squadron for the duration of the war, performing patrol,

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

, convoy, and dispatch duty. On 14 April 1864, she helped to repulse a raid upon Paducah, Kentucky; and—on 4 November, as part of a squadron of six gunboats—aided the successful defense from a carefully staged attack on Johnsonville, Tennessee, led by the famed Confederate cavalryman, Lt. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest. After the Confederacy collapsed, ''Victory'' was decommissioned at Mound City, Illinois, on 30 June 1865 and sold at

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there to W. Thorwegen on 17 August. She was documented as ''Lizzie Tate'' on 7 October 1865 and was reduced to a barge on 22 November 1867. At this time, her service afterwards is unknown.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Victory Ships of the Union Navy Ships built in Cincinnati Steamships of the United States Navy Gunboats of the United States Navy Dispatch boats of the United States Navy American Civil War patrol vessels of the United States 1863 ships

Service history

See also

References