CSS Isondiga was a wooden gunboat that served in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War.

On June 17, Isondiga and the steamer CSS Resolute accompanied Atlanta in an engagement where the ironclad attacked two Union monitors and was quickly captured.

While trying to escape herself, Isondiga ran aground and was burned by her crew on December 21 under orders from her commander, Lieutenant Hamilton Dalton.

In October 1861, during the American Civil War, Confederate naval officer Matthew Fontaine Maury,[1] who held the rank of commander,[2] proposed that the breakaway nation's best counter to the more developed Union Navy would be to build a large fleet of small, cheap vessels in order to swamp the Union blockade.

The naval historian Donald L. Canney notes that this method of fastening was much more secure than that used for the larger Confederate gunboat CSS Chattahoochee, which had similar scantling dimensions.

[8] It is not known when Isondiga was launched,[4] but Krenson and Hawkes received their final payment for her construction on January 17, 1863; the vessel was to have been completed over seven months earlier.

[5][9] On the morning of March 19, Isondiga accompanied the ironclad CSS Atlanta down St. Augustine Creek to the entrance to Wassaw Sound with intentions of soon attacking the vessels of the Union blockade.

However, low water levels prevented Atlanta from entering Wassaw Sound, and after waiting for days, the Confederates gave up.

[10] On May 30, another attempt was made to get Atlanta down to Wassaw Sound for an attack against the blockade, but she suffered engine failure and ran aground.

[13] It was rumored afterwards that the two vessels carried a number of spectators, but Melton notes that this claim is not supported by evidence from the Savannah Squadron.

This shortage of sailors was resolved by taking fifty inexperienced men from a receiving ship at Charleston, CSS Indian Chief, and sending them to Savannah to crew Isondiga.

[22] In January 1864, the Confederate States Army was concerned that Union forces might strike inland towards Savannah from Port Royal, South Carolina, and asked for naval support of land defenses.

[23] On January 26, Isondiga was sent down St. Augustine Creek in order to protect a bridge and an area known as the Wilmington Narrows, but returned to Elba Island when no Union encroachment there occurred.

Since Macon required more time to complete fitting out, and needed more officers before she could enter active service, Kennard also held the command of Isondiga for the rest of the month, although much of the day-to-day supervision was done by McAdam.

[28] In early September, Union army troops commanded by Major General William T. Sherman captured Atlanta, Georgia, and then began the March to the Sea, which would end at Savannah.

[31] Not long afterwards, men from Isondiga were slated to attempt a boat attack to retake Argyle Island, but this was cancelled as it was expected to result in heavy Confederate casualties.

[30] The Confederate army commander at Savannah was Lieutenant General William J. Hardee,[33][34] and on his request, Isondiga was positioned upriver from the pontoon bridge to protect it.