USS Bienville was a 1,558 long tons (1,583 t) (burden) wooden side-wheel paddle steamer acquired by the Union Navy early in the American Civil War.

The Union Navy bought her in August 1861 as part of the great expansion that took place in the first months of the American Civil War.

She was commissioned in October 1861 and soon took part in the expedition that seized future Naval bases at Port Royal and Beaufort, South Carolina.

On the night of February 7, 1865, the two gunboats sent a boat party into Galveston Bay, Texas to seize two schooners loaded with cotton.

Acting Ensign George French was dispatched with twenty seamen and three officers to destroy the Wren and capture the schooners.