USS Brilliant was a steamer purchased by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.

Brilliant, a wooden stern-wheel steamer, was built in 1862 at Brownsville, Pennsylvania, and purchased by the War Department, August 13, 1862 at St. Louis, Missouri and converted to tinclad by Edward Hartt; transferred to the Navy with the Western Flotilla October 1, 1862; and commissioned the following day.

After undergoing repairs Brilliant sailed from St. Louis, Missouri, September 25, 1862 to join the Mississippi Squadron at Cairo, Illinois.

Throughout the Civil War she operated very actively on the Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi Rivers until August 2, 1865.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.